Growing up, my mom had her hand in a number of different self-owned businesses. She has always had a need to steer her own ship, so it wasn’t completely out of left field when I decided to do the same.
Still, when I told her I wanted to go into porn, she had a few questions. You might expect some yelling, screaming, demands to stop and even a few “Not under this roof!” types of things, but you haven’t met my mom. I am one of the privileged few that got into the porn world with acceptance and love. Not to say there were never questions or worries, especially in the beginning, but they were usually worked out and listened to.
That is a gift my mom has always given me; my body is mine to do with as I wish and no one should ever tell me differently. For a long time, I didn’t realize how lucky I was.
I started camming at 18 on MyFreeCams. From day one, my mom knew what I did. As a single mom, she worried. She is my protector, even if I don’t think I need one, or want one, but I am not going to lie: it has come in handy more than once. We discussed how camming worked and the ability to block the state we live in.
It was always about the safety issue, never about the morality issue. It is my body and what I choose to do with it is my choice. That is a gift my mom has always given me; my body is mine to do with as I wish and no one else should ever tell me differently. For a long time, I didn’t realize how lucky I was. As I moved away from camming into stripping, I met other sex workers and I came to learn my story was one in a million.
It seemed like every girl I met had stories of being kicked out at 16 or not speaking to their parents anymore; best-case scenario was the parents knew, but only tolerated it. I, on the other hand, had a mom sending me pictures of shoes while asking if they would work for my show. While I am not going to claim I was an angel, I think having her as a constant backup — and sometimes a pain in the ass — is what kept me from going down a rougher path with drugs or alcohol.
A few years ago, my mom started having some health issues, so I moved back home to help out. It was a scary time. I was worried about her, but I was also worried about my career. I had started doing solo clips and was starting to get a little bit of traction. How was I going to keep things going in a house with my whole family in it? Well, this was just another project for my mom to tackle! She built me a set in my room, along with a full photo studio in the basement. While I do most of the work alone, sometimes you just need a camera person. She has shot film of me many times, especially on vacation. She loves to take public nude shots of me; it is an adrenaline thing for her.
When was the last time your mom screamed, in a crowded sex shop, “Save the receipt, it comes off your taxes”? She has become more and more involved in my work, if only because we talk about it every day. She has also done a BBC Radio interview on what it is like to have a daughter in porn and we recently got her a Twitter account (@thepornmom) so she can interact with me.
We are definitely not your normal household, but I couldn’t ask for a better one. I adore the work I do, and as I prepare to move to Vegas to work on more professional shoots, I know that I have the constant support of my family, if only from a distance.
I would like to end this article with a message directly from my mom:
“If you ever feel alone, know that there are people that love and support you, even if you don’t know them yet. If you are in need of a family, or a mom, or just someone to talk to, you can always reach out to me. I’m just a DM away. I will be your mom if you need it.”
Riley Renegade is a content creator who can be found @theRileyDaniels on Twitter, on Clips4Sale and allmylinks.com/therileydaniels. Her supportive “Porn Mom” can be followed @thepornmom on Twitter.
