Mona Rae Mason & The Transgender Project

Posted at 3:52 PM Jul 02, 2008

There's a lot of really excellent and inspiring activism and research happening with regards to transgender and transsexual populations. Here in New York, the National Development and Research Institutes has a transgender project that, according to its mission statement, "is designed to describe the economic, social and personal, family and workplace experiences of male to female trans-persons, how these experiences change over the course of our lives, and the impact of these experiences on our mental and physical health."

Naked City contributor Charlie Vasquez had some questions for NDRI's Mona Rae Mason about identity, being in the closet, and challenges that trans folks face.

Charlie Vazquez: So Mona, what is it that you do as an organizer and activist?
Mona Rae Mason: I work for National Development and Research Institutes and I’m the Field Coordinator for ‘The Transgender Project’, a longitudinal study of metro New York City’s male-to-female transgender population. This study is funded by The National Institutes of Health and is the first and largest of its kind for this community—almost six-hundred volunteer participants from all walks of life. I also serve on the Board of Directors of Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. I’m very concerned with the homeless and hungry in our LGBT community—I’ve seen far too many young sisters who’ve come to me for their interview, with precious few clothes on their backs in bitter winter, to collect the meager $30.00 stipend we pay for interviews. As a result, I’ve organized and promoted several clothing and food drives and I also organize and promote NYC’s longest-running and free “transgender and friends” weekly get-together, currently at Nowhere Bar, on Thursday evenings.

Three more questions and their answers after the jump

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Categories: Four on the Floor: Interview, Personalities
Tags: activism, mona rae mason, transgender, transgender project, transsexual, transvestite

Marije Janssen: Feeling Pinched Between Progressive Sexuality and Reality in the Netherlands

Posted at 6:32 PM Jun 20, 2008

Saturday, June 21st marks the finale of the Pinched event series in Amsterdam. Billed as a festival exploring "sex, love, and countercultures," the events have brought together European pornographers, artists, cultural theorists, and fun loving sex and culture nerds at talks, screenings, and late night dance parties.

Held at one of Amsterdam's premiere indie music and performance venues, Paradiso, the Pinched events of this Saturday include a talk by Naked City editor Audacia Ray called Making Sex Media for a Radical Future, panel discussions, and a performance by Annie Sprinkle and Eliabeth Stephens.

Audacia Ray had some questions for Marije Janssen, the main organizer of the event, about the perceived progressiveness of Amsterdam, as well as the meld of commerce, culture, and porn that is a hot topic at the event.

Audacia Ray: What is the main inspiration for organizing the series of programming that is Pinched?
Marije Janssen: One of the main reasons for doing a project like Pinched is feeding the political and social discussion about sexuality (and porn) in the Netherlands. The funny thing with this country is that we have a reputation of being open-minded. Although this is true on the one hand, thinking of gay rights, the freedom of being who you want to be. But this open mind has not been ‘updated’ for a long time, even more so, currently you can see a development that’s going backwards. Something that’s underlined by the current conservative political climate and the rise of a feminist discussion that in some cases resembles the 70s in their thinking about porn and sex.

The development of the queer movement, alternatives in pornography, sex positive feminism, art, etc. are all things distant from Dutch discourse and experience. When I look at festival outside of the Netherlands, like the porn film festival in Berlin where it’s much more mixed I see that there are indeed possibilities to get people together and this inspired me to shake things up in the Netherlands as well. The people from Paradiso were very enthusiastic in realizing the Pinched events.

Three more questions and their answers after the jump.

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Categories: Four on the Floor: Interview, Personalities
Tags: amsterdam, feminism, holland, marije janssen, media, netherlands, pinched, porn

Joe E. Jeffreys: Drag Historian

Posted at 3:11 PM Jun 18, 2008

This Thursday at 6pm, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (Bruno Walter Auditorium, 111 Amsterdam Avenue at 65th Street) is hosting a video-illustrated talk about the history of drag. The talk features Joe E. Jeffreys, a theatre historian with several decades devoted to the study of drag - he's painstakingly collected videos to illustrate his talk and give shape to a very colorful history, one that's best told with pictures (and animated ones at that).

