I have a lot to say about this!

Pete,

I love the idea of Bike Smut and I wish it success.  I hope it will hear this feedback and improve next time.

So, facts and not opinions:

-- One of the films showed nonconsensual sex uncritically, without discussion, in an eroticized way

-- The event showed that film uncritically, without discussion

That is exactly what rape culture is: treating nonconsensual sex as normal, erotic, and desirable, and ignoring the real impact it has on people.  Showing this film in this public setting had the effect of normalizing this kind of behavior, sending the message that it's acceptable.  It possibly also caused sexual assault survivors in the audience to feel invisible, unsafe (because apparently people at the event don't care about them), and triggered or traumatized.

I'm not saying any person at Bike Smut is a personal supporter of rape culture.  But this circumstance had the outcome of supporting rape culture regardless of the organizers' intent, and I hope they can see that now and avoid it next time.

I commented in public about this public event because Sudo Room tries to be a "safe space" and that means speaking up when this kind of thing happens.  Hacker spaces in particular are often hostile places for women and trans* people and Sudo Room is trying to change that.  I wanted to get the word out to the community that someone at Sudo Room found the film unacceptable -- so that they would feel ok coming here in the future and trusting us as a space in which sexual assault is unacceptable.

Finally, a good response to being called out is "oops, thanks, we'll do better."  A poor response to being called out would be, to loosely paraphrase points from the previous email:

-- Don't tell anyone what happened

-- That's only your opinion

-- Don't try to keep this from happening again by proposing policies

-- You're unkind

-- You're damaging our reputation

-- You're hurting the community

-- Don't speak about this again

-- You should have raised the issue with us in private instead of trying to discuss this event with the community that it affected

I sure don't feel comfortable with this.  It's not easy being criticized, but consider the kind of responses that would gain people's trust and demonstrate accountability?  

But there are a lot of good things about Bike Smut and other DIY porn festivals.  They're fun, but fun with a mission: to dispel shame, celebrate diversity, and provide positive examples of how we want things to be.  So I hold them to a high standard, and especially so when shown in a community space like Sudo Room which has its own standards to uphold.

So I hope that Bike Smut succeeds and grows, and also uses a bit more care and empathy in its film curation.

-Rabbit

On Sat, Jun 22, 2013 at 12:55 PM, Pete Forsyth <peteforsyth@gmail.com> wrote:

Rabbit,

As far as I can tell, your message of May 20 has gone without much response. I think this needs to be said: your message unkind, judgmental, and damaging to the producers of the Bike Smut film and event. While I recognize that there's room for interpretation and a variety of opinions, you stated your opinion as though it were fact, and went on to propose a new policy for Sudo Room based on that fact. I believe that is a damaging kind of behavior in a community, and hope not to see it repeated. Please see below:

On Mon, May 20, 2013 at 2:29 AM, Rabbit <rabbitface@gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks, Vicky!

I want to speak up especially about consent:

1. Consent on the screen: If we're going to watch porn together (which I support!) let's make sure it reflects our values instead of supporting rape culture (like the film with the box being delivered).
http://www.upsettingrapeculture.com/rapeculture.html

The idea that Bike Smut supports rape culture is stands in strong opposution to my understanding of the project's values. One of the main goals of Bike Smut as I understand it is to foster healthy dialogue about sexuality. I saw the short film you're discussing, and agree that it presented a disconserting, non-consentual act. But it no more *supports* that act than Hans Christian Anderson supported "child-eating" culture when he told the story of the big bad wolf.

If you disagree, that's fair. Perhaps they have strayed from their values. I think the most respectful way to express that opinion would be to go straight to the producers, who maintain open lines of communication, and tell them. Hold them accountable to their stated desire to present material that fosters healthy communication; initiate a discussion. Posting an insult to a public mailing list, though, as far as I can tell does no good at all, and has the potential to do great damage.

2. Consent in the audience: Let's be careful to let the audience know if there are difficult / triggering things in the porn we're showing which could be traumatic for them to see.  This applies to bdsm as well as non-consent.

It's hard for me to imagine *any* porn that does not contain things that are triggering or difficult for *many* people. I was very uncomfortable attending the Bike Smut event, but chose to embrace that discomfort as an opportunity to experience new things and maybe learn or grow. It seems to me that specific trigger warnings targeted to specific audiences would never be complete, and would be extranous -- I think labeling it as a "porn screening" to begin with is trigger warning enough.

Both of these are very serious issues.  In the future I think we need to preview shows like this before showing them to an audience.

No real opinion here, except that I think if anyone takes this on, they will find it's pretty difficult to find things to present that are both interesting and 100% inoffensive to everyone.

 

Props to the contestants at the end of the show, though!  That was really great.

Agreed, that was probably my favorite part too. I thought the energy of the producers and the audience was excellent and inspiring.

-Pete

p.s. Since lots of people on this list probably don't know me: I've been to Sudo Room a handful of times, and am a big fan of its existence and mission, and hope to be more involved in the future. I've also known Rev. Phil, the guy behind Bike Smut, for over 10 years and consider him a close friend and an inspiration.