Madison Young
Young performing in Austin, Texas, 2018
Born
Loveland, Ohio, U.S.
Height5 ft 2 in (1.57 m)

Madison Young is an American filmmaker, author, performance artist, feminist activist, and former adult film performer and award-winning erotic filmmaker.[1][2] Young is a prominent figure in the feminist porn movement and is known for their work as a queer and kink-focused educator and an advocate of sex workers’ rights.[3]

Young is the executive producer, director, and television host of the original documentary series Submission Possible, which was first released on Revry TV in 2020,[4] and is the co-host and co-producer of the feminist parenting podcast Wash Your Mouth Out.[5]

Early life

Young was raised in a small town in Ohio. They attended the School for Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnati[6] and majored in theater at Columbia College Chicago and Antioch College.[7]

Young moved to the Bay Area in 2000 and founded Femina Potens Art Gallery, a nonprofit art gallery and performance space in San Francisco.[8] Femina Potens served the LGBTQ and kink communities and curated over 500 events and visual art exhibitions during its 14 year long run.[9]

They entered the world of erotic filmmaking in 2002, initially as a performer and subsequently as a director.[10] During this time in Young’s life, they founded the Erotic Film School, an annual erotic filmmaking intensive which sought to empower underrepresented queer and feminist communities to document their own narratives through erotic film.[11]

Career

Performance and curation

Young curated the Askew Festival, a three-night "experimental, interactive exploration of performance, activism, and counterculture through documentary and experimental film coupled with performance art, readings, and dance" that took place at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, CA in 2012, and again in 2014.[12]

They co-starred in the Queer X Tour, a sex positive cabaret show featuring explicit performance art by six performers who addressed sexuality through a feminist and queer lens.[13] French filmmakers Émilie Jouvet and Wendy Delorme followed the tour through Europe from Berlin to Malmö for their 2011 docudrama film Too Much Pussy!.[14]

From 2016 to 2019, Young co-wrote and performed their “one-womxn show,” Reveal All Fear Nothing: A Journey in Sex, Love, Porn, and Feminism, which examined their personal experience in the world of erotic film as both a feminist porn performer and director.[15] The script was inspired by Annie Sprinkle's Post Porn Modernist theater production and written in collaboration with Sprinkle.[16] The show influenced actress Maggie Gyllenhaal's work on the HBO series The Deuce.[17]

Young’s other performance art work has been showcased internationally by institutions including the Museum of Sex,[18] Highways Performance Space,[19] Grace Exhibition Space in New York,[20] and Max Black in Sydney, Australia.[21]

Directing and producing

Young founded Empress in Lavender Media, a production company working to bring queer, transgender, and sex worker stories to mainstream media through filmmakers within those communities. Their first series, Submission Possible, explores "the queer sexual underground worlds of kink, fetish, and BDSM” across the nation.[22] The first season of Submission Possible was released from 2020 through mid-2022, after delays in production due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and features New Orleans, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Oakland.[23][24] Submission Possible was screened at the 2022 CineKink Film Festival and has been selected for screening at the 2022 San Francisco PornFilmFestival.[25][26]

Other media ventures

Writing

Young’s memoir, Daddy, was published in 2014.[1] Young followed their memoir with The Ultimate Guide to Sex Through Pregnancy and Motherhood and The DIY Porn Handbook: Documenting Our Own Sexual Revolution, both published in 2016.[27][28]

Young’s writing has also been published in anthologies including Rad Families: A Celebration,[29] Subversive Motherhood,[30] The Ultimate Guide to Kink: BDSM, Role Play and the Erotic Edge,[31] Ropes, Bondage, and Power: Power Exchange Books' Resource Series,[32] and the Routledge Porn Studies Journal.[33]

Speaking and guest appearances

Young is a noted expert on sex, BDSM, and feminist pornography.[34] Young has taught workshops, given lectures, and acted as a panelist at institutions such as Yale University, University of Toronto, UC Berkeley, and Emerson College.[35][36][37]

They have been featured on HBO,[38] the History Channel, MTV's Logo, and on Fusion TV with Alicia Menendez.[39] During their appearance on Viceland's Slutever, Young spoke on the topic of ecosexuality, a sexual identity and movement.[40] Additionally, they discussed gender neutral views on parenting and body positivity on Bravo's Extreme Guide to Parenting.[41]

