Last month, feminist porn actress and producer Kitty Stryker wrote a blog post decrying new guidelines set in place by the Feminist Porn Awards — guidelines which require, among other things, that films have high production values; earnest feminism is not enough. "High production values come at a price — expensive equipment, expensive software, technical know-how or the money to outsource, fancy lights. Those things are not accessible to many folks," she told Cosmopolitan.com.

Reluctantly, Stryker has since organized a boycott of the 10th anniversary of the awards, set to be celebrated in an April 17 ceremony. "I truly believe in feminist porn as a concept," Stryker says. "I do not believe that sex on film is inherently anti-feminist — I think we can, and should, do better. But my feminism is intersectional, and therefore my feminist porn must be intersectional as well. I think the FPAs have started an incredibly important conversation, but to maintain relevance, they need to continue to evolve and critique their feminism."

The Feminist Porn Awards have now responded to Stryker and other leading feminist pornographers asking whose feminism the awards support. In a statement to Cosmopolitan.com, FPA organizer Carlyle Jansen called for private dialogue instead of social media debate, but sidesteps accountability demands.

In her open letter to FPA organizers, Stryker condemned awarding to people with known histories of abuse, and sidelining performers of color and fat and transgender performers. Stryker, along with producers like trans performer Chelsea Poe, objects to the nomination of producer Lily Cade. Cade, who shoots lesbian porn, is under attack for what critics see as her anti-trans hiring practices. While Cade claims her right not to perform with trans women, preference isn't the point, according to Stryker. "As a producer, she gets to decide who to cast. Even when she doesn't perform, Lily has said she refuses to cast trans women with cis women and has implied that to do so would be 'forcing' them to work together," says Stryker.

To Stryker, most feminist porn aspires to marketability, not inclusivity. Non-mainstream performers are tokenized, fetishized, or referred to with insulting slurs like "shemale." Sexual desire is about choice; filmed or not, everyone has the right to refuse. But, critics say, when it means the difference between earning your keep as a performer or scrambling to pay bills, being seen as desirable — or not — becomes a political issue.

Activists rallied around suggestions made by Courtney Trouble of indie porn outfit TROUBLEFilms. Courtney's suggestions to FPA organizers include more awards to performers, not producers, and avoiding nominees who have been accused of sexual assault without being held accountable. Organizers responded with a blog post yesterday; there and in replies to questions, Carlyle effectively sidestepped complaints about centering performers in awards and refused to allow active performers on the jury, citing conflict of interest.

Carlyle largely dismissed abuse and bigotry allegations. "There have been public accusations by Courtney and Kitty, against Lily Cade, Christian XXX, Madison Young, and Michelle Austin, for example. It is inaccurate to state that criticisms about these performers are widely known or agreed upon ... To our knowledge, none of our nominees or winners have been brought before a formal court or a community accountability board, nor have they been subject to any other form of due process," she wrote.

For campaigners, that's not nearly enough. "The blog post shows that the FPAs are listening, but they're not fully acknowledging the problems yet," says Tobi Hill-Meyer, a trans woman, producer, and performer. "Out of all the different issues, there's only one judging criteria that can be considered feminist at all, and that's inclusion. But being present isn't enough. There's plenty of media out there that's inclusive and has terrible representations of people that are included. I wanted to have a conversation about the criteria, but with the limited time before the awards, I'm OK with waiting to talk about the process next year," Hill-Meyer says.

Courtney Trouble (who uses the pronouns them/they) had not wanted to be seen as part of the boycott, but for Trouble, the blog post was the straw that broke the camel's back. On Twitter, they said, "I totally give up. I apologize for having been such a strong advocate for an event that claims feminism, but doesn't center sex workers."

On awards night, Stryker is hosting an alternative event — a tea party where attendees can wear their awards ceremony outfits, give out their own "awards," and talk about what feminist porn means to them. As she dons a bright red wig for the feminist porn she is shooting in Toronto, Stryker is optimistic about the future of the FPAs. "It's more of a calling-in than a campaign. The awards can be an incredible force to expand and empower sex workers in feminist discussions, and I hope that's the path they choose in the future," she says.

Margaret Corvid Margaret Corvid is a professional dominatrix, writer, and activist, based in the South West of the United Kingdom.

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