View source for Annie Sprinkle

{{short description|American pornographic actress and sex educator (born 1954)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name            = Annie Sprinkle
| image           = Annie headshot 300.jpg
| caption         = Annie Sprinkle in 2005
| birth_name      = Ellen F. Steinberg
| birth_date      = {{Birth date and age|1954|7|23}}{{r|Sprinkle 1998 p12}}
| birth_place     = [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania, U.S.
| spouse          = {{marriage|[[Elizabeth Stephens]]|2007}}
| website         = {{URL|sprinklestephens.org}}
}}

'''Annie M. Sprinkle''' (born '''Ellen F. Steinberg''' on July 23, 1954) is an American certified [[Sexology|sexologist]],<ref name="Garretson 2006">{{cite book |last1=Garretson |first1=Tom |editor1-last=Ditmore |editor1-first=Melissa Hope |title=Encyclopedia of Prostitution and Sex Work |date=2006 |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=Westport, Conn. |isbn=978-0-313-32968-5 |pages=458–459 |chapter=Sprinkle, Annie}}</ref> [[performance art]]ist, former [[sex worker]], filmmaker, and advocate for the decriminalization of sex work.<ref name="Bell 1994">{{cite book |last=Bell |first=Shannon |title=Reading, writing, and rewriting the prostitute body |at=pp. 79–80; note 24, p. 203 |year=1994 |editor-last=Bell |editor-first=Shannon |chapter=Writing the prostitute body: feminist reproductions |location=Bloomington |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-20859-0 |author-link=Shannon Bell |editor-link=Shannon Bell |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/readingwritingre0000bell/page/203/mode/1up?view=theater |chapter-url-access=registration}} Citing: {{bulleted list |{{cite journal |last=Bell |first=Shannon |date=November 1991 |title=Ejaculator meets slut goddess! Or, deep inside Annie Sprinkle's mind, heart and pussy |url=http://spectator.net/NEW_ARCHIVES/1999_archive.html |url-status=dead |journal=Spectator Magazine |issn=0894-9751 |volume=27 |issue=9 |page=16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050405011735/https://spectator.net/NEW_ARCHIVES/1999_archive.html |archive-date=April 5, 2005}} |{{cite book |last=Sprinkle |first=Annie |title=Annie Sprinkle [Post-Porn Modernist: My 25 Years as a Multi-Media Whore] |page=14 |year=1998 |editor-last=Sprinkle |editor-first=Annie |chapter=Introduction |location=San Francisco |publisher=Cleis Press |isbn=978-1-57344-039-4}} }}</ref>

Sprinkle has worked as a [[prostitute]], [[sex educator]], [[feminist stripper]], [[pornographic film actress]], sex film producer and director, and documentary film director.<ref name="Williams 1993" /><ref name="Brown 1995">{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=David J. |title=Voices From the Edge: Conversations With Jerry Garcia, Ram Dass, Annie Sprinkle, Matthew Fox, Jaron Lanier, & Others |last2=Novick |first2=Rebecca McClen |publisher=Crossing Press |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-89594-732-1 |location=Freedom, Calif. |pages=26–53 |chapter=The Pleasure Principle with Annie Sprinkle |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/voicesfromedgeco00davi/page/25/mode/1up?view=theater |chapter-url-access=registration}}</ref> In 1996, she became the first known porn star to get a doctoral degree,{{r|Garretson 2006}} earning a [[Doctor of Philosophy]] in human sexuality from the [[Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality]] in San Francisco.<ref name="Smith 2012" /><ref name="Ecosex Herstory" />

Identifying as [[ecosexual]], Sprinkle is best known for her experimental pornography style, teaching individuals about pleasure, and for her mainstream pornographic film ''Deep Inside Annie Sprinkle'' (1981).<ref name="Little 2009" /> Through the production of feminist and queer pornographic content, include understanding of female genitalia and pornography based on women's desires, Sprinkle has contributed to [[feminist pornography]] and the larger social movement of [[feminism]]; she is also known for contributing to the rise of the post-porn movement and LGBTQ+ pornography.<ref name=":6" /><ref name="Williams 1993" /> Sprinkle, a [[ecosexual]] woman and member of the [[LGBTQ+]] community, married her long-time partner [[Elizabeth Stephens|Beth Stephens]] in Canada on January 14, 2007.

