Jewcy: Your mom is concerned about your financials.

Joanna Angel: How many other twenty-five year olds do you know that are buying real estate and investing? I live on both sides of the country, and that’s expensive. You tend to spend a lot when you’re going coast to coast. When you’re in this business, you also have to look like a million dollars all the time and that isn’t cheap.

Jewcy: Did you go to public school?

Joanna Angel: My parents were a little nutty. They kept taking me in and out of Hebrew school and public school.

Jewcy: We were talking about the old clichés of adult stars and how they come from broken homes. But aside from having a stable high school environment, your upbringing sounds very different. It sounds nurturing.

Joanna Angel: There are a lot of people in porn. There are a lot of functional people in porn.

Jewcy: Tell me about the time your mom discovered your first piercing.

Joanna Angel: [Laughs] I was doing tashlich on Yom Kippur and I raised my hand to throw bread into the water. And she was like, Oh my God. What is that? I was going to tell her but I didn’t want her to be upset.

Jewcy: Your first tattoo was on your shoulder.

Joanna Angel: Yeah, I actually have a lot of them now that she doesn’t know about. She knows about some of them but I forget which are the ones she knows about and the ones she doesn’t, so I try to keep track for when I have to cover up when I go home. Sometimes, though, I make mistakes.

Jewcy: Did you secretly desire to be a porn star in high school, or as a teen?

Joanna Angel: No, never. It never crossed my mind until my roommate in college asked me if I wanted to start a porn website with him. I knew nothing about porn initially. I grew up in the punk and hardcore scene—we were focused on making the world better, not sex. I didn’t lose my virginity until I was eighteen.

When my roommate did ask me about the website, I thought I was going to help run it or just write on it. It was exciting. It sounded like fun. I remember getting the website together and asking girls to model and I started to feel really hypocritical not doing it myself.

Then we took the photos of me and I didn’t think they were going to come out well and I remember looking at the photos and thinking, “Wow, I look kinda hot.” Originally, I thought I was a crusty vegan girl with short hair and bad skin but it came out kinda hot and it made me feel great.

Jewcy: Why did you start stripping?

Joanna Angel: I was sick of living in Jersey. I wanted to move and take it to the next level. I was in a crunch for money because of the website and I didn’t want to wait tables. And after I started the website, I saw a new side of myself and I didn’t mind going with it.

Jewcy: Have you ever had any feelings of guilt?

Joanna Angel: I don’t like pissing off my mom. I used to like it when I was little. And the only time I really thought that if my mom could see me, she would cry—and this is going to sound really fucked up—is when I did my first porno with a black guy. I was thinking, this right here is my mother’s worst nightmare. This is not what a nice Jewish mom wants her daughter to do.

And I feel bad when she sees some stuff. I remember when she borrowed my car and she opened the trunk and I had some DVDs in there, and she was like, “Oh my God. There are pictures of Joanna having sexual intercourse in the trunk of the car!” But I don’t feel guilty because I think I’m doing something wrong. I just don’t want her being upset.

Jewcy: Your mom thinks you want to get married eventually.

Joanna Angel: My mom’s been talking to me about it since I’ve been fifteen. And I do want to eventually get married. Yeah, why not?

Jewcy: Where do you want to be in ten years?

Joanna Angel: I would like to direct more and act less. I don’t think I’m that good at performing. But I do enjoy it. I wish I was better at it. I get nominated generally for Best Directing and Best Acting but other girls in my movies get nominated for Best Three-way or Best Oral.

Jewcy: Does it matter to you that your family can’t respect your profession?

Joanna Angel: I was never looking for validation from my family. It’s important that they’re in my life but I don’t need my dad to pat me on my back—I just want to see them and have them love me. It’s huge to me that my mom is still willing to embrace me and accept me. I think I took my mom for granted when I was growing up but not anymore.

Jewcy: How do you respond to your mom’s criticism that men take advantage of women in this industry?

Joanna Angel: Men take advantage of women in every industry. We live in a patriarchy. But that being said, when you want to do porn, you go to an agent and they ask you what you will do and what you won’t do—will you do girls? Will you do boys and girls? It’s not like that in the real world. They don’t give you options like that.

Jewcy: Does your partner in Burning Angel appear in any of the films?

Joanna Angel: No. He actually tried to talk me out of doing the movies. He tries to tell my mom that but she doesn’t believe him. It was just something I really wanted to do.

