by Shanna Katz

I think it’s really important to look at the diversity of experience for queer folks around sexuality, and so it was important for me for Point of Contact to include not only the “usual suspects” as far as queer/ethical porn (a butch dyke, a femme, and a queer set of folks including a trans* person), but also include gay men, who I think have been incredibly silo-ed in the porn conversation; we say there is straight porn, gay porn and queer porn, but I think there CAN be gay men in queer porn, there just isn’t always the space.

I chose to focus on masturbation, rather than more “traditional” sexual activity, because outside of CrashPadSeries, and maybe a few Good Dyke Porn scenes, I wasn’t able to find much about it… but how can you share your needs and wants with others, if you don’t know them about yourself? Showcasing self-love was about normalizing and sexualizing this personal time, reminding people that not only is masturbation (solo or mutual) informative; it can also be hot, sexy and an incredible turn on. As a sex educator, the more I can support people in exploring their own bodies and desires, alone and with partners, the happier, healthier, more satisfying sex lives people tend to have. This was an amazing opportunity to work with a wide array of identities, and a diverse spectrum of self-pleasure, and then being able to share it with folks all over the interwebs.

I really enjoyed shooting the two folks (Maya Mayhem and Misch Masochist) in their mutual masturbation scene. We actually shot it during a Sex 2.0 conference, so we had spent all weekend discussing sex positivity, sexuality, identities and more, and then I got to witness and document such an amazingly connective and communicative adventure between those two.

I learned a lot about camera work — I actually had to re-shoot the entire solo shoot with Dani Starr, because the whole bloody thing froze about 20 minutes in and we had to factory re-set the camera. Luckily, she was willing to keep on coming, so it worked out ok. I loved being behind the camera and getting to be the person somewhat unobtrusively viewing these amazing moments of self appreciation and self love!

Watch Shanna’s Point of Contact.

Shanna Katz is a queer, disabled, cisgender femme sex educator and board certified sexologist and professional pervert. From topics like vaginal fisting to non-monogamy, and oral sex to how sexuality and dis/ability intersect, she talks, writes and teaches about the huge spectrum of sexuality, both from personal and professional perspectives. She’s using her Master’s of Sexuality Education to provide accessible, open-source sex education to people around the country. For more info, please visit her sexuality education site, ShannaKatz.com, or follow her @shanna_katz on twitter.