== Life and career ==
Sprinkle was born Ellen F. Steinberg on July 23, 1954, in [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania,<ref name="Sprinkle 1998 p12">{{cite book |last1=Sprinkle |first1=Annie |title=Annie Sprinkle [Post-Porn Modernist: My 25 Years as a Multi-Media Whore] |date=1998 |publisher=Cleis Press |location=San Francisco |isbn=978-1-57344-039-4 |page=12 |quote=I was born Ellen F. Steinberg on July 23, 1954, 11:34 {{small caps|a.m.}} in Philadelphia, the first of four children.}}</ref> to a [[Russian-Jewish]] mother and a [[Polish-Jewish]] father.<ref>{{cite episode |last=Kramer |first=Tamara |url=http://shtetlmontreal.com/2011/02/18/dr-annie-sprinkle-on-shtetl/ |title=Annie Sprinkle |series=Shtetl on the Shortwave |via=''Shtetl: Your Alternative Jewish Magazine'' |airdate=February 18, 2011 |publisher=CKUT-FM |location=Montreal |type=podcast |time=6:32}}</ref> Her family moved to [[Los Angeles]], California, when she was five years old, and she lived in [[Panama City, Panama]] from age thirteen to seventeen.<ref name="Ecosex Herstory">{{Cite web |title=Annie's Ecosex Herstory |url=http://sexecology.org/annies-ecosex-herstory/ |access-date=December 16, 2020 |website=Sexecology.org}}</ref> At eighteen, she began working at the ticket booth at the Cine-Plaza Theatre in [[Tucson, Arizona]], when ''[[Deep Throat (film)|Deep Throat]]'' (1972) was playing.<ref name="rialto">{{cite web |date=April 7, 2013 |title=Annie Sprinkle: The Early Years – Podcast 05 |url=https://www.therialtoreport.com/2013/04/07/annie-sprinkle/ |website=The Rialto Report }}{{self-published inline|date=January 2023}}</ref> The film was busted, and when Steinberg had to appear in court as a witness, she met and began a relationship with ''Deep Throat's'' director, [[Gerard Damiano]], becoming his mistress. She followed him to New York City, where she lived for twenty-two years.<ref name="rialto" />

Not long after becoming Damiano's mistress, Steinberg began working in porn herself and, at that time, started calling herself "Annie." As her career continued, she says that one night, "as if from the goddess herself," the name "Annie Sprinkle" came to her.<ref>{{cite web |last=Reyes |first=Dean Luis |title=Annie Sprinkle |work=Miradas: Revista del Audiovisual |language=es |url=http://www.eictv.co.cu/miradas/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=531&Itemid=93 |author=<!--anonymous author, no byline--> |publisher=Escuela Internacional de Cine y Televisión |location=Havana |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501234022/http://www.eictv.co.cu/miradas/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=531&Itemid=93 |archive-date=May 1, 2008}}</ref> She later changed her name legally to Annie Sprinkle.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Turner |first1=Jen |title=Famed sexologist doesn't beat around the bush with sex lectures |url=https://www.theeagleonline.com/article/2006/04/famed-sexologist-doesnt-beat-around-the-bush-with-sex-lectures |website=The Eagle |publisher=American University |publication-place=Washington, D.C. |access-date=April 3, 2022 |date=April 24, 2006}}</ref> Her first porn movie was ''Teenage Deviate'' released in 1975. Perhaps her best known mainstream porn featured role was in ''Deep Inside Annie Sprinkle'' (co-directed by Sprinkle and sexploitation veteran [[Joseph W. Sarno]]) which was the No. 2 grossing porn film of 1981.<ref name="Little 2009">{{cite news |last=Little |first=Reg |date=June 18, 2009 |title=Iffley and the former porn star |work=Oxford Times |url=http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/news/features/4435987.Iffley_and_the_former_porn_star/ |access-date=November 11, 2013}}</ref>

In 1991, Sprinkle created the ''Sluts and Goddesses'' workshop, which became the basis for her 1992 production ''The Sluts and Goddesses Video Workshop – Or How To Be A Sex Goddess in 101 Easy Steps.'' The film was co-produced and co-directed with videographer [[Maria Beatty]], and it featured music by composer [[Pauline Oliveros]]. Sprinkle pioneered new genres of sexually explicit film and video such as edu-porn, gonzo, post porn, xxx docudrama, art porn, and feminist erotica.<ref name=":5">{{cite journal |last=Chandler |first=Meghan |date=October 2014 |title=The erotic anatomies of Charles Estienne and Annie Sprinkle |journal=Porn Studies |issn=2326-8743 |volume=1 |issue=4 |pages=391–401 |doi=10.1080/23268743.2014.958385}}</ref> Sprinkle has also presented many sex workshops with fellow sex facilitator [[Barbara Carrellas]], with whom she presented the stage production ''Metamorphosex.''<ref name="Rees1" />

Sprinkle has appeared in almost 200 films, including [[hard-core pornography|hard-]] and [[softcore pornography]], [[B movie]]s, loops, and numerous documentaries. She starred in [[Nick Zedd]]'s experimental films ''War Is Menstrual Envy'' (1992), ''Ecstasy in Entropy'' (1999), and ''Electra Elf: The Beginning'' (2005). She also appeared in various television shows including four [[HBO]] ''[[Real Sex]]'' programs. She has also produced, directed, and starred in several of her own films, such as ''Annie Sprinkle's Herstory of Porn'', ''Annie Sprinkle's Amazing World of Orgasm'', and ''Linda/Les & Annie—The First Female to Male Transsexual Love Story''. Her work in adult films earned her a spot on the Adult Star Path of Fame in [[Edison, New Jersey]], and she was inducted to both the [[List of members of the AVN Hall of Fame|AVN Hall of Fame]] and the [[XRCO Hall of Fame]] in 1999. For three decades, she has presented her work as a visiting artist at many major universities and colleges in the US and Europe.

