Sex, Feminism, and Porn: Nights at the SVA
Forced Womanhood! Magazines, 2017, ropework by Kirk Lorenzo
By Jack Chiang
The SVA Photography and Video Department recently hosted a two-part event, Representation and the Femme Body, exploring issues of labor, gender equity, representation, and depictions of the femme body. Part I of the series revolved around the work of artists and activists, a presentation of their work, and concluded with a panel discussion. Although their creative work and activism differed greatly, they were united in their exploration of transgender issues, sex work, and pornography.
Forced Womanhood! #7, 2017
Those who discussed their work included Rio Sofia, Ceyenne Doroshow, and Juniper Fleming. Sofia is a transgender artist who founded “Forced Womanhood,” a magazine about a subset of porn called “sissy porn”- a woman feminizing a man. Another one of her projects examined this idea of forced feminization of a man further, using film and photography to show the process, the loss of agency, and how a transgender woman is created. Meanwhile, the next speaker was Ceyenne Doroshow, a black transgender female sex worker and activist. Doroshow talked at length about her experiences and activism work, explained how she used to be a homeless sex worker, was directed into activism work, and then helped form a sex worker community that also dealt with LGBT issues. Her passion is palpable as she talks about the stigmas, discrimination, ostracism, and repression that sex workers endure for committing a victimless crime, and her energy and sense of justice is apparent.
Image © Juniper Fleming
The last presentation was from Juniper Fleming, an artist and SVA grad, who talked about putting on an exhibit of art by sex workers, and the research she performed in Florida for her project, a film called “Predatory Prostitute.” The film is an examination of Aileen Wuornos, a Florida prostitute whose sex, female, meant she was a rare type of serial killer. Wuornos killed seven men, but her claims of self-defense were not accepted, and she received six death sentences. Her case, and its heavy sentence, reflected social fears of women out of control, out for revenge, and consequently she had to be put down.
Following the presentations, a general panel discussion of all the speakers touched upon various topics. Of particular interest were the conversations that illuminated how the economy of sex included various sectors and varying levels of social acceptability, from pornography to sex work to ad campaigns, and how a hierarchy exists in sex work between porn actors, prostitutes, and white and black workers. As such, it was a very illuminating event that provided much knowledge and lessons on contemporary social issues.
Image © Juniper Fleming
Part II of the event was a screening of the 1986 independent film Working Girls, followed by a Q&A with the director Lizzie Borden. The film is a look at a normal day in the lives of Manhattan prostitutes, showing their daily activities, routines, and conversations. While we do get familiar and comfortable with most of the girls that work at the brothel, the story is centered around one in particular, Molly. The film encapsulates Molly’s day and her struggles, from when she gets up from bed, travels to the brothel in the morning, works her shifts, and when she bikes home at night. Inevitably, issues of race, labor, class, and femininity are communicated through subtext and explored, and are as relevant today as they were in the 80s and do credit to the movie’s reputation as a feminist classic.
Image © Lizzie Borden
Following the screening, Borden came out, answered questions from the audience, and provided some background information on the film. What was most surprising to me was that the film was loosely based on her own experiences. Borden had worked briefly in brothel, found the environment and the transactional sex fascinating, and based some of the characters in the film on people she met. Eventually, of course, she used her experiences and knowledge to write the film, raised money, and shot it.
Although Part I and Part II of the event had different in approaches and substance, we can still see the common overarching themes they shared. The lessons we can all take away are how much work it took to get to this point, and how much there still has to be done in representations of the feminine, and in labor, gender equality, and rights for sex workers. Only through greater understanding and persistence will the social standing of sex workers and other marginalized groups continue to improve.
