The Naked Feminist

Director: Louisa Achille
Featuring: Veronica Hart, Nina Hartley, Christi Lake, Chloe Nicole, Candida Royalle, Annie Sprinkle, Ginger Lynn, Marilyn Chambers, Seymore Butts, Betty Dodson, Veronica Vega, Mischa Allen, Abby Ehmann, Kylie Ireland, Sharon Mitchell

Review by: Gram Ponante

Aussie filmmaker Louisa Achille did something wonderful and revolutionary with this movie: she was able to present anti-porn feminists in a way that didn't make them seem shrill while giving a podium to some of the adult industry's most levelheaded and articulate champions, particularly Veronica Hart, Nina Hartley, Betty Dodson, Carol Queen, Sharon Mitchell, Annie Sprinkle, Candida Royalle, and Kylie Ireland.

Despite the widening blur dividing porn from mainstream entertainment, docs about the adult industry tend to lionize one side while demonizing the other. Unfortunately, this does nothing to convince the choir of the other's point of view. "Naked Feminist," while clearly pro-porn, neither paints porn's detractors as ridiculous nor shies away from showing porn stars exhibiting doubt.

Shot in 2002 and 2003, "The Naked Feminist" makes the obligatory AVN convention trip to Las Vegas for interviews with Hartley, Julie Meadows, Ginger Lynn, and the one of a kind Chloe Nicole, tracks down Veronica Hart at her office at the late, lamented VCA Pictures (VCA and Adam & Eve seemed to have a lock on the porn talent and clips presented), and found Dodson, Sprinkle, and Queen elsewhere around the country.

Seymore Butts appears briefly, but the remainder of the dozens of interviews are with women, who discuss everything from how porn affects relationships to the notion of solidarity among female performers (the doc devotes a chapter to "Club 90," a support group for porn actresses). We also hear some scary stories (Sharon Mitchell's rape by a crazed fan, Veronica Hart's first scene, in which the director went too far), some unsurprising ones (Chloe was high in her first scene), and a standard issue Dodson heartwarmer, in which she explains to her electrician why his unsatisfied girlfriend left him.

Of all the quotes that illuminate the ambivalence of attitudes about porn, my favorite is Carol Queen's:

"The notion that a woman who revels in her sexuality is free and open to anyone is really the toxic heart of the slut role or epithet and it's the part that the conservative feminists - and we - agree is problematic and wrong and needs to be trained out of the culture," Queen says. "And the culture is reluctant to do that because that is what keeps the slut role dangerous."

"Naked Feminist" has not found wide distribution,so its debut this week on iTunes (rent it for $2.99) will be the best opportunity the hour-long movie has had to attract eyeballs since its release.

Since so much time has passed, however, the new-porn aspirations of interviewees have either already come to fruition and just as quickly become something else - How is Hart's feminism different from Joanna Angel's, which might itself be different from Sasha Grey's? - or faded altogether. Hart is no longer making porn movies, which is a shame (luckily, Candida Royalle is), Chloe is no longer in the business, Marilyn Chambers is dead, and Annabelle Chong's hope that the solo-woman Internet site as a ticket to financial security might have been true in 2003, but is not now.

That said, "Naked Feminist" provides generous dollops of all the women in the adult industry who have something to say about it (circa 2003) and the message is still a compelling one today.

· "The Naked Feminist" on iTunes (itunes.com)

10. Suze Randall: "Too Naughty To Say No"

9. Candida Royalle: "Under The Covers"

8. Mason

7. Jamye Waxman
"Exploring The 'O'"

6. Diana Devoe

5. Kimberly Kane: "Morphine"

4. Stormy Daniels
"Operation Desert Stormy" (gamelink.com)

3. Belladonna
"My Ass Is Haunted"

2. Celeste
"Stoya Video Nasty"

1. Tristan Taormino
"Chemistry 4: The Orgy Edition"

Honorable Mentions (some of whom we think should have been on the list): Joanna Angel, Ashley Blue, Dana Dearmond, Aunt Gertrude

· The Top Ten Women Directors In Porn (xcritic.com)

Porn history was made this week when the latest issue of "O" magazine hit the stands: it includes a two-page article on porn for women by Fleshbot gal Friday and "brazen blogger" Violet Blue which not only includes mention of the very website you're ogling right now but also some of our favorite partners in crime, including Comstock Films, Tristan Taormino, Audacia Ray, and Candida Royalle. Says an understandably giddy Violet Blue, "Do you have any idea how much the anti-porn pundits would kill for an opportunity like this to say the exact opposite about women and porn? Take that, Pure Life Ministries, Bush administration, anti-porn feminists of the past three decades. A salvo has been fired, a flag firmly planted ... How crazy-amazing and progressive is that of Oprah!?" We need never feel guilty about sitting around in our underwear all day watching daytime talk shows again!

