Annie Sprinkle

January 3rd, 2008 by Gnat

I knew that when I started this blog I would dedicate my first post to the goddess who is Annie Sprinkle. Shy and awkward Jewish girl turned ’70s porn star turned post-porn performance artist, Ms. Sprinkle is one of my porny pop culture heroes. Not only that, she’s one of my feminist heroes too.

I was fortunate enough to see Annie perform twice during my college years in the mid-’90s. One of these performances was a rare college campus appearance, courtesy of Annie’s mentor/former lover/collaborator/performance artist extraordinaire and at the time UT Art prof, Linda Montano. If you’re unfamiliar with Linda Montano and her amazing (and somewhat literal) body of work, do yourself a favor and check her out.

The first time I saw her perform, Annie’s show consisted largely of a slideshow accompanied by her dead-witty dialog and industry stories. This was followed by a brief burlesque-y sort of number, and topped off by her now-famous cervix display. What struck me most and left the greatest lasting impression was not the graphic nature of Annie’s show, but the radiantly positive, funny and relaxed manner in which she delivered her saucy material. This is a woman who lovingly opened herself up to display her most “private” parts for audience members just so we could each get a good look at a cervix (because most of us had never seen one, Annie said). We even could take a picture if we wanted. I wanted, and somewhere this glossy shot is buried in my belongings. If I find it I promise to post it at a later date.

I haven’t seen the pic in years, but naturally the image is burned upon my brain forever: Annie is splayed open with a speculum, her stiletto-heeled feet in stirrups on either side of the picture frame. An assistant points the beam of a flashlight towards her opening. Annie looks down at the camera with her eyes full of sparkle. I am behind the camera nervous and smiling.