21 in 2012

That’s the slogan that will be emblazoned on a couple of modest signs featured at the Protecting Adult Welfare booth during the upcoming Adult Entertainment Expo (www.AdultEntertainmentExpo.com) as PAW’s founder William Margold – whose multi-faceted adult industry experience is nearing its fourth decade – is launching an awareness campaign to raise the hardcore (explicit sex) performing age from 18 to 21.

“Although I’ve always referred to those who perform in the X-rated entertainment world as overage version of juvenile delinquents for whom recess is 24 hours a day and the bell of responsibility rarely, if ever, rings… I think that it’s time to for us to show a certain amount of humanity as well as common sense… and to make the goodwill gesture of eliminating at least one level of doubt when comes to society’s belief that we are taking advantage of 18, 19 and even 20 year old performers who might not be ready to create images that may well haunt them the rest of their lives,” states Margold.

“Perhaps I’m being naive, or I’m putting too much faith in the concept that by 21, a person might be more prepared to make a life-altering choice, but I’m bolstered by the fact that the majority of performers that I’ve mentioned the age raising change to, have been wholeheartedly in favor of it,” continues Margold, who first proposed the 18-21 concept when he testified in front of the Meese Commission in October, 1985.

“And that includes many performers who wished that they had waited until they were 21 before entering X,” concludes Margold, who hopes to see “21 in 2012” as a perfect way to honor as well as coincide with the 40th anniversary of the modern era of X-rated film and video production.