Sequoia Redd

Although this came out a while ago, I’m going to post it again anyways, what the heck.

For those who haven’t read Jensen’s article go here.

Dear Robert Jensen and Gail Dines,

I was a model for AbbyWinters.com (Sahara), I found a link to your article in one of the threads located in their discussion forum and I felt the need to write a response to your article, from an AW model’s point of view.

I have “modeled” for other adult film companies, most of which were not nearly as ethical or healthy as AW. I was also an “exotic dancer” for about six months in the South Florida area. I have a wide range of experience in the adult entertainment industry.

I flew to Australia specifically to model for AbbyWinters.com, IFeelMyself.com, IShotMyself.com and BeautifulAgony.com because I admired the revolutionary stance they were taking in an industry that is saturated with misogynistic and unrealistic ideals.

I did not make it to the AEE or the AVNs this year, but when I heard about what the team at Abby Winters were going to go there to do I felt like screaming “Hell YES, finally!”. A group of empowered, healthy, intelligent women challenging men to play speed chess, performing yoga, and engaging their fans in an arena where young women are usually exploited in an unhealthy way, how awesome?! This is exactly what the morons in the porno industry need to see.

In your article, a very poor example of journalism, you try and undermine their effect under the premise that at the end of the day they were still performing for what men want to watch and masturbate to.

Art inspires many people to do many different things. Some art pieces can make you cry, others can make you laugh and some can deeply disturb you. Art is the expression of the human experience. Yes it may seem like a stretch, but under that definition pornography is art. It is an expression of modern society’s perception and standard of sexuality. It inspires people to be sexual, whether that means masturbating to it or using it to spice up their sex life with their partner. Some of it expresses the standard woman-hating images and some of it expresses the goodness of a down to earth, healthy, natural woman.

In your article you state that you asked the women to answer how creating images that were mostly used by men as a masturbation facilitator improved the lot of women in the world. I would be happy to answer that question for you: The interests of women and men are advanced through the selling of images that are used by both as masturbation inspirations because of the improvement in content of the images they are masturbating to.

Instead of being inspired by abusive gang bangs, semen facials or double penetration garbage, these people are being inspired to masturbate to beautiful, artistic images of healthy, natural women. What is wrong with that? They are revolutionizing the concept of what sexy is. That’s how it improves the lot of women in the world. It inspires people to see the sex appeal in the real, everyday woman, not just the surgically enhanced porn star. It inspires normal women to see the beauty and sexiness inside themselves instead of trying to relate to the unrealistic standards set by the mainstream sex industry.

“A man watching the Abbywinters.com sex display said that he loved the site for a simple reason: “No fake boobs and more pubic hair.” A man who had just gotten a signed photo from a performer at the Hustler booth said he loved porn women for a simple reason: “They are like a fucking sculpture.” The slightly different preferences were trivial; more important was the fact that both men had bags full of pictures and DVDs that would mostly likely be wanking material that evening.”

Slightly different? That’s like saying the nutritional differences between home grown organic produce and fast food from McDonalds are “slightly different”. One genre of pornography promotes plastic surgery, makeup and misogyny whereas the other promotes healthy, natural and real women. There is a vast difference. Why denote the value of something by how someone feels inspired by it, sexually? Masturbation is a healthy practice, this not unknown, many medical studies support this.

Why do we as a people still view sexuality as such a low, dirty subject? Its apart of everyday life, its apart of the human experience at its core. I think the more we try and push it down and hide it, the more trash bad porno companies get to produce.

The solution here is not to censor the mainstream porno industry because we don’t agree with their standard of sexuality, but to open it up to more genres (as AW, ISM, IFM and BA have started) and make it more accessible for people. Talk about it, create discussions for it. Censorship has never been a good solution to any problem, the only way to truly solve issues is to face them and start getting answers to questions like: Why does misogynistic porn sell? Why is the porno industry a multi-trillion dollar industry? Why does almost every porn flick on the market today end in a semen facial? Does it fall back on primitive, cave man behavior? What is it about a woman getting pounded and slapped by a penis that really turns men on? Is it their insecurities about sexuality? Does it metaphorically weaken the woman, therefore making her less of a threat to the man? Does a video which displays what is seen as a sexy women getting sexually humiliated, berated and abused make the man watching feel more powerful? Is it a result of a mass scarification on Western society by a misogynistic religious upbringing?

