Sorry if this has already been brought up, but if you're familiar with Buck Angel and his work...what do you think of it??
I have to say.. I was a little shocked to encounter this, given that all I have really seen and read so far with FtMs is a LOT of dysphoria, and the reluctance to even get naked, much less... get naked AND be penetrated AND do it on film.
Having said that... I think he's AWESOME.
It's his thing, and he's pretty cool.
But I wouldn't like it if a bunch of FTMs decided to become porn stars. Then we might get the same "she-male" status that MTFs have to deal with.
Dysphoria just doesn't bother some people that much.
If he's comfy with himself enough to do it, then more power to him. I have seen him before, but don't think I watched any. I, myself am not comfortable with who I am at this point to ever consider doing anything like that. That and I do not have a 'porn' type body.
He's definitely not my cup of T. Haha.
He can do what he wants, obviously, but I can't stand to watch any of his stuff. I've watched a minute here and a minute there...I kind of felt obligated to because so many FTMs were raving about him. But as many of you know, I do not like female genitals. So after a few tries, I stopped watching.
I'm glad he can be comfortable in the body he's in. That gives me hope.
I don't know if he's any good for the so-called trans community because he's still pretty underground as a trans icon.
Quote from: Arch on November 07, 2009, 01:54:01 PM
But as many of you know, I do not like female genitals. So after a few tries, I stopped watching.
I'm glad he can be comfortable in the body he's in. That gives me hope.
I'm the same way. Female genitalia do nothing for me, I don't even like the set I still have.
Quote from: Kurzar on November 07, 2009, 01:59:04 PM
I'm the same way. Female genitalia do nothing for me, I don't even like the set I still have.
Me neither. I guess in some ways I'm lucky because I can usually masturbate with what I do have; but now that I'm living full time and accepted as male wherever I go, I'm having more and more hang-ups about my anatomy.
The way I feel now is that nobody's ever putting anything up there ever again. I didn't expect to feel this way, but now I do.
I wonder what Buck Angel's feelings were about his parts before and during transition, and whether they used to bother him?
Quote from: Arch on November 07, 2009, 02:13:59 PM
Me neither. I guess in some ways I'm lucky because I can usually masturbate with what I do have; but now that I'm living full time and accepted as male wherever I go, I'm having more and more hang-ups about my anatomy.
The way I feel now is that nobody's ever putting anything up there ever again. I didn't expect to feel this way, but now I do.
I wonder what Buck Angel's feelings were about his parts before and during transition, and whether they used to bother him?
I've always had hangups about my anatomy. In the past it kept me from wanting sex at all no matter how horny I was. Put a huge damper in my marriage. Now I can allow myself to 'use what I have' simply because it's all I have. I don't like it, but I enjoy orgasm and don't want to give up that ability. With that said when I get off by myself it's as fast as possible .
Even though generally I have no respect for porn stars I think hes really cool. Not because hes ftm, but hes proud that he has what he has and feels it makes him unique.
I think he's pretty cool actually. Got nothing but respect for the man.
I haven't watched any of his stuff, but I do respect the guy.
I'm going to go the opposite direction of everyone else and say no, I don't respect the guy...nor do I porn stars in general. I think that he cheapens FTMs like ->-bleeped-<- porn does to MTFs and I'm not going to applaud him for even putting that fear into my head, even if it is unfounded. And I really wouldn't want a FTM porn star as an icon for us.
To add, I want to say I know nothing about him as a person, just came across him a couple weeks ago on a late-night porn scrounge off the freebie sites.
As far as sex dysphoria...I had no problem whatsoever using the downstairs equipment. I had a LOT of hangups over oral as I felt vulnerable and wrong when past boyfriends were doing it, to the point of I outlawed it eventually. I also never orgasm with anything in there...but sex was part of a relationship and my boyfriends wanted it, and I've always been horny as hell. This might change the further I get into transition, and the idea doesn't really appeal to me that much since I started transition.
Sex work is a time honored tradition for transsexuals. Prostitution, escort, porn, what have you. It pays the bills. It might degrade the community, but a lot of people don't have a choice. You know... there might actually be more cispeople in the sex industry than trans, though!
When he was on Howard Stern he said that he loved his pussy and would never get rid of it, it's a part of him. Probably not the same response that most trans people would give, but he's comfortable, he's got limited options, and he makes a lot of money with it I'm sure. His life.
