Feminist Porn Awards 2011: Because Porn Is About Women

A spectre is haunting Porn Valley Adjacent—the spectre of feminism. All the powers of Old Porn have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre: Mope and Raincoater, Bukkakisto and Gangbanger, Dirty Sanchezes and double-penetrators.

—from “This Ain’t the Communist Manifesto XXX”

In peaceful Canada, 450 people sat still and applauded as the sixth annual Good for Her Feminist Porn Awards (FPA) were announced in a Toronto church hall. Pornographers like Drew Deveaux, Courtney Trouble, Ilana Rothman, Shine Louise Houston, Tristan Taormino, Lily Cade, Kimberly Kane, and Kelly Shibari walked away with trophies recognizing their contribution to a more inclusive world. Of fucking.

Alison Lee is the manager of the Good For Her adult emporium and the founder of FPA.

“Porn has expanded to include women and marginalized communities,” she said, “and many people don’t know about the hot and artistic movies that are being made with a feminist sensibility. We are proud to promote these filmmakers, and excited about directing people to their work.”

Of course, porn—a marginalized community if ever there was one— has always featured women, but that elusive “feminist sensibility” is what FPA judges look for. Not only that, but a sense of porn’s possibilities for people who don’t look like Kagney Linn Karter.

Sometimes I lament the number of adult awards shows, simply because there is so much overlap, pandering, and lack of organization involved. If it were up to me, no one would be able to launch an adult awards show within 500 miles of my zip code without first paying me $250,000.

But the Feminist Porn Awards get a pass. Because they’re Canadian. Because the audience sat still and listened. Because the hosts never had to say “Shut the fuck up.” Because I kept expecting Gordon Lightfoot to show up and accept an award for “The Anal Wreckage of Edmund Fitzgerald by Jiz Lee Wearing a Strap-on.”

In three days of festivities, FPA attendees saw a lot of each other. I know several people who’ve been going for years, all of whom say that comparing this time in Toronto to AVN Awards week in Las Vegas is like comparing creepy, smoke-smelling, overpriced apples to inclusive (in an otherwise-disenfranchised cool kids kind of way) oranges. Some day I hope to attend these awards once Canada gives me my fishing rights back.

The 2011 Feminist Porn Awards Winners

Best Bi Movie
Sex Experiments
Anna Span

Smutty Schoolteacher Award for Sex Education

Oral Sex For Couples Volumes 1-3
Jaiya and Lawrence Lanoff

Hottest Kink Movie
Tristan Taormino’s Rough Sex 2
Tristan Taormino

Most Deliciously Diverse Cast
Tight Places: A Drop of Color
Nenna

Most Tantalizing Trans Film
Billy Castro Does The Mission
Courtney Trouble

Hottest Lesbian Vignette
Taxi Volume 1
Jincey Lumpkin & Maria Angel

Sexiest Straight Movie
An Open Invitation: A Real Swingers Party in San Francisco
Ilana Rothman

Hottest Lesbian Feature Film
Justine Joli: Lost
Kathryn Annelle

Steamiest Romantic Movie
A Little Part of Me
James Avalon

Golden Beaver Award for Canadian Content
Maybe He’s Gifted
N. Maxwell Lander and Beau Charlie

Heartthrob of the Year
Drew Deveaux

Movie of the Year
Life Love Lust
Erika Lust

Honoured Websites
PaddedKink.com
Kelly Shibari

ArtOfBlowJob.com
Camille Crimson

QueerPorn.tv
Coutrney Trouble and Tina Horn

HeavenlySpire.com
Shine Louise Houston

Honourable Mentions

Twisted Getaway
Sophia St. James

Art School Dykes
Lily Cade

Genderfellator
Tobi Hill-Meyer

My Own Master
Kimberly Kane

Previously on Porn Valley Observed: y tu Kimberly Kane tambien; “Seven Minutes in Heaven”—What Would Steve Miller Do?; 2011 Porn Valley Advertiser Appreciation Award season ends
See also: Good for Her Feminist Porn Awards