April Flores and Carlos Batts on Art, Porn, Love, BBWs, and Their New Film

Oct 082012
 


This Friday, October 12th, on Sex Out Loud I talk to model and performer April Flores and photographer and filmmaker Carlos Batts as part of my “Live in LA” series recorded in studio in Los Angeles. This dynamic duo in art and life reveals how they first met and what fuels their erotic collaborations. Carlos talks about his body of work, why he loves to make art, and the exhibit inspired by the sex toy molded from April’s vagina. April will discuss her role as a plus-size model in the adult industry, what she thinks of the term BBW, and her Feminist Porn Award for Heartthrob of the Year. They will also give us a insider’s look at their newest film, April Flores World.

April Flores is a muse, erotic performer, and model, but that’s not even scratching the surface. A fearless BBW star with scarlet hair, proponent of the queer community, feminist, sex-positive activist, outspoken advocate of body diversity, glamorous art model, avid kink fan, sub and dom both, and all around powerful woman. April has graced the covers of Bizarre and AVN Magazines, among others; modeled for dozens of fine art photographers; Featured Guest & Co Host Espanol on Playboy Sirius/XM Radio; appeared in countless adult films in every genre of the porn industry (from mainstream to queer to kinky to artsy); and spoken out about body image through her mere presence and powerful sexuality, along with her activism.

 Carlos Batts is an award winning; Artist, Photographer and Director. Batts’ artwork has appeared on book covers, fashion magazines, comic books and motion pictures. Carlos has three internationally distributed hardbound coffee table books; Wild Skin, Crazy Sexy Hollywood and American Gothic that document a wide variety of sub-cultures. Batts has directed independent art films; American Gothic, Voluptuous Biker Babes, and April Flores World that are distributed through various mainstream outlets. Born in Baltimore, Batts now lives and creates in Hollywood with his Muse, April Flores.

SUBMIT TO CINEKINK!

Sep 282012
 


Call for Entries – CineKink/2013 – our tenth edition!

CineKink –“the kinky film festival”–is seeking films and videos, of any length and genre, that explore and celebrate a wide diversity of sexuality. Dedicated to the recognition and encouragement of sex-positive and kink-friendly depictions in film and television, we’re looking to blur some boundaries and will be considering offerings drawn from both Hollywood and beyond, with works ranging from documentary to drama, camp comedy to artsy experimental, mildly spicy to quite explicit–and everything in between.

Cutting across orientations, topics covered at CineKink have included–but are by no means limited to–BDSM, leather and fetish, swinging, non-monogamy and polyamory, roleplay and gender bending, sex work and sex geekery. Basically, as long as it involves consenting adults, just about anything celebrating sex as a right of self expression is fair game. (Far be it from us to define “kink” – if you think your work might make sense in this context, please send it along!)

Scheduled for its tenth annual appearance in February 2013, the specially-curated CineKink NYC will also feature a short film competition, audience choice awards, a special adult entertainment showcase, presentations, parties and a gala kick-off event, along with retrospective screenings commemorating a decade’s worth of kinky programming. A national tour will follow, showcasing audience favorites from the NYC festival selections.

Discounted, early-bird entries have a post-marked deadline of September 28th, while the regular deadline is November 9th and the final deadline is December 4th.  

For more information, please visit http://cinekink.com/programs-and-events/call-for-entries.

Sept 7: Courtney Trouble and Dylan Ryan on Queer Porn, Sexual Fluidity, and Subverting Porn Formulas

Sep 032012
 

This Friday, September 7th at 5pm PT / 8pm ET on Sex Out Loud, I spend the hour talking with two queer porn icons, Courtney Trouble and Dylan Ryan. These award-winning queer porn innovators will discuss their work together as well as share experiences from their individual careers, both behind and in front of the cameras. We’ll discuss queer porn – what is means and what it looks like – plus, sexual fluidity and how subverting expectations of porn is broadening their audience and fan base, bringing new queer viewers to the porn-watching table.