It's his body he can do what he wants with it. I actually commend him for being so comfortable with his body to the point where he feels he can do porn. That goes beyond being transgender, a lot of cisgender people aren't comfortable enough with their bodies to do that even if they wanted to.
Does it degrade the community? Debatable. But I'm glad Chuck is able to feel at peace with his body. I might not want to do porn or anything, but being that comfortable is something I hope to reach.
it's kind of unsettling bc i feel like he's exploiting his gender for money, which im sure he gets paid pretty damn well for...but i think he should just stick to modeling....but to each his own
Quote from: chrissyboy on November 07, 2009, 07:58:28 PM
To add, I want to say I know nothing about him as a person, just came across him a couple weeks ago on a late-night porn scrounge off the freebie sites.
So, you don't approve of porn stars, but you're happy to sample their work? *raises eyebrow* Hmmm. ;)
I can see the argument that ->-bleeped-<- porn gives people outside the community a skewed version of what trans-ness is all about. But then, I think FtM porn would tend to fall under the same sort of double standard as other porn. (Or sex in general, for that matter.) There isn't as much stigma attached to male porn stars as to female porn stars. Just as there is no real male equivalent to the word "slut".
Personally, I think if he enjoys what he's doing for a living, more power to him. I haven't actually seen any of his work, mainly because I'm too cheap to spend the money on it. Eventually I'll probably do so, just to satisfy my own curiosity. Well, that and 'cuz I'm a kinky SOB. ;D
BTW, did you guys hear about the cis-male who supposedly has opted to have SRS so that he can become an FtM porn star like Buck Angel? (Would that make him MtFtM?) Just goes to show - if you can imagine it, there's someone out there who's into it.
Quote from: Jamie-o on November 07, 2009, 10:53:02 PMBTW, did you guys hear about the cis-male who supposedly has opted to have SRS so that he can become an FtM porn star like Buck Angel? (Would that make him MtFtM?) Just goes to show - if you can imagine it, there's someone out there who's into it.
Well I find that rather hard to believe.
Really when i look at him, and I've seen some clips, and whatnot..
I think he treats it like it's not his own pussy .. like it's just there.. he kinda seems to dissociate from it.
I dont have a problem with porn.. porn needs more f2ms, and non-binary people tbh.
Quote from: SilverFang on November 07, 2009, 11:05:37 PM
Well I find that rather hard to believe.
It was on Buck Angel's blog. Apparently the guy wrote him a letter telling him all about his plans, and Buck Angel invited him to come do a film for Buck Angel Entertainment. *shrugs* Could be a hoax, but that's the word.
Quote from: Jamie-o on November 07, 2009, 10:53:02 PM
So, you don't approve of porn stars, but you're happy to sample their work? *raises eyebrow* Hmmm. ;)
I'll admit to thinking the same thing. Without the wink, I'm afraid.
Post Merge: November 07, 2009, 11:32:48 PM
Quote from: xACEx on November 07, 2009, 10:52:27 PM
it's kind of unsettling bc i feel like he's exploiting his gender for money, which im sure he gets paid pretty damn well for...but i think he should just stick to modeling....but to each his own
Well, that's what women do...and so do men...in and out of the porn industry. For example, if Buck Angel is a male model, isn't he exploiting his male gender for money?
Quote from: Kvall on November 07, 2009, 03:49:25 PM
I've seen a few clips of his stuff and I like it as long as the sound is off. LOL. He is not really my type, at all, but I am one who appreciates trans guy/cis guy pairings and I wish there were more... uh, twinky FTMs doing what he's doing.
Thank you! Yeah... he's not the most attractive guy. But you know, he does what he wants to do, and doesn't care what anyone else says about it. There are countless straight folks doing porn, but they don't tarnish the reputation of straight people. Buck Angel does it, and all of a sudden people think he represents the FTM community (I realize that's not the consensus on here, but I've heard it quite a bit otherwise). He's just a guy like any other, albeit with a somewhat different set of genitalia. I think, if anything, he just provides us with another reason we shouldn't feel inhibited by our status as trans.
But yeah... I'd love to see some young, pretty, twinky ftm guys in porn, instead of grizzled, middle-aged men. I don't see it happening any time soon, though.
SD
Ii'm not into him and quite frankly he makes me a bit uncomfy buuuut it is his body so eh he can do whatever he wants with it.Though i do sooorta worry about the repercussions of his actions. Kinda like when the "pregnant man" ->-bleeped-<- hit the public ya know? but maybe I'm just worrying too much.
