Ms Naughty Porn for Women Blog

On Saturday the 10th in Toronto, Good For Her announced the winners of the 2010 Feminist Porn Awards. They are:

Best Bi Movie – Fluid: Men Redefining Sexuality | Madison Young | Reel Queer Productions
Hottest Dyke Movie and Hottest Kink Movie| River Rock Women`s Prison | Kathryn Annelle | Triangle Films
Most Deliciously Diverse Cast | Dangerous Curves | Carlos Batts | HeartCore Films
Hottest Feature Film | The Band | Anna Brownfield | Hungry Films
Most Tantalizing Trans Film | Speakeasy | Courtney Trouble| Reel Queer Productions
Sexiest Short | Handcuffs | Erika Lust | Lust Films
TheSmutty Schoolteacher Award for Sex Education | Tristan Taorminos Expert Guide to Anal Pleasure for Men | Tristan Taormino | Vivid Ed and Smart Ass Productions
Best Direction | Des Jours Plus Belles Que La Nuit | Jennifer Lyon Bell & Murielle Scherre | Blue Artichoke Films + La Fille’ D’O
Sexiest Straight Movie | The Deviant | Nica Noelle | Sweet Sinner Video
Good Releasing Emerging Filmmaker Award | Tobi Hill-Meyer
Heartthrob of the Year | April Flores
The Boundary Breaker | Jiz Lee
The Visionary | Shine Louise Houston
The Trailblazer | Tristan Taormino
Hottest Website: Rubysdiary.com

Honorary mentions
Dirty Diaries: 12 Shorts of Feminist Porn
Women Love Porn
Sensual Massage for Pregnancy
Cocksucker

Congratulations to all the winners. You’ll find more info about them and their films on the GFH website.

For The Girls was nominated for Best Website but I’m not really surprised we didn’t win. Maybe when this bastard of a new member’s area is done and we are finally able to forge ahead with all our plans for new content… next year we’ll get the gong. And even then if we don’t, not to worry. To me, seven years of amazing success and happy members is reward enough.

Edit 13th April: Here’s a couple of news stories:
The New Pornographers – Torontoist
San Francisco’s 2010 FPA Winners – The Examiner
Beyond that, there wasn’t much press coverage.

I’m a very grumpy blogger this week, as you’ll know if you’ve been reading my Twitter stream. I had every intention of flying to Canada to finally attend the Feminist Porn Awards this year. I’ve supported the awards since the very beginning and wanted to be there, especially as For The Girls is nominated for best website.

Alas, our best website is what has kept me here. I’m now into the 5th month of a long running battle with a design company to re-do the FTG member’s area. I won’t go into details; suffice to say it’s a cluster fuck. Trying to get it finished has kept me here. And my goodness, it’s made me very unhappy.

Still, I thought I’d best do a blog post and add a few links to some of the pre-show press given to the awards this year.

The best in feminist porn is an overview from Xtra which is Canada’s gay and lesbian news.
Tristan Taormino: A pioneer in porn is an interview and feature of the direct by the same site.
The Feminist Touch – an overview in Varsity.ca
Feminist porn awards selects New Zealand films – a report on NZ director Astrid Glitter’s 2 nominations. Astrid is attending the awards.
Porn reporter Gram Ponante has a sly interview with Alison Lee here.

So best of luck to all the nominees. Wish I could be there. Dammit.

Good For Her have announced the official list of nominees for the 2010 Feminist Porn Awards. I’m pleased to say that For The Girls has been nominated for Best Website.

Here’s some info from their press release:

But wait, what is feminism doing getting into bed with porn? At Good For Her, we are feminists and we sell and rent porn. In 2006 we decided that it’s not enough to criticize adult films for not adequately representing women’s – and in many cases, men’s – sexuality. So we decided to do something about it. As porn star and performance artist Annie Sprinkle famously said, “The answer to bad porn isn’t no porn…it’s to try and make better porn!” Good For Her couldn’t agree more. We believe the world is inundated with cheesy, cliche, degrading, and patronizing porn. But we also believe that erotic fantasy is powerful, and that women and marginalized communities deserve to put their dreams and desires on film, too. As feminists and sex-positive people, we want to showcase and honour those who are creating erotic media with a feminist sensibility.