Annie Sprinkle is known as the "prostitute and porn star turned sex educator and artist."<ref>{{cite book |title=Seductive aesthetics of postcolonialism |first=Rekha |last=Menon |publisher=Hampton Press |date=2010 |isbn=978-1-57273-973-4 |quote=How can one miss, the ''Sex Goddess,'' Annie Sprinkle (the postporn modern artist), Tantric inspired cosmic Kali, Sprinkle as the Neo Sacred Prostitute / Goddess. She is known as the prostitute and porn star turned sex educator and artist. Sprinkle's work has always been about sexuality, with a political, spiritual, and artistic bent. |page=51}}</ref> Her best known theater and performance art piece is her ''Public Cervix Announcement'', in which she invites the audience to "celebrate the female body" by viewing her [[cervix]] with a [[speculum (medical)|speculum]] and flashlight.<ref name=":8">{{cite book |title=Public Privates: Performing Gynecology from Both Ends of the Speculum |first=Terri |last=Kapsalis |publisher=Duke University Press |year=1997 |pages=113–134 |isbn=978-0-8223-1928-3}}</ref> She also performed ''The Legend of the Ancient Sacred Prostitute'', in which she did a "sex magic" masturbation ritual on stage.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ksander |first=Yael |date=2015-09-16 |title=The Ecosexuals: Tree-Hugging And Then Some |url=https://indianapublicmedia.org/arts/treehugging.php |access-date=2023-01-22 |website=Indiana Public Media}}</ref> She has toured one-woman shows internationally for 17 years, some of which were titled ''Post Porn Modernist'',<ref name="czekay1">{{cite journal |last=Czekay |first=Angelika |date=Spring 1993 |title=Distance and empathy: constructing the spectator of Annie Sprinkle's post-Post Porn Modernist – still in search of the ultimate sexual experience |url=https://journals.ku.edu/index.php/jdtc/issue/view/140 |journal=Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=177–192 |quote=Today, after seventeen years in the porn industry, ex-sex worker Annie Sprinkle is a performance artist. In her recent performance piece ''Post-Post Porn Modernist Still in Search of the Ultimate Sexual Experience'', Sprinkle talks about her life as a former porn star and ex-prostitute.}} [https://journals.ku.edu/index.php/jdtc/article/viewFile/1876/1839 PDF.]</ref><ref name="Williams 1993">{{cite journal |last=Williams |first=Linda |author-link=Linda Williams (film scholar) |date=Winter 1993 |title=A provoking agent: the pornography and performance art of Annie Sprinkle |journal=Social Text |volume=37 |issue=37 |pages=117–133 |doi=10.2307/466263 |jstor=466263 |quote=Beginning her professional performance career as a masseuse, soon after becoming a whore, Sprinkle next expanded into burlesque and live sex shows, then to writing for sex magazines and performing in pornographic films and videos, where she eventually became a director.}} Reprinted in: {{block indent|em=1|{{cite book <!--|last=Williams |first=Linda |chapter=A provoking agent: the pornography and performance art of Annie Sprinkle--> |title=Dirty looks: women, pornography, power |pages=176–192 |year=1993 |editor1-last=Church Gibson |editor1-first=Pamela |location=London |publisher=BFI Pub. |isbn=978-0-85170-403-6 |author-link=Linda Williams (film scholar) |editor2-last=Gibson |editor2-first=Roma}} }}</ref> ''Annie Sprinkle's Herstory of Porn'',<ref name="Smith 2012">{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Tyler Stoddard |title=Whore Stories: A Revealing History of the World's Oldest Profession |date=2012 |pages=98–99 |editor-last=Smith |editor-first=Tyler Stoddard |contribution=Hustling for a higher cause |publisher=Adams Media |location=Avon, Mass. |isbn=978-1-4405-3605-2}}</ref><ref name="Rees1">{{cite book |last=Rees |first=Emma L. E. |url=https://archive.org/details/TheVaginaALiteraryCulturalHistory |title=The Vagina: A Literary and Cultural History |date=2013 |publisher=A & C Black |isbn=978-1-6235-6871-9 |pages=249–253 |url-access=registration}}</ref>  and ''Hardcore from the Heart''. She then performed two-woman shows with [[Elizabeth Stephens|Beth Stephens]] titled ''Exposed; Experiments in Love, Sex, Death and Art'', ''Dirty Sex Ecology'', ''Earthly: An Ecosex Bootcamp'', and ''Ecosex Walking Tour''.<ref name="Hopman p146">{{cite book |last1=Hopman |first1=Ellen Evert |last2=Bond |first2=Lawrence |author1-link=Ellen Evert Hopman |title=People of the Earth: The New Pagans Speak Out |date=1996 |publisher=Destiny Books |location=Rochester, Vt. |isbn=978-0-89281-559-3 |pages=146–151 |url=https://archive.org/details/peopleofearthnew00hopm/page/146/mode/1up?view=theater |url-access=registration}} Reissued as: {{block indent|em=1|''Being a Pagan: Druids, Wiccans & Witches Today''. Rochester, Vt.: Destiny Books. 2002. {{ISBN|978-0-89281-904-1}} }}</ref>