Meh, you guys who commented on me can say what you like; its a hypocritical double standard I admit. But just because prostitution is a time-honored profession doesn't mean I have to applaud those that partake of it...to each their own on their professions, good for them, but I don't have to commend someone on it just because their circumstances are any different than cis people in the profession.
So no, I don't think he's "brave" or "courageous" or deserves any more commendation than anyone else doing the profession.
Quote from: Kvall on November 07, 2009, 03:49:25 PM
I've seen a few clips of his stuff and I like it as long as the sound is off. LOL. He is not really my type, at all, but I am one who appreciates trans guy/cis guy pairings and I wish there were more... uh, twinky FTMs doing what he's doing.
There are -- do a search for Morty Diamond's videos (I'm pretty sure he's just the director, though -- WARNING, SO NOT SAFE FOR WORK [cos some people seem to need it spelled out, nobody here yet, that I've noticed, so I'm erring on the side of caution]).
As for my opinion of Buck Angel?
Once-upon-a-time, I trained as a Pro Domme and even as a (femme) adult model, so obviously I have some of his same lack-of-hang-ups about being
nude, nude, nude and LIVE! This light familiarity with the BD/SM "scene" (I'm really not that into it, on a personal level, as much more than an occasional thing) also means I've had at least one interaction with him (that I can recall) and know people who know him better. So, on one hand, I'm all "more power to him" if this is what he wants to do -- seriously, I'm not one to judge this kind of thing, and I find TS persons who are down of sex-workers of any variety to be the inherently classist folk I'd rather not have around, if only because less close contact with classism means less opportunities for me to throw punches and end up in jail. :-)
On the other hand, I know for a fact that Buck Angel is a bit of a Libertarian jerk I'd rather not associate with. Just get him talking, and he's all "bootsraps!!!"-this and that. I'm a patient person, and his ability to strain my own is virtually effortless; and the more I hear about what an [expletive, deleted] he can and on occasion has been at private fetish parties, the more I think there are FAR more reasons than his sex work that he should
not be taken as a representative of the FTM community. Unfortunately, the the details were told to me in confidence, so I'm pretty far from being at liberty to say any more than I have. I have no respect for him but this lack is based on nothing more than the fact that I find his personality beyond grating, to say the least.
Furthermore, Buck Angel is far from "the first FTM porn star". Do a search for Chance Ryder/Rider -- granted, Chance was billed as a "hermaphrodite" (after all "->-bleeped-<- porn" in the early 1990s was MTF-only", so they felt they "had to" bill him as something else), but his work pre-dates Buck Angel by nearly a decade. I also have it on good authority from Annie Sprinkle herself that her title
Linda/Les & Annie is "the first hardcore FTM story" (which is what she calls her self-directed porn titles -- they're "erotic stories"), which IMDb dates for 1992. It would not surprise me
at all if Ms Sprinkle is mistaken and something else starring unnamed persons pre-dates even this one, but it would have to be pretty obscure to have gone this unnoticed and unremembered in the wake of Buck Angel.
Quote from: chrissyboy on November 08, 2009, 01:18:51 AM
Meh, you guys who commented on me can say what you like; its a hypocritical double standard I admit. But just because prostitution is a time-honored profession doesn't mean I have to applaud those that partake of it...to each their own on their professions, good for them, but I don't have to commend someone on it just because their circumstances are any different than cis people in the profession.
So no, I don't think he's "brave" or "courageous" or deserves any more commendation than anyone else doing the profession.
There's a whole continuum between applauding a person's profession and putting them down for their profession; it's not a black-and-white "you're either doing A or B" here. Frankly, your initial post reads as if you have nothing but contempt and then some for sex-workers -- and that is where others have a problem. Just because you've never been in a position where that was a potential or even necessary option for you doesn't give you the right to put down others who have taken that option, for whatever their reasons. You don't have to accolade sex-workers, but if you condemn them, then you might as well just come right out and claim that you think you're better than they are, because that's typically how such contempt translates to those it's directed at.
Quote from: northy on November 07, 2009, 11:06:25 PM
Really when i look at him, and I've seen some clips, and whatnot..
I think he treats it like it's not his own pussy .. like it's just there.. he kinda seems to dissociate from it.
That is really interesting, but I can totally see it. Admittedly, I only watched 2 of the clips that are on his website and they are only 20 seconds long. Gay porn doesn't do it for me. I will say that it's kind of off putting that he refers to it as a pussy. It's his body and he can label it as he chooses, but billing yourself as "the man with a pussy" seems... a little bit like he is trying to garner "freak show" attention.