Young has been interviewed for HuffPost,[42] xoJane,[43] The Rumpus,[44] Salon,[45] and Curve,[46] and has been written about in The Feminist Porn Book: The Politics of Producing Pleasure[47] and Pornography Feminism: As Powerful as She Wants to Be.[48] They have also appeared on Amanda Palmer’s podcast, The Art of Asking Everything.[49]

Awards

Year Ceremony Category Work Result
2008 FPA Hottest Kink Film Bondage Boob Tube Won
2009 FPA Hottest Kink Film Perversions of Lesbian Lust, Vol. 1 Won
Indie Porn Pioneer Won
2010 FPA Best Bisexual Film Fluid: Men Redefining Sexuality Won
2010 AEBN Best BDSM Release[50] Perversions of Lesbian Lust, Vol. 1 Won
2013 FPA Hottest Kink Film 50 Shades of Dylan Ryan Won
2014 FPA Best Lesbian Vignettes[51] Women Reclaiming Sex on Film Won

Personal life

Young is married to James Mogul, a former adult filmmaker, BDSM educator, and photographer. They have two children together.[52] Young is non-binary and uses the term queer to describe both their sexuality and gender.[53] They use they and she pronouns.[53]

References

  1. ^ a b Madison Young (Jan 1, 2014). Daddy. Rare Bird Books. ISBN 9780985490287.
  2. ^ David Sullivan (October 15, 2008). "Madison Young Comes to Minneapolis". AVN.
  3. ^ McNamara, Brittney (April 30, 2019). "Can Porn Help People Understand Consent?". Teen Vogue.
  4. ^ "Spotlight: Submission Possible on Revry". Metro Weekly. June 19, 2020.
  5. ^ Scalisi, Cait (September 11, 2019). "A Sex Educator's Guide to Erotic Lactation". Blood & Milk.
  6. ^ "Madison Young: our favorite art slut". sfbg.com. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  7. ^ Reiss, Jackie (April 25, 2010). "Feminist, Videographer, Matchmaker, Artist, and… Porn Star?". The Quad – BU's Independent Online Magazine.
  8. ^ Alexander, Brian (2008). America Unzipped: In Search of Sex and Satisfaction. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-307-35133-3.
  9. ^ Lumpkin, Jincey (30 March 2012). "50 Shades of Submission: An Interview with Real-life Submissive, Madison Young". HuffPost. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  10. ^ Sterry, David Henry (10 July 2014). "Madison Young on Beautiful Porn, Revealing All, Fearing Nothing & Her New Memoir Daddy". HuffPost. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  11. ^ Winter, J.R. (April 23, 2016). "A Day-By-Day Look At What It's Really Like To Attend Erotic Film School". Elite Daily.
  12. ^ "About the Festival". Askew Festival. 8 May 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  13. ^ Sabo, Anne (November 12, 2015). "The Queer X Show: Feminist and Sex-positive Sluts on Stage". Good Vibrations. Archived from the original on 2020-09-29.
  14. ^ Sidonie Sigrist (6 June 2011). "Sur la route du queer". Le Figaro. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  15. ^ Taylor, Magdalene (14 August 2021). "Madison Young is the Anthony Bourdain of Sex Travel". MEL Magazine.
  16. ^ "How Madison Young's "Reveal All Fear Nothing" Inspires Others To Do The Same by Cameron Glover". Go Mag. November 14, 2017.
  17. ^ McVey, Ciara (June 24, 2019). "Maggie Gyllenhaal Attended a One-Woman Sex Show to Prepare for 'The Deuce' Role". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2021-06-21.
  18. ^ "World Premiere of Madison Young's Submission Possible". doNYC. September 5, 2019.
  19. ^ Astanov, Jana (June 17, 2018). "raw, sexual, and feminist". 3:AM Magazine.
  20. ^ Axton, Natalie (April 25, 2016). "When Honey-Coated Nude Performance Art Loses Its Sting". Hyperallergic.
  21. ^ "Reveal All, Fear Nothing: Madison Young screenings in Melbourne and Sydney". Gala Vanting. July 24, 2015.
  22. ^ Kavis, Deb (June 25, 2021). "Submission Possible". Penthouse.
  23. ^ Youngblood Gregory, Sara (October 19, 2021). "Can We Heal Our Pandemic Trauma Through Kink?". Mic.
  24. ^ White, Sarah (August 12, 2021). "Submission Possible: Kinky New Series by Madison Young". OUT FRONT Magazine.
  25. ^ "Submission Possible: San Francisco". CineKink. 14 April 2022.
