Customer Reviews

Naked Ambition: Women Who Are Changing Pornography

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm glad that this collection managed to open the minds of some other readers/reviews and make them less judgemental, but for anyone who already has an open mind about sex work, this book is really a bust. There is very little content here that attests to women actually CHANGING the industry, rather than just taking on jobs behind the camera instead of in front and then executing the same movies that men in their positions have before. Granted, this is A change, but not one that merits a 350 page book.

Milne, the editor, has made the mistake of inviting quite a few women who are NOT writers to compose articles for the collection, which means the writing styles are often dull and lifeless. Many of these women come across as never questioning the industry's status quo, celebrating their total immersion into cutthroat capitalism, and often even seem rather angry and arrogant. Chapters frequently degenerate into a bit of childhood background, then a profoundly uninteresting "this is what a day in my life is like" section followed by a few unexplained (and therefore unconvincing) claims about porn being inevitable and timeless. At least 30% of the book consists of boring, resume like lists of the various jobs certain writers bounced around in before settling on their current one. A great deal of attention is devoted to petty industry power plays and sycophantic "I've worked with Jenna for 10 years" nonsense. I actually found the most baffling chapter to be Tera Patrick's, who writes obsessively about how popular and beloved she is, how well her movies do, etc etc etc. only to make a claim a paragraph later that she doesn't care what others think. Her essay is entirely one of contradictions and wild mood vacilations until only one thing comes across clearly: this girl clings to making money like it's her only purpose in life. The engaging and entertaining chapters are few and far between - Tristan Taormino's, Regina Lynn's, and Shane's all come to mind - and are not enough to redeem the work as a whole.

Let me make it clear that I am totally PRO PORN, pro sex shops, pro sex workers - I'm for it all! That's why I like to read articulate advocates of the same. Tera can write as many articles as she wants that take up the mantle of vain, rap song-esque self aggrandizement, I just don't want to pay to read them. For much more insightful, provocative anthologies I'd suggest Whores and Other Feminists, and Jane Sexes It Up, or even personal tales like Carol Queen's Real Live Nude Girl. (Just as a sidenote, I actually read the book Female Chauvinist Pig shortly before this one, and while I wouldn't give that book a rave review either, they were certainly interesting to read together! FCP critiques just the type of unexamined embrace of the sex industry - and a capitalist takeover of all things deemed sexy - that is so often made explicit in this book. Skim over page 334 where the author complains about what a pain in the ass other women are and you'll see the direct correlation. And for the record, two pages later, on page 336, the author evidences some of the same "oversensitive" behavior that she whined about. These type of frustrating contradictions are par for the course in this book.) Check this one out from a library if you are still curious, but keep your money to spend on another book.

Carly has done a good job of collecting stories from people inside the adult industry. As a member of the industry, I'm aware of the back story on some of the people listed here. What I can tell you is that the stories are certainly accurate from their perspective.
I would have preferred to see more commentary from Carly in the book. Since she has had the opportunity to work with some of the adult industry people in a professional capacity, she could have given us some perspective on the stories. Or, even brief side comments on how she chose the people involved and the process to get them to offer their stories. With the people involved, I'm sure there were some interesting events. In its presented format, her involvement seems nominal, and almost a deception as "author." She's a talented writer, and could have used this platform to introduce herself to the literary world. I'd like to see more of the cover promise of "how they are changing the sex industry."
As another reviewer here says, some of those included in the book are certainly not writers. In contrast to that opinion, I find it refreshing to hear their words directly. not through the "make it sound nice" filter so often used in autobiographical works.
This format also doesn't take a story that warrants a very long chapter and tries to stretch it into a full blown book. (No pun intended) I've been disappointed by some of the other biographies released in recent years that were thin, and obviously puffed to fill a book. Here, we get many mini books for the price of one. In that sense, it's a bargain for the price of the material. If you want to start doing research on people in the industry, this is a good place to start.
All in all, a very good read from the professional pleasure creators.