I should say that I think he's awesome for being so comfortable with his body, NOT because he does porn. Though... if someone likes what they do... good on them.
I certainly didn't intend to imply that he represents the FtM community. In fact, I think a person would only have to google FtM ONCE to know completely that he is not an accurate representation of what 99% of FtM guys are all about.
**Just as a side note, I apologize profusely if I have said anything that could be considered offensive. I am still extremely new to this community and my experiences are limited. If I say soemthing out of line, please don't hesitate to call me out. :)
Quote from: FlorDeLuna on November 08, 2009, 04:02:22 AMIt's his body and he can label it as he chooses, but billing yourself as "the man with a pussy" seems... a little bit like he is trying to garner "freak show" attention.
Agreed.
Quote from: FlorDeLuna on November 08, 2009, 04:02:22 AMI will say that it's kind of off putting that he refers to it as a pussy. It's his body and he can label it as he chooses, but billing yourself as "the man with a pussy" seems... a little bit like he is trying to garner "freak show" attention.
I find the word "pussy" kind of gross, myself, but as to how I feel about his billing as "the man with" said, honestly almost all non-mainstream or "niche" porn has that vibe, on some level. I mean, look at all the videos featuring clinical dwarves, or fat people. Or (these days) hairy bush vids. Or the elderly. Or, in all honesty,
most leather/bondage/"fetish" videos.
I'm not in any way saying that it's
good that he uses this billing, but just that he's normal to do it (and to make myself perfectly clear, I don't tend to have the highest opinions of "normal", and seeing as I already don't like Buck Angel on personality alone....). But honestly, I think I'd rather see Buck's billing than something cutesy and almost-rhyming like "guy with a pie" or "man with a clam" or "hunk with ->-bleeped-<-" -- it's bad enough that MTF porn gets its own cutesy billing.
And by the way, when you offend me, I'll say so. :-)
Quote from: Miniar on November 07, 2009, 06:19:52 PM
I think he's pretty cool actually. Got nothing but respect for the man.
Same here.
Quote from: Teknoir on November 07, 2009, 06:51:01 PM
I haven't watched any of his stuff, but I do respect the guy.
Agree'd.
Jay
Quote from: Arch on November 07, 2009, 02:13:59 PMThe way I feel now is that nobody's ever putting anything up there ever again.
This.
I'm happy that Buck can be comfortable with himself and his sexuality to put himself out there. He's a hot dude. While I personally used that front hole in the past, I doubt I'll ever use it again with a partner. Currently has its uses for my own penis, and because of that I'm torn about having it removed (though I can't stand it). I"m having lower surgery at some point, likely next year when I figure out which procedure I want, because *I* don't want to be known as a "man with a pussy".
Jay
I'll be doing extremely well to afford top surgery, so I guess that hole is gonna be a feature of me for the forseeable future. It would be interesting to get poked in it sometime just to see what it's like, but it's a non-sexual place for me. I was gonna say like my bellybutton but actually less so, the right person playing with my bellybutton could be fun!
Buck is too ugly for me to find him interesting to watch or as a role model, but I say horray for him. I've seen bits of his films and Meh. But he's out there doing what he likes and making a good living, that's more than I can say for myself.
Went ahead and looked up some of it. There are a couple of users on here bashing how ugly they think he is, but seriously, I'd be happy if I could look half as masculine as Buck Angel. He's not the prettiest fellow, but I don't think he's trying to be 'pretty'.
I believe in Buck Angel doing porn, because I think we need more ftm ->-bleeped-<- porn in general. The more acceptance/press a well known idol like Buck gets, the more commonplace ftm transporn will be, which will open up the passageway for other ftms who want to make porn, which will lead to a more varied/even keeled representation of ftms and their different interpretations of what constitutes as pleasurable sex, available on the market. So even if Buck's role in porn seems demeaning to ftms, or not something 'your average ftm' would like to do, him getting press means that other ftms can follow suit, which could help negate that little issue of one sidedness in the future.
I, personally, do not see "porn" as "demeaning" as it's just sex on tape. (yes, there are exceptions) And I do not see "sex" as a demeaning thing at all.
I think that it would make me really uncomfortable to watch that, and would actually probably cause me to have extreme feelings of dysphoria myself (I can't really pinpoint why, but I'm getting that vibe)
In general though, thats his thing... to each their own and what not.