 

Courtney Trouble

Courtney Trouble is a film-maker, published and celebrated photographer, queer rights activist, DIY genius, and an award-winning feminist pornographer. Courtney is the founder of IndiePornRevolution.com. and QueerPorn.TV, as well of the director of 12 full-length films.

Queer Porn Icon Courtney Trouble has been producing, directing, and performing in Queer Porn since 2002, and is responsible for coining the term “Queer Porn” as a genre in the mainstream industry. Nominated for 3 AVN Awards, and winner of 4 Feminist Porn Awards, Courtney Trouble’s films speak to an extremely fluid, authentic, and hardcore version of graphic sexual imagery.

Courtney Trouble’s films, like Seven Minutes In Heaven: Coming Out!, Billy Castro Does The Mission, and the Roulette series, have become the new standard in queer porn. They feature performers that run the gamut of fame, gender, and sexual orientation, such as Jiz Lee, Wolf Hudson, Dylan Ryan, Lorelei Lee, Syd Blakovich and Madison Young.

No Fauxxx
NoFauxxx.Com (now IndiePornRevolution.com) was created in 2002 as a space to explore sex beyond straight, gay, lesbian, and gender binaries. This site led to the creation of the “Queer Porn” genre, with it’s all-inclusive casting and production standards. By all means an obscure, self-funded under-dog, No Fauxxx remains the longest-running porn site of it’s kind. No Fauxxx’s genre and gender -less navigation structure encourages the audience to think outside their own boxes and find something new and exciting to get off to

In 2002, Trouble created NoFauxxx.Com, the largest and longest-running queer porn site in history. It features the “No Fauxxx Foxes” – performers and models both amateur, professional, and famous – of all genders and sexual orientations.

NoFauxxx.Com and Courtney Trouble are major players in the expansion of the FTM (female-to-male) porn niche from 2002 forward, introducing many new FTM models and performers to the industry. “I wanted to do things that the mainstream adult industry wouldn’t do, and one of those things was working with trans men and expanding the near-non-existent genre. In a way, we have collaboratively been able to create a niche of pornography that is far, far less stereotyping or generalising by building it from nearly nothing, and inviting trans men to come into the niche and define it themselves.”

She has successfully mixed her lo-fi “do-it-yourself” indie-art aesthetic with an accessible, understandable, yet female-forward porn formula that the average porn consumer (whoever that is!) as well as the subversive, political, and inquisitive crowd can enjoy.

She started NoFauxxx.Com as a 19 year old photographer and web designer, with the purpose of creating an indie porn site that was authentic, empowering, and all-inclusive. She wanted it to break stereotypes in the adult industry, and act as a tool for ladies, queers, and artists, to explore the erotic and sexual side of creativity. She soon found herself as one of the founders of the queer porn movement, setting the stage for all that was to come.

Queer Porn TV
Launched in November 2010 with co-director Tina Horn, Courtney Trouble’s second porn site QueerPorn.TV features exclusive hard core content available for direct download, VOD, or from within the VIP Lounge (member’s area.) Stars on the site include Jiz Lee, Wolf Hudson, Dylan Ryan, Madison Young, Billy Castro, James Darling, Maggie Mayhem, Sophia St. James, and many more.

There is an incredible amount of free content on QueerPorn.TV – including in-depth video interviews with Queer Porn Stars already adored by QueerPorn.TV’s early fans. These intimate interviews delve into topics ranging from performing in porn, exhibitionism, kink, gender fluidity, and sexual appetite, allowing the user to access the stars of their favorite porn in a whole new way.

The freedom with which our stars express their own sexuality and appetites has resulted in content that can only be called genre defining.

QueerPornTV teamed up with woman-owned, woman-run sex toy boutique Smitten Kitten to produce sex educational videos on topics such as strap on sex, dildos, rope bondage, rough sex, female ejaculation, watching porn as a couple, and sex with vibrators.