The presentation, Drag Show Video Vérité, gathers and screens rare film and video that documents the faces and places of New York City’s vibrant drag scene. This year’s edition offers more colorful and never before publicly screened footage from the 1950s to the present and offers a who’s who of NYC’s male and female impersonators. The video about is a preview of what will be shown on Thursday evening.

Naked City editor Audacia Ray had some questions for Joe about how he came to his field of study and where he gets all his material.

Audacia Ray: What does being a drag historian entail, and how did you become a historian of drag?
Joe Jeffreys: My becoming a drag historian began the first time I ever walked into a gay bar. It was in Durham, NC, in the early 1980s at a bar called Forty Second Street. It was overwhelming enough being in a gay bar the first time as a teenager but then there was also a drag show going on when I entered. A high school theatre fanatic, I was immediately transfixed with this new (to me then) performance form and its double illusion. I have remained so ever since. In fact, I consider drag to be the indigenous gay performance form.

I teach theatre history, dramatic literature, and gay and lesbian performance studies courses and lay claim to male and female impersonation as my area of expertise. As a drag historian it is my calling to research, document, analyze, collect, preserve and present the art form and its traditions like say a dance historian concerns themselves with that performance form. I have published on drag topics in encyclopedias, academic journals, book anthologies, and the popular press.

I focus my work on the tradition in New York City as there has always been a vibrant drag scene here and this is where I live and can be on the ground for fieldwork and primary research. I like presenting my findings in public forums and offering multi-media talks on drag subjects like one I put together last year on the history of the 82 Club. The 82 was a nightclub on East 4th St in the Village that offered lavish drag shows to primarily straight audiences for over twenty years beginning in the early 1950s. I debuted this talk in the old 82 Club space itself and have presented it elsewhere since.

Three more questions and their answers after the jump.

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Categories: Four on the Floor: Interview
Tags: drag, gender, gender fuck, new york, performance, theater, video

Anna Brownfield: Hungry for New Wave Erotica

Posted at 6:06 PM Jun 13, 2008

Director Anna Brownfield and Brianna Heart being silly on set

Australian filmmaker Anna Brownfield has journeyed into the realm of erotic films and has found her home there. She's won some awards, she identifies as a feminist, and she's striving to make ethical, sex positive, fun and sexy smut. Her company, Hungry Films, has three fetures in various stages of completion, and she's got a lot of energy for making something different and interesting.

Naked City editor Audacia Ray asked her all about making smut down under and the theory behind her porn-making practice.

Audacia Ray: Can you tell me a little about yourself? How did you get interested in making erotic films?
Anna Brownfield: I've been making films for over 10 years. Thematically, I have been exploring the representation of women and sex in cinema; in particular, I am interested in the female gaze and the objectification of men.

Moving into erotica has been a natural progression. As the majority of product is from a male perspective, I see the potential to tap into a growing market of making non-formulaic erotica that is designed to stimulate and arouse women from a truly female perspective.

Three more questions and their answers (plus more pictures!) after the jump.

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Categories: Four on the Floor: Interview
Tags: anna brownfield, aussie, australia, feminist porn, hungry films, porn for women, sex positive

Alexander the Poet: The Bawdy Bard

Posted at 5:23 PM Jun 11, 2008

Over the past ten years, Ukrainian-born and New Jersey-based Alexander the Poet has written and performed hundreds of poems about masturbating, being horny, and coming, plus odes to porn stars and prostitutes, and many more obscurely filthy topics. Most of the poems rhyme, and he delivers them deadpan. His YouTube page features the poet reciting a piece titled "I Would Like to Stick My Dick in You," among others.