Her work and publications, spanning over five decades, are studied in courses at numerous universities, in theater history, [[women's studies]], [[performance studies]], LGBTQ studies and [[film studies]] courses. Through The New School of Erotic Touch, she has released several video classes, including ''Female Genital Massage'' and ''Amazing World of Orgasm.''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Annie Sprinkle Ph.D. {{!}} New School |url=https://csb.eroticmassage.com/teacher/767 |access-date=December 16, 2020 |website=csb.eroticmassage.com}}{{dead link|date=January 2023}}</ref> Her most popular lecture was called "My Life and Work as a Feminist Porn Activist, Radical Sex Educator, and Ecosexual". She has also presented dozens of "Free Sidewalk Sex Clinics", offering free sex education to the public in public space.

Sprinkle's work has always been about sexuality, with a political, spiritual and artistic bent. In December 2005, she committed to doing a seven year long art project about love with her art collaborator and eventual wife, Beth Stephens. They called this their ''Love Art Laboratory.'' Part of their project was to do an experimental art wedding each year, and each year had a different theme and color. The seven-year structure was adapted to their project by invitation of artist [[Linda M. Montano]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Benn |first=D. |title=Annie Sprinkle on the Adult Star Path of Fame: 43 Stars Laid in New Jersey |url=http://www.pornonewsnetwork.com/news.php?id=863 |website=Porno News Network |date=2006}}{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Sprinkle and Stephens have done twenty-one art weddings, eighteen with ecosexual themes. They married the Earth, Sky, Sea, Moon, Appalachian Mountains, the Sun, and other non-human entities in nine different countries including at Montreal's [[Edgy Women]] Festival in 2011.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Johns |first=Merryn |date=March 1, 2011 |title=Top Ten Reasons We Love...: Annie Sprinkle & Elizabeth Stephens |magazine=Curve |volume=21 |issue=2 |page=80 |url=https://digital.curvemag.com/curve/curve-march-2011/flipbook/82/ |issn=1087-867X}}</ref>

She was featured in [[Maya Gallus]]'s 1997 documentary film ''[[Erotica: A Journey Into Female Sexuality]]''.<ref name=kennedy>{{cite news |first=Janice |last=Kennedy |title=Exploring female sexuality: Documentary a revealing look at women's erotica |work=Ottawa Citizen |issn=0839-3222 |date=February 10, 1999}}</ref>

Sprinkle and her partner [[Beth Stephens]] became pioneers of ecosexuality, a kind of earth-loving sexual identity, which states, "The Earth is our lover". Their Ecosex Manifesto proclaims that anyone can identify as an ecosexual along with being "GLBTQI, heterosexual, asexual, and/or Other."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sexecology.org/research-writing/ecosex-manifesto/ |title=Ecosex Manifesto |website=Sexecology.org |access-date=December 9, 2014}}</ref>
[[File:Beth-n-Annie.JPG|thumb|Sprinkle (right) with [[Beth Stephens]] in 2006]]
Sprinkle identifies as a [[sex-positive feminist]], and much of her activist and sex education work reflects this philosophy. In 2009, she appeared in the French documentary film ''Mutantes: Punk, Porn, Feminism'', speaking about the beginnings of the movement as well as her own contributions to it.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1576434/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm |title=Mutantes at IMDb |website=[[IMDb]] |access-date=December 9, 2014}}</ref>

In 2017, Sprinkle and Stephens were official artists in [[Documenta 14]]. They presented performances and visual art, lectured, and previewed their new film documentary, ''Water Makes Us Wet: An Ecosexual Adventure''.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/may/15/nature-ecosexual-annie-sprinkle-porn-star-queer |title=Nature is your lover, not your mother: meet ecosexual pioneer Annie Sprinkle |last=Theobald |first=Stephanie |date=May 15, 2017 |work=The Guardian |access-date=January 14, 2018 |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGx-s9gj6rM |title=Documenta 14: Annie Sprinkle ('Ecosexual Walking Tour' of female porn activist in Kassel) |publisher=Kunst und Film |date=Jul 12, 2017 |via=YouTube |access-date=January 14, 2018 |type=video}}{{cbignore}} Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/FGx-s9gj6rM Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20190204050131/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGx-s9gj6rM&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}</ref>

Harvard's Schlesinger Library acquired her papers from 1967 to 2010, including those covering work with her partner [[Elizabeth Stephens]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sprinkle |first1=Annie |title=Papers of Annie Sprinkle, 1967-2010 |url=https://id.lib.harvard.edu/alma/99155750162303941/catalog |website=Schlesinger Library |publisher=Harvard Library |access-date=30 March 2023}}</ref>

