Critical Feminist Studies

Sex work is always a hot topic in feminist studies. Some women insist that exotic dancing and other sex work is inherently degrading. Others find it a liberating expression of free choice and sexual independence. Julia Query, the narrator and one of the main characters in the documentary, after a while, just found it boring.  In other words, it was a job. Live Nude Girls Unite displays, its share of exposed flesh, but at heart it's a movie about work for me. I guess that’s why I really couldn’t tell I like it or not, because it is a ‘real’ documentary for me. It made me believe that whatever you wear or don't wear when you're doing it, is still work. Without excessive political posturing, the film dismantles stereotypes about women who work in the sex industry and makes its powerful feminist argument in an unpretentious way.

So I googled "Feminist Porn" and read the first article that came up called "Feminist Porn: Sex, Consent, and Getting Off"

The author talks about a lot of things including her position of sex workers, but specfically what qualifies as Feminist Porn (which she believes exists and puts up links to porn sites).

" Enjoying BDSM, strap-on sex and sex toys, genderplay, rape and incest taboo, mainstream pornography, and other “deviant” sexual taboos with a consensual partner does not make a person a “bad feminist” or a hypocrite. To the contrary, feminism is what gave me permission to love sex, with myself and with others, to embrace my sexual orientation, and find out what turns me on. Pro-sex feminism argues that recognizing the role of fantasy in sexual arousal and coming out of shame about sexual desires opens the door to a more frank and honest discussion about women’s bodies, consent, and safer sex. And that leads to better, safer sexthat encourages communication and complete, enthusiastic consent to sex that is fulfilling and healthy. How is that not feminist?"

Hey everyone!

So I'm planning on doing a group showing tomorrow night at 8PM in the Pem East TV Room. If you;re interested in watching, please come. Otherwise, please don't reserve the movie on tripod from those times (:

Comment if you see this in time so I know who to expect!

This is what Friggin sushi, bluebox and I came up with!

Feminist pornography is possible
Possible or maybe possibilities
Possibilities foster hope
Hope requires change
Change takes time
Time is money
Money is power
Power is evil
Evil is anti-feminist
Anti-feminist is anti-feminist
Anti-feminist degrades people
People watch porn
Porn is produced for pleasure
Pleasure… 

Feminist Porn Awards qualifications for feminist porn, link here: 

"In order to be considered for a Feminist Porn Award, the movie/short/website/whatever!  must meet at least one of the following criteria:

     1)  A woman had a hand in the production, writing, direction, etc. of the work.

     2)  It depicts genuine female pleasure

     3)  It expands the boundaries of sexual representation on film and challenges stereotypes that are often found in mainstream porn. 

And of course, it has to be hot!

Overall, Feminist Porn Award winners tend to show movies that consider a female viewer from start to finish.  This means that you are more likely to see active desire and consent, real orgasms, and women taking control of their own fantasies (even when that fantasy is to hand over that control)."

As I was watching this film, I constantly asked myself a question, "Where do I stand in terms of sex work?"

Before watching this film, I was strongly against the idea of sex work, because I thought it objectifies women. And I believed that the sex workers make money by "selling" their body parts. But, after watching this film, I am not really sure where I stand anymore. Some part of me is still against the idea of sex work, and the other part of me is not so against it. As stated in the film, it is the women's rights to do whatever they want to do with their bodies. No one and no law should make any boundary of what is okay and what is not okay. If the women can pay the rent and support their families by doing so, I think the sex industry is actually helping women become more independet (financially). But still...it still objectifies women...I guess I'm okay with the strippers, because there is a glass between the customers and the strippers. But, I am not okay with the "private service," where the customers and the sex workers physically can meet each other. I think I'm more against the idea of "private service" because ANY thing can happene during that time, including rape, insault, and even murder. 

Where do you stand? Did watching this film change your view of sex work industry?

Text: "Hoodie or hijab; racism is racism. I'm Iraqi and I want justice for Trayvon."

Via Feministing, via.

I saw this when it was posted on Feministing, and was reminded of it during our 4/3/12 continued discussion on Half the Sky. I feel this goes along with our discussion of what it means to go into another space and attempt to fix problems as an upper-middle class white American (as the intended audience of Half the Sky seemed to be), what it means to go into our own communities to solve problems, and the geographical, class, cultural, and racial divides between spaces and why or why not we transgress them/what it means to transgress them. This young woman is not part of the intended audience of the book, but she is transgressing geographical, racial, cultural, and religious boundaries to speak out against an attack and the systematic oppression that caused it. 

"Documentary look at the 1996-97 effort of the dancers and support staff at a San Francisco peep show, The Lusty Lady, to unionize. Angered by arbitrary and race-based wage policies, customers' surreptitious video cameras, and no paid sick days or holidays, the dancers get help from the Service Employees International local and enter protracted bargaining with the union-busting law firm that management hires. We see the women work, sort out their demands, and go through the difficulties of bargaining. The narrator is Julia Query, a dancer and stand-up comedian who is reluctant to tell her mother, a physician who works with prostitutes, that she strips." Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com> (imdb.com)