Writer Anne G. Sabo (aka Quizzical Mama) is working on her upcoming book New Porn: By Women, For Women and Men - and has two new posts floating around that are excerpts. These bite-sized samples are part one and two of Sabo's "Short Guide to Feminist Porn" (these posts have been published, perhaps a bit confusingly, on two different websites).
Both pieces are comprised of first-person stories surrounding Sabo's encounters with porn through the lens of feminism (which she makes clear is her own brand of feminism, something to be appreciated) and offers up tips based on her experiences. The first piece Part I: My very brief guide to feminist porn (link NSFW, on GV Magazine*) is a pitch for her book, her porn for women website, and a short list of films that Good Vibrations carries that are Sabo's picks for feminist friendly fare.
The second article is where we find substance. My very brief guide to feminist porn, part two (work-safe, BlogHer) is much less of a sales pitch and something we can sink our teeth into. Sabo doesn't offer tips, and while still first-person and openly personal it offers context around first-time porn experiences. And it's from a point of view that is seldom visible in this discussion space: that of a married mom.
(...) There’s no telling how you will watch and react/interact when faced with porn. Here I shall relate my own experiences, with the belief that hearing people speak openly about this topic is an important positive step in breaking down dated taboos, inspiring others to listen constructively and look at porn with open minds. Until society has re-evaluated often misguided preconceptions about porn, it’s likely that, for most, watching porn at all will feel a bit awkward.
(...) When finally I started watching porn of my choice, I preferred to watch it alone at first. While on sabbatical and researching feminist porn at the Centre for Gender Studies at the University of Oslo, I remember colleagues sheepishly asking if watching porn turns me on. There's somehow something incorrect for a scholar to be turned on at work, but as film scholar Linda Williams points out in her historical analysis of porn, HardCore (1989), the intention of porn is to stir a physical reaction, just as tragedies strive to induce tears, and horrors goosebumps (5). In the updated version of HardCore (1999), Williams encourages us to think more about such visceral viewing (289-92).
(...) We've since become parents of a toddler daughter who is not fond of sleep, so we don't have time to watch much of anything together, that is to say not just porn. (...) If my husband and I have time together at night after our daughter is asleep, we often sit next to each other on the couch working on our laptops. (read more, blogher.com)
- Quizzical Mama: New Porn by Women (newpornbywomen.com)
- Anne G. Sabo on Twitter: Quizzical Mama (twitter.com/quizzicalmama)
* Fun fact: I founded the Good Vibes Magazine in January, 2000.
Thanks for the feature! And interesting fun fact! Just to clarify, both parts of my “very brief guide” were originally posted on Good Vibrations Magazine, then reposted on BlogHer and my blog NEW PORN BY WOMEN.