Do you know the names Margaret Hyra, Neta-Lee Hershlag or Demetria Guynes? Any ideas? How about Julie Smith or Robyn Fenty? You might know them better by their stage names of, respectively, Meg Ryan, Natalie Portman, Demi Moore, Julianne Moore and Rihanna. Does knowing their original names change the perception of their work? Outside of idle curiosity, I’m guessing the answer is no.
I’m writing about names because of this NYT article on sex work and working names. It’s written by a pro-domme named Mistress Natalie and details all the aggressive boundary pushing clients did to try and find her ‘real’ name. I’m sure its contents are no surprise to other sex workers. Clients who pay attention shouldn’t be too surprised either. It’s a common complaint on sex workers social media feeds.
It always struck me as a weird thing for clients to care about. I get why creepy boundary pushers do it, but what’s everyone else’s excuse? We’re accepting of professional names in all sorts of other situations. Isn’t the name that someone chose for themselves more interesting and meaningful than the one picked by their parents a few decades back? Nobody accuses Helen Mirren of being inauthentic just because she doesn’t go around calling herself Ilyena Lydia Mironoff. Although, frankly she probably should use that, because it’s an awesome name.
This is the great Dame Helen herself, shooting for US Vogue in 2013.
Great… now I’m going to be fantasizing about “Mistress Ilyena” for the rest of the day.
What a great way to spend a day! 🙂
My Russian teacher once gleefully explained Russian naming conventions by pointing out that Helen Mirren’s proper name was
Ylena Lydia Vasilyevna Mironova
Vasilyevna being the female ‘patronymic’ of her father’s name, Vasily
and Mironova being the female version of her family name, Mironoff.
I think that’s even better!
I think you’re right. That is even better! Although, much as I love it, I can understand why she changed it. Not something you could easily put on a movie poster.
-paltego