Live Sex Show
Courtney Trouble’s 12th film, entitled Live Sex Show, was shot in front of a live audience of 200 people at 2010’s San Francisco’s Masturbate-a-Thon. Starring Nina Hartley and Jiz Lee in an educational yet filthy scene, April Flores and the Matador in a dramatically-lit, sexy love story, and Courtney herself in a climactic surprise 5-on-1 porn-star-on-director gang bang! This film marks her very first independent release under her new company TROUBLEfilms, which will umbrella all of her films, video projects, and porn web sites. Live Sex Show was filmed with major help from Carol Queen and Robert from the Center for Sex and Culture, and will partially benefit their Center financially through DVD sales and screenings.

Reel Queer Productions
Courtney Trouble has directed and edited 11 films for Reel Queer Productions, a video house she helped build with Good Releasing that documents authentic, edgy, queer sex and culture with relevant, intelligent films inclusive of the many sexualities that identify as queer. Among these titles are 4 plot-based hardcore films and the award-winning Roulette and Seven Minute In Heaven series. These films are available for sale and streaming VOD around the world, most notable from Courtney Trouble herself at her website CourtneyTrouble.Com.

Performances
Courtney Trouble is a fearless, feisty, and lust-worthy hardcore porn star. She’s fucked on film for Shine Louise Houston, Carlos Batts, Madison Young, PaddedKink, Kink.Com, Crash Pad Series, QueerPorn.TV, Cocksexual, Good Dyke Porn, and much much more.

“Being on both ends of the camera is important to me,” says Trouble. “Having sex on film is an extremely intimate act, and it’s something that I take seriously for many reasons. First of all, I find it insanely arousing fucking friends and sometimes strangers on film, it’s a high I can’t find anywhere else. Also, It’s a political act for me – my body deserves to be seen and publicly acknowledged as insanely sexy – and the way I fuck as a queer femme switch is enlightening and inspirational to people of all sexualities. And, logistically, it tremendously helps me direct. I think knowing what it’s like in front of the lights and the crew makes me a better director, I’m more prepared for the emotional, technical, and social aspects of shooting a hardcore scene.”

Photographer
The recipient of a Polaroid instant camera at age 8, Courtney Trouble’s life has been dedicated to photography. She spent high school and college in a dark room, and began shoot intimate, erotic portraits of her friends and lovers at 18 years old. She is known for her bright, high saturation, bold, and abusively honest straight-forward compositions, and has been published everywhere from On Our Backs to Bend Over magazine.

QueerPornTube.Com
QueerPornTube.Com is the very first user-generated, amateur and professional adult Tube Site catered directly towards the queer and sex-positive community, and of course their friends, lovers, and fans. This project was born from a desire to create a truly accessibly porn community, something entirely free so that adults of all class categories could participate in the queer porn movement. The clips on the site are uploaded by amateurs as well as indie porn companies, and comments, community building, and embedding videos is welcome. QueerPornTube is a free, universal porn site created by the community. This site is anti-piracy and does not allow the uploading of copyrighted videos.

Film Shorts, Music Videos
Courtney Trouble most recently directed Chapter One of Michelle Tea’s “Valencia: The Movie/s,” a film that consists of 21 director’s unique takes on each chapter of the legendary queer memoir. Her chapter, the introduction to the film, features a lifelike fisting scene and boasts a soundtrack of Bikini Kill! Courtney has also directed music videos for pop star Jenna Riot and indie rock band French Quarter.

 

Dylan Ryan

After working at the Lusty Lady and Good Vibrations in San Francisco, Dylan Ryan started her porn career in 2003 with Shine Lousie Houston’s The Crash Pad. Since then, this porn superhero has starred in over 45 films, including Tristan Taormino’s Expert Guide to Pegging, Expert Guide to Female Orgasms, and Rough Sex 2. She’s collaborated with Courtney Trouble and was voted Heartthrob of the Year in 2009 at the Feminist Porn Awards. Follow her on Twitter (@thedylanryan) and see more of her work on her Tumblr.

