What Happened to the Feminist Porn Awards?
I recently had the chance to chat with Carlyle Jansen, founder of the “Good for Her” sex shop in Toronto, about the Feminist Porn Awards, her multi-year labour of love celebrating the finest in feminist erotic cinema from around the world.
As a former porn performer myself, it was great to connect with an esteemed critic to chat about this historical time in the industry.
But First, what is Feminist Porn?
Unlike the majority of adult content producers who cater to the stereotypical heterosexual male gaze where women and marginalized communities are portrayed as receptive sexual objects for male fantasy, feminist porn diverges by shining a light on non-stereotypical representations of male, female, transgender, and non-binary sexuality and desires.
Feminist porn showcases a diversity of body shapes, sizes, ages, abilities, and a variety of consensual sexual acts that are not necessarily penis-focused or penetration-centered.
When Carlyle founded “Good for Her” in 1997, it was important to find porn that was as feminist as possible for her clientele. At this time in history, porn production still followed the Hollywood studio business model, where only well-financed companies could afford to spend the hundreds of thousands of dollars it took to make and distribute adult content through video stores. And, the best way to ensure that these studios recovered their investment was to make sure they appealed to a wide, loyal, and dedicated audience – heterosexual males.
Democratization of Porn
But by the early 2000s, Carlyle noticed a new “democratization of porn.” The internet had helped lower the costs of production and distribution, allowing more independent producers to emerge and created an environment where, “anybody could be featured, and anyone could direct.”
And so we noticed that there were now people of color, people with disabilities, and there were trans folks. And there were more cis women, older people, and different body types , both behind the camera and in front. And not with the same old tropes, and the same old stereotypes.” It was during a staff meeting one night when Carlyle’s store manager, Chanelle Gallant, suggested “let’s do an event where we feature these people who are starting to do new and interesting things, and just let the world know about it.”
Vixens & Visionaries
And so in 2005, the first event came to be: it was called Vixens and Visionaries, and featured a panel discussing, “what is feminist porn,” an awards ceremony, and appearances by Candida Royale and Tristan Taormino.
Carlyle describes the upbeat vibe driving that first event as, “Look, you have more choices! Here are some people doing great things, and you don’t have to go for the same old same old.”
Vixens and Visionaries was such a sell-out success that it marked the beginning of a decade of annual celebrations of the best in progressive adult cinema from around the world.
The Inception of the Feminist Porn Awards
Over the years, The Feminist Porn Awards grew to become an internationally-recognized multi-day event featuring screenings, panel discussions, educational events, and awards.
It required months of planning by a dedicated team.
The problem was that the dedicated team was the staff and management at “Good for Her”, whose core business was as a retail sex shop. The project had grown too big to manage, and by 2015 Carlyle decided it was a wrap.
Besides, a decade after the first Vixens and Visionaries event, the porn industry had evolved even more towards independent production companies, and feminist porn was now widely produced and available. There were more progressive porn festivals around the world, and Shine Louise Houston, an award-winning film producer at Pink and White had developed a streaming site featuring many independent award winners from the FPAs and other festivals, such as pinklabel.tv. Finally, feminist porn was everywhere. Carlyle’s dream was realized.
My Personal Experience Working With Feminist Porn Production Companies
As a former porn performer myself, I’ve had the opportunity to work with both feminist production companies and typical production companies, and I can tell you that my experience was always so much better with the feminist ones.
They offered me good pay, good working conditions, creative control, and choice of partners. Under those conditions, I gave some of the most inspired and connected performances of my career.
Feminist Porn Also Means Paying for Your Porn
Carlyle adds that the other piece of the message is to “pay for your porn.Support these people who are creating the porn you do like.” Because, “what does that mean when we’re not paying for what we’re purchasing? How does that contribute to an industry that was driving a lot of the work underground?”
“We need to think about what we’re doing when we go to places like PornHub to get our entertainment. There’s a value in paying for porn, in diversity, and in not supporting racist, sexist, heteronormative values in porn”. After all, “even if you enjoy your work, are you going to do it for free?”
Carlyle stresses that working conditions contribute to quality of the end product. “The progressive directors would talk to the performers and say, ‘well what turns you on, and what do you like, and what do you want to do?’ And lo and behold, when people are having sex the way they want to, it’s hotter. It’s better for the viewer. Everyone wins.”
Future Dreams for Feminist Porn & the Future
I asked Carlyle what her dreams are for feminist porn and the future. She says, “I would love to see independent directors, studios, and independent distributors overtake the business.”
“I also dream that people getting into the porn industry feel that it’s a viable alternative to anything else and they do not have to hide it from friends, family, neighbors. That sex work no longer has any stigma to it. That people think sex workers are admirable.”
Me too, Carlyle… me too!