The secret of sacred slutism (laughs) is being consciously aware of our slutty side, our animal side, nurturing that side of us, the wildwoman, the inner whore in all of us.
~~ Annie Sprinke

If anyone can illuminate the mysteries of third millennium, post-menopausal, transgender, genital-transcending, underwater sex, it's Annie Sprinkle.
~~ Virginia Vitzthum

Annie Sprinkle was born Ellen Steinberg to parents who were Jewish academics. She recalls being shy and introverted, before losing her virginity at seventeen. This 'rite of passage' triggered a life-long exploration of how sexuality refines our being. She worked as a prostitute in the early 1970s, and met the cast and crew of Deep Throat (1974) eing arrested in a first-run theater for selling popcorn.

In the early 1970s porn film had not yet been made taboo by the X rating and a Supreme Court ruling that limited its public distribution in theaters. Sprinkle starred in Teenage Deviate (1974), which began her porn film career of around 200 films. Her "patriarchal bimbo phase" (1974-1977) covered most fetishes and psychosexual fantasies. In her "fetish phase" (1977-1982) she extended her boundaries to explore fisting, rimming, golden showers and "rainbow" showers (vomiting on partners). Few porn directors would work with Sprinkle, such was her reputation for challenging stereotypes.

Sexuality has historically been intertwined with revolt from oppressive political and religious institutions. In the mid-1980s Sprinkle was targeted by the Moral Majority and anti-sex feminists. Senator Jesse Helmes (ret.) debated her National Endowment for the Arts funding in the Senate. Her mature and sane approach was in conflict with findamentalist hysteria and cultural repression. She was arrested by police for consensual pornography and her performances were picketed (notably her "Public Cervix Announcement" that invited the audience to demystify female anatomy by search-light). Sprinkle's own rebellion against repressive sociopolitical structures began against the power-structure in the porn industry: she debuted as writer-director-star with Deep Inside Annie Sprinkle (1982). Her films helped inaugurate the Post Porn Modernist movement, in which porn stars return the audience's voyeuristic gaze and redefines the viewer-star-power relationship.

The specter of AIDS and the death of friends transformed Sprinkle into a political advocate. She became a pioneer in the SexPositive movement, along with Susie Bright, Lydia Lunch and Carol Queen, which promotes a healthy exploration of consensual sexuality and compassion for those who are still in the grip of hysteria and neurosis. Sprinkle's artistic and photography work has been shown at the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of Art, the New Museum of Contemporary Art and elsewhere. But this growing acceptance in avant-garde circles was only the surface of a deeper rebellion against internalised 'roles'.

Sprinkle explored Tantric sex, Wiccca and other spiritual-oriented traditions throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s. Her documentary Sluts And Goddesses Video Workshop or How To Be A Sex Goddess In 101 Easy Steps (1991) captures how Sprinkle tapped into non-compulsive initiation, Goddess archetypes and the yoga of attaining ecstatic states of being. Her research on devotional sexuality encompassed deep breathing, meditation, psychedelics, trance-work, SexPositive fertility rites, pansexuality and the inter-relationship of sex, play, power, aesthetics and love. Sprinkle railed against the "bad girl"/"devouring goddess" archetype of Western culture by promoting a variety of archetypes and healthier awareness.

With her film Annie Sprinkle's Herstory of Porn (1999), Sprinkle made the transition from SexPositive filmmaker to the elder advisor of a new generation of stars and activists. The film was adapted from her stage-show "Herstory of Porn: Reel to Reel", which explored her seven transformational phases and the political economy of sex workers. She embraced a bisexual phase (after ten years as a lesbian) and openly talked about the problems faced by minorities (bisexual, transgender, transsexual), even in non-mainstream groups. Sprinkle has brought the SexPositive movement into academia: she is currently researching a Ph.D. dissertation titled "Providing Educational Opportunities for Adult Industry Workers" at the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality.

Annie Sprinkle continues to promote a SexPositive viewpoint through educational films, workshops, erotic art, photography and writing. She also continues to come under fire from religious conservatives and patriarchal mysoginists who are deeply troubled by Sprinkle's demystification of human sexuality and rescralization of eros. If the looming environmental crises are mirrored by personal dimensions, we can look to sexual shamans like Annie Sprinkle for guidance in healing self-disassociation and ending a Sex-Negative culture. She can be contact by mail: