Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2009. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Los Angeles Times Blog - February 19, 2009
Posted by Richard Abowitz
Though her career arc is focused now, her entry into adult work was surprisingly casual. She started as a stripper when she was in her 20s, she says, after her car broke down while she was driving back from the second Woodstock concert. And she feels she made the right choice entering the adult business. Her stage show as a stripper included fire-eating and sword-swallowing, taught one night by Penn of Penn & Teller fame. "The sword-swallowing really helped my career get to the next level in every way. It worked on stage. It worked in a movie."
At 39, Cannibal is one of the older women here, a fact that pleases her. "The only thing bad about getting older in this business is that I will never get to see my hair turn gray."
Even after law school, Cannibal sees her practice focusing on adult entertainment, and she would not mind owning her own brothel one day. "I would change nothing about how the brothel industry is run. I see myself as an advocate for the legal sex industry," she says. Cannibal has in her room a pile of studies from various journals, and has made it her work to contrast the safety of Nevada brothels with the adult business in California. She has worked in both, and she considers Nevada brothels much safer. "Testing is not protection," she says. "The porn industry only tests. We are required by law in Nevada to be tested and practice safe sex."
Of course, brothels do not test for every STD either, though they do test for HIV, among others. I asked Cannibal if she thinks brothel workers should, for example, be given herpes tests. Her response: "I am not tested for malaria, and I see a lot of troops who just got back from foreign countries."
I asked her if she worries that she could have a customer with HIV, whereas in adult films all parties are tested. But she said she's confident that safe sex as practiced in Nevada brothels works.
The Nevada brothel industry for a long time has proudly claimed that no one has ever been infected with HIV in a legal brothel in this state. In my years reporting on brothels here, I have never heard anyone dispute that, including two UNLV professors I have spoken with who study the brothels.
090219
LT090203
Copyright © 2009 - Los Angeles Times. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Los Angeles Times, Permissions, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053. http://www.latimes.com.
AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted funding from Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Elton John AIDS Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, Pacific Life Foundation and donations from users like you.
Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2009. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.
Copyright ©1980, 2009. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .