from www.aipdaily.com – Hello Lydia, AKA Julie Meadows, for those who might not know you please let us know who are a bit?
A: I am a Texas-born mother, wife, writer, artist, web designer, videographer, activist, painter, oenophile, Francophile, music lover and pet owner. I’m laughing at myself right now. You caught me in a spunky mood, so this should be fun. Also, I used to be an adult performer, but now I write and conduct interviews; I’m actually still editing a documentary I shot last year about women in the adult industry. There’s no official title for it, yet.
Q: What prompted you to join the adult industry?
A: Many factors played into that. I was married to a man who encouraged me to get into the adult industry. I resisted, at first, because I was going to acting classes and preferred to take the work I was getting; an accident/injury commercial, work as an extra, work behind the scenes as a grip, continuity person, etc… That and I was really very shy and wasn’t sure I could actually be any good at it. It’s not that I don’t enjoy sex, because I do, of course, it’s just that sex for me is very cerebral. I don’t get out-of-my-head during intercourse, I am very present and aware of what’s going on and I wasn’t sure that would play very well, though I didn’t know much about the industry and had no frame of reference. I think, instinctively, I just guessed that there were other people probably much better at it than I.
A day came when I looked at the big picture and decided I’d give it a shot. California weather, good money, love of performing, better way of taking care of my family. It was a logical choice after I considered everything. I’m a responsibility-minded person, methodical, with a lot of personal confidence, and taking care of my family is always very important to me. I finally came to the conclusion that I could probably make it work and that it could be fun to try.
Q: Well you have been out of the industry for a little while and now run a free website and blog, JulieMeadows.com. For those that haven’t seen your site, what kind of things can people expect to find there?
A: Quite a few things actually, I have a short bio on one page, a FAQ page with a funny Q&A thread. I have pages where I post pictures of my life in adult, a page where I post all of my knitting, photography, Photoshop and drawing art, but my baby is my blog, where I get to talk about the industry, funny things, non-industry-related things, injustices. It’s pretty eclectic because I run here and there and never get bored exploring human nature and the world at large.
Q: One of the things you seem to write a lot about on your blog is the anti-porn activists, specifically Shelley Lubben. What would you say is your biggest gripe with Shelley?
A: That she doesn’t come from a place of love. Anyone can say, “I love you,” anyone can copulate and produce a human being, but to actually love, to actually be a mother or father takes sacrifice and great acts of patience and kindness, and she doesn’t exemplify what she proposes.
I grew up Baptist and what finally made me question organized religion, not spirituality, religion, were all the people I could see at church praying and crying, who once they stepped beyond the church parking lot, did a lot of thoughtless, uncaring and cruel things. Not everyone, of course. My grandmother is the symbol of true Christianity in my mind. While she was here she loved more and laughed more heartily than anyone I’ve ever met. If anyone around her ever made a judgmental joke or said something crass, she’d touch them, shake her head and say, “Forgive,” or, “Love that person.” She said it in her own wise way, and she said it to specific situations, but that’s my memory. She would kindly and lovingly steer them towards their compassion.
Shelley Lubben appears to have a lot of hate in her heart, and unfortunately, appears very unstable most of the time. She slurs her speech as if she’s not completely clean of drugs and she acts erratic. She just posted a video where she speaks before a church audience and talks and motions about hexing porn and the Supreme Court Judges, threatens to sue the State of California, then says she’s giving them a chance by working with them.
She’s giving them a chance. It’s disturbing, the level of arrogance in this particular video, because she talks very briefly about humility, then turns back to talking about how she’s a queen and because she’s in good with God, she has money when she wants it and a parking spot up front in every parking area.
She talks about witchcraft and the moon speaking to her, so I’m not convinced, at this point, that she isn’t still in league with dark forces. I’m not sure she understands the difference between being a pure, humane and truly benevolent person when she curses women by saying they’re going to pay for the consequences of their actions. Her speeches have slowly transformed over time, but in this latest display, she uses herself and God interchangeably, and I’m not sure she doesn’t think she is a god.
Someone who doesn’t actually attend church, who admits to having been diagnosed with several disorders and childishly rejects treatment because “it’s too hard”, doesn’t need to be the caretaker of other victims and it’s not just that she’s unstable, it’s that she, herself, is a professional victim. She takes no responsibility for her choices as an adult. Someone like that should not be a caretaker for people in need and should not have a say in making policy for mature, responsibility-minded adults who don’t blame others for the choices they make in life.
Q: You, along with Michael Whiteacre, are working on a movie to show the real side of Shelley Lubben. How long have you been working on it and do you have a tentative date for its release as of yet?
A: We’ve been working on this for a few months, but it’s moved along fairly quickly because my research on Shelley Lubben goes all the way back to October 2009. That’s when I started hearing about her and her organization and seeing things that didn’t make sense. That and Michael works around the clock to do the harder work of compiling and editing. We’ve invested a lot of time in this, and not just in shooting and editing, but also in responding to blogs and forums that post things and may not have all the facts. Michael is dogged in his patience and determination to share the truth–the one thing Shelley Lubben actually thumbs her nose at while she proposes to be “All-Knowing”.
We are nearing the end, so I project we’ll be finished, hopefully, by the end of this month. It’s hard to know because it keeps growing as time goes by.
