PSA with Buck Angel
Barely a few days ago Buck Angel was in Toronto. During Buck’s hectic schedule (being a porn star is not for the easily fatigued) I had the opportunity to shoot a “Public Service Announcement” on trans health with him for Buck Angel Entertainment. We talked it out and decided to focus on trans women & prostate health “cause women have prostates too” as I say in this video.
While trans women who take estrogen or have had bottom surgery are gonna be at a lower risk for prostate cancer, there’s still a risk of developing this very common disease, especially as we get older.
This was the second in what’s going to be a whole series of trans-health specific PSAs that Buck will be producing and releasing in the coming months.
The prostate PSA follows up on the first PSA – the Public Cervix Announcement – which stars Buck himself. This PSA stresses the importance for trans men to get Pap tests of their cervix. Pap testing is an important screening tool to catch cervical cancer before it ever starts and anyone man or woman with a cervix should get one at least every few years once we’re sexually active.
I think that both of these PSAs are powerful in that they educate and challenge everyone (especially health care providers) in a fun and non-confrontational way. In 30 seconds they get across the simple but profound point that not all men or all women have the same junk, on the inside or out.
Shooting this PSA was really interesting for me as it brought together a bunch of different parts of my life. A lot of my academic writing has focused on trans health, especially on making sense of why things are so effin messed up for trans people in our health care system. One thing that I’ve worked on is developing the term “cisnormativity” (analogous to “heteronormativity”. What cisnormativity does is describe the reality that, for most people, cis (aka non-trans) bodies are seen & understood as (more) normal or real than trans bodies. Cisnormativity is everywhere, from medical textbooks to assumptions we make when we pick up a cute girl or boy, about the junk they got, about the life they’ve lived.
More broadly, I think it’s so interesting how projects like these, or Jiz Lee‘s awesome Karma Pervs project, creatively repurpose the skills & profile of porn performers to effect change ‘beyond the bedroom’. I wonder, as well, if there’s an inverse effect, if its a two-way street in other words, where the social place of porn, erotica, and sexuality more broadly, can stop being marginalized and become the thick and juicy cultural commodity it should be. I’ll definitely be writing another post on porn & activism in the coming days.
Working with Buck was such a fantastic experience and I’m very much looking forward to working with him again. Next time though, it won’t be on YouTube, and there will be decidedly less talking. You’ll have to stay tuned for that. 
You are so amazing and such a pleasure to work with! Thanks again for taking the time to do this with me as you help spread more of the message for us to love our self and take care of our self because it’s our body.
A big fat WOOF!!! to you sexy mama!!
XXX
Buck
Hey,
My initial exposure to you was this PSA. I think it is an excellent thing that Buck is doing by producing these PSAs, I don’t think that these issues are seriousely discussed often enought.
Thanks to both of you for taking this on.
Liz
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