Annie Sprinkle: From Porn Star to Sexologist & Artist - Essay Sample

Introduction

Annie Sprinkle worked as a porn star and a New York City (NYC) prostitute for two decades. She later turned into a sexologist and artist through which she explored sexuality for more than four decades. Using her past experiences, she has written books and articles, created her brand of feminist sex films, and advocated for sex worker rights (Garretson, 2003). Sprinkle represents a unique woman who embraced her sexuality and used it to inspire others. As such, an analysis of her biography offers unique insights into human sexuality.

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Sprinkle was born Ellen Steinberg in 1954 in Philadelphia. She was a hippie, and at the age of eighteen, she began her journey in the alternative culture by working at the Tucson's Plaza cinema ticket booth. During this time, theatres were playing Deepthroat, a film that would be later busted and force Steinberg to appear in court as a witness for obscenity trials (Garretson, 2003). She later moved on into working in a massage parlour which seemed like part of her career advancement. Within two months of working at the parlour, she realized she had joined the world's oldest profession, prostitution. Soon afterwards, she evolved into working in the pornographic field. It was during this time that she changed her name to Annie.

Annie moved to NYC in 1973, where she started her career in the hard-core porn films industry. She started as an on-set assistant, later progressing into an actress at Kirt studios. She quickly rose in her career and was the second best-selling video star of 1981 owing to her film, 'Deep Inside Annie Sprinkle.' (Garretson, 2003) This film stood out since, unlike other films at the time, it depicted women as sexually aggressive. Besides, Annie spoke directly to the viewers from her heart, and the film put significant focus on the female orgasm. Generally, Annie appeared in about two hundred films, which include documentaries, loops, hard and soft-core pornography films, and B-movies.

Annie met Willem DeRidder in 1978 who taught her publishing, conceptual art, and performance, hence helping her to develop into a self-realized artist. Annie's work in the sex industry began taking conceptual themes which were presented in the Sprinkle Report (Garretson, 2003). When this work started gaining the attention of other artists, she began stage performances in street clubs. It was here that she started the concept of voyeurism hence confronting the existing myths about male and female sexuality by crossing the boundaries of sexual categorization. Another performance was 'Deep Inside Porn Star,' where porn stars wore street clothes showing that they were women with compassion and concerns (Garretson, 2003). This act aimed at destroying the audience's misconceptions about sex workers. She had other performances focusing on various aspects of sexuality that are well depicted in the 'Herstory of Porn.'

In 2002, Annie received her PhD in Human Sexuality and is now a qualified sexologist. She is a renowned lecturer whose work is used in many institutions. Her photographs and articles have been used in vast publications. Annie has been at the forefront in championing for sex worker rights. She currently serves on the board of St. James infirmary, in San Francisco, a free full-service healthcare facility for sex workers (Garretson, 2003). As such, her professional work entails publishing, directing films, lecturer, and sex worker activist.

In her personal life, Annie is married to Beth Stephens since 2007. The two have acted as pioneers of eco-sexuality, which advocates for people to appreciate their sexual identity (Garretson, 2003). Annie loves working with diverse people individually, offering a wide range of services. Her wisdom and compassion soothe many. Overall, Annie has worked hard to confront myths and misconceptions about sexuality to encourage people to appreciate the diverse sexualities and do away with stereotypes.

Reference

Garretson, T. (2003). The sprinkle story the first 25 years. Retrieved from https://anniesprinkle.org/the-sprinkle-story/.