Jezebel’s Excerpt from the “Feminist Porn Book”: ‘How I Became a Feminist Porn Star’ by Dylan Ryan
Author: Paige Cohen
March 1, 2013
Queer and feminist porn star Dylan Ryan discusses her groundbreaking work in the porn industry, her journey into becoming an award-winning feminist, and the role of sexuality in changing the images that dominate porn in this excerpt from “The Feminist Porn Book: The Politics of Producing Pleasure edited by Tristian Taormino, Celine Parrenas Shimizuo, Constance Penley, and Mireille Miller-Young and reprinted with permission from Feminist Press.”
From Ryan:
Part of how I create authentic images that reflect my queer sexuality is to work with people I’m attracted to — people who identify along a broad spectrum of genders, sexualities, and backgrounds. In showing what my sex looks like, I have been lucky enough to be a part of showing the sex of these individuals, who defy societal norms. Whether the porn we make together is consciously subversive or if it’s solely sexy, fun, and performative, I hope it accomplishes my goals: to bring more authentic sexualities to porn, to change the images that dominate porn, and to transform what people think porn is. A large part of my body of work (more than two hundred scenes to date) reflects the spirit of that first film: queer and defiant on several fronts.
Read the entire excerpt here. [Jezebel]
How ‘50 Shades of Gay’ Became an Overnight E-Bestseller
Don Weise, founder of Magnus book, which recently announced a joint venture with e-book publisher Riverdale Avenue Books, talks to Publisher’s Weekly about their overnight sensation Fifty Shades of Gay by writer/actor Jeffery Self and how it became a bestseller via the internet.
From Weise:
It’s been just a few days since the book was published so it’s still early to really weigh in on the book’s reception. But the most surprising thing of course is that a book could go from edits one weekend to the bestseller list by the next. I’ve not seen speed like this in the book world and I imagine most other industry veterans haven’t either.
Read more here.
Ottawa Comic Shop Pulls Books of Anti-Gay Writer
Rob Spittall, owner of the Comic Book Shoppe in Ottawa and Nepean, ON, supports the LGBT fight for equality by pulling the work of Orson Scott Card off the shelves in both his stores. Customers have been advised to place special orders for the new Adventures of Superman comic by March 15 if they wish to receive a copy, though Spittall has been encouraging them to boycott the book as well.
From Spittall:
I am doing something right…I mean, I’m in a world of superheroes. It’s the superhero’s job to stand up and fight for what we believe in. And by me taking this standpoint, it’s sort of following through with my business practices and what I sell.
Though some customers disagree with Spittall’s decision and accuse him of censorship, others have shown an overwhelming amount of support. According to CBC News, this is not the first time Spittall has taken a stand against an author in support of a larger community: “Spittal said he hasn’t stocked anything by writer Dave Sim for years because of the author’s anti-feminist views.” [CBCNews]
