Dennis RomeroPorn stars Jessica Drake and Tasha Reign will speak to UCLA students tonight about “Porn, Prostitution, and Censorship: The Politics of Empowerment.”
See also: 10 Innovative Porn Stars Who Could Be the Next Sasha Grey
The two are no strangers to the student body, and we're not just talking late nights in the dorm with your laptop. Reign, apparently in her seventh year at the school (!?), is said to be a women's studies major. Drake is known on the college lecture circuit.
The event is being presented “in honor of” the V-Day Organization of Eve Ensler, known for her play “The Vagina Monologues,” which is featured annually at UCLA:
]
We asked the school if this was all cool. Spokesman Steve Ritea said:
The event … is sponsored by one of our more than 1,000 registered student organizations, which hold programs on a wide variety of subjects and have the ability to reserve space for events on campus.
The organizer is the Social Awareness Network for Activism through Art (SANAA). Reign says:
As a UCLA women's studies major, and a performer, producer, and director in the adult industry, I feel I can provide a unique view for students curious about how current media views of strong female sexuality can empower women.
The panel will also include Christopher Mott, who is teaching a UCLA seminar titled, “Pornography and the Politics of Sexual Representation,” and Jennifer Moorman, a Cinema and Media Studies Ph.D candidate whose dissertation is titled, “Women on Top: The Work of Female Pornographers and (S)experimental Filmmakers.”
Credit: Jessica Drake
Event producer Kausar Mohammed says this is a chance to “take a stand against gender violence … and change our culture's taboo against discussing sexuality:”
Um. Yeah. She continues:
Having Tasha and jessica speak on our panel allows us to discuss the effect of the porn industry on the everyday woman. Does it empower? Or does it objectify?
Ooh-ooh-ooh (we're raising our hand) – we know the answer! Choose us, teacher.
Anyway, all the magic happens tonight from 7 to 9 p.m. at UCLA's Moore Hall, room 100. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. It's free. Info.
Send feedback and tips to the author. Follow Dennis Romero on Twitter at @dennisjromero. Follow LA Weekly News on Twitter at @laweeklynews.
Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.