  26. ^ "2022 San Francisco PornFilmFestival Unveils Official Selections". LA Direct Models. 3 May 2022.
  27. ^ Young, Madison (July 12, 2016). The Ultimate Guide to Sex Through Pregnancy and Motherhood: Passionate Practical Advice for Moms. Cleis Press. ISBN 9781627781527.
  28. ^ Young, Madison (June 24, 2016). and The DIY Porn Handbook: Documenting Our Own Sexual Revolution. Greenery Press. ISBN 9780937609811.
  29. ^ Moniz, Tomas (November 10, 2016). Rad Families: A Celebration. ISBN 9781629632308.
  30. ^ Hurtes, Sarah (January 10, 2018). "Inside the Secret Clubs of Kinky Moms". Harper's Bazaar.
  31. ^ Young, Madison (2012), "Submissive: a personal manifesto", in Taormino, Tristan (ed.), The ultimate guide to kink: BDSM, role play and the erotic edge, Berkeley, California: Cleis Press, ISBN 9781573447829.
  32. ^ Young, Madison (2009), "Thoughts on rope, submission and feminism", in Harrington, Lee (ed.), Rope, bondage, and power, Las Vegas, Nevada: Nazca Plains, pp. 51–62, ISBN 9781935509028.
  33. ^ Young, Madison (January 2014). "Authenticity and its role within feminist pornography". Porn Studies. 1 (1–2): 186–188. doi:10.1080/23268743.2014.888250.
  34. ^ Young, Madison (21 March 2014). "Authenticity and its role within feminist pornography". Porn Studies. 1 (1–2): 186–188. doi:10.1080/23268743.2014.888250. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  35. ^ Harden, Nathan (April 5, 2010). "Bawd and Man at Yale". National Review.
  36. ^ Horn, Tina (May 4, 2014). "I Attended the Ninth Annual Feminist Porn Awards". Vice.
  37. ^ Sarner, Lauren (February 4, 2016). "Model Madison Young Is Changing The Conversation Around Sex". Inverse.
  38. ^ "Restricted Content". HBO Canada. Retrieved 2013-07-20.
  39. ^ "Submissive Feminist? How BDSM Is Challenging Our Ideas About Sex and Power". Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  40. ^ Reed, Jennifer J. "In Pursuit of Social Justice at the Postmodern Turn: Intersectional Activism through the Lens of the Ecosexual Movement". UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones.
  41. ^ "Episode 6: The Everything-on-Demand Baby". BravoTV.com. 28 August 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  42. ^ Lumpkin, Jincey (15 November 2012). "Sex School With Madison Young: BDSM Basics". HuffPost. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  43. ^ "Madison Young: Artist, Activist, Sex Educator and Filmmaker". XOJane.com. Archived from the original on 8 May 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  44. ^ Manjula, Martin (3 May 2012). "The Rumpus Interview With Madison Young". TheRumpus.net. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  45. ^ Clark-Flory, Tracy (16 March 2014). "Porn stars are the gladiators of the entertainment industry". Salon.com. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  46. ^ Trouble, Courtney. "Hot n' Heavy". CurveMag.com. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  47. ^ Shimizu, Celine Parreñas; Taormino, Tristan; Penley, Constance; Miller-Young, Mireille (2013). The feminist porn book: the politics of producing pleasure. New York, NY: Feminist Press at the City University of New York. ISBN 9781558618183.
  48. ^ Moreland, Rich (January 30, 2015). Pornography Feminism: As Powerful as She Wants to Be. Zero Books. ISBN 9781782794967.
  49. ^ Palmer, Amanda (February 2, 2021). "The Art of Asking Everything Episode 19: Madison Young".
  50. ^ "2013 AEBN Awards". VODAwards.com. Archived from the original on 2011-12-13. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  51. ^ "FEMINIST PORN AWARDS: The Complete Winners List (2006-2015)". PinkLabel.tv. 20 April 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  52. ^ "ONE SEXY MUTHA: Madison Young Talks to Allegra Hirschman About Her ULTIMATE GUIDE TO SEX THROUGH PREGNANCY AND MOTHERHOOD". Mutha Magazine. November 29, 2016.
  53. ^ a b Young, Madison (May 19, 2021). "Discovering Non-Binary And Unfurling Into A Gender That Fits".

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