I am writing this opinion piece in an effort to help motivate male performers in the adult industry to demand higher rates for blowjob and handjob scenes. I believe there is a generally accepted rule in the adult industry that males should receive a lower rate for these types of scenes, but there is little data to help support this claim.

Let's begin by looking at the female talent rate structure. When a girl does a solo scene she gets a certain rate; when she does a BJ scene she gets a little more than her solo rate; when she does a boy/girl scene she gets a little more than her BJ rate; when she does a boy/girl anal scene she gets a little more than her regular BG rate, and so on.

Now let's look at the male talent rate structure. When a guy does a BJ scene, he gets a certain rate; let's say that rate is $300. When a guy does a B/G scene, the rate grows to let's say $600. Let's assume for a moment that this rate bump is due to the same factors as to why women are paid more money for increasing scene complexity (e.g., going from a BJ to a B/G), even though we already know this is not the case. When a guy does a B/G/A scene with a girl, he still gets the same rate as if it were a non-anal scene. How is this possible? If we were to follow the earlier logic, the male talent's rate should now jump to something higher than $600 for an anal scene, but it doesn't.

The reason the rate does not jump is because the guy's job in the production of an adult film is to get an erection and climax — that's it. Whether he sticks it in her mouth, vagina, ass, ear, nose, throat, or any other opening on her body the guy just needs to get hard and cum.

I would even argue that B/G scenes are generally easier for a guy to do as opposed to BJ scenes since it generally makes climaxing easier, and I believe that most guys would prefer to have sex with the girl as opposed to only receiving a BJ. Under these assumptions, guys should technically get paid more to do BJ scenes as they are less desirable, just as an anal scene is less desirable to the average girl, hence the higher rate.

Now let's approach it from the staff/crew perspective. A camera guy, lighting guy, production assistant, agent, or any other production support member makes the same rate regardless of scene type. The videographer for example, doesn't get paid less money to shoot a BJ scene as opposed to a B/G scene. Why? Because the camera guy is doing the exact same work regardless of scene type.

The guy renting his house doesn't charge you less money because you happen to be shooting a BJ versus a B/G scene at the location. The agent referring the model does not make a lower referral fee for a BJ versus a B/G scene. Why then do male performers reduce their rates to perform the same task (i.e. getting hard and climaxing)?

Let's approach it from the consumer end. If you go to any adult DVD store you will notice that BJ DVDs sell for the same retail price as B/G DVDs. Wholesale costs on BJ vs. B/G vs. B/G/A discs are pretty much the same. Most manufacturers don't charge a lower rate to their wholesalers because a certain title is in their BJ line vs. their B/G series.

It costs the consumer the same amount of money on average to join a BJ paysite as it does to join a B/G paysite, so effectively the money generated from BJ versus B/G content is generally the same assuming equal demand in the marketplace.

My theory behind the generally accepted rule in this business that male performers should be paid less for BJ and HJ scenes is that one day a bunch of greedy producers all got together and said, "Hey, let's increase our bottom line by paying guys less for BJ scenes. We'll just tell them the girl is making less money, so that is why you are making less money. After all, it's just a BJ scene, isn't it?"

That argument makes sense on the surface, until you quickly realize that these same producers do not follow their own logic once they being to shoot anal scenes. You don't hear these same producers saying, "Listen, she is making more money to do an anal scene, so your rate is now $X more."

It is for these reasons that I tell producers I have a minimum scene rate of $X per pop; and as you can imagine, it's the same reason I never get hired to do BJ or HJ scenes because there are always other guys that will do it for much cheaper. However, if all male performers banded together and demanded higher rates for these types of scenes, producers would have no choice but to comply.

To be fair, I do understand the producer's perspective as well. I shoot content myself and know that clients oftentimes pay a lower rate for BJ content as opposed to B/G content.

Even though this is the case, most producers, including myself, continue paying guys a lower BJ rate just because we can, and as a result it adds more money to one's bottom line. I guess I just need to start producing more BJ scenes myself and performing in less of them for other producers.