Jewcy: Do you still have a passion for having intercourse on film for public consumption?

Joanna Angel: Um, yeah. Well, as times goes on, I don’t think I’ll be doing more Burning Angel movies because it’s my own company so it may look strange that I’m promoting myself. But I am doing like six Hustler movies a year. I think the stage I’m at is kind of nice because I look forward to doing them now as opposed to tiring of them. There are some girls in the industry that work every day. You can’t enjoy that. But nobody enjoys what they do every day.

Jewcy: Do you still feel connected to your tradition considering your line of work?

Joanna Angel: I go home for the holidays. It’s a time to see my family and it’s a purely traditional thing for me. It’s not spiritual. And you know, I think I would feel uncomfortable marrying someone who wasn’t Jewish. I couldn’t live in a house with a Christmas tree—that would make me uncomfortable.

The post Kiss Your Mother With That Mouth? Part II appeared first on Jewcy.

Joanna Angel’s Israeli mother had classic immigrant aspirations for her daughter. Prosperity. Respect. With her latest movie, XXXorcist, debuting this week, 25-year-old Joanna Angel has achieved both those things, but her mother—who prefers the family name stay private—is devastated. Her daughter’s many awards, significant wealth, and profile in the New York Times have all come about because Angel is better than most, some say one of the best, at making men orgasm.

Part I: Joanna’s Mom

Jewcy: How did Joanna get started in pornography?

Joanna’s Mom: When she was in college, Joanna was out of control. I first realized how bad it was when I was in her apartment during Passover and I saw all these pictures and they made me sick. I’m not sure why she is so proud of what she is doing. She was profiled by The New York Times and she was so proud of it. I don’t know why.

Jewcy: Are you proud of the business she’s established for herself?

Joanna’s Mom: She makes a lot of money but she spends it all. And she won’t have any for the future. I would be more comfortable with her doing all these terrible things if she was doing something for her future. Joanna’s sister has an honorable job that makes $25,000 a year and she is able to do all the things most people do. Like go on vacation.

Jewcy: Is it the profession that bothers you or the fact that she’s not saving money?

Joanna’s Mom: No. No. They’re taking advantage of her. This is what bothers me so much. It’s one thing to make money off of this horrible thing but it’s another to not have the money. They are taking advantage of her sick mind.

Jewcy: When did Joanna first tell you about her porn career?

Joanna’s Mom: “Mommy, I don’t want you to be upset.” That’s how she started the conversation.

So I said, “Do you want to come home now?”

“No, we can talk about it on the phone.” And she says, “Mommy, I only did it once but I did a short strip.”

And immediately, I was very upset. Once is enough to make you slide down to the bottom. She kept on doing it because she told us that she was making a lot of money. She was out of control at this point. And all the psychologists and therapists that we invested in were helpless. I tried everything. All those people with their degrees are garbage. They couldn’t do anything. It just got worse and worse and no one could help.

Jewcy: Do you think your daughter is ashamed of her profession?

Joanna’s Mom: A long time ago, she knew she was doing something not nice. And she did whatever she could to not embarrass me, like change her name. I was proud of her that she was so worried about me. But do you know the Hebrew word arzut metzach? It means you steal but you’re proud of it. It’s something you do without being embarrassed and you’re proud of it. This is not nice. I believe that my dear Joanna is crawling with the sheretzim—the animals that live in the dirt and sewers. They don’t know they’re dirty and living in the sewers but you get used to the smell. You forget.

Jewcy: In retrospect, what about Joanna’s upbringing that made her want to be a porn star?

Joanna’s Mom: Maybe it’s because I’m different. Maybe it’s because I’m not American. I don’t know. She had a hard time with the two different cultures. But this only happened to Joanna. I cry to the other daughters not to try anything even once.

Jewcy: I’m sure you’ve thought about this a lot since Joanna left college: Was there a specific point in time, or an event, that helped you understand how Joanna became the way she is?

Joanna’s Mom: It started with a belly piercing, I think. But then the tattoos started coming. I actually saw her first piercing in shul on Yom Kippur when her shirt was lifted up and I saw it. She left the room crying because I was so upset. I asked her, who did that to you? And then she got a tattoo in college and then she got one on her back. Her sister and my husband both thought she was going to stop so they let it go. And now they say, “Mommy, you’re right.” And it’s too late. I needed the support then. It’s just too late now.