== Feminism and environmental activism ==
{{Essay-like|section|date=April 2022|reason=Opinions need attribution per WP:ATTRIBUTEPOV}}

Sprinkle is known as a contributor to the development of [[feminist pornography|pornography that intends to be feminist]]<ref name="Williams 1993" /> and is known for her disagreement with [[Women Against Pornography|women against pornography]], [[feminists]] who do not believe that the creation of feminist porn is possible and argue that porn is a means of hyper sexualization of women, that it is inherently harmful, promotes violence, and objectifies women.<ref name="Long 2012">{{cite book |last1=Long |first1=Julia |title=Anti-porn: the resurgence of anti-pornography feminism |date=2012 |publisher=Zed Books |location=London |isbn=978-1-78032-026-7}}{{Page needed|date=April 2022}}</ref> In contrast Sprinkle is known for arguing that women should contribute to the production of pornography or other [[erotic]] media and that censorship or restrictions on pornography will not cease its production.<ref name="McKee 2008">{{cite book |last1=McKee |first1=Alan |url=https://archive.org/details/pornreport0000mcke/page/112/mode/2up?q=annie+sprinkle |title=The Porn Report |date=2008 |publisher=Melbourne University Press |isbn=978-0-522-85340-7 |location=Carlton, Vic. |pages=113 |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="Taormino 2013">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/feministpornbook0000unse/page/122/mode/2up?q=%22annie+sprinkle%22 |title=The Feminist Porn Book: The Politics of Producing Pleasure |date=2013 |publisher=The Feminist Press |isbn=978-1-55861-818-3 |editor1-last=Taormino |editor1-first=Tristan |location=New York |pages=122 |editor2-last=Parreñas Shimizu |editor2-first=Celine |editor3-last=Penley |editor3-first=Constance |editor4-last=Miller-Young |editor4-first=Mireille |display-editors=1 |url-access=registration}}</ref>

As a porn actress, Sprinkle drew greater attention to the female orgasm.<ref name="Sayej 2019">{{Cite web |last=Sayej |first=Nadja |date=September 30, 2019 |title=Sexologist Annie Sprinkle Isn't Covering Anything Up |url=https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/annie-sprinkle-show-tell-new-exhibition |access-date=December 16, 2020 |website=Interview Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> A stated aim of her performance art and other works has been to expand and deconstruct mainstream ideals of sexuality.

Sprinkle and her wife Beth Stephens are known for promoting a combination of [[environmental activism]] and sexuality called [[ecosexuality]], and launching the ecosex movement with their [https://sprinklestephens.ucsc.edu/manifestos/ Ecosex Manifesto]. They state ecosexuality involves imagining nature as a lover.<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 3, 2017 |title=EcoSexuality: 7 Things You Need To Know About This Sexual Identity |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/ecosexuality-things-you-need-to-know_uk_595a3c65e4b0da2c73249a10 |access-date=December 17, 2020 |website=HuffPost UK |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Richter |first=Nicole |date=March 2018 |title=Review: SerenaGaia Anderlini-D'Onofrio and Lindsay Hagamen (eds), Ecosexuality: When Nature Inspires the Arts of Love |journal=Sexualities |volume=21 |issue=3 |doi=10.1177/1363460717737490 |s2cid=148905993 |issn=1363-4607}}</ref> Ecosexuality combines sexuality and [[ecology]] and opposes sexual dynamics of dominance and exploitation, placing it adjacent to [[ecofeminism]], which highlights how women and nature are treated similarly in a patriarchal society.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Miles |first=Kathryn |date=November 14, 2013 |title=Ecofeminism |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/ecofeminism |access-date=December 17, 2020 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref>

== Post-porn movement ==
Annie Sprinkled coined the term "post-porn" to describe sexually explicit media that is experimental, conceptual, humorous, feminist, artsy, punk, and outside of mainstream porn aesthetics.

In her one-woman touring show "Post-Porn Modernist" (1989–95), she performed ''Public Cervix Announcement,'' Sprinkle inserted a [[Speculum (medical)|speculum]] into her vaginal canal to display her [[cervix]] to the audience in a playful, satirical celebration of the female body. Sprinkle has characterized her own art involving erotic and explicit imagery of the [[vulva]] and internal female anatomy as [[feminist]] activism.<ref name=":8" /> Sprinkle continued this medical discourse later in her career as well. After receiving her breast cancer diagnosis in 2005, Sprinkle made a collage with her radiation treatment plans, surgery photos, and old pin-up photos, juxtaposing the erotic breast with the medicalized breast.<ref name=":5" />