Life is a Cabaret: A Review of Cabaret Desire

Aug 242012
 

 

Cabaret Desire, a new adult film by Erika Lust, is truly a work of art. Set inside a haven of erotic storytelling, this film transports viewers to a mystical world of play, desire, fantasy, and sex. It feels like a grown-up fairytale. Pole dancers sweat. Soft music plays. Drinks are poured. Patrons weave in and out. A fierce-looking Madame watches the events unfold. However, the central theme of Cabaret Desire revolves around the storytellers, who are paid to share tales of love and lust. These sagas quickly evolve into their own steamy scenes, making this a fairytale where everyone gets a happy ending—especially you.

There are four, unique (yet equally compelling) stories in Cabaret Desire. The first follows a young, busty, tattooed woman (Sophia Prada). She is torn between two lovers. The catch? Both of her lovers are named Alex —one is female, one is male, and they each believe that they are her exclusive partner. She balances this affair for a while, successfully convincing either Alex that they are the only one she serenades in the park or fucks on the couch. But the audience is onto her little secret. Erika Lust masterfully juxtaposes the dates—and the sex—creating a beautiful montage of all the strap-on wearing, genital licking, finger-fucking that takes place with between Prada and either Alex.

The next plotline is the kinkiest (which isn’t saying much—Cabaret Desire is definitely for folks looking for a softer erotic flick). A mustachioed storyteller speaks of his mother—an art historian with a penchant for thievery and latex. Seconds later, we watch a beautiful woman in full-body latex (Lourdes “Lady Diamond”) break into a parlor and tie an unsuspecting man to a chair. After cutting off his boxers with scissors (a splash of danger) and sucking his cock, she proceeds to unzip the crotch of her latex suit and sit on his face. The scene ends with them fucking and the surprising discovery that this man is the father of her child.

Following the tale of the latex mommy comes a birthday girl (Liandra Dahl) who, for the big 3-0, gets a very special present. Her friends orchestrate for her to be blindfolded and led to a warehouse. In a room draped with white fabric, she sees a man (Matisse). She admits to having been interested in him for a while and the pair sucks, fucks, and cums on the cloud-like bed. The lighting makes this scene seem almost romantic, and yet we are fully aware that their interaction is a gift-exchange, thus complicating the typical romance narrative.

The last story features a man (Didac Duran) and a woman (Samia Duarte) who once shared a passionate, sex-filled weekend (which we, the viewers, are blessed to see snippets of). Now, a year later, the partners are meeting up. Both are quite curious about whether their old spark will still be there…and so are we.

These storylines are brought to life by the performers and their wonderful chemistry. Best of all, Cabaret Desire features a range of bodies—all of which look incredibly real. You can see small pockmarks, belly rolls, and a variety of pubic hairstyles. This beautiful depiction of the human form makes the film come across as more intimate, almost as if you are peeking into the real-life stories of a lucky few.

All in all, Cabaret Desire is a must-see film for anyone looking for the perfect mix of porn and art. As I mentioned earlier, it is not hardcore, but don’t let that deter you. The cinematography, music, and interwoven plotlines make it enjoyable even on a non-erotic level. So let your brain linger in a magical world of sex and storytelling. You won’t be disappointed.

