Duke student/porn star Belle Knox turning lemons into lemonade

In February, a female Duke University freshman was outed for moonlighting as a porn actress. Instead of being victimized, she chose to speak out and defend her work in the adult industry.
Miriam Weeks, aka porn actress Belle Knox, said her adult film work helps her to pay Duke’s $60,000-a-year tuition and gives her an outlet for her oft-stifled sexuality.
Since being exposed by a male student at a fraternity rush, Knox has gone on a media tour that has boosted her profile. Knox is an intelligent, articulate spokeswoman for the adult film industry and sex workers.
Loving a sex-themed story, the news media have given Knox a lot of coverage. (See stories by the Daily Mail, Elle, the Huffington Post, the Howard Stern radio show, Playboy and Xbiz.)
Meanwhile, porn studios are taking advantage of the publicity, releasing Knox videos and playing up the student/porn actress angle. Align Broadcasting put out a video-on-demand title called “Belle Knox Schooled” and Adam & Eve Pictures is releasing “Real College Girl: Belle Knox.”

While Knox might be bright and well-spoken, she also could be naive about the detrimental impact that performing in adult films could have on her career. The 18-year-old says she wants to be a lawyer.
One can only hope that people will be more accepting of porn actors and other sex workers in the future.
She is also not the first student to be scandalized after being exposed as a porn actor.
In January, an 18-year-old male high school student in Florida was suspended when school officials learned of his gay pornographic online photos and videos. He was later allowed to return to school.
Robert Marucci, a senior at Cocoa High School in Cocoa, Fla., said he picked up the X-rated gig to help his mom pay the bills, CNN and USA Today reported.

In October 2010, an 18-year-old female student at Arizona State University made headlines when she was exposed for working in a porn movie. The student, Elizabeth Hawkenson, displayed her ASU student ID card in the “reality porn” video, according to Phoenix New Times.
In September 2012, another female ASU student appeared on the same porn site, Backroom Casting Couch, New Times reported. The student, who went by Audrina, in the video was later identified as Brittany Fox by the Dirty.
They weren’t the first and they certainly won’t be the last.

Photos (from top down): Cover of  “Real College Girl: Belle Knox”; advertisement from Naughty America featuring Belle Knox; two screenshots of Elizabeth Hawkenson; and two screenshots of Brittany Fox.