The post-porn movement is a [[counterculture]] body of scholarship and ideals that were developed within Europe and the USA. Within the post-porn movement there is a critical lens applied to corporations producing pornography and non-corporate pornographic content is instead valued. The post-porn movement also values the production of pornography which centers queer and gender diverse folks and questions the racialization and reliance on stereotypes found in the pornography industry.<ref name=":6">{{cite journal |last1=Jacobs |first1=Katrien |title=Internationalizing porn studies |journal=Porn Studies |issn=2326-8743 |year=2014 |volume=1 |issue=1–2 |pages=114–119 |doi=10.1080/23268743.2014.882178}}</ref> Sprinkle has contributed to the post-porn movement explicitly in her now retired show ''Post-Porn Modernist'' and implicitly through her artistic body of work which engages in critical reflection and parody.<ref name=":6" /> Sprinkle has also contributed to this movement by challenging who can be represented in porn and which bodies are seen as sexual.<ref name=":5" />

== Publications ==
[[File:Annie sprinkle spectacular sex book cover.jpg|thumb|Sprinkle as pictured on cover of her book'' Spectacular Sex ''(2005)]]

* Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens with Jennie Klein, 2021. [http://public.eblib.com/choice/PublicFullRecord.aspx?p=6688925. Assuming the Ecosexual Position: The Earth as Lover]. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. 
* {{cite book |author1-mask=With |author1=Sprinkle, Annie |author2=Vera, V. |author3=De Ridder, W. |title=Annie Sprinkles ABC Study of Sexual Lust and Deviations |date=1985 |oclc=80467203 |publisher=Radio Art Publications |location=New York}}
* {{cite book |author1-mask=0 |last1=Sprinkle |first1=Annie |title=The Kinky World of Annie Sprinkle |publisher=Hudson Communications |location=New York |date=1985}}
* {{cite book |title=Beyond Bisexual | date=March 2, 1991 | isbn=978-1-55583-174-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/bianyothernamebi00hutc/page/103/mode/1up?view=theater |url-access=registration |postscript=none | last1=Hutchins | first1=Loraine | last2=Kaahumanu | first2=Lani | publisher=Alyson Pub. }} (1991). In {{cite book <!--|date=1991--> |editor-last1=Hutchins |editor-first1=L. |editor-last2=Kaahumanu |editor-first2=L. |title=[[Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out]] |publisher=Alyson Publications |location=Boston |pages=103–107 |isbn=978-1-55583-174-5}}
* {{cite book |author1-mask=With |author1=Sprinkle, Annie |author2=Gates, K. |title=Annie Sprinkle's Post-Modern Pin-Ups: Pleasure Activist Playing Cards |date=1995 |publisher=Gates of Heck |location=Richmond, Va. |isbn=978-0-9638129-3-3}}
* {{cite book |author1-mask=0 |last1=Sprinkle |first1=Annie |title=アニー・スプリンクルの愛のヴァイブレーション |trans-title=Annie Sprinkle's Love Vibrations |date=1996 |publisher=Kawade Shobo Shinsha |location=Tokyo |isbn=978-4-309-26284-0 |language=ja}}
* {{cite book |author1-mask=With |last1=Sprinkle |first1=Annie |author2=Gates, K. |author3=Adams, C. |title=XXXOOO: Love and Kisses from Annie Sprinkle (30 Post-Porn Postcards) |date=1997 |publisher=Gates of Heck |location=New York |isbn=978-1-889539-00-3}}
* {{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780415918220/page/66/mode/1up?view=theater |url-access=registration |title=We've Come a Long Way{{emdash}}And We're Exhausted! |date=March 2, 1997 |postscript=none}} (1997). In {{cite book <!--|last1=Sprinkle |first1=A.--> |editor1-last=Nagle |editor1-first=Jill |title=Whores and Other Feminists |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |isbn=978-0-415-91822-0 |pages=66–69 <!--|date=1997 |chapter=We've Come a Long Way{{emdash}}And We're Exhausted!-->}}
* {{cite book |author1-mask=0 |last1=Sprinkle |first1=Annie |title=Annie Sprinkle [Post-Porn Modernist: My 25 Years as a Multi-Media Whore] |date=1998 |publisher=Cleis Press |location=San Francisco |isbn=978-1-57344-039-4}}
* {{cite book |author1-mask=With |author1=Sprinkle, Annie |author2=Cody, Gabrielle H. |title=Hardcore from the Heart: The Pleasures, Profits and Politics of Sex in Performance |date=2001 |publisher=Continuum |location=London |isbn=978-0-8264-4893-4}} — winner of a 2002 [[Firecracker Alternative Book Award]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.readersread.com/awards/firecracker.htm|title=Firecracker Alternative Book Awards|work=ReadersRead.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304133738/http://www.readersread.com/awards/firecracker.htm|archive-date=Mar 4, 2009}}</ref>
* "Contributor". In: {{cite book |last1=Webb |first1=Spider |title=Tattooed Women |date=2001 |publisher=Schiffer Publishing |location=Atglen, Penn. |isbn=978-0-7643-1540-4}}
* {{cite book |author1-mask=0 |last1=Sprinkle |first1=Annie |title=Dr. Sprinkle's Spectacular Sex: Make Over Your Love Life with One of the World's Great Sex Experts |date=2005 |publisher=Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin |location=New York |isbn=978-1-58542-412-2}}
* {{cite book |author1-mask=With |author1=Sprinkle, Annie |last2=Jong |first2=Ellen |title=Pees on Earth |date=2006 |publisher=PowerHouse Books |location=New York |isbn=978-1-5768-7317-5}}
* "Foreword" (2007). In: {{cite book |author2-mask=0 |author1=Carrellas, Barbara |author2=Sprinkle, Annie |title=Urban Tantra: Sacred Sex for the Twenty-First Century |date=January 2007 |location=Berkeley, Calif. |publisher=Celestial Arts <!-- |date=2007 |chapter=Foreword--> |isbn=978-1-58761-290-9}}
* "Foreword" (2014). In: {{cite book |author2-mask=0 |author1=Sundahl, Deborah |author2=Sprinkle, Annie |title=Female Ejaculation and the G-Spot: Not Your Mother's Orgasm Book! |date=November 21, 2023 |location=Nashville, Tenn. |publisher=Hunter House Publishers |edition=revised 2nd <!-- |date=2014 |chapter=Foreword--> |isbn=978-0-89793-702-3}}.
* {{cite book |author1-mask=With |author1=Sprinkle, Annie |author2=Stephens, Beth|title=Documenta 14: Daybook: Athens, 8 April-Kassel, 17 September 2017 |editor1=Laimer, Quinn |editor2=Symczyk, Adam |publisher=Prestel Verlag |location=Munich |date=2017 |pages=19–20 |isbn=978-3-7913-5655-6}}
* {{cite book |author1-mask=With |author1=Sprinkle, Annie |author2=Stephens, Beth |others=Illustrated by Yu Dori |title=Explorer's Guide to Planet Orgasm: For Every Body |publisher=Greenery Press |location=<!--not specified--> |date=2017 |isbn=978-0-937609-85-9}}