The nominees on this year’s list continue to strive to provide erotic entertainment that is smart, sexy, and continues to appreciate women as viewers. In addition to featuring 51 nominations in total – the highest number of nominated films and websites ever – this year’s nominee list also includes movies from more countries than previous years, and includes filmmakers from: Great Britain, Spain, The Netherlands, France, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, and of course, the porn epicenter of the world, The United States. Canada is also represented among the nominee list with erotic website, GoodDykePorn.com, and “Kiwi-Canuck” Astrid Glitter.

The Nominees for the 2010 Good For Her Feminist Porn Awards are (in alphabetical order – film title first)

48) 101 Positions for Lovers – Jamye Waxman – Sensual Couples
49) A Man With a Maid: Tales of Victorian Lust – Nica Noelle – Sweet Sinner Video
50) Art of Female Self-Pleasure – Jaiya – New World Sex Education
51) Be My Boy Toy – Anna Span – Easy on the Eye Productions
52) Behind the Red Door – Carlos Batts – HeartCore Films
53) Bordello – Courtney Trouble – Reel Queer Productions
54) Buck Angel’s Ultimate Fucking Club – Buck Angel – Buck Angel Entertainment
55) Cocksucker – Julie Simone – Julie Simone Productions
56) Couch Surfers 2: Trans Men in Action – Brazen Garage Squad –Trannywood Pictures
57) Crash Pad Series 4: Ropeburn – Shine Louise Houston – Blowfish Video
58) Crash Pad Series 5: The Revolving Door – Shine Louise Houston – Blowfish Video
59) Dangerous Curves – Carlos Batts – HeartCore Films
60) Des Jours Plus Belles Que La Nuit – Jennifer Lyon Bell + Murielle Scherre – Blue Artichoke Films
61) Dirty Diaries: 12 Shorts of Feminist Porn – Mia Engberg (producer) — Njuta Films
62) Fluid: Men Redefining Sexuality – Madison Young – Reel Queer Productions
63) Fluid: Women Redefining Sexuality – Madison Young – Reel Queer Productions
64) Glamazons – Carlos Batts – HeartCore Films
65) Handcuffs – Erika Lust – Lust Films
66) Honey Bunny – Vena Virago – Vivid Alt
67) John — Astrid Glitter– Glitter Films
68) Lesbian Adventures: Victorian Love Letters – Nica Noelle – Sweetheart Video
69) Lesbian Hitchhikers – Nica Noelle – Sweetheart Video
70) Maneater: The Prelude – Damali Dares – Desire Street Productions
71) My Daughter’s Boyfriend – Nica Noelle – Sweet Sinner Video
72) Penny Flame’s Expert Guide to Rough Sex – Tristan Taormino & Penny Flame – Vivid Ed/Smart Ass Video
73) Perversions of Lesbian Lust Vol. 2 – Madison Young – Madison Young Productions
74) Queer Manor – Madison Young – Reel Queer Productions
75) River Rock Women’s Prison – Kathryn Annelle – Triangle Films
76) Rock Hard: For Music and Cock Lovers Everywhere – Jelena Lakic – Easy on the Eye
77) Roulette: Berlin – Courtney Trouble – Reel Queer Productions
78) Sensual Massage for Pregnancy – Jaiya – New World Sex Education
79) Seven Minutes in Heaven: Coming Out – Courtney Trouble – Reel Queer Productions
80) Seven Minutes in Heaven: Tender Hearted – Courtney Trouble – Reel Queer Productions
81) Speakeasy – Courtney Trouble – Reel Queer Productions
82) Stories of Sexes – Ovidie & Jack Tyler – French Lover TV
83) Sylvia – Madison Young – Madison Young Productions
84) The Band – Anna Brownfield – Hungry Films
85) The Deviant – Nica Noelle – Sweet Sinner Video
86) Tristan Taormino’s Expert Guide to Anal Sex for Men – Tristan Taormino – Vivid Ed/Smart Ass Video
87) Tristan Taormino’s Expert Guide to Threesomes – Tristan Taormino – Vivid Ed/ Smart Ass Video
88) Tristan Taormino’s Rough Sex – Tristan Taormino – Vivid / Smart Ass Video
89) Women Love Porn – Anna Span (producer) – Easy on the Eye Productions
90) Women Love Porn: Apocalypse Angels – Katie Coxxx – Easy on the Eye
91) XXX Vignettes – Astrid Glitter – Glitter Films

Website Nominations:

www.RubysDiary.com
www.JuicyPinkBox.com
www.ShotWithDesire.com
www.NoFauxxx.com
www.GoodDykePorn
www.ForTheGirls.com
www.OnMyPeriod.com

Congratulations to all the nominees. There’s a lot of great films in there and also some new ones I haven’t heard of; I’ll have to look into where I can get them for review.

