IR (adj., abbreviation) adult-industry shorthand for interracial porn scenes, commonly but not always between a white woman and a black man

The adult industry has held multiple town halls on the racist tropes displayed in many IR porn scenes between white and black performers.

The Black Lives Matter movement is sweeping multiple industries, from entertainment to publishing to tech, with accusations of racism forcing a much-needed reckoning. This is true of the adult business as well. In recent weeks the industry, which typically operates under the radar due to society’s reticence around anything involving sex, has experienced heightened levels of scrutiny. Many of the allegations and criticisms relate to IR, or interracial, scenes, a marketing term that has become steeped in problematic connotations.

In the adult world, black actors have to traverse a treacherous minefield of stereotypes, marginalization and discrimination in order to see any type of payday, and in the wake of the George Floyd protests, black performers’ stories are finally gaining mainstream attention and momentum. In the adult lexicon, the term interracial is much narrower than its standard definition and almost always refers to a white or white-adjacent female actress shooting a sex scene with a black male actor. IR scenes can be a financial boon for white actresses: It’s common for them to demand a payment much higher than their regular rate in order to perform with a black man. A prominent white actress can expect a tiny windfall for her “first IR” scene, with the phrase even becoming a subgenre on major porn sites. None of that bonus money trickles down to their black male counterparts, who often have to fight to be paid market rates for their work. The practice of paying premium rates to white participants in IR scenes while black actors receive less for the same work perpetuates damaging hierarchies about race and skin color in the porn industry and in America’s sexual dialogue at large.

Sparked by the historic social shift that America is undergoing, major studios are finally having to address racism in the billion-dollar industry, and porn consumers are having to think harder about what they choose to consume and what it means to view porn ethically.