Jewcy: When Joanna was growing up, did she have consistent boyfriends?

Joanna’s Mom: A lot of people loved her very much. But one day she cried and said, “I don’t understand why so many people love me and I don’t love them back.” She had a hard time accepting people’s love.

Jewcy: Do you think Joanna wants to get married?

Joanna’s Mom: She didn’t but I think now she does. She’s beginning to think about it. But who would want to marry her? With all these things she did?

Jewcy: Does she have a boyfriend now?

Joanna’s Mom: Yes.

Jewcy: Is it important for you that she has a Jewish boyfriend or eventually, a husband?

Joanna’s Mom: I have no idea. Look, I want her to be happy. I think it’s important for a husband and wife to share a tradition. I think it would be best for her to marry someone that understands her traditions. Only a Jewish person would be comfortable with her.

Jewcy: What was your upbringing like?

Joanna’s Mom: I grew up in a spiritual home. We had a traditional spiritual upbringing. My husband’s side is all not religious.

Jewcy: Have you see any of her pictorials or movies? Have you even looked at the websites?

Joanna’s Mom: Listen, listen. I don’t want to get upset even more. I am upset enough. When I was in her apartment once, I was very hurt and surprised by the pictures on the wall. I tried very hard to help her find a new way. When I saw the pictures, I lost hope and it made me very sick. It was hard for me to talk to her but she is my daughter and I will always love her.

Jewcy: What I’m still trying to figure out is how Joanna became the way she is. There is this stereotypical porn star’s upbringing and it involves a dysfunctional, broken home…

Joanna’s Mom: This was not the case at all. I believe she became what she became because of money. She was working very hard for money and she got caught up in a terrible community. She lived with a girl in her dormitory and this girl always had money. Joanna found out that she made all this money from stripping. I said, Joanna, don’t you ever do this.

I am surprised at all these children. They are all very educated. They are all smart people. I met one of her stripper friends who was getting her doctorate from Columbia University. Why do intelligent people do these horrible things? We as a Jewish people believe that derech eretz kadma l’torah. In these universities, they place an emphasis on material and career – material, material. They don’t care how you make money. And because of this, I don’t recommend college. I think it’s a dangerous place.

Another friend of Joanna came on a trip with us and she was stripping. She said she was stripping since she was sixteen and she was studying, she tells me, to be a psychologist. Could you imagine sending your children to a psychologist that was a stripper for ten years? American society is telling our children that once you are a teenager you can do whatever you want.

Jewcy: Do you ever think things would have been the same had you stayed in Israel?

Joanna’s Mom: There are hookers in Israel also. It’s not Israel and America maybe. It’s the influence, the Western ideals.

Jewcy: It sounds like things are picking up professionally for her.

Joanna’s Mom: Yes, they are but they are making money off of her. They are taking advantage. She is making the business, doing those things. How can she not understand that this is a horrible thing for a woman? Look at a suicide bomber. They want to do it but why do they want to do it? Because they are brainwashed. She thinks this is power, this is control but it is not. A lot of girls are doing it without their parents knowing until it is too late. There are parents who know, though, and they take money from the stripping. They take money from the girl. We would never take any money from her.

Jewcy: It sounds like you’re trying to be supportive…

Joanna’s Mom: Supportive? What? It didn’t help. I did nothing. I told her to just stop doing the movies and just manage the project. Why does she have to do it? Why couldn’t she just give the movies to someone else?

Jewcy: Maybe she gets enjoyment out of it.

Joanna’s Mom: It’s hard for me to believe it. Listen, you have to understand what a woman wants. A woman is not like a man. A man can get enjoyment no matter what. A woman is not like that. She cannot get pleasure wherever she wants.

Next Page: Joanna speaks!

N E X T

Do: What was your take on this interview: fascinating or exploitive? And what about mom’s comparison of Joanna to a suicide bomber? Post a comment below and let your inner Catherine MacKinnon run free. Go: Want to go to a pajama party with your favorite porn star? Drop by the first annual LoneStar Pornutopia Weekend in Houston, Texas, from November 29 To Saturday, December 2. It’s advertised as the most extravagant weekend in Houston history. Read: Right, because you’re in it for the articles.

The post Kiss Your Mother With That Mouth? Part I appeared first on Jewcy.