I’m not certain but I’m hoping to be able to attend this year’s awards. It will be a bit last-minute if I go but I’m sure it will be worth it.

Here’s the main Feminist Porn Awards 2010 page.

Alison and the good people at Good For Her have sent out a press release concerning next year’s Feminist Porn Awards. They’re planning to create a jury of members of the public to help judge the films, which is an excellent initiative. You can find out how to become a jury member here.

They’ve also initiated a scholarship for new and upcoming feminist porn filmmakers (hmm… sounds familiar), the Emerging Filmmaker Award (EFA).

The EFA will honor emerging talent in the field of feminist porn production by offering monetary scholarship to an individual who is breaking boundaries, creating sexy feminist porn and who is committed to the representation of women and alternative sexualities in erotic media. Each year, Good For Her will strive to select new, up and coming talent with the hopes of creating more accessible opportunities for those whom are traditionally challeng ed by the process of securing finances for their creative projects.

The EFA is intended for the completion of a film project to be released for film screening and/or DVD distribution in 2010-2011. The EFA is intended for individuals working on their first erotic film project(s) only.

Full terms and conditions are on their site.

Despite all my best laid plans early in the year, I have nothing to submit for nomination. I could, however enter the EFA as I have plenty of exciting ideas in the pipeline.

I hate being late to the party with these things but I’ve only just heard about the European Feminist Porn Award which is being held on Saturday 17th October in Berlin. Yes… I’m going to miss them, dammit, but despite my general divineness and best efforts at omnipresence I’ve discovered that I just can’t be everywhere at once.

So this is essentially a party and film night to honour the feminist pioneers of porn: Candida Royalle, Annie Sprinkle, Maria Beatty, Shine Louise Houston and Petra Joy. The lovely Jennifer Lyon Bell from Blue Artichoke Films will be there as well.

In October 2009 the first Feminist Porn Film Award will be presented in Berlin. The initiators set themselves off against sexist, mainstream pornography. “We want to revolutionize the erotic film market”, says Laura Meritt – sexpert with a doctorate in communication sciences. Awards will be given for high quality erotic movies “with a wide range of portraying female sexual lust and in which women play an important role as producers.”

The feminist film prize is initiated and organized by Sexclusivitaeten, the first women-oriented sex enterprise and sexual communication centre in Europe, together with the Freudenfluss network.

I have to say, I really like their criteria for feminist film. I think these are rules that all adult films should uphold!

• A sex-positive attitude, no de-humanising or misogynistic portrayals

• Roles in collusion with those involved / no crossing of personal borders

• Ethical work conditions / safe sex is encouraged

• Those involved will be shown in relation to one another – eye, skin, hand, and body contact, energy exchange.

• Emotions and declarations of love are encouraged, doable, and showable.

• Diverse camera settings, light and shadow games

• Variations of sexual practices in joyful transitions, not an achievement test, broadening of the stereotypically portrayed spectrum.

• A variety of body types, ages, genders, sexual orientations and ethnic backgrounds.

• Authentic sound recordings or music. No gender-stereotypical amplified dubbing of moaning.

• Portrayal of lust and pleasure, focus on female lust and its diversity.

• No schematic portrayals of the “sexual curve” – that is to say no straight zoom in on the male ejaculation, no emphasis of the male cum shot. Orgasms are not the only goal.

• Women are significantly involved in the production of the film as producers, directors, or camerawomen.

Here’s a relatively long video report from the Feminist Porn Awards, held on the 25th April. The video is by Xtra which is a queer friendly site and it gives some great interviews from award participants.

