Transgender pornography
{{short description|Pornography genre}}
File:BuckandEva.jpg and Buck Angel, two notable transgender pornographic actors]]
Transgender pornography is a genre of pornography featuring transsexual or transgender actors.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-5WyPfynlwMC&pg=PA503|title=Encyclopedia of Prostitution and Sex Work|first=Melissa Hope|last=Ditmore|date=1 January 2006|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|volume=2|page=503|isbn=9780313329708|access-date=24 March 2017}}{{cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2015/08/27/transgender-porn-quickly-growing-in-popularity.html|title=Transgender porn quickly growing in popularity|author=Chris Morris|date=27 August 2015|publisher=CNBC|access-date=13 January 2017}}{{cite magazine|author=Marnia Robinson|url=http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cupids-poisoned-arrow/201207/rethinking-billion-wicked-thoughts|title=Rethinking 'A Billion Wicked Thoughts'|magazine=Psychology Today|date=26 July 2012|access-date=26 November 2013}} The majority of the genre features trans women, but trans men are sometimes featured. Trans women are most often featured with male partners, but they are also featured with other women, both transgender and cisgender.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DX-XDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT667|title=The Queer Encyclopedia of Film and Television|author=Claude Summers|date=24 April 2012|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=9781573448826|access-date=11 January 2017|via=Google Books}}{{Page needed|date=October 2024}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qsHmMoq-gK0C&pg=PA260|title=International Exposure: Perspectives on Modern European Pornography, 1800-2000|author=Lisa Z. =Sigel|date=11 January 2017|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=9780813535197|access-date=11 January 2017|via=Google Books}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YlBQ8G56X7YC&pg=PA123|title=The Myth of Sex Addiction|author=David J. Ley|date=10 July 2014|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9781442213050|access-date=11 January 2017|via=Google Books}}{{Page needed|date=October 2024}}
Terminology
In the 2010s, it was common in transgender pornography to use terms that are generally regarded as pejorative slurs in the trans community, such as "chicks with dicks", "trannies", or "shemales".{{cite web|url=http://www.glaad.org/reference/transgender|title=GLAAD Media Reference Guide - Transgender Issues|date=9 September 2011|publisher=Glaad.org|access-date=25 November 2014}}{{cite news|url=http://www.salon.com/2011/10/21/whats_behind_transsexual_attraction/|title=What's behind transsexual attraction?|author=Tracy Clark-Flory|work=Salon|date=21 October 2011|access-date=26 November 2013|url-access=subscription}}{{cite news|url=http://www.dailydot.com/irl/trans-porn-stars-avn/|title=What it's like to be a trans porn star at the AVNs|date=26 January 2015|work=The Daily Dot|access-date=11 January 2017}} Transgender pornographic actress Wendy Williams said she disagreed with activists who thought these sorts of terms are slurs, as these words were originally "used so the laymen person could understand the products they were buying in porn". In 2017, a major trans porn site changed their name from ShemaleYum to GroobyGirls and announced they would no longer use terms that are seen as stigmatizing.{{Cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/7xx73q/this-leading-trans-porn-company-is-wiping-slurs-from-its-site |title=This Leading Trans Porn Company Is Wiping Slurs from Its Site |last=Tierney |first=Allison |date=2017-08-25 |website=Vice |language=en-CA |access-date=2019-05-02}}
Trans women in pornography are sometimes called "tgirls", the t standing for transgender or transsexual.
