“Google it,” she says, her Eastern European accent pronounced with each exhalation. “Annie Leibovitz, she shot the porn hooker. And she will be one of the issues September or October.”
Recently leaked recordings between the first lady and her former best friend reveal a catty side to the usually reserved Melania Trump. Candidly referring to Mr. Trump’s alleged mistress, Stormy Daniels, as the “porn hooker,” Melania seems far more perturbed by Daniels’ Vogue shoot with Annie Leibovitz than her husband’s pre-presidential affair, while she was pregnant with their first and only child.
As a former model with a cache of her own nudes circulating online, Melania’s hypocrisy isn’t sitting well with the public; in fact, the nude modeling/sex worker community suspect the first lady is a bit jealous of one of their own. For the first time in history, a mainstream iconic fashion magazine prioritized an adult actress over the FLOTUS, who coincidentally has a background in modeling, and all because of whom she had sex with. That’s gotta hurt.
Since the recording went public, Melania has remained predictably silent. Stormy however has been making the most of her platform, savoring yet another opportunity to be heard, tweeting: “Hahaha! Although I wasn’t paid for sex and therefore technically not a ‘hooker’ I’ll take being that over what you are any day. You sold your pussy AND your soul…and I’m legal. Keep talking about me. I like your new tits btw. Post (more) nudes? #bebest lol.”
As women we should be holding one another up, presenting a united front, not tearing each other down. And yet Melania Trump discarded an opportunity to own up to what she said and appeal to the public’s empathy. Nearly everyone can relate to feeling insecure and jealous. Instead of switching up the narrative, she further stigmatized one of the few communities that knows what it’s like to be in her shoes, to earn a living as a pretty puppet.
“Porn hooker? Way to be redundant. But hey, it takes one to know one,” observes adult actress Sara St. Clair. “I mean, she married her sugar daddy… People can justify anything to make themselves feel better. Maybe in her mind she didn’t do porn because it was just nude pictures. In our industry some girls only do girl/girl because apparently they can mentally justify it as they aren’t being penetrated,” she adds, referring to Melania’s nude photoshoots with another woman.
Judgment should be reserved especially when considering the source, according to Cherie Deville, one of the few sex workers who’s attempted a campaign to become president.
“Nobody should judge Stormy Daniels, especially Melania Trump. They’re Eskimo sisters for Pete’s sake!” Deville exclaims. “As a personal policy, I never judge other women’s professional or marital choices, so I don’t judge Melania’s modeling background. I’ll leave the slut-shaming to the first lady.”
With decades of false gender norms to overcome, women everywhere are struggling to establish ownership over their own bodies, and slut-shaming like this is one giant step backwards. Especially when it comes from those in leadership roles—which is perhaps why this is particularly distressing.
“I was truly shocked to hear someone in society with such a high title, someone who the public should be turning to for some type of compassion, could be so cold and heartless against her own gender!” cries Valentina Jewels, a 22-year-old adult actress. “It’s not like women have it hard enough already. Singling out Stormy Daniels and calling her derogatory terms is just complete irresponsibility and lack of respect from Melania.”
Linzee Ryder, who touts herself online as the “Midwest MILF,” worries about how statements like this reflect on the hardworking men and women of the adult industry. “Having the first lady of our country belittle and refer to a smart, successful, beautiful adult star as a ‘porn hooker’ will surely continue the stigma of the adult industry,” says Ryder. “Society has a long way to go when it comes to understanding the adult industry, accepting it as a valid and professional industry and viewing those in it as human beings worthy of respect like everybody else.”
Repulsed by the hypocrisy, prolific adult star Carmen Valentina says Melania is “technically a sex worker like us porn stars.” As Valentina points out, “the photos she took aren’t exactly photos that advertised anything but show off her body in a sexualized way. She was hired for her looks, which were meant to be sexualized.”
Melania desperately tries to distance herself from her past, which Valentina speculates comes from a familiar insecurity experienced by a number of former sex workers. “I’m sure she also says what she says so she can distance herself from the sex workers’ industry and act superior,” offers Valentina. “In the end, she is just like all of us, on our level, and she is definitely not above us, regardless of who she’s married to. Saying those comments just makes her more unrelatable to the general public.”
