(Originally posted on Camille Crimson’s blog)
The Feminist Porn Awards themselves were a lot of fun! It was a really great opportunity to do a lot of networking and getting to talk more with some of the people who have truly inspired me in porn. Since I was 18 (or maybe slightly younger) I’ve been fascinated with the idea that porn could be more than what we understand it to be, so it was really gratifying to be surrounded by people who have shown me how true that can be.
I got all gussied up in my little garden party dress, put my hair up in a little chignon and headed out for the evening. First was a VIP cocktail hour, which was excellent for schmoozing and photo ops and generally being self-congratulatory for making it to this wonderful event. Once my friend date finally showed up, we got into our seats and the show began. It was full of burlesque (lady and gentleman varieties) and lots of genuine excitement for porn. Plus, the host of the evening happened to be on one of my favourite childhood shows, which was very unexpected and prompted some hilarious banter with her during intermission.
Awards went out to all sorts of wonderful recipients, all very deserving, and it showed that the selection panel really found a way to make sure that all sexualities were represented, that all bodies were represented and that everything from the tiniest DIY operation to a big company like Kink could win, as long as they’re showing that porn can and must be feminist!
Our category wasn’t until the second half, so I went around congratulating the amazing winners so far, grabbed another drink and got my silent auction on, all the while pretty nervous for what’s to come. I know I haven’t been too involved with the creative side of the site, but I still felt the nerves in a big way. Once we made it back to our seats, there were a few more awards and then it was our turn.
I didn’t know what to expect, but it turns out that they selected four websites instead of just one to honour, probably because there were so many amazing ones to choose from… Twelve in total, I think. They had a screen which showed the winners, starting fist by painstakingly spelling out the winning website. Once they had spelled “A-R-T-O” (they spelled it as Art of Blowjob instead of The Art of Blowjob, but no biggie… That’s why we registered multiple domains!) I knew we had won, so I just started squeaking and hugging and shaking my hands as I made my way to the stage. The other winners (April Flores for Padded Kink, Tina Horn and Judy Minx Queerporn.tv and Shine Louise Houston for Heavenly Spire) joined me, but I was ushered to speak first.
I hadn’t done much speech preparation, but I knew what I wanted to say. I wanted to be succinct and to represent the website as best as I could. Through seeing the video (above) I think I achieved that, even if I managed to talk with my hands even more than the sign language interpreter. It was a really incredible moment and I’m very happy I got to be there to represent the site!
After that, there were a few more awards, a closing salute to the dedicated people from Good For Her who made the event possible, then lots more photo ops, schmoozing and dancing until the early hours of the morning! By the end, I won some badass toys/videos at the silent auction, I had met some of my biggest porn performer/director/journalist heros and managed to really connect nicely with a lot of them.
Holding that butt-plug shaped award in my hand made me feel like I really belong in the industry, and I’m happy to pass it along to Camille and Mike for all their amazing work. In just one week, I will have been working with them for a year and I can’t wait to see where we’ll go from here!