We’ve all been there: You’re sitting at your computer, bottle of lube beside you, pants hung up on the towel rack, hand poised at the go, when suddenly you click onto a pornographic website and realize, “Wait a minute, this pornography isn’t female friendly! Isn’t there some way that I could find feminist porn without having to put my pants back on?”
Unfortunately, you’re going to have to be clothed for this, but if you are looking for a more public way to express your desire for a feminist outlet for your masturbatory needs, then you should check out the 2010 Feminist Porn Awards, created by the Toronto sex store Good for Her.
Chanelle Gallant, manager of Good for Her, created the awards in 2006 as a response to the growing voice of female-created and -produced pornography, a section of the industry that some felt was more attuned to the sexual desires of the women watching.
“Previously women were always involved, but no one was recognizing them,” says Alison Lee, the current manager at Good for Her and organizer of the Feminist Porn Awards. With some of the more notable issues present in traditional porn, it was a challenge to find more female-friendly fare. As Lee explains, “Some of the things in the mainstream media made it hard to carry DVDs [in the store], such as the racism and the exploitation, and the less positive aspects [of the industry].”
Nominated films need to meet at least one of the listed criteria: a women must be part of the production, writing, etc., of the film; real female pleasure is depicted; and, according to the website, “it expands the boundaries of sexual representation on film and challenges stereotypes that are often found in mainstream porn.”
Awards range from Hottest Straight Movie to The Golden Beaver Award for Canadian Content, along with the standard categories like Movie of the Year. Previous Movie of the Year winners include Champion by Shine Louise Huston (2009)—to quote from the movie description, “Does the combination of tough butches, ne’er do well bois and femmes in heat sound like a match made in heaven?” (Why, yes it does, thank you!) Winners get a large glass buttplug award, and everyone else gets to bask in a very public display of pornography. It’s win-win, really.
One of the inherent issues with labelling an event “feminist” is the automatic assumption among some that the awards are for women only. Not true, according to Lee: “We don’t have any rules that say that you can’t be a male director to enter movies. Male directors have won awards in the past, but not a lot of men enter, usually because they assume it’s only for women. We have a few male nominees this year, and we’ve nominated male performers in the past.” For those involved, the event is meant not to just highlight women’s achievements, but to focus on women’s pleasure as well.
The debate over whether porn can be feminist or not is a touchy one—from the anti-porn views of Andrea Dworkin to the sex-positive writings of Susie Bright, there’s no real agreement in the current overarching feminist narrative on the potential for pornography to empower women. But when it comes to the FPAs and the works nominated there, the answer is a resounding yes, yes, yesssssssssss, oh GOD, yessssssssssssssss.
According to Lee, “I think that what we’re saying is that porn can be feminist, and that showing sexuality isn’t inherently sexist. There’s a lot of joyful opportunity to be had just by enjoying it. The turn-on factor is not sexist—what is, is the unfair labour practices and the way performers are treated, and how women are depicted as objects, as being stupid, or as being useless except for their sexual capacity.”
Guests this year include award-winning author, writer, and adult filmmaker Tristan Taormino, director Shine Louise Huston, burlesque performer CoCo La Crème, and adult performers Nica Noelle and April Flores. The awards themselves will be presented on April 9 at Berkeley Church (315 Queen St. E.). Tickets are $20 at the door. For more information, visit goodforher.com.