Q: What would you say is the biggest misconception people have of people who work in the adult industry?
A: I think it’s the same misconception people had about the gay community back in the 70s when people like then Senator John Briggs were campaigning to prevent gays from working in public schools because they assumed that they were having sex with the children, or at the very least, encouraging them to be sexually devious.
The misconception that I see, is that an adult who chooses a life of sexuality that doesn’t mesh with heterosexual and/or religious-based standards, is an adult who molests and/or rapes children and other adults. These are the kinds of people who are fine with watching rape and other forms of violence on television, typically, but can’t bear the fact that two adults could enjoy consenting sex for the purpose of enjoyment and profit.
And while they may not be the majority, the prejudice and stigma is such that other adults who don’t mind another person’s sexual choices, and probably don’t meddle in other adult’s affairs, are silenced from defending sex workers for fear that they’ll be targeted by these extreme, hate-propelled types of people. These kinds of people would see that women get further victimized by not making the distinction in their minds between actual sex slavery and consensual sex and not realizing that making all sex work illegal only serves to rip all protection away from the sex worker.
Making sex work legal takes the power out of the hands of pimps and shifts it to the sex worker. We live in a country that still sees women as weaklings that need protection from men and that don’t even consider the harms of the industry in regards to the men, as if because it’s a man it’s a non-issue. And to take it a step further, no one stops to realize that by allowing women to guide their own sexuality, they finally cease to cater to the male fantasy, unless they choose to. We barely know what a woman’s fantasy is in this country because it’s still so geared to pit men and women against each other and name-call females with a lot of natural sexual power. They don’t realize how healing sexual freedom can be because they’re trapped by their own judgments and misconceptions about sex, which is, naturally, a beautiful way to communicate love and pleasure. But, fortunately, sex workers are realizing they have to take that power. That is the way it works. Anything worth having is worth fighting for.
Q: This will just be a fun question but if you were to get back into the industry as a performer who are the people you would most want to work with?
A: Honestly, the women. I didn’t work with women during my stint in the industry because I’m naturally drawn to men, but if I went back on this day, I’d work with the women of the industry. I couldn’t say who, in particular, because this is a hypothetical question and I’m married and truly only attracted to my husband, but that was the immediate response in my mind.
My goal, as an actress then, was always to connect with the person. I had to be able to joke and laugh during a scene because having fun with that person made me feel good. Knowing that they knew I cared about their comfort and happiness, in the moment, made me feel good. It’s always been about projecting maturity, for me, a celebration of adulthood at its very core.
That’s why if ever I worked with someone that didn’t have the same aim; I never worked with them again. And there were times when that person was used to being aggressive, but doing a scene with me relaxed them and brought out their playful side. I would work with women to connect with them, because as I get older, I understand a little better how the world sees women and why it’s important to have my voice, as a female. I’m a human being first and foremost, but I can finally see why the female perspective is vital. Women are misunderstood, and though many women perpetuate that, I know that if the prostitutes of 1975′s Lyons could be defended by civilian women in a rights movement, it’s possible to realize solidarity among women in America, as well. It’s necessary.
Q: What advice would you give someone that is thinking about joining the adult industry?
A: Well, at this stage of the game I would say, own everything. Find a name, buy the domain, buy the trademark, buy a book on HIV and STDs and research the dangers of these viruses, go to industry events and talk to people. Don’t make any decisions about what to do and who to work for right away. Listen and learn, and if anyone is especially pushy, you’d probably do well to stay away from that particular person. Find out who the most talent-friendly producers, directors and companies are, find out who the best people to work with are and if at the end of all your research you still want to be in the industry, find a good agent. www.CSModels.net is a good agency, but they only represent women.
I don’t know, anymore, who the other good agents are, but Jim South at World Modeling still represents talent and he was my only agent. He was good to me, but above all things, always use your instincts when taking a job and if something is telling you not to work for a person or company, that’s all the information you need.
You are always within your right to say, ‘I’m not going to take the job because I just don’t have a good feeling about it.’ People who don’t respect your decisions don’t have your best interests in mind and you should separate yourself from them as son as possible. Also, you might want to find a way to do a few jobs and then create and sell your own content so that you are not completely reliant on outside sources for your income. I know webcam models who make a good, sustainable living and enjoy the control they have over their own product.
Q: What sort of things do you like to do when you aren’t working on your site? Any hobbies?
A: Lately work is all I do, but I enjoy watercolor painting, knitting and playing hostess to my friends. I probably enjoy that more than anything. I cook and we eat and drink and talk and share our ideas. I’m a very good friend, so naturally, I like seeing my friends happy.
A: Are there any other projects or special events coming up that you would like to promote, if so please do so?
A: I’ve got a lot of updates coming about The Devil and Shelley Lubben project with Michael Whiteacre and the documentary that I will post on my blog. You can see the teasers at the links below.
www.juliemeadows.com/blog
www.youtube.com/michaelwhiteacre
I’ve just created a web design and media-based company, Galactic Warrior Productions. My press release for that will be going out soon.
www.galacticwarriorproductions.com/
Anything new and important I will post and also send to you, sweet lady. Thank you for taking the time to ask me questions!