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Tristan Taormino is best known for having one of the most famous assholes in the world. She is one of the foremost experts on anal sex and sex in general. Thats why she was the best person to edit the Best Lesbian Erotica anthology.

Buy Best Lesbian Erotica

Daniel Robert Epstein: How did you first get involved with Best Lesbian Erotica in the first place?

Tristan Taormino: It was 1994 and I had been working on my own zine which is called Pucker Up and also working in a community of people who were doing erotic writing. I felt like there werent a lot of venues for them to publish their stuff. At that time, I approached another person with Michael Thomas Ford who originated the Best Gay Erotica series. We pitched it as sort of like a companion book and the publishers were like Well were interested in this. There isnt a lot of erotica in the market. We dont know how its going to sell. But yeah well do it. 10 years later, theres a huge market now. But when we were doing it, especially in terms of lesbian erotica, there are only a few titles.

DRE: Oh really thats shocking.

TT: That was back in the old days. Now theres an entire category in the bookstore. And now, its a category at the Lambda Literary Awards. Its a big deal.

DRE: Whats your favorite erotic story in the book?

TT: My favorite story in this book is actually the first story which is called Love You and Set It Free and its all about this girl growing up in Baltimore and shes doesnt know shes a lesbian quite yet. But she and her friends rent this lesbian porno and it turns her on. So she buys her first dildo and masturbates with it while her friend is asleep. But is she asleep or is she not asleep? Its sort of all these question marks and its hysterically funny.

DRE: Would this book be a good gift for both guys and girls?

TT: Absolutely. I feel like our libidos are a lot more complicated than our identities can be. I think whether you identify it straight or gay or guy or girl or youre single or youre in a couple a whole bunch of different stories about people can turn you on.

DRE: What were the criteria for the stories?

TT: First and foremost, it has to be well-written. I think sometimes erotica gets a bad name because its written pornography, people think its low quality. I totally disagree and I think sexy writing can be good writing and good writing can be sexy writing. Then Im interested in stories that surprise me, that turn me on, that make me laugh. Stories with very well-developed characters and a context for people that are having some kind of erotic encounter. In stories I want something to be at stake otherwise, who cares? Whats at stake can be very deep and meaningful like this long-term couple is going to have sex to see if its going to save their relationship. Or someone goes out and meets a stranger and steps outside their comfort zone and hooks up with them and whats at stake is just a good time and an orgasm.

DRE: Do you ever get questions that freak you out?

TT: It is incredibly difficult to freak me out. Mostly its just because Ive had a lot of experience and done a lot. I encourage people to ask me as personal questions as they want to and Ill answer them straightforwardly.

DRE: So you dont really get anything thats ever like, Whoa?

TT: No not at all. I dont feel like there should be questions which are off limits and I feel like you know theres are many people who are afraid to ask questions because they think theyre going to sound dumb or they think they should know the answer or theyre not going to be cool or they think they have a particular sexual desire or turn-on that isnt normal. I want to validate people and allow them to ask absolutely anything and take away this shame, guilt and judgment that can be associated with that.

DRE: Have you been affected by any of these puritanical things that are happening in America?

TT: Absolutely, not too long ago, I spoke at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Theres this conservative professor who heard about it and said that taxpayer dollars shouldnt pay to have a porn star come and corrupt our children. Number one, no taxpayer dollar paid for my appearance. Number 2, calling me a porn star is like calling Michael Jordan a baseball player. Did he play baseball? He tried it out but was he good at it? Yeah, he was ok. He didnt make it his life career and looking over the body of work, you wouldnt consider him first and foremost a baseball player. You know, Ive written three books. Ive edited ten. Ive written for countless publications including the Village Voice. I teach classes all over the country. Ive been on TV. Ive been on the radio. Ive made exactly three films which involve explicit sex, two of them are based on my book The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women and one of them is sort of a short artsy film of the publishers of Libido Magazine which was heavy on the script and sort of light on the sex. So I just think calling me a porn star is insulting to both me and porn stars everywhere who actually work really hard everyday in the adult industry at what they do. So thats that. He generated a lot of buzz. A lot of people in the right wing wrote letters to the university freaking out. The chancellor then came out and said, We didnt know who she was when we asked her to speak. Oh my God, now that we know, were freaked out. Which was a lie because they knew everything about me. They got my press kit. Theyve seen my website. They know it all. I make no bones about who I am, what I represent, what I do.

DRE: Can you sympathize with how upset he was?

TT: No I think hes an idiot. The truth of the matter is, colleges and universities are supposed to be these places where theres debate, dialogue, diversity and theres growth. Most students would say, When I pay my tuition and a small percent of my tuition goes to these student activity fees, I realize that those fees are going to pay for speakers and events that A, I dont care about and B, I dont attend; C, I might briefly disagree with people and things that might actually offend me but I am part of this community, Im part of this university. I believe in free speech and some of the money is going to go to stuff that I wholeheartedly support and others are going to go to stuff that other people are interested in and other people support and thats ok.

I think it just encourages dialogue and that to me is what higher learning is all about. So I think he has it all wrong but Im an easy target for him. He thinks Oh my God, porn star talking to our kids, giving them pornography. Then he gets all these people riled up and he doesnt even have his facts straight.

DRE: Rachel Kramer Bussell told me to ask you about he time when you put a wiffle ball bat inside yourself.

TT: I went on the Opie and Anthony Show and I have to say it was bit of an ambush. There was this pro-wrestler promoter on there and he had a little bug up his ass about me and they ganged up on me and said We want you to put this wiffle ball bat up your ass and I did. In hindsight, I would have rather put a bat up my ass for Howard Stern than Opie and Anthony because I feel that I have a lot more respect for Stern and he showed me way more respect than those fools.

DRE: What are your latest additions to your anal sex empire?

TT: Several years ago, I designed my own butt plug which is named after me, The Tristan. We started making them and its been a great success. Weve sold a lot of them and its brought joy to the butts of many people. A lot of people wrote to me and said they wanted a bigger, thicker, longer version of Tristan. So we released the Tristan 2 nicknamed the T2 and its a bigger, longer, thicker version of my signature butt plug. Its an answer to all those requests of all my fans who wanted something bigger to put in their butts and Im just totally excited about it.

DRE: Do you test on these things yourself?

TT: Absolutely.

DRE: Do you test them like in the early stages when theres a product type number on it?

TT: Yeah, I test the prototype. It got a little bit longer after that prototype. Theres one prototype thats been in my asshole. Im going to put it on eBay for charity.

DRE: Last year I spoke with Richard Kern and he said that it seems like girls are a lot more willing to take their clothes off now. Whats your impression?

TT: Certainly I think when youre planning to take your clothes off and youre going to do it in a really public way, all women have to know that those pictures or that video is never going to die. Its going to be out there forever.

DRE: I dont know if all of them realize that though.

TT: Thats what I think. But there are more opportunities for women to take their clothes off and I dont think thats a bad thing. Again when you are approached by someone like SuicideGirls you know that this is done in with a feminist sensibility and ethical way. Youre going to have input and control and say over how I look or how Im represented or what I want to do and what I dont want to do. Theres just more women in positions of power. I mean when you think of just being in the porn industry and how many more actresses now get to work with female directors; female producers and I think thats stated in a different environment and one where women feel like they have more power.

by Daniel Robert Epstein

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