Buy Cabaret Desire: Good Vibrations (DVD) or Hot Movies for Her (VOD)

~~~

Abby Spector is a recent graduate of Wesleyan University, where she majored in Feminist/Gender/Sexuality Studies. She is currently interning for Tristan, a job that allows her to write about sex, research feminist porn, and play with dogs (among other, equally awesome things). When she isn’t working, Abby enjoys comfortable nudity and salty foods. Her dream? A world where she could sit around naked and eat overly-salted french fries. Her blog is Sexy Awkward Times.

Ask the Intern: Confused About What I Like

Aug 222012
 

 

I like men and I like having sex with them. However, I find it difficult to tell them what I like, since I’m not sure what I like myself. Plus, I’m an irregular orgasm-er with masturbation. Worse, it’s porn-conditioned: I most frequently get off to porn. Without porn, it’s pretty darn difficult. These days, what usually gets me off, non-porn wise, is imagining going down on another woman. Fun, huh?

I am only at the beginning of my active sexual life. What am I to do?? Help!

Overwhelmed Toronto Tart

Start by patting yourself on the back (or your pussy). You can have orgasms! So what if they are masturbation-based or require porn? Many people struggle with achieving an orgasm in any capacity. But you, my friend, have a general understanding of how to get yourself off. Congratulations.

However, when it comes to cumming, it’s nice to have a better-than-general understanding of your pleasure points. So grab a vibrator, glob on some lube, and explore your body. Learn what you like. Push yourself (within limits of safety and comfort) to test new positions and sensations. In terms of orgasms, we are our own best teachers. Self-pleasure is the first lesson plan.

Now onto your porn woes…stop worrying. Just because you get off easiest from porn does not mean that you will lead a life of solo orgasms and subsequent spinsterhood.   Pornography does not have to be experienced alone. Watching porn with a partner can be an incredibly arousing experience, especially when it sparks creative juices (which, in turn, can spark your juices). Find out what porn your partner(s) enjoys. If this conversation seems too daunting, curl up in bed with an explicit yet not-quite-pornographic film. I recommend Y Tu Mamá También or Sex and Lucia (gotta love the Spanish).

And you’re right—it is fun to fantasize about going down on women! Have you ever tried having sex with a woman (outside of your imagination)? You might love it. You might loathe it. I think it’s worth the try (then again, I think everything is worth a try). You’re just starting your sexually active life. It’s prime time for experimentation.

~~~

Abby Spector is a recent graduate of Wesleyan University, where she majored in Feminist/Gender/Sexuality Studies. She is currently interning for Tristan, a job that allows her to write about sex, research feminist porn, and play with dogs (among other, equally awesome things). When she isn’t working, Abby enjoys comfortable nudity and salty foods. Her dream? A world where she could sit around naked and eat overly-salted french fries. Her blog is Sexy Awkward Times.

 

August 17: Adult Film Stars Danny Wylde and Lily LaBeau on Making Art Porn, Being in Love, and Their New Venture HotelLaBeau.com

Aug 152012
 

This Friday, Sex Out Loud will be coming to you LIVE from LA! I’m talking to adult film stars Danny Wylde and Lily LaBeau about what it’s like to be performers in a relationship. They’ll reveal the best part of dating another porn star, what they fight about, and the difference between sex on screen and off screen. I will ask them about monogamy, their favorite directors, interacting with fans, and what they think about the recent condom mandate in LA. Plus, we’ll hear about their latest venture together: HotelLaBeau.com.

Lily Labeau is an AVN-nominated actress and model named “Next Star of the Year” by CAVR. She is the creative force behind LilyLuvs.com, InsideLilyLaBeau.com, and soon, HotelLaBeau.com. Danny Wylde is a pornographer, writer, musician, and filmmaker living in Los Angeles, California.

Sexing the Transman XXX: Review

Jul 242012
 

We’re starting to review feminist porn titles on the site, and here is our first one. I had the chance to see a screening of some excerpts of Sexing The Transman XXX on the big screen in Toronto during the Feminist Porn Awards. I remember when I first heard Buck’s voice on film as he talked to his interview subjects from behind the camera, I thought, “Buck sounds like some creepy dirty old man.” Then I watched, and along with this dialogue were these long, lingering camera shots, following the ripple in a guy’s chest, the muscle definition of his arm. Buck and his camera were ogling these men – objectifying them even. It was all so lascivious and voyeuristic. It even reminded me of some of those old straight porn movies where the camera guy checks out the woman he’s filming in a really leering way. And then it struck me: we never see transmale bodies objectified or sexualized. We rarely see them naked or represented in erotic contexts. Buck’s camera was not simply ogling, it was worshipping these trans male bodies and his voice reinforced this adoration. The whole thing is incredibly subversive. Now, here’s Raybear’s take on the film. —Tristan

