KATRINA FOX peeks behind the scenes of the real lesbian porn industry

With dyke sex magazine Slit into its fifth issue, US magazine On Our Backs recently celebrating its twentieth birthday, and a porn film from the UK, Madam & Eve by Australian Angie Dowling being one of the main attractions at the Mardi Gras Film Festival earlier this year, the lesbian porn industry is thriving. Porn for dykes by dykes has been growing steadily throughout the nineties, particularly in the US. The first company to produce such movies was Fatale Videos in California. President Nan Kinney, who also started On Our Backs, has seen a fundamental shift in women's and particularly lesbians' view of porn. "We broke every rule in the lesbian community in 1985 by making porn," she says. "Back then, the lesbian culture was dominated by the anti-porn, politically correct faction. Sex was almost a by-product of lesbianism. Women were together for political and emotional reasons, having egalitarian side-by-side sex. Definitely porn was something to be avoided, censored or even destroyed. Since then, there's been a sexual revolution in the lesbian community. Lesbians now are exploring, expressing, even celebrating their sexuality. Porn is a part of our lives now."

Kinney says sex positive feminism has played a large part in the shift in lesbians' perception of porn. "Certainly the pro-sex feminists were a huge influence. They demonstrated that women and lesbians could be feminists and like sex and porn. Our early work with On Our Backs and Fatale Videos changed attitudes in a big way. Finally lesbians could see sexual images of themselves that they could relate to and get off on, that were created by other lesbians, not by men. These new images allowed lesbians to embrace porn in ways they hadn't before."

Shar Rednour, founder of SIR Video in San Francisco, which produces titles such as How to Fuck in High Heels and Sugar High Glitter City, agrees. "Lesbians are more likely to try porn now than in the past because in general, women of all sexualities are talking about sex more. "So how are dyke produced porn films different to mainstream ones? "You won't see women playing to the 'man' who is watching," says Kinney. "You'll see the type of sex lesbians actually have, you'll see lesbians actually having orgasms, you'll see butches and femmes, trans, large, small and all sorts of women you won't see in mainstream porn." According to Rednour it's all about authenticity. "Real lesbians having real sex with people they are either partnered with or just really into sexually. Real bodies, real chemistry, real heat." This includes femme on femme action, which according to Rednour is different to that of traditional girl-girl action in mainstream porn. While big hair and high heels are featured in both Fatale and SIR videos, you're unlikely to see scary long nails. "Our femme-on-femme action is informed, between women who really have sex with each other and know each other's hot spots and bodies," Rednour explains. "Mostly it's different because femmes are dykes and straight gals are straight, though there are definitely some hottie bi girls in the mainstream porn industry."

The internet has also played a huge part in opening up the market for lesbian produced porn, according to Kinney. While a search for 'lesbian porn' on a search engine is likely to take you to an endless list of mainstream girl-girl sex sites with more pop-up windows than real action, some lesbians have created a niche market. The Cyberdyke Network was set up three years ago by webmistress Zille. For around $35.00 a month, you get access to all the sites in the network, which range in variety from goth, fetish and BDSM, to butches, vanilla, big girls, bottom admiring and fisting. They range from softcore to hardcore, and include written erotica, illustrations, photos and video clips. "We wanted not only to make erotica for women, but to make it affordable," Zille explains. "The best way to do this was to make all our sites into a package deal so women could just pay one fee and then get to see as much as they liked. We also wanted to raise the standards of porn and erotica. We wanted to make porn that was erotic and erotica that was truly arousing. We also wanted to show people that they could have a safe and enjoyable experience at adult websites."

Now Australian women are putting a local spin on things. Editor of Slit magazine Domino puts the move down to live local women and dyke events which have shown that porn is "sexy, respectful and fun." "In New South Wales we can point to Wicked Women, Ms Wicked, Gurlesque, Scooter, Kooky, Leather Pride and BDSM parties, as well as the resurgence of queer politics," she says. "Slit's aim is to create a space a space to show off and share what we find sexy as dykes - to create a horny read and pictures that make you catch your breath and sigh. A lot of erotic or pornographic material out there does not relate at all to how I relate to sex and sexuality. The brief phase of the cool lipstick lesbian, the marketing of the pink dollar, and the mainstreaming of dyke and faggot culture has led to very sanitised representations of sexuality."

Similar reactions to mainstream portrayals of lesbian sexuality led to Sydney-based Biz Films being set up. Although production of the company's first film has been delayed, those involved are passionate about getting it off the ground in due course. "We are a group of lesbians who are appalled by the lack of lesbian porn videos available in sex stores," director Rita Bizante explains. "There was nothing to choose from except for straight girls doing it for straight guys. This is not good enough and not sexy. That's why we've decided to make our own. Amongst us is a producer, director, writer and set designer."

Bizante admits, however, that many of her friends enjoy some mainstream lesbian porn. "Every time we go away with friends they bring out Babes in Spas and stuff like that. I think we will still watch this sort of stuff even when we have our own lesbian homemade porn, just because it has its own particular style, you can tune in and out. Our porn might not suit everyone either but it will be a bit more creative and beautiful to watch. Not everyone needs that to get off, but we know girls like to have choice. We are not going to compare our stories or styles to what's out there already. We are just going to deliver our own sexy, slightly bent, dyke-does-dyke drama."

Is this the start of a burgeoning local industry? Pioneer Kinney certainly forecasts a rosy future. "The market has grown incredibly since I started and I think it will continue to grow," she says. "Mainstream media is just now discovering independent lesbian porn. With the growth of the market, the quality and number of productions will increase. The business will become attractive to more producers, and the producers will be able to spend more on their productions because the return will be greater. In all, I'd say the future looks bright for independent lesbian porn producers. You go girls!"

Resources

Fatale Videos http://www.fatalemedia.com

SIR Video http://www.sirvideo.com

Cyberdyke Network http://www.cyber-dyke.net

Slit magazine http://www.slit.cat.org.au

Biz Films bizfilms@hotmail.com

Lesbians on the Loose (LOTL) is an Australian magazine covering New South Wales and Queensland. For more information visit the magazine's website at www.lotl.com