Queer, feministisk och lesbisk porraktivism. Affektiv bekräftelse och offentlig konfrontation

Abstract

The article discusses the relations between activism and sexuality in contemporary queer, feminist and lesbian porn film culture, a vital and transnational form of activism that has emerged strongly during the last decade. What does pornography mean to the participants in this film culture? What does it mean to feel empowered and recognized through sexual representations? With Sara Ahmed's (2006) words the article considers how bodies become oriented politically and personally in this film culture. The concepts intimate public (Berlant 1997; 2008) and counter public (Warner 2002a) are highlighted as particularly relevant for analyzing this activist film culture and its investment in both challenging dominant notions of gender and sexuality, and encouraging and affirming marginalized sexual identities, practices and desires. Analyzing film texts as well as interview material from three case studies, PornfilmfestivalBerlin, the production of Dirty diaries: twelve shorts of feminist porn (Engberg m.fl. 2009) and the small members-only Club LASH in Stockholm, the article argues that this film culture builds as much on 1970s second wave feminist sexual consciousness-raising as on 1980s sex radical and queer activism.