Since 2005, Buck Angel has proven himself to be a tenacious and consistent porn star in representing who he is and how he likes to fuck on screen, without a trace of shame or apology. In fact, he displays quite the opposite – absolute confidence and pride in his body and sexuality. His latest move, Sexing The Transman XXX, is an educational porn that expands his trademark attitude into the bedroom of other transmen. Buck is primarily behind the camera in this film, playing the role of sexy interrogator who asks each guy provocative questions about their gender, their body, their transition, and most importantly what turns them on, which leads them to strip down and show us how they like to get off. Sure Buck quizzes the guys about hormones and surgery, but he asks with even more enthusiasm about tattoos and working out.

A variety of toys to stimulate different parts and holes for each solo scene, including such favorites as a Feeldoe dildo, a Hitachi vibrator, and NJoy anal plugs. The film focuses on four different transmen, each at different stages of their own transition and with their own sexual predilections – MJ identifies himself as flamboyant, Eddie Wood is a hairy squirter, Sean sports ink and muscles. During the James Darling interview, he informs us he’d been on hormones since he was 18 and Buck Angel was the first transman he’d ever met, and in that moment I was able to really appreciate the reach of Buck and his work. This movie answers a lot of common questions posed to transmen, such as effects of hormones, body changes, and surgical procedures, but is done with the respect and understanding of a fellow transman and not in the least bit dry and boring. It’s also a well-edited film, both visually (picture-in-a-picture orgasm shot!) and sonically (opera arias and rock music that don’t drown out the sexy live sounds of the performers). After the four solo performances, Buck finishes the film with a fuck scene between himself and Fallen in a seedy basement romper room complete with wood paneled walls.

Sexing the Transman is an informational PSA that’s sexy, so folks interested in bedding a transman get both educated and titillated, while those of us who already appreciate the joys get to see trans bodies eroticized on screen in ways rarely shown.  Lucky for us, the sequel is already in the works with more types of transguys, so here’s to a much-needed series that will keep expanding the diversity of sexual experiences and bodies, and just keep getting sexier.

—Raybear

Watch the trailer for Sexing the Transman XXX here.

Buy Sexing the Transman XXX at these fine retail sites:

Hot Movies for Her (VOD)
The Smitten Kitten (DVD)
AEBN (VOD)
Sexing the Transman

Listen to or download Tristan’s interview with Buck Angel on Sex Out Loud.

Pushing the Boundaries of Feminist Porn with performer/director Bobbi Starr and Clarisse Thorn

Jul 232012
 

This week on Sex Out Loud, AVN’s 2012 Female Performer of the Year Bobbi Starr joins us to talk about her love of the oboe, her award winning performances in movies like Belladonna: No Warning 4, directing her own line of films for Evil Angel, why she loves to push sexual boundaries, and where she sees herself in relation to the feminist porn movement. She gives us the scoop on creating ElectroSluts.com, what kinky sex does for her, and why electricity play is so hot. We’ll also get her take on the current controversy around mandating condom use for all porn performers in California. Plus, pro-BDSM sex-positive feminist activist, blogger, and author Clarisse Thorn discusses her new book The S&M Feminist. She’ll breakdown BDSM, women’s submissive fantasies, and the tensions between kink and feminism. Plus, she’ll give us a glimpse of her years spent researching pick up artists (like those in Neil Strauss’s bestselling book The Game and VH1’s hit reality show The Pick-Up Artist), which became the basis for her book Confessions of a Pickup Artist Chaser.