== Filmography ==
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
|+ Film and TV credits
|-
! scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title
! scope="col" | Role
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
! scope="row" ! scope="row" | 1975
| Blow Some My Way
| B.J.
| 
|-
! scope="row" ! scope="row" | 1975
| Sue Prentiss R.N.
| First Nurse (uncredited)
| 
|-
! scope="row" ! scope="row" | 1975
| My Master My Love 
| Margaret's Brunette Client (as Annie Sands)
| 
|-
! scope="row" | 1975
| The American Andventures of Surelick Holmes
| Stewardess (uncredited)
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1975
| Teenage Masseuse
| (as Annie Sprinkles)
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1975
| Kathy's Graduation Present
| Anita (uncredited)
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1975
| Sherlick Holmes
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1975
| Too Hot to Handle
| Ellen (as Annie Sands)
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1975
| French Shampoo (Homage to W. B.)
| Little Mary
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1975
| Wild Pussycats
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1975
| Satan Was a Lady
| Terry (as Anny Sands)
|Directed by [[Doris Wishman]]
|-
! scope="row" | 1975
| Fanny
| June (uncredited)
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1976
| Pornocopia Sensual
| Susan
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1976
| Honey Pie
| Blow Job Annie (as Ann Sprinkle)
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1976
| Teenage Deviate
| Ella (as Annie Sprinkles)
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1976
| Ecstasy in Blue
| Hentai
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1976
| Expose Me, Lovely
| Robin (as Annie Sprinkles)
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1976
| M*A*S*H'd
| Gail
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1976
| Once Over Nightly
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1976
| Teenage Cover Girls
| Anne Sands (as Anne Sands)
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1976
| The Night of Submission
| Editor's Mistress
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1976
| Seduction
| Girl at bridge party No. 1
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1976
| My Erotic Fantasies
| Russian Porn Actress
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1976
| Bang Bang You Got It!
| Rhoda Thomas
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1976
| Slippery When Wet
| Stella Wilkins (as Annie Sprinkles)
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1976
| The Double Exposure of Holly
| Muff (as Annie Sprinkles)
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1976
| Call Me Angel, Sir
| Tracy Dixon
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1976
| The Affairs of Janice
| Susan (uncredited)
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1976
| Come with Me My Love
| Tess Albertino
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1976
| Funk
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1976
| Wet-X-Mas
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1977
| The Devil Inside Her
| Orgy Girl (as Annie Sprinkles)
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1977
| Cherry Hustlers
| Sprink (uncredited)
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1977
| [[Unwilling Lovers]]
| Hooker with Stole (as Annie Sprinkles)
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1978
| The Ganja Express
| Sherry Herring
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1979
| Jack n' Jill
| First Caller
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1979
| For Richer for Poorer
| Party Guest (uncredited)
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1980
| The Satisfiers of Alpha Blue
| Satisfier
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1980
| Midnight Blue 2
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1981
|Deep Inside Annie Sprinkle
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1981
| Twilite Pink
| Prostitute (as Annie Sprinkles)
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1981
| Centerfold Fever
| Annie
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1981
| Pandora's Mirror
| The Queen of the club (as Miss Annie Sprinkle)
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1981
| Bizarre Styles
| Annie
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1982
| Night on the Town
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1983
| Oriental Techniques in Pain and Pleasure
| Annie (as Annie Sprinkles)
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1983
| Kneel Before Me
| Wife / Justine (as Annie Sprinkles)
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1983
| Big Busty 3 (Video)
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1984
| Throat... 12 Years After
| The Sewer Mother
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1984
| Electric Blue 12 (Video)
| Shelly
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1985
| Spitfire
| Lulu
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1986
