My Name is Nina Hartley.
When this is published, I will have passed my 32nd birthday and my ninth anniversary as an active member of the sexual entertainment community, specifically the worlds of erotic dancing and explicit video. I am also a graduate nurse (BSN, magna cum laude, San Francisco State, class of '85); a secular Jew; a third©generation feminist; a happy bisexual and a member of a long©standing two©women©one©man triad of over ten years duration.

I do not happen to be a survivor of abuse, drug addiction or incest. consciously chose, as a path to self knowledge, the exploration of sexuality in its many forms. Having been reared to celebrate the female anatomy in all its variation, I expected my experience in adult entertainment to be a positive one. I looked forward to a journey that would help me integrate the basic feminist credo of body acceptance into my day©to©day reality. As someone who was raised to be distrustful of male sexuality (Ivory©tower Berkeley in the '60's and '70's), I indulged my exhibitionism (an o.k. feeling, according to the sex books of that time) and used erotic dancing and, later, explicit videos to demystify men's sexual nature and come to terms with my own.

Sexwork gave me an arena in which to work though my fear of men and their sexuality and I have not been disappointed in the path I have taken. I see the sex drive as a natural, healing and empowering force of nature (thanks to "liberating Masturbation: and the original "Our Bodies, OUr Selves:). Being able to revel in the sheer joy of sex has developed my capacity for compassion and caring and my joy touches many others who are struggling to make sex a more comfortable part of their lives. Over the years, I've become privy to many intimate secrets usually reserved for doctors or counselors. Hundreds of adult consumers, motivated by the permission I give them to explore their sexuality in private, write to share their experiences with me. I'm honored by their trust. I've only just begun to realize the power and scope of female sexuality and I can't wait to see what the next nine years will bring! believe "feminist" is a self©applied label.

I am angered that a few women, granted lots of coverage by the press because of their extreme views, are being touted as the only voice of feminism. I reject the notion that there is some secret feminist orthodoxy, some single standard of measuring who is a "real" feminist. If feminism is about the promotion of equality between women and men (socially, politically and economically), then I am one. If feminism is about the right of women to follow the paths of their lives with minimum outside interference, then I am one and proud of it. If feminism is about male©bashing or the fetishization of the concept of woman©as©eternal©victim, then I am not a feminist.

Here in the '90's, there is a vocal and necessary split among the feminist intelligentsia around the issues of sexuality and censorship and I'm proud and thankful to be in the middle of it. I know that, to a lot of people, the term "feminist sex worker" is an oxymoron of the highest degree, an example of delusional thought of the deepest magnitude, or a cynical manipulation of public opinion for personal gain. I can honestly say that, for this woman at least, this is not the case. How can I be both? I'm unusual I admit, the product of a wholly unique life experience. But, that life gives me a different perspective on the issue of sex and feminism. I concede that I may appear to be a bundle of contradictory attitudes and behavior regarding sex and life, but my unique position lets this feminist speak from direct experience .

For a while in the early '80's, I thought that my girlfriend, Bobby, and I were the only sexually sane women around. But, I've found, in the sex©positive©feminist community (which is far larger than anyone imagines), a wide array of equally maverick, avant©garde women who have all come to remarkably similar conclusions concerning sexuality and the most recent push to "protect" women from its perceived dangers. Before I continue, I feel I should define the terms I'll be using. When I use the words "pornography", "porno", "porn", or "porno movies", I mean: "words or pictures designed to arouse ortitillate the reader or viewer". That's all I mean. It's about sex and many of us don't have a problem with that fundamental fact.

I resent mightily that sex©negative feminists or "sex©negs", mouthing Dworkinite orthodoxy (the Dworkinite deformation of feminism), have caused the previously neutral term "pornography" to become, in many people's minds, synonymous with violence, degradation, death, subjugation and harm to women. The sex©negs have taken the root words "porne" meaning street prostitution and "graphein" meaning to write which should merely mean writing about street prostitution and say it means "writing about female sexual slavery".

"Pornography" is not a Greek word, but a neologism (a new word from the Greek). First usage is in France, c 1770, in the title of an essay/research article on prostitution by the writer de la Bretonne. í