Workshops and Sessions with Kate Sinclaire
Kate Sinclaire is an award-winning Canadian pornographer, activist, advocate, and law student creating feminist and ethically-made pornography that tantalizes while ensuring that the human rights of performers and crew were respected on set.
Throughout over 15 years of experience in porn, both in front of and behind the camera, Kate has spoken, written, and been quoted widely on topics of sex worker rights, privacy, online censorship, DIY porn, performer rights, the queer/feminist/ethical porn conundrum, with a special focus on porn literacy as basic media literacy.
Kate graduated from the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Philosophy and is currently pursuing her Juris Doctor at the University of Ottawa. Her aim is to spread her experiences far and wide, and to be a catalyst for and active leader in research, policy, and statutory revolution with regards to online sexual freedoms, privacy, sex worker rights (with a focus on online work), and more.
If you are interested to have Kate run a session or workshop for your organization, conference, or other event, or to screen her work, please reach out to kate@cherrystems.com. All sessions and workshops are offered on a sliding scale.
Offered sessions:
Porn Literacy as Media Literacy: creating media literacy in a world of unlimited pornography
Porn is everywhere, but a general sexual taboo in North America means that we don’t talk about it the same way we do other forms of media. With an internet full of any act imaginable, how do we teach people to understand the differences in others’ healthy sexual desires, especially when our first exposure to those kinks might be via a random poorly worded google search? As much as mainstream culture is loath to admit it, porn is media that requires literacy, specifically, media that affects our perceptions of our own and others’ sexuality. In this session, Kate Sinclaire will address the impact that our cultural silence has on sexual exploration, consent, kink, sexuality, and gender, and how open communication can improve our sexual wellbeing. We’ll also cover the relation between sexual content, “risky behaviour”, ideological state apparatus (religion, the family, education systems, etc), the NC-17 rating in popular movies – relating sex as art vs sex as porn – and the parental roles involved in teaching these concepts in a world where youth have essentially unrestricted access to porn.
Approximately 60 minutes, with additional question period as desired.
Brought to You by Credit Cards: Censorship of queer and femme-presenting pleasure in the name of “protection”
In the great shift of porn from printed photos and magazines to television to the internet, the censorship methods have transformed in turn. What were formerly duties of television censorship boards and international borders have largely shifted to an unexpected body: credit cards and their processing companies. In this session, we’ll unpack the realities of serving up sex on the internet, who’s in charge, and who’s calling the shots on the types of sex you even get to see. From OnlyFans to the PornHub scandals, we’ll walk through who’s being thrown under the bus and discuss whose ends these ideologies might serve. This is a medium-deep dive on the technicalities of running an online business in the adult sphere, but we’ll keep it light and in accessible language. It’s truly mystifying shit!
Approximately one hour, plus time for questions.
Go to law school: Disrupting systems that perpetuate sexual shame and stigma
Largely, folks with sex work experience have been advised to keep it off their CVs, school applications, and live in secret with their truths. But what are the benefits of bringing sex professionals (all folks with sex work experience, btw) into the workforce? If we all need to work under capitalism, and the saviour-rescue complex insists that folks need to leave the trade, then we need to strictly encourage people to declare their sex work history.
Born of Kate’s own journey through sex work and porn on through to law school, in this hour-long session we’ll unpack labour, sexualized labour, sex work, perpetuation of sexual shame, “professionalism”, financial barriers, and access to education systems and positions of power.
Approximately one hour, plus any time for questions.
How can porn be ethically made?
In this session, we will run through a quick history of pornography, and look at the forces that have created the types of porn that we see today. From early photographs, Super 8 cameras, and all the way up to webcams and iphones, we’ll talk about accessibility, queer narratives, patriarchal influence, the male gaze, and sex work myths. From there, we’ll explore ways that feminist pornographers and performers today are turning the industry on its head – or maybe just the way we see the industry.
Approximately 45 minutes, with additional question period. (total 1hr)
Workshops:
DIY porn!
Whether it’s for your own personal enjoyment, or if you’re looking at starting to create and market content, making your own porn can be a ton of fun! It can also be a nightmare if you’re not in the know about paperwork requirements, legalities, and if everyone in the situation isn’t on the same page about who gets to see the film. In this workshop, Kate Sinclaire wil give participants the basic tools and knowledge to make their very own porn. We will run through legal requirements, and writing of an agreement first. All participants will receive a template of a US2257 form – an identification verification form used throughout the industry. We will then run through health and safety on set, ethical considerations, direction methods, lighting and camera equipment options, and editing software – all with a budget-focused approach. We will not be creating porn today, but participants will be given the opportunity to follow up with Kate for further mentorship online.
Max participants: 20 Approximately 1-2hrs, depending on time available and group size.
Kate’s Bio:
Kate Sinclaire is a porno tour de force. Hailing from the prairie hotbed of Winnipeg on Treaty 1 territory, Kate has been making porn, both soft and hard, for over a decade. She is the owner and founder of philanthropic softcore site cherrystems.com, and the ethically minded queer hardcore production company, Ciné Sinclaire. When not making porn, she’s a member of the Sex Workers of Winnipeg Action Coalition. She has spoken at a bunch of conferences and events, and has been featured in major Canadian publications on topics like performer safety, porn literacy, privacy, censorship, sex worker rights, porn literacy, and the importance of DIY.
Kate obtained a B.Arts at the University of Manitoba, studying sociology and philosophy, and is currently persuing her Juris Doctor at the University of Ottawa.
Otherwise, you can find her in her garden, on her bike or kayak, at a sports game in the sun, or hoisting a drink with friends.
Ms Kate Sinclaire 