A friend just passed this along to me, and it sounds like an EXCELLENT project. Please take a look and forward to anyone you think may be interested:
Sex with trans women can be a challenging experience for new partners, and even for the trans woman in question. We learn things about our bodies as we go because there’s no instruction manual, no guidebook for how we’re supposed to be fucking. All sorts of assumptions about
our bodies and how we have sex or fuck can keep potential lovers wary or from expressing the interest they feel for us. And we don’t all fuck the same way, so even if someone has been with a few of us their experiences might be totally different and not helpful to the next,
and the next.
It can be hard to name our bodies in ways that we feel are authentic but that also feel sexy. It can be difficult to claim our bodies and our pleasure for ourselves when we might not feel as much ownership for them as we would like. Sometimes, at least for me, I can feel very frustrated trying to explain myself through metaphor, analogy,
and comparison because there simply is no vocabulary to explain my body the way I want to explain it.
I want to start a serious conversation between trans women to share information about how we’re fucking, no matter *who* we’re fucking or what fucking means to us. I’m not naive enough to believe that this hasn’t been attempted before, but I am humble enough to admit that I
haven’t been successful at finding those previous efforts. I’m also smart enough to know that I can’t be the only one out there who feels like she is routinely reinventing what should have, and probably was, already discovered, documented, and discussed. Old information is *definitely* welcome; this is about sharing information, not
(necessarily) sharing new information.
This is a preliminary call for submissions for a pamphlet or zine, to be distributed as widely as possible in every and any format available, with very humble goals: to start a conversation about how trans women are having sex. This is meant to be a conversation that includes trans women and our lovers. It can be as specific as you like, and it is NOT a problem if you want to contribute anonymously.
All sorts of contributions would be and will be valued, including drawings and schematics (!!!), sex stories about good sex, essays, “what to do” and “what not to do” lists, safer sex guides, … anything really, but with the acknowledgment that while a lot of us will learn something about ourselves or find some really helpful advice, there’s no *one way* to fuck a trans lady, any more than
there’s any *one way* to fuck anyone else. Our goal should be to learn as *many ways* to have good sex as possible.
The first issue of this zine will be distributed electronically and in print by request; submissions are due *really really soon*: July 21st for the first issue, which will be released August 1st, no matter how much or how little content has been collected.
Please send your contributions to M. Darling at: fistycupcake@gmail.com
Today there are 2 casting calls for porn opportunities in NYC.
Comstock Films is teaming up with Njoy Toys to produce a film about people who like Njoy Toys. Let me say that again: Are you an Njoy Fan (YES, yes, yes and yes , yes!) and do you like to share your sexual pleasure on screen (YES!) then go here: Njoy Toys + Comstock Films + You = ?
Then… lucky femme, JuicyPINKBox’s TAXI is still looking for talent! (The call is for long-haired, femmes with naturally breasts) and the shoot is in NYC July 6-12th which means jump on this!
A Valentines day a few years ago, Shawn (who now goes by Syd Blakovich) and I decided to join a femme gangbang scene. Rozen DeBowe, who also appears on CrashPadSeries.com was the star, running all the calls. We shot one late night at the Lexington Club. Now that Roulette has been released, I can show off these photos! Credit: Nic and NoFauxxx. com.
Saturday June 27th
Meandering around Dyke march… being a dyke, working on a gay project… Wish You Were Queer (WYWQ)!
8PM I’ll be at the Valencia Good Vibrations Store to celebrate the release of NoFauxxx.com’s first DVD, Roulette!
Afterward? Who the hell knows. More meandering.
Sunday June 28th “Pride”
HIDING. In the East Bay. Shhhhhhhhh…
I’ll probably try to catch the parade, but the rest of it… nah… too commercial and crowded.
Goals this Year:
Meet new people and have fun with my project WYWQ! (Stay tuned.)
Have a good time… without being smashed.
Sleep and plenty of water.
Reconnect with friends.
Try not to be all “gawd, this is so gaaay…” but to have pride. Real pride.
This week Sinclair Sexsmith released on sugarbutch.net the announcement of TopHotBuches.com, a Top 100’s List of Butches with an explanation of why the word “Butch”:
This is Top Hot Butches: The 100 hottest butch, masculine, androgynous, genderqueer, transmasculine, studs, AGs, dykes, and queers and transguys, a project by Sinclair Sexsmith, the kinky queer butch top behind Sugarbutch Chronicles.