Naked City editor Audacia Ray had some questions for Alexander about his inspirations, his experiences in getting banned from 11 open mic nights, and his thoughts on how straight men's sexualities are maligned by mass culture.

Audacia Ray: You've been writing and performing poems about sex for ten years now - what have been your most popular poems and your most memorable performances?
Alexander the Poet: Well, I tend to love my poem titled "Shit", but it tends to be hit or miss with some folks. Either they crack up mad, due to how disgusting it is, or they don't like it, because it is disgusting. Either way, I've found it to be a great closer when I do my act. On those same lines, I'd have to say "My Balls" is also well received. I've opted to use that as my opener because while it's obscene, it's not as 'wrong' as my other works. So it's a great way to pull the audience in. Unlike "Shit", this poem doesn't really turn people off.

In the very beginning, I performed "She Gave Me Wood" and "The Day I Spanked My Monkey." Those were excellent poems in capturing double entendre, and I suppose really, that they put me on the map, so to speak. But since those poems, I decided to become more perverse and twisted.

Hmm, my most memorable performances were. Hmm...To tell you the truth, it's hard to recall because I really haven't performed on a regular basis within the past 5 years it seems. I blame that on a few factors:
1. Most of the open mics I've gone to are no longer happening and/or the venue that held them, shut down.
2. The few open mics that still exist have banned me so I can't go there.
3. With my new job, I'm really limited in being able to travel during the week as much.

I recall performing at this bar in Old Bridge, NJ called Club 516. One night I found myself reading about 30 poems because the patrons there really loved it! Well, I personally think it was the alcohol that loved it.

I'd have to say that I also remember performing at The Internet Cafe in Red Bank, NJ. Only due to the fact that the crowd there were mostly 15 yr olds and there was a time when I'd keep performing there week after week at the open mic. Then, suddenly, the owner decided to ban me. I'll admit, I was surprised I lasted as long as I did there. As much as I relish in seeing how people react to my poems, I do have somewhat of a conscious and realize that there must be an age limit set, in terms of how old you have to be to appreciate my works. I say that would be 16. 15 is pedophile territory. But 16 is legal in Jersey :)

Three more questions and their answers after the jump.

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Categories: Four on the Floor: Interview
Tags: alexander the poet, erotic reading, erotica, performance, poetry

Francesco D'Isa & Pornsaints: Homage to Porn Stars?

Posted at 6:17 PM Jun 06, 2008

Pornsaints bills itself as "an artistic approach to porn, a pornographic approach to art, a pornoartistic approach to religion." This mission manifests itself in often surrealistic digital manipulations of photographs of porn stars. The images are mostly offered up by the porn performers themselves, and the Pornsaints site also offers up interviews with the ladies they feature. Francesco D'Isa is the main brain behind the project - the Italian artist has since brought other artists into the fold, on June 14th he'll be launching the first physical gallery show of the work, at Galerie Zero in Berlin, Germany.

Naked City editor Audacia Ray (who was porn sainted by artist Japi Honoo in 2007) had some questions for Francesco about the inspirations for the project as well as the distopian aesthetic of many of the images.

Audacia Ray: What kind of work did you focus on before you started Pornsaints. As an artist, what attracts you to making art featuring porn stars?
Francesco D'Isa: I've always worked with female forms as a medium for my art. I often used softcore/porn pictures as reference when I was at my very beginning. I think that to feature porn stars in my art is a natural step in my artistic path.

Three more questions and their answers (plus more images) after the jump.

