Humanizing Sex Work: A #GirlBoner Chat with Logan Pierce

Logan Pierce grew up in a loving family with traditional Irish-Catholic values, which weren’t exactly XXX. So when he discovered porn, on a tape hidden in an unmarked box in his brother’s room, he felt a mix of emotions.

“Being raised Irish-Catholic and going to church every Sunday, it was made very apparent to me that sex is reserved for marriage, and masturbation should be avoided at all costs,” he told me during our Girl Boner Radio chat. The secrecy around sex made watching porn that much more enticing. So he’d watch it, knowing that “the door should be closed, the volume should be turned low and [he] should be very careful about not getting caught.”

Moving past related shame, porn quickly became one of his teen-hood passions. Then as many of his peers were considering more conventional careers, he moved to Los Angeles, eager to find out if appearing in the films felt as transformative as he felt watching them. He emailed photos to an agency who “took a chance” on him and was soon getting busy on-camera. In the six years since, porn has not only become Logan’s day job, but his award-winning career. After his first year, he was named Best Male Newcomer at the prestigious AVN Awards. In 2018, he was nominated for Best Actor.

Logan is also a writer with numerous published articles and a memoir under his belt (corny pun embraced!). His first memoir, Between The Sheets: Rise of a Working Stiff, written under the name JR Verlin, chronicles his journey from discovering porn to his first year as a performer. The candid telling reveals his experience in the adult film industry as one of brilliant highs and nightmarish lows, and sex work for what it is: a unique profession that shouldn’t be shrouded in shame or stigma.

When I asked Logan what he most hopes people take away from the book, he said:

Sex workers are people, just like anyone else. They shouldn’t be ostracized or left out of the conversation. What I hope to achieve with these books and my writing in general is just that. . . Our jobs are extraordinary to an extent, but our lives are just as mundane as anyone else’s.”

Stream the full episode on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio or below! We covered everything from sexual confessions from strangers to what it’s like to date someone in the adult film business. We also weighed in for a listener who feels conflicted over her boyfriend’s work in porn, with the help of Dr. Megan Fleming.