"‘Gay for Pay,’ Misogynist for Free: Feminism, ‘Gay’ Porn, and the Politics of ‘Hom(m)osexuality"

Women’s Heritage Presentation by Christopher Lozensky, MSU Alumnus (English)
March 18-Tuesday-12:30 p.m.-Olson Library, Lower Level

What does gay male pornography have to do with women and feminism, anyway?
What relationship, if any, should there be between gay sexuality and feminist practice?
Can men be feminists? Do we still live in a patriarchal society and is feminism even necessary?

These are just some of the questions I have confronted in the course of my research into pornography, hom(m)osexuality, and feminism-and this presentation documents some of the answers I have reached and conclusions I have drawn. Through a critical analysis of published accounts of "true" male-male sexual experiences and representative artifacts from the widely-popular genre of "gay for pay" video pornography, I aim to show that feminism is applicable to situations and sexualities outside of its typical "women only" purview-to demonstrate that (gay) male sexuality and pornography have more to do with women and feminism than some scholars seem willing to acknowledge. Combining Luce Irigaray’s theory of hom(m)osexuality with several other (equally unpopular) feminist approaches to gender and sexuality, I argue that particular forms of male-male sexual interaction-in "real-life" and in porn-are both thoroughly misogynous and weirdly homophobic. That is, through the fetishization of "the ‘straight’ guy who engages in ‘gay’ sex," they not only stigmatize the so-called femininity of gay men but also homoeroticize the oppression of women. Harmful to women and "real" gay men, alike, these representations of male sexuality demonstrate that the politics of hom(m)osexuality-as manifested in "gay" pornographic fantasies and in actual men’s realities-have serious and negative consequences on people’s lives. These hom(m)osexual oppressions, however, can-and should-be challenged through distinctly feminist modes of resistance. Indeed, until feminist theories and practices of male sexuality are developed, the enemy you think you’re not sleeping with could be the most dangerous foe of all. This presentation includes graphic, sexually explicit language and images. No one under the age of 18 should be in the audience.

Christopher Lozensky
Christopher Lozensky graduated cum laude with a BA in English and with minors in history and gender/women’s studies from Minot State University in 2007. In 2002 he was honored as the most distinguished student in the humanities at MSU. As a past President of the English Club, student member of the Diversity Committee, and copy editor of The Coup, he was actively involved in many campus clubs and organizations. He has been a volunteer board member of the Taube Museum of Art for almost 4 years, and in 2006 he served as the Editorial Assistant for the Medieval Feminist Forum. His scholarly interests cover a broad spectrum: from "low-brow" pornography to "high-brow" canonical authors like Walt Whitman and Geoffrey Chaucer. Last winter he completed several short essays included in the forthcoming Companion to Pre-1600 Poetry, edited by Michelle M. Sauer. He also recently finished an essay about "Online Hook-Ups, Phone Sex, Queers in Cyberspace, and Sex on Webcam," which will be published in LGBTQ America Today. Since 2003 he has presented papers at over a dozen academic conferences. Someday he would like to continue his education at the graduate level in English and gender/women’s studies.