| Wimps (Video)
| Head Stripper
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1986
| Sweet Revenge
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1987
| The Lingerie Shop
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1987
| She-Male Encounters 5: Orgy at the Poysinberry Bar
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1987
| She Comes in Colors
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1987
| Rites of Passion
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1988
| Tattoo Vampire (Video)
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1988
| The Horneymooners (Video)
| Jane Norris
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1988
| Hotter Than July
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1988
| Dreams of Desire
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1988
| Bazooka County (Video)
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1989
| Young Nurses in Love
| Twin Falls
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1990
| The Golden Boat
| Waitress
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1990
| Fantasy Salon
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1991
| My Father Is Coming
| Annie
| Directed by [[Monika Treut]]<ref>{{cite web |title=My Father Is Coming (1991) |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102491/ |website=IMDb |access-date=August 22, 2018}}</ref>
|-
! scope="row" | 1991
| Shadows in the City
| Ex-Girlfriend
|Directed by Ari Roussimoff 
|-
! scope="row" | 1991
| Mature Women 2 (Video)
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1992
| 25 Year Old Gay Man Loses His Virginity to a Woman
| Self
| Directed by [[Philip B. Roth]]
|-
! scope="row" | 1992
| Linda/Les and Annie
| Self
| Directed by [[Johnny Science|Johnny Armstrong]], Albert Jaccoma, Annie Sprinkle<ref>{{cite web |title=Linda/Les and Annie (1992) |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104733/ |website=IMDb |access-date=June 21, 2022}}</ref>
|-
! scope="row" | 1992
| War Is Menstrual Envy
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1992
| Pinned and Smothered (Video)
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1996
| ''[[Bubbles Galore]]''
| God
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1997
| The Fanny (Video)
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1999
| Ecstasy in Entropy (Short)
|
|
|-
| ! scope="row" | 2005
| The Keep (Short)
|
|
|-
| ! scope="row" | 2005
| Electra Elf: The Beginning Parts One & Two
|
|
|-
| ! scope="row" | 2005
| H.C.E.
| Various
|
|-
| ! scope="row" | 2009
| Mutantes: Punk, Porn, Feminism
|
|
|-
| ! scope="row" | 2011
| [[Kenny Hotz's Triumph of the Will]]
| Self
| Episode 4
|-
| ! scope="row" | 2012
| Lesbian Sex Education: Female Ejaculation (Video)
|
|
|-
| ! scope="row" | 2013
| Goodbye Gauley Mountain: an Ecosexual Love Story (Video)
|
|
|-
|! scope="row" | 2017
|Water Makes Us Wet: An Ecosexual Adventure
|Lead, Director
|
|-
|! scope="row" | 2025
|Playing with Fire: An Ecosexual Emergency
|Director, Producer, Actor
|
|}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Human sexuality|Sex work|LGBTQ}}
* [[Nina Hartley]] 
* [[International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers]]
* [[Mineshaft (gay club)]]
* [[Same-sex marriage in Canada]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite news |author1=Christgau, Robert |title=The Pleasure Seekers |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/97/04/27/reviews/970427.27christt.html |work=The New York Times |department=Books |date=April 27, 1997}}
* {{cite book |last=Heidenry |first=John |title=What Wild Ecstasy. The Rise and Fall of the Sexual Revolution |location=New York |publisher=Simon and Schuster |date=1997 |pages= |isbn=978-0-7432-4184-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/whatwildecstasyr00heid/page/n6/mode/1up?view=theater |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite news |last1=Lieberman |first1=Hallie |title=Club 90: The Secret Women's Club That Rocked the Porn World |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/club-90-the-secret-womens-club-that-rocked-the-porn-world/ |work=The Daily Beast |date=September 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250423072441/https://www.thedailybeast.com/club-90-the-secret-womens-club-that-rocked-the-porn-world/ |archive-date=April 23, 2025 |language=en |url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Annie Sprinkle}}
*[https://anniesprinkle.org/the-sprinkle-story/ Annie Sprinkle official biography page]
*{{IMDb name|0819810|Annie Sprinkle}}
*{{iafd name|id=Sprinkle|gender=female|name=Annie Sprinkle}}
*{{afdb name|id=5218|gender=female|name=Annie Sprinkle}}
*[https://www.anniesprinklemovies.com/ AnnieSprinkleMovies.com – Experimental and Vintage]

{{Feminist art movement in the United States}}
{{Human sexuality|state=autocollapse}}
{{Sex|state=autocollapse}}
{{LGBTQ}}
{{LGBTQ people}}
{{Prostitution}}
{{Prostitution in the United States|state=autocollapse}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sprinkle, Annie}}
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