· "Oprah puts the O in my OMFG" (tinynibbles.com)
· O, The Oprah Magazine (oprah.com)
· Order: "The Smart Girl's Guide To Porn" (Amazon)

Previously: Porn For Women: We Know You're Out There

Every once in a while we receive an angry rant polite reminder that not all girls are strapon-wielding lesbians or cock hungry sluts thirsty for a dirt pipe milkshake: in fact, it seems that there are lots of women out there who actually like porn, despite whatever certain parties would have you believe and although most of what gets made—and featured here on Fleshbot—is still very much about the guy and his money shot. A leftover question from our most recent Best of Sex Advice roundup drove the point home: when it comes to smut made for straight girls, you have to look a little harder to find the good stuff. The experts at Babeland suggested the always reliable Candida Royalle, in addition to a few classics of the "for couples" genre, but it doesn't have to stop there. You can also try websites like Dreamscope Movies, which is attempting to build directory of "stylish and sensual" movies (although even they admit that pickings are mighty slim.) We suggest sticking with studios and directors that are known for their record of putting ladies first—or at least tied for first—like Comstock Films, Petra Joy, and Tristan Taormino. And Fleshbot's own Gal Friday Violet Blue is always a reliable source for women- and couples-friendly smut tips—she doesn't run the Smart Girl's Porn Club for nothing, you know. After all, if whatever you're doing doesn't attract women, then what's the point?

· Pornless in the USA (babeland.com)
· Sensual Adult Movie Guide for Couples and Women (dreamscopemovies.com)
· Thumbnail: Comstock Film's "Xana and Dax", now available on Amazon

After the jump, we raid our own archives from some choice, girl-friendly favorites and we'll do our best to not forget about you in the future.

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In addition to our regular Sex Blog Roundup (which features many women writers) and our Marital Aid Test Kitchen (which helps inspire you in the bedroom), here are some of the best movies and websites we've recommended in the past:

· DVD: Tristan Taormino's "Expert Guide To Anal Sex"
· Violet Blue's "Fetish Sex: An Erotic Guide For Couples"
· Audacia Ray's "The Bi Apple"
· Bi Sex Land
· Exclusive: Tristan Taormino's "Chemistry 2" Gallery

· "Afrodite Superstar"
· Candida Royalle's "Under The Covers" Release Party
· DVD: Comstock Films' "Matt & Khym"
· DVD: Petra Joy's "Female Fantasies"
· Oysters & Chocolate

· Stella Films
· Lust Films' "The Good Girl"
· Preview: New Porn by Erika Lust
· Sexy Dreams: Intimate Software
· For The Girls

· Nina Hartley Strikes Back/"Story Of O" Preview
· Easy On The Eye: Anna Span
· Blackdouge's Male Nudes: Vintage Playgirl Hotness
· Tina Tyler's "Handyman" Series
· Naked Ambition

We know there's more out there, but this should help get you started ... feel free to add you own finds in the comments.

This week in New York a whole crowd of East Coast smartypants-types made their way into the auditorium at the New School for Social Research to check out a sneak peek of "Afrodite Superstar", the debut film in Candida Royalle's new Femme Chocolat line. All the films in the line will be made by women of color and feature people of color in the cast—and none will feature box cover copy that includes phrases like "juicy booty" or "phat taco". Hopefully their absence will not confuse those fans who rely on porn copy writers to let them know what a movie is about.

What the movie is about is a young lady named Afrodite, played with humor and (gasp!) acting skill by Simone Valentino, who gets transformed from a black American princess into a gangsta rapper overnight after meeting a sexy producer named CEO (played by the ever-smooth Mr. Marcus). Besides all the hotness and chemistry between performers, the plot is really engaging, and we don't even feel the need to add on the disclaimer "for a porno movie" at the end of that sentence.

Though the version screened at the New School was mostly softcore for the tender sensibilities of the intellectual crowd, the flashes of flesh we did see were very enticing indeed, especially the finale scene featuring a sizzling coupling between Simone Valentino and Mr. Marcus that actually made us utter the word "Sweet!" out loud in a dark and quiet movie theater. It's not often you see two performers laughing and enjoying themselves during a sex scene instead of making faces like they're slaughtering a suckling pig, but Simone and Marcus delivered and then some. Reports that they continued with the hanky panky after the cameras stopped rolling have been confirmed. -AR

· Femme Chocolat (femmechocolat.com)
· Candida Royalle (candidaroyalle.com)