Of starfish and sex games – Shaping pleasure in queer pornography

Summary

Sexuality is full of ambivalent forces. As a discourse of sexual encounters, queer pornography transforms cultural notions of sexuality. In this article, I examine the potential of staged pleasure as a collective practice and critique of the binary sexual order and orientation as well as of normative body images. Consequently, I exploratively analyse two queer porn films and discuss the depicted (im)possibilities of pleasurable sexuality. How are marginalised bodies staged? How do images undermine the binary, hetero- and homo-normative gender and sexual order and thereby expand knowledge? My analysis shows that sexuality in porn is imagined beyond binary bodies and desires and gender is questioned as a source of arousal on set and in cinemas. Sexuality is staged as a bodily practice and redefined by means of sexual communication and a diverse spectrum of erogenous body zones and non-normative fantasies. In my opinion, this harbours an enlightening, subversive and affective potential.

Keywords

• pornography
• sexuality
• queer theory
• trans-non-binary
• body practice
• sexual language