After receiving (much) critical feedback on Feministing.com the inclusion of transguys, and the list itself, is going to be updated. Here’s what was posted:
UPDATE Wednesday, 24 June, 9:30am EST:
This morning I removed 13 transmen from the list. There has been much, much critical feedback and discussion about the inclusion of transmen, and I appreciate all who have taken the time to email me and to comment and to participate in the conversation. I am reading through as many of the discussions as I can. I’m working on a full statement, which I will issue later today, and will try to figure out what to do about the holes in the 100 (now 87). Kael T. Block was among those removed from the list, for other reasons as well. – ss
Full-disclosure:
I appear on the list, as do many people I know and love. (And many people I know and love are also not on the list.)
Full-personal-disclosure:
I feel happy to be recognized for my masculine parts, and am relieved that “genderqueer” (the term I currently use for myself…I’ve used many in the past) is included in the definition. I am sometimes nervous about where public perception ends and where “I” begin; “Jiz Lee” is just one part of who I am.
As a porn performer I see a lot of assumptions made about my person. I’ve read and heard myself referred to as soft-butch, woman, girl, lesbian, and even “Oriental” *sudder*. So being recognized in a way that acknowledges my particular self-identity is so exciting.
At the same time, being on a hierarchical list pulls up interesting emotions for me, such as awkward comparisons around the fact that my lover Syd is in the top ten (okay, she IS a hot mess!) or the fact that my lover Fivestar didn’t make the list at all — we all know how hot and talented Fivestar is! So I’ll try not to view the list as a “who’s who” but as a resource and positive celebration of what I myself have looked for on the internet to find someone whom I could relate to.
Everyone of us on or off the list is hot, especially when we are ourselves. Sure, there are many of us missing. However the intention was coming from a place of love and I think any oversight is misunderstanding, hence the update.
I find myself torn at the exclusion of the word “transmen” and the people associated to it. (Did they want to be removed? Also, I see others on the list who currently or have at various points identified as Trans, though who am I to say who should or shouldn’t be butch?) While I was contacted by Sinclair prior to appearing on the list, I’m not sure if everyone was. Personally speaking, I like seeing many masculine genders combined together. We all fall along different identities and while there’s many more identities to be represented, this list is wonderful for a first start.
I see butch as a noun, an adjective, and much more. A cisgender gay male has the right to identify as butch just as much as a transman or transwoman has the right to identify as butch, as femme, or as any other gender identity. While these are words with many contexts, we all deserve the right to identify and dis-identify. It’s the use of the list, this projected initiated by someone wanting to create a resource for others, the people out there googling and looking for reflections of themselves that I think about. If it were me looking, I’d love to see transmen included… maybe top hot queers will be the next installment? Go buy that URL and if you do, show the world our hotness.
Courtney Trouble and I made a pact last night (while sniffing Jael’s armpits in hopes of kick-starting our periods) that we’d write blog posts about safer sex and synchronize them to publish at 7pm. This is my post; read her’s over at courtneytrouble.com.
With the recent news and thoughts about a porn performer testing positive for HIV, many inside and outside the industry are questioning the absence of safer* sex practice.
*Why “safer” and not just “safe”? Because no sexual contact is 100% safe. Frequent testing and barrier practice create a safer sexual environment, but it would be incorrect to assume complete risk-free sex.
I follow April Flores on twitter and was impressed by a resolution she declared about setting a sexy example of safer sex: she is considering only performing in porn with condoms from now on. Baby Sinead shares the sentiment; if porn producers show safer sex it would help to portray condom use in an erotic way. Porn is many people’s first introduction to sex and for that reason it serves as an educational model. Therefore, it makes sense that showing safer sex would be extremely influential in shaping good sexual practices.
I’ve had the opportunity to work for small indie companies and larger-run businesses. Companies treat the issue of safer sex differently and to the best of their abilities. For example, models at Kink.com are required to be AIM tested at least 30 days prior to their shoot. The test is: Aim Panel (includes HIV-1 DNA by PCR & Chlamydia and Gonorrhea by PCR) and costs the company $120 each. They schedule testing with every model who participates in shoots for the company. Because a lot can happen in 30 days, Belladonna and other safety-conscious folks in the industry require 2 days.
While larger businesses can afford to cover AIM testing costs, smaller ones choose to give models their authority over their sexual decisions. (Of course, encouraging and emphasizing safety.) And when this happens, I think we see more frequent barrier usage on camera.
