LOS ANGELES — ManyVids co-founder and CEO Bella French has issued an open statement calling for “love, respect, and understanding,” within the industry.
“Love, respect, and understanding are all things we desire, but are we always willing to give it to others? One should not treat others in ways that they would not like to be treated themselves.
It’s easy to offer support to one of your peers when you agree with them, where is the challenge in that? It becomes increasingly more difficult when you find yourself in a situation where you don’t approve of what is happening. Unconditional love always appears when you strongly disagree with someone and you still find the courage to step back and find in yourself this pure emotion of understanding and respect.
Once you experience this feeling, you will be blessed with pure joy. This is truly one of the most beautiful gifts that you can offer yourself. Understanding this principle will change your life for the better. It’s important to accept that on this journey to becoming a more understanding person, you will fail many times, as I fail every single day. The secret is to never stop trying, and one day you will find yourself filled with happiness as you won’t have to resist or try to change the world into the way you want it to be. You will simply accept life with all its challenges as it is presented to you.
Being part of the adult industry gave me the unique opportunity to become a much better human being. It provided me with the chance to train myself to be more understanding when faced with difficult situations. If you can find the force in you to put yourself in someone else shoes, your journey will become so much easier. Anger and frustration will be replaced by understanding and respect.
As sex workers, we are faced with an overwhelming amount of hate and judgment. We demand respect and compassion because we deserve it. We have all embarked on this journey together to help people understand that we are incredibly smart and yet we are constantly faced with abuse. Abuse is raging in the adult industry in so many ways. We wish that people outside of the adult industry would start treating sex workers with respect. For this to happen, we must first start treating each other with respect. If we don’t, we don’t stand a chance of succeeding. If we strive to one day have the same rights as other people, we must first become more understanding of each other.
Bullying people online is a vicious form of abuse, and the consequences have been devastating in our industry. How many other lives will we have to lose before we realize that we need to change our behavior? If we want the world to change, we need to first start changing ourselves. I am filled with so much hope because I know that if anyone understands abuse, it’s us, sex workers. We are all imperfect, but together, we can create the perfect conditions to lead ourselves and our precious industry, in the right direction.
I am leaving you with a quote that has taught me a lot: ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’”
“I believe in us!” French concluded, calling for acceptance and unity, while demonstrating industry leadership.
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