SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — BBW adult star Kelly Shibari, will address students at the University of California-Santa Barbara (UCSB), on Feb. 19, the performer announced today.
Shibari will be speaking with students of the Feminist Studies 151AE class entitled, “Race and Sex: Bodies, Identities, and History,” taught by Professor Mireille Miller-Young, Ph.D.
"I'm honored to have been asked by Dr. Miller-Young to share my experiences with her UCSB students," Shibari said.
She added, "I'm looking forward to starting a dialogue regarding Asian stereotypes and how they relate to sexuality over history. I hope that my personal experience as someone born and raised in Japan, and then moving to the U.S. when I was 16, shaped my understanding of American sexual stereotypes in regards to Asians, particularly those of Japanese origin, as well as how current modern pornography and feminist trends have shaped some of those concepts in the new millennium.”
Shibari said the class serves as a launching pad for inquiry into a range of themes significant to sexuality studies today. Topics covered include sexual identity and relations impacted by race, gender, class and sexual orientation; the role of technology and cultural production in shaping the meaning of sex and race; and social, economic, and political formations influencing the instantiation of sexual knowledge and practices.
According to Shibari, the course focuses mainly on the U.S., but also gesturing to Western and global formations. It investigates the rise of modern racial-ized sexuality through sociocultural history, postmodernism and cultural studies, and feminist and queer theory, and is designed as a senior seminar, preparing students for advanced research and graduate training in the field of sexuality studies.
Shibari’s presentation may be attended only by those enrolled in the Feminist Studies 151AE class; it is not open to the public.
“I am thrilled to welcome Kelly Shibari to my class,” Miller-Young said. “Kelly is wicked smart, as well as talented, and I know the students will learn a great deal from her. Our class focuses on the intersection of race and sexuality in American culture; we are very interested in the experiences of women of color in the adult entertainment industry. Kelly offers a strong voice for Asian American women in the industry, and she has the authority to speak about issues of size and the relationship between the emergent genre of feminist porn and the mainstream.”
She added, “In addition, she is someone at the forefront of social media networking for the porn industry. We feel she would address the students’ questions about how porn works in the digital age, issues of marketing and promotion for performers, and the new modes of ownership and distribution for adult products. UCSB has a long tradition of doing research on the adult entertainment industry 90 miles to our south and of welcoming industry experts to our classes. We are excited to have Kelly Shibari join us for what will be an important conversation."
