Stormy Daniels: An Uncomfortable Feminist
The porn star challenges our assumptions about women, class, and who’s worthy of respect.
Gloria Steinem 2.0? Well, maybe not. But for this moment in our nation’s history, I’m nominating Stormy Daniels feminist du jour.
She’s smart, tough, nimble, and supremely confident—what many of us aspire to project but don’t always achieve. It’s not everyday that I propose an adult film actress as a role model to my daughters, but why not?
Not only did she sock it right back to Donald Trump’s lawyer during cross examination at his criminal trial in New York last week, she did it with flair and humor (something true-blue feminists supposedly lack). What’s more, she challenged our assumptions about women, class, and who’s worthy of respect. In her own way, she’s redefining feminism—though, perhaps not in the most comfortable way.
The Bimbo Assumption
When she first landed on the public radar in 2018 for allegedly having a sexual fling with Trump, didn’t we think we knew her sort? Big blond. Big boobs. Big porn star. What does all that spell: Bimbo!
Boy, has she turned that stereotype on its head. I mean, that woman can handle herself. In what is likely the most high profile case of the year, Daniels went toe-to-toe with Trump lawyer Susan Necheles, a seasoned white collar attorney, and left her in the dust.
'Tis Pity She's a Whore
Necheles threw the kitchen sink at her but not much stuck. Playing on society’s deep-rooted low regard for sex workers, the defense lawyer painted Daniels as a cheap hustler who’s lying about having sex with Trump to make a buck. The message was simple: Daniels is a whore.
“Your career for over 20 years [was] writing, acting, and directing sex films, right?” Necheles pressed Daniels. “So, you have a lot of experience in making phony stories about sex appear to be real, right?” Daniels’s answer: “The sex in the films is very much real—just like what happened to me in that room,” adding, “the sex is very real—that’s why it’s pornography and not a B movie.”
So take that, fancy Yale Law School grad! (Query: Was Necheles not aware that pornography involves actual sex—which is what people pay to see?)
Picture this: Trump in his undies
Necheles also implied that a woman in Daniel’s profession has no right to complain if she’s sexually harassed. First, Trump’s lawyer mentioned that the film star has had sex with 200 people in her films (Daniels corrected her, putting the number at 150), then Necheles expressed incredulity that Daniels would be fazed by the sight of a man in his underwear expecting sex. Pushing back, Daniels responded that she was indeed upset when she saw Trump waiting for her in his boxer shorts after she came out of the bathroom in his hotel room, pointing out that the former president was “twice my age and bigger than me” (she was 27 and Trump 60) with a “bodyguard outside the door.”
And Daniels was ready when Necheles attempted to portray her as a product prostitute who exploited Trump with her online shop offerings, including a “Stormy, Saint of Indictment” candle. Daniel’s retort: “Not unlike Mr. Trump!” who’s now peddling special editions of Trump Bibles for $59.99 a pop.
In sum, Necheles’ deployment of the whore trope failed miserably—as it should. Which brings me to my original point: Daniels challenges and shatters our preconceptions about women we typically look down on. And she refuses to be shamed about what she does for a living—indeed, she seems proud that she’s at the top of the adult entertainment industry as an actress, producer, and writer. (She’s won numerous industry awards, including the AVN Awards, known as the Oscars of porn. Who knew, right?)
Of course, Daniels’s sort of feminism still makes us a bit squeamish. She’s in the business of selling her body—and in the most explicit, intrusive way possible. What’s more, she rejects one of feminism’s central tenets: Women whose bodies are objectified and exploited are victims.
“I’m not a victim”
Daniels makes clear she’s the one with agency. “I’m not a victim. It’s really annoying,” she told New York Magazine about being cast as a Me-Too casualty in the Trump situation. “It takes power away from the people who’ve been assaulted or raped or sexual-harassed by their boss.” (In that same interview, she also said, “I’m not a feminist.”)
Whether or not she wants to wear the feminist crown, Daniels stands for women making their own choices and taking ownership of their lives. We might not be ready for our daughters to follow in her footsteps but somehow she brings dignity to what she does for a living.
At the end of the day, Daniels is a working mom, just like the rest of us.
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