Mutantes (2009) Mutantes: Punk Porn Feminism

Director: Virginie Despentes
Stars: Norma Jean Almodovar, Maria Beatty, Lynn Breedlove

Mutantes sheds light on a feminism that was little talked about in France. This documentary comprises of a series of interviews conducted in the USA, Paris and Barcelona, and documents from the archives about the political action of sex workers, queer activists and post-pornographic performances.

Mutantes is a documentary on pro-sex feminism by Virginie Despentes, originally conceived as an audiovisual complement to her book ‘King Kong Theory’. Unlike the abolitionist feminist movement, the pro-sex feminist movement, which began in the United States during the 1980s, asserts that representations of the body and of pleasure are areas that must be taken over by women and sexual minorities and that pornography must not be subject to control by the patriarchal state. It also calls for the legalisation of sex work; female sex workers, porn actresses, strip teasers and lesbians have begun to speak out and to talk about themselves, generating a new culture that includes articles, books, films, documentaries, music, comics, artistic performances, etc.

Made up of about 20 interviews filmed in the United States, France and Spain, the documentary gives the floor to pro-sex activists and follows the evolution of the movement from the 80s to the present, from its pioneers and its successors to its proactive activists in France and Barcelona. It also reveals previously unknown images directly tied to the subject (excerpts from films produced by activists, updates on their activities, archives of their works, performances and street demonstrations, etc.) Whether it’s referred to as Pro Sex, Post Porn or queer, the movement is a creative and revolutionary one that calls on us to reflect on what a pornographic image is, what sex work is, what gender is, and what the whole point of feminism is. Disturbing, provocative and innovative, ‘Mutantes’ aims to play a saving role as it splits from popular discourse, which would have it that sex is best practiced in the bedroom, that women’s dignity depends on their ‘good’ behaviour and passivity, that the only feminist themes to be debated are gender violence and the wearing of headscarves. ‘Mutantes’ allows us to see that activists are already occupying other playing fields, inventing other ways of having sex and of thinking of sexuality and gender.

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