Awards
AVN Award for Transgender Performer of the Year is one of the major industry awards for actors in the genre.{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jincey-lumpkin/madison-montag_b_1419640.html|title=Peek Into The Sex Life Of A Transsexual Porn Star: An Interview With Madison Montag|author=Jincey Lumpkin|date=13 April 2012|work=The Huffington Post|access-date=11 January 2017}}{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/nicholas-tufnell/feminist-porn-nica-noelle_b_2642112.html|title=Intellectual Feminist Porn: Nica Noelle and the AVN Awards|work=The Huffington Post|access-date=11 January 2017}} Transgender Erotica Awards (formerly Tranny Awards) is the other major award.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/i-went-to-something-called-the-tranny-awards|title=I Went to Something Called the "Tranny Awards"|magazine=Vice|access-date=11 January 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2014/03/12/tranny-awards-changes-its-name-not-its-nature|title='Tranny Awards' Changes Its Name, Not Its Nature|date=12 March 2014|work=The Advocate|access-date=13 January 2017}}
Trans women
File:Wendy Williams 5 (cropped).jpg
Viewers of pornography featuring trans women typically identify as heterosexual.{{cite news|author=Tracy Clark-Flory|url=http://www.salon.com/2012/02/12/porns_taboo_transsexual_stars/|title=Porn's taboo transsexual stars|work=Salon|date=12 February 2012|access-date=26 November 2013}}{{cite magazine|author=Ogi Ogas|url=http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/billion-wicked-thoughts/201302/what-do-shemale-porn-and-the-twilight-novels-have-in-common|title=What Do Shemale Porn and the Twilight Novels Have In Common?|magazine=Psychology Today|date=2 February 2013|access-date=26 November 2013}} Transgender porn has become one of the largest, most popular genres of porn among heterosexual males.{{cite web|url=http://www.lehmiller.com/blog/2012/10/5/sex-question-friday-why-are-so-many-straight-men-into-transs.html|title=Sex Question Friday: Why Are So Many Straight Men Into Transsexual Porn?|date=5 October 2012|publisher=Justin Lehmiller|access-date=13 January 2017}}{{cite journal|first1=Anna |last1=Hummel |first2=Todd K. |last2=Shackelford |title=Book Review: What Our Sexy past Reveals about Our Erotic Present |year=2013 |doi=10.1177/147470491301100120 |journal=Evol Psychol |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=147470491301100 |doi-access=free }}
Data from RedTube, a pornographic video hosting site, indicated that as of 2016 and based on the frequency of online searches trans porn was most popular in Brazil, Italy, Argentina, Russia and Spain; the United States ranked at 12th place and within the US trans porn searches were most common in Wyoming.{{cite web|first=Carrie|last=Weisman|date=June 6, 2016|url=https://www.alternet.org/sex-amp-relationships/why-trans-porn-hugely-popular-among-hetero-men|title=Why Trans Porn Is Hugely Popular Among Hetero Men|website=AlterNet.org|access-date=July 5, 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830005632/https://www.alternet.org/sex-amp-relationships/why-trans-porn-hugely-popular-among-hetero-men|archive-date=2017-08-30}}
A spokesman for Evil Angel, a US porn production company, was quoted in 2015 as saying trans porn was the company's most profitable category, commanding premiums of about 20% more than other genres or scenes."Let's say an Evil Angel wholesale DVD is in the $15 range. A trans release, same packaging is $19. Why? Because we can get it." [http://www.ibtimes.com/transgender-porn-best-seller-it-good-trans-people-2028219] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150731214930/http://www.ibtimes.com/transgender-porn-best-seller-it-good-trans-people-2028219|date=2015-07-31}}
Trans pornographic actresses may be either sexually passive or active with their male co-stars. Some actresses, such as Danni Daniels, usually perform as a "top" or specialize in dominant roles.{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/vdxy7b/talking-big-dicks-submission-and-the-changing-porn-industry-with-trans-porn-star-danni-daniels|title=Danni Daniels Is Dominating Porn with Her Nine-Inch Dick|date=7 October 2015|work=Vice|access-date=7 October 2017}}
Trans men
In 2005, Titan Media released a film titled Cirque Noir starring Buck Angel, marking the first time a trans man had been featured in an all-male film produced by a company specializing in gay male porn.{{cite web|url=http://susiebright.blogs.com/susie_brights_journal_/2006/09/my_friend_steve.html|title=Susie Bright's Journal : Buck Angel and the 100% Man Clit|publisher=Susiebright.blogs.com|date=September 11, 2006|access-date=April 26, 2019}}{{cite web |url=http://www.bananaguide.com/cgi-bin/mri/mri_title.cgi?title_ID=2457 |work=Banana Guide |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070615114138/http://www.bananaguide.com/cgi-bin/mri/mri_title.cgi?title_ID=2457 |archive-date=2007-06-15 |title=Cirque Noir - gay porn DVD review at BananaGuide.com}}