What it doesn’t do, however, is give the viewer a complete picture of the awards, mainly because it focuses solely on the queer performers. And I’ve noticed that in the last week, almost all the reports, blog posts and Tweets concerned themselves with the lesbian, trans and queer films that received awards. Even my recent blog post about how the lesbians are creating amazing porn was in the same vein.

But you know what? I feel like this isn’t quite right. Sure, the queer films that won are fantastic and deserve to be lauded, but I feel as if the straight films didn’t really get much of a look in.

Mimi Balfour made an appearance at the awards and her film Man of My Dreams received a special award but she’s rarely been mentioned in the reports I’ve read. Tony Comstock has received his third Feminist Porn Award for Bill and Desiree but you wouldn’t know it unless you check back through the previous award pages. Intense Desires by Lennox Films won Sexiest Straight Film but I’ve got no idea what it’s about and no-one seems to have written about it whatsoever.

There’s a few reasons for the queer emphasis this year. One is that more queer and lesbian films won awards than straight films. That’s not a problem, as the Feminist Porn Awards have always had a large variety of categories that recognise the diversity of new wave porn. The award night itself was heavily attended by the creators and stars of queer and lesbian movies such as Syd Blakovich, Madison Young, Courtney Trouble and Dylan Ryan. Also, the people doing a lot of the blogging about this subject are lesbian or queer so that’s where their interest lies.

Even so, I feel the urge to wave the flag for some of the straight films that won awards and received honorable mentions (especially Jennifer Lyon Bell’s Matinee and Erika Lust’s Barcelona Sex Project). And I also hope that straight women new to the awards don’t write it off as a “gay event”, something that doesn’t involve them. Because that’s exactly the kind of division we don’t need or want.

I love the idea of the Feminist Porn Awards – that’s why For The Girls ended up sponsoring it this year. It’s an inclusive event that recognises ethics and excellence in adult films of all kinds – and yes, that includes straight movies as well.

The winners of the Feminist Porn Awards 2009 have been announced and, damn, if lesbians haven’t made off with a swag of awards this time around! The winners were presented with their awards at a gala evening on Friday the 24th, followed by a screening of some of the winning films on Saturday.

The Full List of Winners

Hottest Kink Movie
Perversions of Lesbian Lust Vol.1 | Madison Young; Madison Bound Productions

Steamiest Trans Scene
Crash Pad Series 2- Unlocked | Shine Louise Houston; Pink and White Productions

Sexiest Straight Movie
Intense Desires | Eli Cross ; Lennox Films

Hottest Mature Couple’s Movie
Bill and Desiree: Love is Timeless | Tony Comstock; Comstock Films

Most Sensual Softcore & Golden Beaver Award for Canadian Content
Man of My Dreams | Mimi Balfour; Cleopatra Productions

Steamiest Educational Series
Red Hot Touch Series | New World Sex Education

Sexiest Dyke Movie
One Night Stand (Pour Une Nuit) | Emilie Jouvet; Hyst Productions

Most Deliciously Diverse Cast
Roulette | Courtney Trouble; Nofauxxx Productions

Heartthrob of the Year
Dylan Ryan | For work in Strap-on Motel, Sex Mannequin, Crash Pad Series Volume 3, Champion, Perversions of Lesbian Lust: Volume 1 and Lesbian Life: Real Sex San Francisco.

Heartthrob of the Year
Tyler Knight | For work in Chemistry 4 and Intense Desires

Indie Porn Pioneer
Madison Young

Movie of the Year
Champion | Shine Louise Houston; Pink and White Productions

Honorable Mentions:
* Voluptuous Biker Babes | Carlos Batts; Adam and Eve Pictures
* Matinee | Jennifer Lyon Bell; Blue Artichoke Films
* Couch Surfers: Trans Men in Action | Trannywood Pictures; Brazen Garage Squad Productions
* Skateboard Kink Freak | Maria Beatty; Bleu Productions
* Barcelona Sex Project | Erika Lust; Lust Films

Here’s the Flickr photostream of the awards night.

Here’s a video of Dylan Ryan accepting her award:

Here’s a brief story from Torontoist about the awards.
Here’s BlogTOs pre-awards report complete with stupid comments.
And here’s a slightly sniffy report of the awards night from Eye Weekly.

Unfortunately there hasn’t been a lot of mainstream media press coverage of the awards this year, which is a bit of a disappointment. The swine flu outbreak has got everyone’s attention at the moment.