My boyfriend is a big Tera Patrick fan, so I got this for him after finding out she wrote a chapter. He hasn't had a chance to read it yet because I have been hogging it.

After reading this, I am not only a fan of Tera's, I am fan of most of the women that contributed to it. This book is fascinating! There is so much more to the porn industry than meets the eye. I feel like a jerk for saying this, but I had no idea how intelligent some of these women are.

I know that this is supposed to be a review and not a live journal entry, but I have to share this. I think it really shows the spirit of the book.

I actually bought the book from one of the women that contributed! My boyfriend dragged me into Eros Boutique, in Boston, a year ago to get an outfit for a party. I've only been in there a few times, but everyone that was working seemed nice. There was no creepy vibe so I wasn't afraid to go back by myself to get his birthday presents. The girl working (not Sheila) told me about the book after I bought a few of Tera's videos. After reading it, I went back to get another copy of Naked Ambition for a friend of mine, and I bought it from Sheila Rae! Her chapter was one of my favorites. She wasn't a snob or anything when I asked her to sign it, either. She was pretty busy so I didn't get a chance to talk to her for long, but I did enough to think that she seemed pretty down to earth.

These are just normal women with very interesting stories to tell. I didn't realize how judgemental I was until I read this. It's kind of a wake up call. You don't have to like porn to like this book.

This book consists of essays by a number of women working in porno or related fields although not prostitution.

There are no victim stories here, which may or not give a misleading impression of the industry as a whole but it demonstrates that sassy young women of certain kinds can make a living and find their identity and indeed enrich their lives and understanding of themselves in this area as in any other.

I recommend this book as a contribution to understanding sex positive femininity if not feminism itself and as a demonstration that many women are taking back the night of their own sexuality through the making of and enjoyment of porn. Porn is no longer totally male dominated as this book amply demonstrates.

My only disappointment was I would like to have seen an essay by Candida Royalle.

I bought this book expecting to find a lot of cliches, some of the same ole industry hype. Instead I was given the perspectives of many people in and around the industry that I found refreshing and at times ironic and funny.

I was particularly intrigued by the chapter dealing with the ErosBoutique Sex Toys and Adult Products store owner. ([...]). A day at the waterslides with mom and the kids.. and on the phone talking sex toys with the Ricki Lake show is a fabulous little story and so very human.

I've worked in the adult industry for years, and I too have been a woman who has taken control and benefited, improved and dignified what has far too long been left to bring nothing more than cheap unimaginative trash.

Bravo for the book and Bravo for all the women who are taking the reigns instead of being barrled over by the horse and cart!

Patricia

As a female director myself in the more kinky side of porn I really enjoyed and related to the women that wrote for this book. I loved that the articles are all around 10-15 pages each which is the perfect length to read in a single sitting at a coffee shop, over lunch, etc. Some of the women I know, some I know of and others from more behind the scenes had a really interesting perspective on what they do. Agood, easy, lighthearted read from women proud of what they do in pornography.
My director name: Chanta Rose

interesting perspective from some of them. But it's only interesting if you happen to like the actress in the book recounting the story.

Porn is something that speaks to a reality that can't be denied- people- especially men, love to look at sex, naked bodies etc..., and women love to be looked at and feel empowered by money or attention when they are objects of men's desire. But the conundrum is that "it's bad", because it objectifies women as sexual objects and men get off on pictures and film instead of or in conjunction with their wives or lovers and the majority of wives and lovers don't like that because women do like to be the one, heart, mind, soul AND body that their lover/husband desires. This book depicts women who are supposed to change the face of pornography why? Because they are more real to us than unreachable. That makes them even more aggravating. So now the pornographic subject takng my husband or lovers attention away from me is more real. Great. Sex is great. I'm not into sharing my lover with others and all the naked women in this book make it that much more difficult. I like to look at beautiful people. But these women aim to stir up lust in us for them so their egos can be gratified at the expense of our personal relationships. Glorifying them as some political icon is sad.