Cyd St. Vincent founded "Bonus Hole Boys" in 2014, the first FTM gay porn company, in order to "show big-name gay porn stars having sex with trans men and loving it." The formula has found a following among both women and gay men, with the majority of the company's fan-base being gay men. The gay male audience for FTM porn has become a growing niche as more gay men become exposed to the genre.{{cite web|url=https://www.glamour.com/story/mainstream-porn-transgender-performers |title=How Mainstream Porn Is Finally Making Room for Trans Performers |date=12 September 2017 |publisher=Glamour Magazine |access-date=2018-05-27}}
In January 2018, the major gay porn studio Raw Fuck Club (RFC), released a scene starring Cyd St. Vincent titled "Some Men Have Pussies", becoming one of the few major gay porn companies to feature transgender men. The scene was largely popular, but provoked some controversy.{{cite web |url=https://www.intomore.com/culture/yes-trans-men-belong-in-gay-porn/35af9bf4fd984ea6? |title=Yes, Trans Men Belong In Gay Porn |publisher=Intomore.com |access-date=2019-04-26 |archive-date=2019-07-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190706091658/https://www.intomore.com/culture/Yes-Trans-Men-Belong-In-Gay-Porn/35af9bf4fd984ea6 |url-status=dead }} Buck Angel's "Cirque Noir" and Cyd St. Vincent's "Some Men Have Pussies" have been praised as "landmark roles" in the representation of trans men in gay porn "whose magnitude cannot be understated."{{cite web|url=https://www.intomore.com/culture/why-are-trans-men-erased-from-porn |title=Why are Trans Men Erased From Porn? |date=7 June 2018 |publisher=Intomore.com |access-date=2019-04-26}}
As of 2019, gay trans man porn is still a relatively niche genre of pornography with few performers, but the market is growing each year as an audience develops for the genre.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.gq.com/story/male-porn-star-2019 |title=What It's Like to Be a Male Porn Star in 2019 |magazine=GQ |access-date=2019-04-26}}
Perception
Psychologist David J. Ley wrote that the popularity of transgender porn may have various causes, including sexual fluidity and its novelty factor.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6GBrDQAAQBAJ&q=transgender+porn&pg=PT88|title=Ethical Porn for Dicks: A Man's Guide to Responsible Viewing Pleasure|first=David|last=Ley| author-link=David J. Ley |date=7 November 2016|publisher=Stone Bridge Press|isbn=9780996485258|access-date=24 March 2017|via=Google Books}} Author J. Phillips wrote that the "phallic woman...challenges the fixity of our own sexual identity."{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wld9DAAAQBAJ&q=Transsexual+pornography&pg=PA153|title=Transgender On Screen|author=J. Phillips|date=10 July 2006|publisher=Springer|isbn=9780230596337|access-date=11 January 2017|via=Google Books}} Neuroscientist Ogi Ogas said that some straight men are interested in porn with trans women because the brain likes "different sexual cues in novel combinations" and that men seem to have a strong interest in penises regardless of sexual orientation.{{Cite web |url=https://www.smh.com.au/technology/our-sexual-desires-exposed-by-neuroscientists-porn-study-20110621-1gcol.html |title=Our sexual desires exposed by neuroscientists' porn study |last=Moses |first=Asher |date=2011-06-21 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en |access-date=2019-06-06}}
Some in the LGBT community feel transgender pornography objectifies transgender people.{{cite magazine|title=Why Doesn't GLAAD Bust Porn Studios For Marketing 'Trannies' and 'She-Males'?|url=https://www.queerty.com/why-doesnt-glaad-bust-porn-studios-for-marketing-trannies-and-she-males-20101209|magazine=Queerty|access-date=11 January 2017}}{{cite news|url=http://www.salon.com/2012/02/12/porns_taboo_transsexual_stars/|title=Porn's taboo transsexual stars|author=Tracy Clark-Flory|work=Salon|access-date=11 January 2017}} Others argue it can have positive effects. Trans actor Buck Angel said "I get letters daily from people thanking me about making them feel better about their bodies."{{cite news|url=https://www.ibtimes.com/transgender-porn-best-seller-it-good-trans-people-2028219
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906000424/https://www.ibtimes.com/transgender-porn-best-seller-it-good-trans-people-2028219
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=2015-09-06
|title=Transgender Porn Is A Best-Seller, But Is It Good For Trans People?|date=29 July 2015|newspaper=International Business Times|access-date=11 January 2017}}
See also
{{Portal|Erotica and pornography|LGBTQ
}}