'Lust: Pleasure, Performance, Power' Chronicles Her Journey as Feminist Pornographer
October 21, 2026 · 7:30 PM·5 min read
LOS ANGELES—Writer/director/producer Erika Lust launched her new memoir, Lust: Pleasure, Performance, Power, Tuesday night at MacArthur Park-adjacent performance venue Dynasty Typewriter inside the Hayworth Theatre. (photo gallery)
Presented by Los Feliz bookseller Skylight Books, the event started with a question-and-answer session with Lust and journalist Gigi Fong, a staff writer at VICE specializing in sex and wellness.
During the discussion, Lust spoke of the problems some women have regarding sexuality, such as: "Can I be a feminist and still be submissive? These are conversations we are not having."
She went on to highlight a topic in the book regarding her performer contracts.
"[I want] people to understand the complexity, the process in making this kind of film. People seem not to understand that porn is a representation of performance and fantasy; They tend to believe that everything that happens is real. When I explain how we make porn, I explain that it's not only me, this is an industry with guidelines and contracts, negotiations, and very clear boundaries about what is going to happen and how it's going to happen.
"I wanted to show people the kind of detail we get into in our pre-conversations before filming any of our films. People may read this material and think about how they negotiate sexual relationships in their private lives… They meet someone in a bar and they don’t even ask. They think it's just going to happen, like in a Hollywood film. They should learn from pornography."
She also discussed dealing with sexual topics with her parents ("With my parents, the discussion about sex—it just wasn't there. Nobody had ever talked to them about sex. But in Sweden I had access to sex education."); and her relocation from her native Sweden to Spain ("Barcelona is the city that I found, where I am still living. It's the city that absolutely changed my life. I wouldn't be who I am if it hadn't been for Barcelona.")
Responding to questions from the audience, Lust admitted to getting turned on by her own films.
"Of course!" Lust said. "It would be horrible for me to say 'Oh no, I hate them.' When I'm filming, it's very technical. I work with a big film crew, 25, 40, 50 people behind the camera. But when you see real connections, I'm sitting behind the monitor and I'm, like, 'Oh! Wow! This is nice. This is gonna work.'
"Years later, when I watch it with an audience, without all the technical ideas in my mind, I think 'I didn't know it was that great.'"
Lust even reflected on her own parenting.
"I think I'm better at being a mother than being a daughter," she said. "Writing the book, I realized that there's lots of shame in my story, not only my mother's but my grandmothers', and with my kids, I wanted them to feel more open at an early age. I have two kids, 16 and 19.
"My elder is a trans man, he had the guts to come out to us, without being too scared to do it, when he was 15. It makes me feel very proud of our parenting. We did create a safe space for him to live his best life. My 16-year-old is a sexy little lady, and that is provoking me more. I'm really trying to not say too much—I see her dressing up to go to school at 7 a.m., and I'm thinking, 'Should I say something?'
"I do believe in women's rights to dress as they want, this is something that I've told everybody, but at the same time… 'Are you going to school barefoot?'"
During another sequence, Lust elaborated on dealing with performers who have second thoughts, years later, about their appearances in her films.
"One performer transitioned, and told me, 'That film that we made, that person is not representing me any more. I don't want it to be out there.' We took that film down," Erika continued. "That's the only position you could take. I had another situation with two performers who used to be a couple, and who got into a really bad divorce. She told me 'It doesn’t feel good any more.' If there are particular situations, we are open to study the possibility of taking down that material."
The stage was cleared for Lust to sign copies of the book as a line assembled down one aisle.
"I wanted to dive into Erika's book and what it means to be an ethical feminist pornographer," interviewer Fong told AVN. "I really appreciated the 'Good Pornographer' chapter because it shared how she had to dive deep and unpack some things, like her experiences with Hollywood and how that led her on her own journey. She was pitching to the likes of Playboy, Netflix, et cetera, but you know how those interest meetings go.
"She also spoke about her experience creating a gangbang with Kazumi [who was in attendance] and how that really forced her to challenge her own feminist ideals surrounding pornography."
"It went very good," Lust told AVN after she finished signing. "Amazing to be back here in Los Angeles. I had a lot of love, lots of people coming with lots of love. It always feels wonderful. People I worked with were in the audience, it was amazing to see Nina Hartley, she is one of my absolute favorite actresses, forever and ever.
"I'm a little bit overwhelmed, and a little bit tired. When you talk to so many people… I try to give them a little bit of space so they can tell me their feedback, some of their stories. I think it's important. When I talk about my son who is trans, trans people come up to me with their stories."
Erika added, "I think it's important for the adult industry to be inclusive of these stories. So many times when we talk about the adult industry, the heteronormative perspective is being pushed on people. I hear so many other perspectives—coming from queer communities and from women—with positive experiences of finding and watching porn, helping them to figure out things like who they are and what they desire. I think it's a pity that we don’t hear those stories in mainstream media."
Industry personalities attending included Lilly Bell, Casey Calvert, Bree Mills, Nicole Vaunt, and Leo Vice.
Photography by Jeff Koga
Click here for a photo gallery
Fuente: avn.com
