MADRID — One of Spain's oldest and most prestigious universities, the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, has cancelled an academic seminar on porn studies under pressure from sex work abolitionist groups and SWERFs objecting to the image used to advertise it to students.
The image features U.S. performer and advocate Courtney Trouble tied in red ropes and looking at the camera.
Local anti-sex work group Asamblea Abolicionista Madrid launched a campaign against the class, riling up activists who aim to abolish sex work, with a Tweet which read: "A woman tied up and naked in a flyer for a university activity is a glorification of sexual violence. This must be stopped. We denounced this publicly at the Institute for Women @Inmujer and at the @Unicomplutense You can denounce it at servatorioimagen@inmujer.es"
Una mujer atada y desnuda en un cartel de una actividad universitaria es apología de la violencia sexual. Hay que parar esto. Lo denunciamos públicamente a Instituto de la Mujer @Inmujer y a la @Unicomplutense Podéis denunciar a observatorioimagen@inmujer.es pic.twitter.com/n3zG4GsiPy
— Asamblea Abolicionista Madrid (@AbolicionMadrid) January 29, 2020
But, as Courtney Trouble told XBIZ today, the instructor had been given explicit permission to use the image to promote the course.
"Imagine waking up to this being said about you and the choices you’ve made in your life," Trouble told XBIZ. "I am a porn star and a performance artist and a queer — I was born to deflect this kind of hate from authority — but what if I wasn't? We must do more to make sure our rights to free speech are being protected around the globe."
Trouble explained that the photograph is the work of noted L.A. photographer Dave Naz, who specializes in "shooting genderqueers and women. This shoot was what I wanted in a trade for an interview about being trans for one of Dave's projects."
"I approved the use of the photo to promote the class and by canceling, the university is saying I’m a tied-and-subdued woman!" Trouble added.
Porn Studies
The cancelled seminar — "Introduction to Porn Theory" — was designed by Eloy Vicente Palazón, a PhD student at the History of Art department of the faculty of Geography and History, which had approved the course back in December.
Palazón has multiple credentials and degrees in mathematics, art history, cultural theory and curation from top European institutions like the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Goldsmiths College (University of London).
To make this case of censorship driven by SWERFs (Sex Worker Exclusionary Feminists) even more egregious, Palazón's areas of interest are LBGTQ visual culture and art, history and theory of AIDS and sexuality, new masculinities, performance and performativity and the burgeoning field of porn history and theory.
"The equality of the sexes requires that we decriminalize sex and demystify sexuality and porn studies is a crucial part of modern academia," Trouble told XBIZ. "I would, if I could, demand this class be given its space back by the academic authorities.
"I’m an artist and a sex worker with three college degrees and 20 years of experience in adult entertainment," Trouble adds. "I am a survivor of domestic abuse and devoted spokesperson against rape and violence against women and queers. I’ve been published globally and included in academic studies on the positive outcomes of including porn in feminist theory and have even been invited by Oxford to speak on the subject. I identify as nonbinary and trans but work mostly as a cis-passing queer femme."
Palazón takes full responsibility for the flyer.
"I understand that some people might have felt offended," he told Spanish media, "or [that] certain feminists might have felt offended. But the image has been decontextualized."
The abolitionist group spearheading this act of censorship has confirmed that the Dean's Delegate for Equality has "eliminated the course."
Founded in 1293, the Universidad Complutense of Madrid is the biggest university in Spain, offering 90 degrees and more than 170 postgraduate programs.
