Here’s a message from a student with questions about my experiences working in porn:

Dear Buck Angel,

I am writing my last dissertation for my last year of university.

As part of my case study in looking at film and how women are presented, I am looking into pornography.

I was wondering if you could write me a quote on your take on pornography. It would be great if you could answer the following questions:

1) How did working in porn make you feel as a person?
2) Did/ Do you enjoy it?
3) Did/ Do you ever feel undervalued?

I thank you so much for taking the time to read this.

I really hope I hear back from you, But if I don’t, I wish you the best for everything in the future.

K.

Here’s what I wrote back:

Hi K.

So to give you my thoughts:

Working in porn was actually a wonderful way for me to empower myself. I know many people would never understand that and lots of folks think that pornography is evil or denigrating. They only focus on the negative aspects and the sensational things that happen to some of the people who work in the industry.

However, for me as a transsexual man, appearing in graphic sex scenes was extremely reinforcing to my self-confidence and my own image of myself as a sexual person. To be shown as sexy and desirable was extremely powerful–not only to me, but to all people who are in some way different, and of course, especially transmen.

Prior to my work there were very few sexual depictions (if any) of the transmale body. I’ve not only empowered myself, but also showed the world a new type of sexuality. My work in adult entertainment has paved the way for new forms of gender identity, and fluidity, and an equal openness in sexuality. My work in porn clearly demonstrates that sex is not just black and white, nor is gender–these are far more complex things than most people ever thought.

I worked as a performer for many years, and now I’ve moved behind the camera as a producer of adult entertainment. My work is not only for entertainment–it’s also very educational in nature. My docu-porn series, “Sexing the Transman XXX” contains sex scenes, and also intimate interviews and conversations with transmen and those who love them.

This is groundbreaking and utterly liberating to the people who participate. I’ve heard so much positive feedback about how my work has helped people to feel more comfortable with themselves. They say things like, “Well, if a guy like you can be comfortable having a vagina and showing it to everybody, then I can be happy with myself.”

Thanks for asking these questions and I hope my answers help with your paper.

WOOF!

Buck