I think that if sexuality was more of an open subject, we wouldn’t have such overtly misogynistic material in the adult film industry. But because today’s society is still very much run by Christian morals and beliefs, sexuality continues to be a closed subject and as such, porn and the sex industry in general is able to get away with much more because its not a topic that can be discussed in an open forum.

By exploring these issues, not censoring them, we can start to heal the damage that has been done to our psyches as a mass in this area.

I believe that sexuality is female trait. As a woman, there is no real way to escape this reality. We are, on a daily basis, reminded that most men see us as sex objects and that is a very important part of our roles as women to men.

In any job, whether it is of a sexual nature or not, as a woman you will be sexually harassed. As a mass generalization some women try to avoid this by dressing or acting more masculine, whereas some of us learn to use our sexuality as a tool.

I believe that a woman’s sexuality is the one potent weapon we have over the reigning white patriarchal leaders. Sex is almost every man’s one major weakness.

The same way that men use aggression to manipulate and dominate other men and women, women can use their sexuality to manipulate and dominate men.

Healthy sexuality empowers women. Period.

I think most men know and realize this. I think its another major reason why misogyny rules the mainstream porno market. They are scared and they are trying to beat us at our own game in our own arena.

It hasn’t always been this way. Before Christianity, monotheism and patriarchy there was goddess worship, sacred harlots and temples dedicated to sex. The planet was a much different place back then; sexuality and hedonistic practices were used to honor the divine, you could learn about sex at your local temple and prostitutes were considered holy. It was a much easier and safer place to get laid. Ahh the good old days…

In your article you stated that women are reducing themselves by being sexual objects for men’s masturbation. I have done a wide range of work in the sex industry. Never at one point did I feel like I reduced myself at all. My work felt like an addition to my being. I felt proud of my photos, videos and live performances. Especially of the work I did on AbbyWinters.com, IShotMyself.com, IFeelMyself.com and BeautifulAgony.com

Being an adult entertainment performer has empowered me to say the least. It has enabled me to be more open about my sexuality. It has also made me much more confident as a person. Because my sexuality is out there for anyone to see on the World Wide Web, I feel that in life I can move forward with confidence and with an attitude that I have nothing to hide. And don’t get me started on how dancing naked on stage for a crowd of people can improve your self esteem…

You also state that at the end of the day its about what the men want to watch. Is this not the basis for any business in any industry? It is always about what the consumer wants. Again, if sexuality was seen as a more serious subject, it would therefore be seen as another serious area of business. But is misogynistic imagery what most men really want to see? Or has the market been so saturated, until now, that that is all they have to watch? Or is it another issue with masculinity altogether, do our men need to be taught that power does not hold an appropriate place in the bedroom?

Again, if we held open discussions about sexuality, pornography and all of the issues that effect them, these questions could be answered and wouldn’t be such a mystery.

No AbbyWinters.com is not a fully owned and operated female company (as they project and would like the public to think), not all of their practices are completely feminist or supportive of women, and yes at the end of they day they are still producing images for men to masturbate over.

However, what they are doing, what they’ve been doing and the statement they made at the AEE is still one big step forward for women, especially in the adult film industry. They are making a huge difference.

One day I would like to see an adult film company (and maybe even strip club…) that was really female owned and operated that used feminism and matriarchal principles in its everyday practice (would anybody like to fund me?).

At the end of your article you state: “Political judgments also are not only possible but necessary — if we are to resist male supremacy, reject the subordination of women in all its forms, and replace that corrosive conception of gender and sex with a vision of human integrity and community that can be the basis for a just and sustainable society.”

I think the subordination of women will continue to exist until sexuality is valued, revered and honored. Until we can discuss sexuality as a serious subject and something to be shown openly we will continue to have trashy, misogynistic porno as the set standard.

And who wants that?

-Sequoia Redd