Some couples who shoot for indie porn companies like Pink & White Productions and NoFauxxx.com are monogamous fluid-bonded partners. Other models decide to get tested at a local facility like Lyon-Martin or St. James Infirmary prior to the shoot. Some models negotiate what is safe for them at the same time they talk about their desires and boundaries, and many have a strict personal policy for only shooting scenes with latex barriers.
Like the performers and the sex acts portrayed in queer porn, the safer sex choices are varied and in many ways paint a more accurate reflection of the performers’ individual sexual behaviors. I saw this concept recently articulated in a Senior Thesis project by Sarah Wheeler entitled: Superfreaky: Queerness, Feminism, and Aesthetics in Queer Pornography. An excerpt:
…[T]he queer erotic aesthetic also emphatically promotes safe sex. Given how the queer movement developed during the sweeping tragedy of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, this decision is not surprising. Because some types of sex toys cannot be sterilized (namely, those made out of porous jelly rubber and PVC materials), and others may still be shared with multiple partners, condoms are almost always used on dildos. Latex gloves are sometimes worn for digital penetration, but are far less common than condom use, and dental dams are essentially non-existent. Even though the latter two items have no major presence within queer porn (at least not currently), even their intermittent use is still quite exceptional for the porn industry, where unprotected sex is highly eroticized. Such safe sex practices work as visible references to the history and health consciousness of the queer movement.
AIDS history shaped Queer Theory, giving definition to the word we commonly use today to describe an inclusive LGBT community. It therefore makes a lot of since that queer porn — I’m especially thinking about Gay Porn, where condoms are mandatory and “bare-backing” frowned upon — would uphold values to both practicing and portraying safer sex. Of course this paragraph would not be complete without a nod to Trannywood Pictures, for whom portrayal of barriers and other safer sex practices is the centerpiece of their company mission.
In the films and websites where I’ve appeared, the level of safer sex performed in the scene varies based on who I’m working with. I some of the times I use gloves (black gloves are HOT!) and put condoms on toys, and some of times I have not. It depends on the situation and my co-star(s). A conversation happens prior to the shoot though it’s something that doesn’t often get documented, but perhaps it might be worthwhile to check-in about on camera.
Where do we get our queer safer sex information from? I had a minimal sex ed class in 5th grade that by no surprise was only about heterosexual penis/vagina penetration. I remember the instructor rolling a condom onto his finger as a demonstration. Four years later, my birds and the bees talk with my father wasn’t much different. Another four years after that, I’m exploring my sexuality at college and by random coincidence attend a workshop taught by the Safer Sex Sluts. The information and tips shared at that workshop taught me most of what I know today.
Between the Safer Sex Sluts, conversations with lovers, and Google, I have come to realize that safer sex education and visibility is a topic worth talking about.
June 2009 marks the 2 year anniversary of CrashPadSeries.com, which just so happens to be releasing it’s 50th Episode this weekend.
Here’s a sneak peek:
In celebration of 2 years of hot sexy queer porn, I’m giving away a video of the website’s 4th DVD compilation, generously provided by Blowfish Video (blowfish.com).
CrashPadSeries.com Volume 4: Rope Burn (on sale NOW at Blowfish.com)
Watch a clip on this Fleshbot review – just the intro of me and Dallas, what a tease! Watch teasers of all the scenes in this free trailer.
So, assuming everyone’s of legal age… you know who you are… here’s how to play in the give-away.
What to do:
1. Watch the clip above of the Sneak Peek of Episode 50… did you notice what the hitchhikers’ sign read? Hmmm…
2. Write a comment below and let me know some of YOUR favorite sexual euphemisms or sexy slang. (Going South, Mounting, Ooofing, etc…) Talk dirty to me! ; )
3. I’ll choose the one that makes me think between my legs. The contest is over when I say so. You can come comment as many times as you like!
Ariel X is such a dyke. And to have a kink.com shoot at the Lex, where Princess Donna is no stranger, felt pretty incredible.
Add Dana DeArmond and friends like Syd Blakovich, Fivestar, Carson, a super secret artstar who shall remain nameless and a BUNCH of other queers, and you know I had a good time.
This is just a short post and I promise to write something longer, to talk more about bringing an “all girl” (the stars) queer shoot to Kink.com, and about femme dyke identity within a mainstream context. (And I’ll also through in a small gallery of more personal pics from the shoot!)
Anyway, I just wanted to jump online quickly and announce that it’s up!