For The Girls was a sponsor of this year’s awards. It’s the first time we’ve been officially involved and it was great to get behind an event that honours filmmakers who are creating new and positive visions of porn. I’d like to congratulate all the winners for their efforts and to thank Good For Her for creating such a wonderful event.

PS. I’ve created a special page at Porn Movies For Women that lists nominees and winners of the awards from the last four years.

The Feminist Porn Awards are about to kick off in Toronto and I’m wishing I could be there for the screenings, workshops and awards.

Meanwhile, the enevitable “witty” comments are starting to appear. The awards are in their fourth year now, so I’d just like say that folks, your oh-so-clever remarks about how feminism and porn are a contradiction in terms are getting a bit old. We’ve heard them all before.

This from someone on Twitter:
“The Feminist Porn Awards? i take it thats women dressing like men fucking each other then?”

Or this from a blog commenter:
“Now this is what i call feminism…..girls objectifying girls for the male gaze.” They then went on to make laugh-out-loud jokes about how feminists must have learnt to use a razor.

Oh, the hilarity.

Come on, people. It’s not that hard to understand that porn and feminism can happily co-exist. Drag yourself out from the cumbersome weight of all those assumptions and try and grasp what we’re doing here. Making porn for women. Making ethical porn. Making BETTER porn. For everybody.

I guess what the comments reveal is how much people still assume all porn is for men – to the point that they can’t even imagine a feminist, female-friendly porn scenario. Porn is always about women getting fucked, right? And it’s always for a male viewer, because we all know how much women hate porn, right?

It it also shows how the “porn objectifies women” dogma has become so utterly tied to the concept of “feminism” that some can’t comprehend the idea that a woman would voluntarily consent and want to be involved in porn. In that world view, all porn is made by predatory men and all the women in it are victims. And if a woman moves behind the camera, she takes on the role of the evil, predatory male. And if a woman says being a porn star is empowering, she’s obviously been fooled or tricked or brainwashed somehow. She doesn’t know her own mind and needs to be saved.

Yep, heard it all before. And, no doubt, we’ll hear it all again in the next week as the FPAs hit the news again.

We’re feminists and we make and enjoy porn. Get over it.

Just wanted to get the word out that For The Girls is now a sponsor of the Good For Her 2009 Feminist Porn Awards!

This is the first time we’ve done anything like this and we’re just so pleased to be involved. The FPAs are a celebration of female friendly porn, preferably made by women. So we’re on the same page philosophically.

Unfortunately I’m not going to be able to make it to Toronto this time, despite promises to myself that I’d be there this year. I’ve got a lesbian wedding to attend and more porn to make after that.

Still, if you can attend, it will be well worth the effort. The awards will be handed out at a glamourous ceremony on Friday followed by a screening of several nominated films on Saturday. There’s also a panel discussion featuring Madison Young, Courtney Trouble, Mimi Balfour (director, Man Of My Dreams) Tobi Hill-Meyer (director of the upcoming film Doing It Ourselves:The Trans Woman Porn Project) and Joanne Loton who is researching porn for women at present.

Just a quickie post which I’ll expand on Monday when I have time:

Good For Her has released the list of nominees for the Feminist Porn Awards 2009. My little short, That’s What I Like, is listed.

This is fab, but I should reveal the facts behind it. I’ve actually withdrawn the film from competition because For The Girls decided to sponsor the awards after I’d posted off the movie. Given the conflict of interest, the film can’t really be in the running. Never mind, though, I’m planning to submit it to a bunch of other adult film festivals.

Oh, and For The Girls is very excited to be a sponsor. This is a great event that needs to be supported!

