Nina Hartley Biography

 

Nina Hartley, who is now 56 years old, has been working in the porn industry since the early 1980s. Her website tagline: “Experience DOES count.” In 1982, I moved to San Francisco and began working as a house dancer at both the Sutter Cinema, which is no longer in operation and the Mitchell Brothers O’Farrell Theatre. Later on, I moved on to other venues. I was taking classes at the nursing school five days a week and went dancing once a week. The conclusion of a long and illustrious history of public exhibitionism was the art form of dancing. As a feminist of the 1970s, I was raised to believe that women should have the freedom to make their own decisions about their sexuality while still being held accountable for their own safety. This was the case for me when I did stripping.

That was the location where ladies could go to be seen nude without fear of reprisal yet still feel comfortable. I grappled with the question, “Could I be a feminist and yet want to strip off my clothes?” over a period of two years. I eventually arrived to the conclusion that yes, I could in fact be a feminist while also stripping naked since doing so was my own personal decision. This was not something that was forced or pressured out of me; rather, it was something that I identified with as part of my sexual identity as an exhibitionist. When I was 12, I first got interested in the concept of sexuality. When I was growing up, I was exposed to terminology like “exhibitionist,” “voyeur,” “bisexual,” and “swinger,” but I was not familiar with the terms “polyamorous,” “non-monogamous,” or “queer.” I’ve had two relationships that lasted for a considerable amount of time.

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