Yesterday Madison Young shot some content for her production company with HBO on set to document it for their series Real Sex. The series has been around for a while; I recall at some point years ago catching a segment on Tantra that brought up the idea of different yoni animals to describe sexual appetites and ideal sex positioning depending on the shape of your cunt. Thank you HBO Real Sex for that random factoid. How authentic was it? I have no idea. But it was interesting. Annie Sprinkle has also graced the series — appearing on it seems to be a mark of visibility and notoriety that any person in the sex industry would take if given the opportunity. Like being on the Tyra Banks Show.
Whenever the mainstream view wants to portray a niche idea, the subject has to be contextualized, explained, simplified, and made accessible to the widest audience possible. So it should be no surprise that HBO trying to document feminist porn would want to cast the experiment in their own words, and also no surprise that in doing so they might step on toes.
I assisted the shoot by doing a favor and printing out 2257 documents. I was not invited on set so I followed online via Twitter. I’m not quite sure what happened other than the HBO folks not liking Danny Wylde’s Metal and turning it off.
Syd Blakovich and Kimberly Kane expressing their disapproval of HBO turning down the Music.
I’m curious just how bad it was. I texted my partner Syd Blakovich about how it went, and all I got back was “Fuct”… sooooo… who knows exactly what happened that was so disappointing, other than what could be expected? This morning I saw the open invitation from Madison Young to come to Femina Potens and to be queer and be visible. I’ve reposted it below, but first have some conflicted feelings about the situation that I want to share.
Here it goes: I think there’s good in selling out.
There, I said it. I think there’s visibility in it. Madison Young has privilege to access the mainstream, which she’s exploited to bring visibility to queer and feminist sex. I applaud her on this, as it’s done some good!
For example, she invited Syd Blakovich to walk the AVN red carpet with her. While the AVN and Porn Industry at large could care less about queer porn because they go where the money is — which means they’ll soon be interested because queer porn is starting to develop quite an audience — Syd’s presence on the red carpet raised some eyebrows and pushed queer porn visibility to the mainstream.
Madison is doing it again with bringing the queer and feminist world of porn into the mainstream. This time instead of AVN, it’s HBO. She invited Syd Blakovich and Shine Louise Houston on set as crew, and hired Kimberly Kane and Danny Wylde, some of her favorite performers.
Kimberly Kane, Danny Wylde, and Shine Louise Houston
HBO will spin their documentary however they want to with what footage they have. If that means a bunch of queers show up at the gallery demanding visibility, I’m not sure what the producers will do with it. (No shaved heads allowed?) In any case, I had said that I’d be there to support the gallery and I’m super curious to witness the inner-workings of HBO and see for myself how “fuct” it can be. Should be interesting.
From Madison:
As a queer feminist pornographer and artist who considers my craft and career to be much more than a day/night job but an extension of who I am, my politics and the movement that I am a part of, I was hugely offended by HBO’s politics that descended upon Madison Young Productions.
In being a sex positive feminist pornographer I strive to create a positive environment for my crew and talent. I feel like much of that environment and communication was compromised between me and my crew by having a mainstream network in our space and commanding and overriding decisions that should have been left up to me and my crew if they were interested in documenting our sex positive productions and practices. But instead we were all stripped of our power, left feeling exploited, and disempowered by a mainstream entity.
As the director, I own this experience. I brought in my sex positive comrades. People that I believe in. People that I want on my team and who I greatly admire their work and wanted to see them gain visibility. People like creative genius and revolutionary Shine Louise Houston and Syd Blakovich and fellow filmmakers, alternative thinkers, and performers Kimberly Kane and Daniel. These people are part of my team, my community, my family. And for any of these sexual revolutionaries to experience exploitation is not something that I want to be a part of.
The scenes with between Daniel and I and Kimberly and I were powerful, connected, communicative, aggressive, genuine and sex positive. I feel like the interview that I did after the scenes was informative and strong. But all of the world that buzzed around us. The mainstream world trying to grasp and capture a inkling of our culture was compromised of something completely different and I think it had the strongest effect on our crew.
This has deeply effected me. I thought about other sex positive heroes and mentors of mine such as Carol Queen and Annie Sprinkle. How has Annie tackled 4 Real Sex episodes? How has she created so much education around art and sex, sex positivity and sex? How has she tackled the mainstream? Over tears and pasta I looked up and I asked Mr Mogul “What would Annie do?” He suggested that I call her. And I did. I love Annie. She is my adopted mother and I don’t know what I would do with out her guidance and strength.
