Watch a Fascinating Docuseries on the Duke Porn Star

Belle Knox is the subject of a new Condé Nast Entertainment docuseries, which chronicles her journey from college student swamped in student loan debt to fledgling porn performer to The Duke Porn Star.

The series, which is broken into five parts, examines her path to Internet fame, reminding us once more that some of her classmates are complete pieces of shit and that she’s used her platform to say some amazing things. It also provides a nuanced look at her experience in the sex industry: at times, Belle sees it as empowering and enjoyable; at other times, not so much. (This is pretty much true of any job, as she’s pointed out before — although the lingering stigma surrounding sex work makes her experience far more extreme.)

“I know who I am, I know my identity,” she says in the second episode. “I know what I need and I know what I want — sometimes. And, with porn, everything is on my terms. I can say no whenever I want to. I can do what I want to, I can do what I don’t want to. I’m in control. And I like the assertive, passionate person I’m becoming because of porn.”

In the fifth episode, sounding a lot less positive, she says, “Porn is like any other job. It’s labor. I think that liking it is irrelevant.”

I recommend watching the whole thing in full. It’s moving and illuminating, and it does a lot to dispel the weird misconceptions and fantasies we have about working in porn. For me, too, it really reaffirms the idea that no one but sex workers should be able to decide what’s best for sex workers.