Bobbi Starr is a very hardcore kind of performer and director. Her scenes have been shot for gonzo companies like Evil Angel, Jules Jordan Video and Red Light District and she won AVN Awards for Most Outrageous Sex Scene and Best Double Penetration Sex Scene as well as an XRCO Award for Most Orgasmic Oralist and two consecutive wins for Superslut. You may have seen her on Kink.com’s websites in many of their scenes, and she’s also in demand in Europe, having received an AVN nomination for Best Sex Scene in a Foreign-Shot Production for “Into the Dark” from Daring Media Group and a coveted Hot d’Or nomination for Female American Performer of the Year. She’s also a former nationally ranked swimmer and a trained professional concert oboist. Follow her on Twitter @BobbiStarr

Clarisse Thorn is a feminist, sex-positive educator who has delivered sexuality workshops and lectures to a variety of audiences, including museums and universities across the USA. In 2009, she created and curated the ongoing Sex+++ sex-positive documentary film series at Chicago’s historic feminist site, Jane Addams Hull-House Museum. In 2010, she returned to the USA after working on HIV mitigation in southern Africa. She has also volunteered as an archivist, curator and fundraiser for that venerable S&M institution, the Leather Archives & Museum. Clarisse’s writing has appeared across the Internet in places like The Guardian, AlterNet, Feministe, Jezebel, The Good Men Project, Role/Reboot, and Time Out Chicago. Follow her on Twitter @ClarisseThorn

July 13: Maggie Mayhem and Ned Mayhem on DIY Indie Porn, Nerd Sex, and Consent in BDSM Communities

Jul 132012
 

 

Tonight I’m excited that The Mayhems are able to join us on Sex Out Loud! Here’s some info about them before we go live at 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT. (Don’t forget you can listen here.)

Meet The Mayhems
One day while shooting a couple’s scene for QueerPorn.TV, Maggie and Ned came to the sudden realization that there were no porn sites on the internet featuring real couples who both identified as queer switches. They were cautioned that viewers wouldn’t be able to handle a website where the content was unpredictable and especially warned that featuring footage of Ned having sex with women, men, and trans* performers would never sell because people weren’t ready for it. It was a challenge that they were prepared to face. Putting their mutual nerd chops to work, they built their website together from ground up as a 100% independent venture. In addition to challenging audiences with a couples website that was largely non-heteronormative, they have also included their own coverage of the Occupy movement, their challenges with credit card company censorship, and their exceptionally geeky experiments like the PSIgasm (Masters & Johnson in a wireless computer buttplug that detects quantitative data about the human arousal and orgasmic process in real time*). After being online for only 8 months they received a Feminist Porn Awards nomination and they are excited by the one year anniversary of MeetTheMayhems with no signs of slowing down yet.

Maggie Mayhem

When Maggie Mayhem started volunteering as an HIV test counselor at UC Santa Cruz in 2003, she had no idea how radically it would change the direction of her entire life. Before long, she became a vocal activist for harm reduction and sex positivity. She has served as the coordinator of the UC Santa Cruz Anonymous HIV testing program, HIV Senior Specialist of Larkin Street Youth Services, and grant recipient for HIV prevention and care work in Bagamoyo, Tanzania. Maggie Mayhem is also a writer, speaker, and performance artist as well as a queer porn performer who has appeared on Kink.Com, Crashpad Series, Madison Bound, Girlfriends Films, QueerPorn.TV, and on the website she built with her partner Ned, MeetTheMayhems.Com

Ned Mayhem

Ned Mayhem is a physics graduate student who has been a performer in straight, gay, and queer pornography since 2010. He has appeared in films that have been recognized at Cinekink, AVN, and Feminist Porn Awards. With his partner Maggie Mayhem, Ned runs the independent “DIY” porn site MeetTheMayhems.com showcasing the couple’s own brand of perversely heartwarming queer sexuality. Ned also uses the software he has developed for MeetTheMayhems to empower other adult performers and independent studios to control their own web presence and monetize their own content. In addition to MeetTheMayhems.com, Ned’s software runs such sites as Femifist.com, QueerlySF.com, and KittyStryker.com. Ned loves to share his pornographics enthusiasm with crowds, and he’s spoken at MomentumCon 2012, Sex Week at Harvard, Arse Elektronika, Hackmeet, Nerd Nite SF, and OpenSF.

