As part of writing this post on the Adult Video News (AVN) awards, I took a look at what had won this year. The general idea of giving awards to specific movies strikes me as an anachronism. Who buys porn DVDs these days? However, I figured the specific performers and genres recognized might be interesting. I was very surprised to discover how little attention BDSM and fetish got. There were just three awards that looked vaguely relevant – Best BDSM release, best femdom strap-on release and best foot/leg fetish release. This is out of a total of more than 100 other awards.
I’ve no idea if the titles that won were actually any good. Rubber Bordello looks like it might be fun, the other two (His Booty Is My Duty 2 and Asphyxia Heels The World) look like average porn movies with just passing nods to their supposed audience. But regardless of the selections, I was shocked there was so little recognition of BDSM. They didn’t even distinguish between maledom and femdom. There are no awards for top performing domme, or best submissive, or best rigger, or really anything interesting. What a missed opportunity.
I actually attended the awards ceremony back in 2003. I can’t say I recommend the experience. It’s fun to dress up and walk the red carpet, but the awards themselves are very dull. Amazingly, they’re not allowed to actually show explicit clips, so you end up with a lot of thank you speeches accompanied by Cinemax style edited soft porn. Getting to see Larry Flynt give the hall of fame speech and sitting next to Rocco Siffredi in the bar afterwards were the highlights. Of course if you do it with someone like Mistress T then you might be in for a slightly more exciting time (Updated: You can see Mistress T & friends in her latest AVN experiences here).
Kink is one of the biggest BDSM producers these days, but the only thing they won for was ‘Best Alternative Website’, whatever that means. I’ll leave you with a shot from their Divine Bitches site featuring Maitresse Madeline getting alternative on Robert Axel’s ass.
Thanks for the nod…I just posted a bunch of pics from my week in Vegas during the AVN/AEE shin-dig:
http://www.mistresst.net/blog/uncategorized/mixing-business-pleasure-as-usual/
I had a great time…although I didn’t get involved with the awards themselves (yes, it is mostly a mainstream porn event) it’s an excellent opportunity to get together with many of my peers from all over the country…to film, share business info/network, socialize, etc.
DomCon in LA in May & FetCon in Florida in Aug will be more ‘alternative’…whatever that means:-)
xo
Mistress T
Thanks Mistress T. I just updated the post to also point to your latest images. Looks like a fun time.
I always enjoy spending a few days in LA. Perhaps I can make it down in May for a more alternative experience!
-paltego
I wonder how long until they start giving kink real categories at AVN. Goodness knows its a large and fast growing facet of adult content out there on the web.
It really is amazing how much BDSM has moved towards the mainstream in the last 20 years, slowly but surely gaining acceptance. I think that dommes like Maitresse Madeline are great examples of why that is too. She’s gorgeous, skilled, and very clearly enjoys what she’s doing.
AVN seems stuck in a kind of timewarp. They really should revise the whole process to take account of the new way people buy porn, but I guess there are a lot of vested interests in the status quo.
The depiction of BDSM in porn and in general culture has certainly changed a great deal in the last decade or so. Different interpretations of the obscenity laws have certainly helped, as well as the prevalence of the Internet. Mistress Madeline is wonderful, but IMHO it’s hard to imagine her succeeding to the extent she has without those other factors.
-paltego