“I find fisting to be incredibly liberating! Did you know that a human heart is the size of a fist? Whenever I’m fisting I think about that, what if this person’s heart was inside me right now? Perhaps this is too personal for a public forum such as the Guardian but if you’ll let me say it… for me, getting fisted is the most sacred, intimate, beautiful, and loving sex act I participate in."
~Courtney Trouble
In recent posts I've mentioned how it has become increasingly difficult to keep up with all of the International and National non-traditional holidays. It's hard to keep up, whether the holidays are of serious nature such as National Suicide Prevention Week or National Women's Equality Day; or the simplistic and jovial, National Coffee Day or Banana Split Day.
Well today, I discovered another International holiday that takes the cake. International Fisting Day. Yes, you heard me. Like all holidays, Fisting Day has an origin and the way in which it is celebrated is up to the observer.
Let's start with the very basics. What is fisting? Is it naive for me to think that most of us know? Well, for those of you who don't - it is the act of slipping four fingers and a thumb into one's vagina or anus. Not my cup o' tea, but hey different strokes for different folks.
The holiday came into being when queer porn actress Courtney Trouble decided to pick a bone with the adult film industry. As an anti-porn feminist I am always interested in the viewpoints of those within porn. It is always important to get both sides.
Ms. Trouble is not only a porn actress but she makes porn as well. Over the years she has struggled with getting distributors to sell her movies on DVD and Video On Demand, as producers continually ask her to edit out fisting scenes.
Trouble's goal is to not only to prove to the sex industry that fisting scenes are okay, but that fisting in general is something that should be brought into consciousness. In a recent SF Weekly article, Trouble says, she came up with the idea for International Fisting Day so as to educate others about what fisting is and can be.
Trouble explains that fisting is mentioned on the Cambria List, which is a list of sexual acts that could potentially result in an obscenity lawsuit. "So none of these things are actually illegal to show. I just could potentially be sued. On this list there is fisting, squirting, sharing a dildo, blindfolds, transsexuals, bisexual sex, menstruation, and interracial sex. And all of these things are weighted the same as rape, necrophilia, incest, bestiality; things that are actually illegal and abusive, but there are a lot of things that slip through all the time."
As mentioned, I do not advocate pornography, however, I am on board with Trouble's desire to educate communities about hand sex. Trouble describes fisting this way: "Fisting is something that happens when the stars are aligned and the chemistry is allowed to get really high and things are really passionate and two bodies really open up to each other and the bodies actually start having sex with each other, instead of just the people. It can't really be a quickie and it happens when you have space, time and creature comforts. It's not forced. It's not pushed. It's not punching. It's not always a slow process and gentle, but it's always this warm, opening, serene, really emotional, and connected sex-act. And it's skin-on-skin contact, which for queer people is like going "balls deep" so to speak."
Being that we live in a heterosexist society, mainstream media shows us (whether they actually SHOW us or not) penetrative sex where the woman is being penetrated by a man's penis. I'm not always the biggest fan of sex even in mainstream cinema but I do take note that the idea of what sex is within film is limited. We often see a man entering a woman and through that we are pushed to think that penis to vagina is the major makeup of most sexual encounters.
I am all for offering the public a broader definition of what sex can be, not only for gay couples but for straight couples as well. I don't appreciate the format of pornography film that Trouble advocates, but I'm not in favor of censorship either. And if you are going to make porn you may as well offer a variety that is as realistic and true to the experiences of the viewers as possible. Although, I maintain that pornography is generally not very realistic. Even so, I greatly appreciate Trouble's fight for fairness and equality.
Trouble's plight is not just about the desire to show fisting scenes freely but to convince distributors that allowing many of the Cabria List taboos to appear within heterosexual porn but not within gay porn, is homophobic. Agreed.
I'll be laying low for this International Fisting Day - and for that matter, ALL International Fisting Days to come. But I will raise my fist in the name of spreading awareness to the people. Sex is unlimited and differences just as similarities in sexual practice will always be present. Fisting is not necessarily harmful and to do it one must take great care. So, let us celebrate variety and let us celebrate sexual desire that is not bound by ignorance. And with this in mind, I suppose Fisting Day is quite appropriate. So, to all you fisters out there, have a grand ol' time. I'll be....doing something else. Happy fisting!
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