ABSTRACT
This chapter maps a trajectory of punk as a space of ‘empowered’ female sexuality, assessing the critical influence of figures such as Cosey Fanni Tutti in relation to contemporary porn productions. Through Emma Rees’s concept of the ‘New Explicit’, I consider the ‘radical’ potential of ‘punk porn’, as a site of potential queer politics and feminist critique. As such, this chapter consolidates ‘punk porn’s’ claims to first wave punk’s political legacy; that of a broadly ‘left-wing’, DIY approach to porn praxis and inclusive community building. I argue that while ‘punk porn’ borrows from an aesthetic field rooted in the semiotic codes of punk subculture, its profit motives arguably undermine attempts at inclusivity and feminist politics. By way of conclusion, I consider the implications of punk’s critical afterlife and its deployment as a concept in anti-hegemonic DIY cultural practices.
