Sissy Remixed

Abstract

AbstractAvailable scholarship on trans* pornography has favored mainstream studio and alternative/queer productions. Relatively little work has examined the phenomenon of trans* micropornography: user-made remixes of copywritten source material that are shared online within networks of pornographic fandoms. Trans* identities hold a significant purchase on microporn networks, evidenced by the ubiquity of trans* bodies and the work of trans* microporn video makers, who while hidden behind screen names and avatars, largely identify as trans* women and cis male “sissies.” Drawing on textual analysis of these videos and their methods of addressing the viewer, the author identifies a practice within microporn networks that she calls trans* porno remix (TPR). Through digital editing techniques, TPR creates haptic spaces for the viewer to imagine themselves as trans* subjects. Through modes of direct address to the viewer, on-screen captions, and audio-visual montage, TPR videos construct a trans* imaginary that is coproduced with the porn consumer and create space for viewers to experiment with gendered embodiment through imagining a future-oriented transformation into a trans* subject.