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Categories: Four on the Floor: Interview
Tags: anna logue, anna the nerd, dana dearmond, fine art, francesco d'isa, ida belogi, Marguerite Sauvage, porn, pornsaint, sabina leigh, stoya

Co-directors of Doc "Bi the Way" on the Changing State of Sexuality

Posted at 10:01 PM Jun 04, 2008

Feature-length documentary Bi the Way debuted at South by Southwest in March, and is now playing around the country on the LGBT Film Festival Circuit. This Friday it will be screening here in NYC as part of the NewFest: 5.45 pm at the AMC Loews 34th St, Theater 13. Afterwards, join the directors and other assorted characters at the Wild Side after party, a night of bi-curiosities, gender contortion, and sexual illusion to celebrate its NYC premiere. 8:00-11:00pm, Friday June 6th At Vlada Lounge (331 W. 51st St. between 8th and 9th Aves.)

Naked City editor Audacia Ray had some questions about the changing face of sexuality in America and the logistics of making the documentary for the film's co-directors, Brittany Blockman and Josephine Decker.

Audacia Ray: The tagline on your website says about bisexuality: "it's a both /and world." Though the prefix "bi" suggests that bisexuals have two options, do you think that bisexuality is increasingly becoming representative of sexual fluidity? If so, do you think bisexuality will increasingly become the norm, at least in practice if not in name?
Brittany Blockman: For many of the bisexuals we interviewed, claiming a bisexual identity meant they would allow themselves to love a person regardless of the sex of that person—that their love was sex/gender-blind. They didn't seem focused on what category their desires fit into but rather on the electricity that could be sparked in any number of circumstances between themselves and another. In other words, their sexualities weren't predicated on having only two options but on having as many options as there are people in the world. As one of our interviewees put it, "People who are bisexual are more alert to the great dance that is human eroticism. People who are more narrowly defined hear the the major chords and miss the minor chords altogether."

However, many of the young people we interviewed in Bi the Way preferred not to use a label in describing their romantic proclivities but rather to exist in the realm of possibility with regards to their sexuality. They appeared to be less interested in 'coming out' and taking on a sexual identity than in carving out their own sexual paths and doing what made them happy. This openness to experience seems to be what is increasingly the norm and revolutionary, rather than claiming bisexuality as an identity. And as young people embrace sexual fluidity, they become more in step with recent advances in neuroscience which have demonstrated that the brain has the capacity for many types of love—both simultaneously and in tandem.

Three more questions and their answers after the jump!

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Categories: Four on the Floor: Interview
Tags: bi the way, bisexuality, documentary, queer

Cinema Erotique Joins the Growing Legions of New Pornographers

Posted at 4:34 PM May 30, 2008

Cinema Erotique is one of a small flurry of boutique-style porn content producers that have begun to move onto the scene over the past few years. The website offers original content produced by the company itself - their smut is plot-driven, lushy photographed, and they brag that they even use professional sound equipment. They are striving to make a different kind of erotic content, but they also have their feet firmly planted in the ideals of what works in mainstream smut: skinny, young, conventionally pretty female stars, hairless bodies, and hardcore action.

Naked City editor Audacia Ray picked director Cherry Chapman's brain about the extent to which the idea of "porn for women" holds water, standards for performing and producing porn, and the trick to directing smut.

Audacia Ray: Often "porn for women" is thought of as being classy porn, while porn for men is thought of as being more base and more sleazy. Do you think there's something in particular that women want in their porn that is different than what men want?
Cherry Chapman: I don't think that it is just women who want different forms of erotic material, I think taste divides up on class and geographical lines too. I also have a personal point of view too, that is that I don't find "porn" exciting or erotic. A large factor in porn and its audience is its history as illegal and forbidden; the idea that forbidden fruit tasting sweeter. I think that porn is the product of religion and sexual repressions. Now we are in an age where more and more people see sex as normal and healthy and do not get the excitement from viewing "dirty forbidden materia.l" So the erotic will need to change meet that new market.

I find the tremble of the lip more exciting than the non stop pumping...sex for all of us is in the head and that is where we are aroused. So we need ways of creating the sexual fantasy in people's heads, both men and women. The differences in our fantasies are reflections of the sexual and class divides of our society, as well as the different positions held by men and women. The history of women with regards to their subordinate position, their exploitation, and the sexual roles played by men and women mean that woman's fantasies are different.