 

 

Backstage at Melissa Harris-Perry

Jul 082012
 


My head is still spinning from my first appearance on Melissa Harris-Perry on Saturday. Watch it below or at these links—Segment 1: Porn in America and Segment 2: The Business of Pornography. I’ve done a fair amount of television appearances, and I have mixed feelings about them. In the past, I feel like many TV producers shy away from difficult topics, don’t allow for complex, nuanced analysis, and often want me to “dumb it down.” This time, none of that happened. I was excited when a producer for the Melissa Harris-Perry show on MSNBC contacted me last week about a show about female sexuality and porn. We had a spirited conversation where I feel like she really listened to me, rather than attempted to fit me into a quasi-script she had already written. When I found out that one of my co-panelists was author and activist Jaclyn Friedman, I felt relieved to have a sex-positive feminist sister there.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Segment 1 of 2 “Porn in America”

Fun fact: Jaclyn Friedman and I were both in the class of ’93 at Wesleyan University, and we were fellow activists and friends during college. Although we’ve followed and supported each other’s careers since then (I blurbed her newest book What You Really Really Want: The Smart Girl’s Shame Free Guide to Sex and Safety and she appeared on my radio show Sex Out Loud), we hadn’t been in the same room since the late 90s. We had dinner the night before, and Jaclyn reminded me we wouldn’t talk about the show, so that everything would stay fresh for the next day. We had plenty of catching up to do, so it didn’t matter!

At every stage of the booking process, the folks behind the scenes at MHP were competent, respectful, and, well, have their shit together. In the green room before the show, Jaclyn and I met Zephyr Lookout (author of Mousepads, Shoe Leather, and Hope: Lessons from the Howard Dean Campaign for the Future of Internet Politics) who sat on the panel for an earlier segment and would be joining ours. She is a law professor at Fordham. I liked her immediately, and we bonded over our love of the children’s book Tuck Everlasting. She admitted she was “probably the most anti-porn of everyone on the panel,” which I appreciated her saying up front. It’s actually refreshing to engage with someone who really wants to dig into the topic and isn’t just ready to shut you down (like Gail Dines and crew are). After being fitted with our mics and mic packs (during which Jaclyn had her hands all the way up my dress to assist the sound guy), the three of us sat down at the table. That’s when I met the fourth panelist, Georgetown professor Michael Eric Dyson (author of Holler If You Hear Me), and I truly had no idea what he was going to say about porn. I was pleasantly surprised to discover he knows quite a bit about it (he name checked Lexington Steele and Mr. Marcus!) and had smart things to say.

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Segment 2 of 2 “Business of Pornography”

MHP introduced me as a feminist pornographer and showed the cover of my new book The Feminist Porn Book: The Politics of Producing Pleasure, co-edited with Celine Parrenas Shimizu, Constance Penley, and Mireille Miller-Young and forthcoming from The Feminist Press at CUNY in 2013. The two segments just flew by so fast, and suddenly, she was doing the closing of the show (naming activist teen Julia Bluhm the Foot Soldier of the Week for petitioning Seventeen magazine).

Afterward, we all stood in the hallway, continuing the conversation, and I got to meet several more of the show’s producers including Jamil Smith and Executive Producer Shirley Zilberstein. Melissa Harris-Perry is so smart, it’s actually intimidating. But in a good way. Obviously, we barely scratched the surface on some pretty important topics. I have a whole lot more to say about race politics in the porn industry, shifting representations of sexuality in porn, today’s porn economy, queer porn, and on and on. But this was definitely a start, and great one.

Jaclyn Friedman, me, Melissa Harris-Perry, Michael Eric Dyson backstage at MHP

Very few mainstream media outlets, and even fewer, if any, television news shows are willing to look at porn in an intelligent or balanced way. I am so impressed that Melissa Harris-Perry and her producers took a risk and really broke down a barrier. I know they have already gotten flack about it from conservatives and anti-porn feminists. So, if you want to show your support for the topic of this show, applaud Melissa Harris-Perry and MSNBC for making space for this conversation, you can do so in a number of ways:

Watch the clips: Segment 1 “Porn in America” and Segment 2 “The Business of Pornography”

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