Annie Sprinkle

By: Kelly Lever
Annie sprinkle is a former porn star born in 1954 as Ellen F. Steinberg(Still alive and active today). Sprinkle got a doctorate in Human sexuality and also received her BFA in photograph. She has written books such as “Post-Porn Modernist” and “Harecore from the Heart- The pleasures, Porfits, and Politics of Sex in Performance”. Sprinkle actually gave an artist talk at B.G.S.U a few years back. As an artist Sprinkle has done such performances like one she titles “celebrate the female body”. During this performance she displayed her cervix with a speculum and flashlight to an audience. She takes her sex educatation and uses it to give viewers a different perspective on femininity and sexuality. Sprinkle states “"To me, the television is sex, the bed is sex, the sky is sex, you're sex, I'm sex, everything is sex." Looking at her photos from art school, they just look like porn photos to me. I can appreciate some of the things she has done as an artist like “celebrate the female body” but other pieces confuse me. It in a way reminds me of the section in “33 things every women should know about women’s history” in that during different times women were expected to dress or be this certain way. To me Annie Sprinkle is still conforming to major female ideals that are present in today society. I think that’s what women in porn are doing by using sexuality and sex appeal. Which seems contradictory to feminist views and ways. She is tempting to bridge pornography with sexuality. “her performance explores the tension between feminism and pornography and the power relation that exist in any art that makes use of the female body.” Statement in an article titled “A sprinkle of Porn, Feminism, Art”. Annie is a sex positive feminist.

She puts porn at the center of feminist explanation of women’s oppression, focusing on freedom in sexuality. Annie has help really push along sex positive feminism, which was especially big in the 80’s. So there are women out there that take to her ways of thought. There are also others who are anti-pornography feminist. I would honestly have to say I would fall more into the anti-pornography category. She has taught me that through education and reaching out through art. What you want to express can be hear by so many. Even though, I come from a different view point then Annie Sprinkle there is something to be said about a women who is so open with sexuality and has such dedication to her viewpoint while using different means to express touchy subject matter like sexuality to a large audience of people.

Research:
She has written 3 books:
Post-porn Modernist:my 25 years as a multimedia whore
Dr. Sprinkle Spectacular Sex
Harecore from the Heart-The Pleasure, Profits, and Politics of Preformance

Sex Herald.com has an interview with Annie Sprinkle
Annie Sprinkle swims forward - Article at Salon.com
Sex Positives? By Thomas Foster, Carol Siegel, and Ellen Berry
AnnieSprinkle.org