Recently, a friend of ours was lauding the depiction of sex in “The Sessions,” specifically for the fact that it allows a mostly paralyzed character to have an active and fulfilling sex life–something you rarely see in media. “The Sessions” is a few months old now (our friend is slow to see films), but we thought the topic of differently abled sexuality is something that’s always worth discussing, and we’d like to share a few neat things with you (including a groovy queer porn film)!
First and foremost: Loree Erickson. She describes herself as “a poly queer femmegimp porn star academic doing a PhD at York University,” but her most important project to date isn’t a study or story, it’s an award-winning pornographic short film called “want.” Of the movie, Erickson writes:
In exploring the question “what is sexy?” I reframe sites of shame as sites of pride and resistance (personal care relationships, bodies that challenge mainstream notions of beauty and desirability, queer sex, vulnerability, gender transgression, etc). I also suggest unspoken benefits to accessible spaces (i.e. big bathrooms with grab bars) and show them not only as locations of necessity but also as places of pleasure.
“want” is more than a manifesto that doubles as masturbation material; it is, on a very intimate level, a recording of Loree’s cathartic sexual self-expression, and the filming was just as inspirational to her as it is to others. She writes, “That day was one of the first times in my life that I felt truly wanted for exactly who I am.”
For a different slice of life, we turn to the designer who’s making elegant, lacy, and sexy lingerie-style colostomy bags and stoma accessories. James Schutt interviewed teenage colostomy users (fact: it’s a demographic that’s getting younger every day) and found that many of them felt self-conscious and downright unsexy with their medical equipment hanging off them, so he set out to help. In addition to the fancy bags, Schutt also makes jeweled stoma plugs that can be worn during intercourse, emergency clean-up kits that fit in wallets, a redesigned colostomy bag that won’t bulge under clothing, and even body art and tattoos that can help colostomy users embrace their stoma and beautify the area around it.
And lastly, we ask: have you ever seen our amputee tag page? There are a number of drop dead gorgeous models and pornstars out there who happen to be missing a limb, but we’ll always have a special soft spot for Viktoria, the amputee fetish queen who was profiled by Bizarre Magazine a few years back.
Just some stuff to mull over in your mind!
[At top: a still from "want" (femmegimp.org)]