Update 30th March – Here’s the full list:

The Nominees for the 2009 Good For Her Feminist Porn Awards are (in alphabetical order – director first name)

1. Girls Lusting Girls – Abby Winters – Abbywinters.com
2. Voluptuous Biker Babes – Carlos Batts – Adam and Eve Pictures
3. Padded Cell – Cant Dog Productions
4. Roulette – Courtney Trouble – No Fauxxx
5. Intense Desires – Eli Cross – Lennox Films
6. One Night Stand: Emilie Jouvet – Hyst Productions
7. Barcelona Sex Project – Erika Lust – Lust Films
8. Exploring the O – Jamye Waxman – Adam and Eve Pictures
9. Monogamy without Monotony – Jamye Waxman – Adam and Eve Pictures
10. Toying with Pleasure – Jamye Waxman – Adam and Eve Pictures
11. Matinee – Jennifer Lyon Bell – Blue Artichoke Films
12. Head Shot – Jennifer Lyon Bell – Blue Artichoke Films
13. MySexTherapist.com 2 : Advanced Therapy – Kelly Holland – Chick Media
14. That’s What I Like – Louise Lush – Indigo Lush Media
15. Lesbian Life; Layover – Madison Young – Lesbian Life Productions
16. Lesbian Life: Real Sex San Francisco – Madison Young – Lesbian Life Productions
17. Madison Young’s Bride of Sin – Madison Young – Madison Bound Productions
18. Madison Young’s Tail of a Bondage Model – Madison Young – Madison Bound Productions
19. Perversions of Lesbian Lust – Madison Young – Madison Bound Productions
20. Undone – Madison Young – Madison Bound Productions
21. Strap-On Motel – Maria Beatty – Bleu Productions
22. Skateboard Kink Freak – Maria Beatty – Bleu Productions
23. Sex Mannequin – Maria Beatty – Bleu Productions
24. Post Apocalyptic Cowgirls – Maria Beatty – Bleu Productions
25. New Romantix – Max Royale – Babeland Premieres
26. Man Of My Dreams – Mimi Balfour – Cleopatra Films
27. Red Hot Touch: Genital Massage for Men – New World Sex Education
28. Red Hot Touch: Erogenous Zones and Orgasmic Massage – New World Sex Education
29. Red Hot Touch: Erotic Touch For Sexual Positions – New World Sex Education
30. Red Hot Touch: Exquisite Anal Massage – New World Sex Education
31. Red Hot Touch: Genital Massage For Women – New World Sex Education
32. Girls Kissing Girls – Nica Noelle – Sweetheart Video
33. Lesbian Noir: The Pool Girl – Nica Noelle – Sweetheart Video
34. My Little Minx: A (sort of) Silent Lesbian Farce Nica Noelle – Sweetheart Video
35. Feeling It! Not Faking It – Petra Joy – Strawberry Seductress Films
36. Pixie Licks – Pixie and Andy Ide – Sweetmeat Productions
37. Bag Ladies – Stelllaaa Kowolsky and BJay Pink – Jumbo Grab Productions
38. Champion – Shine Louise Houston – Pink and White Productions
39. Crash Pad Series 3 – Shine Louise Houston – Pink and White Productions
40. Doing It Ourselves: The Trans Women Porn Project – Tobi Hill-Meyer
41. Bill and Desiree: Love is Timeless – Tony Comstock – Comstock Films
42. Couch Surfers: Trans Men in Action – Trannywood Pictures – Brazen Garage Squad Productions
43. Tristan Taormino’s Guide to the G-Spot – Tristan Taormino – Smart Ass Productions & Vivid Ed
44. Penny Flame’s Guide to Handjobs for Men and Women – Tristan Taormino + Penny Flame – Smart Ass Productions & Vivid Ed
45. Chemistry 3 – Tristan Taormino – Smart Ass Productions and Vivid Entertainment
46. Chemistry 4 – Tristan Taormino – Smart Ass Productions and Vivid Entertainment

Amazing that there are so many amazing films to choose from this year! So many different viewpoints and ideas on display. It’s gonna be a great FPA this year!

Nominations have opened for the Good For Her Feminist Porn Awards for 2009.

Submissions close February 24.

Following last weekend’s Feminist Porn Awards, there’s been the inevitable debate about whether feminist porn can even exist.

Violet Blue’s SFGate column discusses the idea and at the time of writing there are no less than 806 comments. I have only read the first 6… it’s too nice a day to even consider going through the rest.

There’s also a high-falutin’ discussion at Finally Feminism 101. This one is interesting because the hardcore feminists join in and the term “the patriarchy” gets thrown around with abandon. Not surprisingly, plenty of true believers are still offering up that “false consciousness” argument that if you’re a woman who enjoys porn (or heterosexual sex for that matter) you’re a victim of the overwhelming patriarchal culture that pervades all our thoughts and influences everything we do… Essentially you’re a victim no matter which way you look at it and the only way to get free is to become a lesbian and quit watching porn.