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Categories: Four on the Floor: Interview

Zoe Wilder: Where Body and Brains Meet

Posted at 3:19 PM May 28, 2008

Zoe Wilder is a relative newcomer to the sex nerd scene in New York, and she's got what it takes: she's gorgeous and has no qualms about getting naked for a camera, she's got academic inclinations, and she knows how to have fun.

Naked City editor Audacia Ray quizzed Zoe on the breadth of her professional experience in the world of sex: from dominatrix to erotic model to sex therapist in training.

Audacia Ray:What are the projects you're most excited about working on right now?
Zoe Wilder: I'm currently in graduate school working towards my MSW (Master of Social Work). This past semester I took a Social Welfare Policy course that got me really excited. I spent a great deal of the semester researching the history of prostitution policy in the United States and started to get involved in sex worker rights awareness. My interest in social welfare and advocacy in relation to topics surrounding sex has grown stronger than ever. I've been exploring different ways in which I can direct this energy to make change. In the past few months, my boyfriend and I have thrown several events called SpinSpinNYC. We teamed up with the Harm Reduction Coalition and $pread Magazine to raise money and awareness. Now that the semester is over and I have a little bit of spare time, I've spent it collaborating with different musicians. I've been in the studio with Mikey Beatz laying down vocals on house tracks. I'll also be collaborating with the band Psylab this summer doing improvisational shadow-dancing. In addition to all of this, I'm always on the prowl for the next fun photo shoot.

Three more questions and their answers, plus more photos, after the jump

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Categories: Four on the Floor: Interview, Personalities
Tags: bdsm, marcos rivera, michelle talich, model, scott k, sex therapy, spinspinnyc, zoe wilder

Debra Hyde: The Shifting World of Sexuality Writing

Posted at 6:15 PM May 23, 2008

Debra Hyde and Naked City editor Audacia Ray are both alumnae readers of the In the Flesh Reading Series, a monthly Manhattan erotica showcase where they first made each other's acquaintance. At the recent Sexerati party hosted by Tristan Taormino, Mark Michaels and Patricia Johnson, the two struck up a conversation about generation gaps and the changes wrought on sex writing by the growth of the internet. The conversation continues here on Naked City.

Audacia Ray: Last week we were talking a lot about how ideas about sexuality shift over generations. I think this is totally true, but it’s also true that there isn’t a lot of cross-generational talk about sexuality (except often in interpersonal relationships between people of different generations). There’s this sense of “reinventing the wheel” as each generation comes of age. How do you think people can be encouraged to share ideas and knowledge about sexuality across generations?
Debra Hyde: First, I'm not convinced we can escape “reinventing the wheel” -- or that it's a bad or frustrating thing. Every generation has its epiphanies – we have an entire sexual life cycle to explore in our lives -- and, if we're lucky, we'll continue to discover through our lives. I know my discoveries as a woman awaiting menopause are different but just as valuable as those I made in my twenties.

I'm not sure we should at all discount the awareness we gain from simply talking about generational lines either. My daughter's in college and I've found I learn a lot about her by simply listening without parental judgment – and that it's a joy to do so. Maybe all generations could start simply by listening, and doing so without any personal blinders in place.

I wonder just how codified we could make the exchange anyway. You and I had a pretty free-form exchange last week and I loved its flow. It remains wonderfully memorable for me. But if we were to make attempts? Especially in this on-line age?

How about a group sexblog where each contributor came of age in a different decade? Social groups for exchanging life stories? Or if there's another Sex 2.0 conference, older women will be sought out and included?

Obviously, I'm still trying to figure this out, but key to you last question, I think: We're talking here. It's enlightening and enriching. We're good at it. Let's keep it going.

Three more questions and their answers after the jump

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Categories: Four on the Floor: Interview
Tags: debra hyde, erotica, sex writing, the internet