Annie said that we need to go through with this, but do it our way. Don’t be afraid to say no. To stand up for ourselves. So simple but so intimidating it seems. We need to create dialogue.
We can’t hide. And we can’t be exploited. So we must stand up for who we are and what we believe in. Tonight we will be filming at Femina Potens at around 6:30pm ,our art reception. We must stand up for ourselves. I want to hear from our community. This gallery is your space. It is our space. It is an honest reflection of who we are uncensored and I won’t have it any other way. I encourage you all to make your voices heard. Organize protests outside the gallery, crash the party, show up and be yourself, bring signs, wear buttons, start conversations and dialogue there about queer mainstream visibility and how we can destroy their exploitation. Today will be about our community in all its diversity, in all of its politics, in all of our opinions. We need to respect one another and open communication. Join me. Tonight Femina Potens 6:30, 2199 Market – Femina Potens was created as a soapbox for our culture and community. The world is listening. What do we stand for? What do we have to say?
Please pass this blog entry along to all community members.
Femina Potens will be organizing several dialogues around Queer Visibility in mainstream media and I will be posting those this weekend.
You know that feeling? The fear of missing out? We call it FOMO.
I’ll be away this weekend on a twincest planning – art making retreat. I’ll be sad to miss another Open Eyes Queer Porn Night at Femina Potens. This evening will show clips from 3 recent and upcoming queer porn films.
Can’t make it? I’ve got links to some of them that are online; either as free previews or full VOD films. See, I won’t let a little bit of FOMO get in my way. ; )
Madison Young’s Lesbian Life: Real Sex NYC.
Following the heals of Lesbian Life: Real Sex San Francisco is an East Coast installation of more dyke on dyke action. Nic is one of the performers who I’ll have the pleasure of sharing a scene with in an upcoming film… so keep your eye open for Nic. You can watch the whole DVD, or view it scene by scene at HotMoviesForHer.com.
Champion
The ONLY MMA Fight Dyke/Trans Queer Porn in the world, winner of Movie of the Year from the Feminist Porn Awards. If you haven’t gotten yourself a copy of Champion by now, go to GoodVibes.com or Babeland.com to make an order. If you wait longer, it will be out on VOD soon enough.
Nostalgia
NoFauxxx.com’s highly anticipated film pays homage to Classic Porn Cinema in a queer view with scenes from Deep Throat, Devil in Miss Jones, Babylon Pink, and Behind the Green Door. It is slated to come out soon, watch a sneak peak here with a clip from the Devil in Miss Jones’ suicine scene featuring April Flores.
‘Open Eyes Queer Porn Night’
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 5, 2009 – “Open Eyes, Queer Film Night” takes place the first Friday of each month at the Femina Potens Art Gallery. Open Eyes features local artist’s provocative, critical, and engaging films. In addition to the engaging film screenings, Open Eyes also hosts hot buttery popcorn, cold beer, discussion and an open mic for directors or artists who can provide a film of five minutes or less.
They Bay Area has been growing some of the finest queer pornographers the country has to offer. This June join our pornographic revolution. We will feature three scenes from hot and steamy new queer films. Featuring a preview of Madison Young’s Lesbian Life Real Sex NYC. A big-apple explosion of real women, real orgasms and really hot sex.
Pink & White’s ‘Champion’. The makers of the The Crash Pad Series takes you through rounds of sexy romps in the ring with Syd Blakovich, Dallas, Jiz Lee, Madison Young, Dylan Ryan, Brooklyn Flaco, Javier, and Trouble Royale.
Inspired by classic porn that defined the genre, NoFauxxx.Com creator Courtney Trouble has twisted the past into the future of alternative queer porn in her upcoming release, ‘Nostalgia’. Step behind the queer door for a never-before-seen sneak peek of one of 2009’s new classics.
The performers and movie makers will be available for a Q&A panel after the screenings. Join us as for these tantalizing films that are taking over the contemporary porn scene.
Open Eyes Queer Night hosted by:
Femina Potens curator, international award winning Bondage Model and Feminist Porn Star – Madison Young.
June 5, 2007 @8pm
Doors Open at 7:30
Femina Potens Art Gallery
2199 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94114
$20 pp/ 2 for $25 ($5/open mic performers) Free for Members!
Femina Potens has limited seating availability so advanced online ticket purchase is highly recommended through Brown Paper Ticketing: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/58465
Watch a clip on this 