I’ve also added my own comment down the bottom. Here’s a bit of it:

I don’t believe that creating a visual depiction of sex is automatically anti-feminist. As always, context is the key.

I don’t believe the old Dworkinist line that sex is automatically anti-feminist because it’s a patriarchal construct. This line of thinking condemns any woman who enjoys heterosexual sex as some kind of traitor to the sisterhood and it’s this attitude that has resulted in millions of young women determinedly saying “I’m not a feminist…”

I also don’t accept the suggestion that all women who appear in porn (or prostitution for that matter) are victims who have been forced into it. Remember when feminism was about giving women a choice? About making people understand that women have their own thoughts and desires?

I do find it amusing (and frustrating) that so many people would think that feminist porn is an impossibility. Still, at least there’s a discussion about it, if nothing else.

Good For Her’s 3rd Annual Feminist Porn Awards have been announced following a ceremony held in Toronto on Saturday night.

The list of winners:

Boundary Breaker of the Year
Buck Angel

Smutty Schoolteacher of the Year (Educational Title)
Tristan Taormino’s Expert Guide to Oral Sex Part 1 Cunnilingus and Part 2 Fellatio | Tristan Taormino; Vivid Ed

Hottest Dyke Film
Crash Pad Series Volume 1 | Shine Louise Houston; Pink and White Productions Blowfish Video

Sexiest Straight Film
My Sex Therapist.com: The First Sessions | Kelly Holland; Chick Media

Golden Beaver Award for Canadian Content
Bren Ryder | www.gooddykeporn.com

Best Bi Scene
Female Fantasies | Petra Joy; Strawberry Seductress Productions

Most Tantalizing Trans Film
Trans Entities: The Nasty Love of Papi’ and Wil | Morty Diamond; Morty Diamond Productions

Hottest Kink Film
Bondage Boob Tube | Madison Young; Blowfish Video

Deliciously Diverse Cast
Trans Entities: The Nasty Love of Papi’ and Wil | Morty Diamond; Morty Diamond Productions

Sexiest Short
Want | Loree Erickson; Femmegimp Productions

Indie Porn Pioneer
Estelle Joseph; Stella Films Productions

Movie of the Year
Five Hot Stories for Her | Erika Lust; Lust Films

I’m cheering for Petra’s win, of course, as well as Estelle Joseph, and I’d also like to contratulate Erika Lust. I still haven’t seen Five Hot Stories for Her… but I’ll be reviewing it next week.

There’s a number of news reports about the awards:
Awards honour porn that’s all about women’s pleasure – The Globe and Mail
Women behind the camera for a new breed of adult film – The Star
The Third Annual Feminist Porn Awards – Eye Weekly
Really! Where does she get off? – Toronto Sun

Alternet has a feature on feminist porn but I’m not sure if it’s just a rehash of an article that appeared last year because it quotes Chanelle Gallant and she is no longer involved. Anyway, it’s worth a look.

I got a bit of a surprise when I visited Good For Her and discovered that they’ve moved the date for the feminist porn awards forward by two months. Which is why I haven’t mentioned anything about this year’s awards before this. Unfortunately my friend Chanelle Gallant has left the store so I’m a bit out of the loop now.

Anyway, the 2008 Feminist Porn Awards will be announced on Friday April 4th. The show will feature appearances by Erika Lust, Estelle Joseph, Morty Diamond, Loree Erickson and Bren Ryder. The night will be hosted by Trey Anthony and will also include performances by dance troupe Daddy K and the Rhythm Method, Coco la Creme and Dainty Box.

They’re also screening some of the nominated films on the 5th. Films are 5 Hot Stories for Her (Erika Lust; Barcelona) Trans Entities (Morty Diamond; New York) Want (Loree Erickson; Toronto) City of Flesh 6: Lisa’s Little Secret (Estelle Joseph; New York) and Good Dyke Porn (Bren Ryder; Vancouver).

I was wondering if I could make it to Toronto for this year’s event, but now that it’s 3 weeks away that’s obviously not going to happen. Maybe next year I’ll be there.

Actually, maybe next year I’ll have a film under my belt and might be in the running. We’ll see.