AR: One of the things that's so interesting about Pinched is the ways it straddles the lines between academia, art, and experiential sexualities. Why is this blend important to the organizers? What do you hope attendees and participants will take from the experience?
MJ: With Pinched we try to combine different disciplines, as I think in these different areas the same kind of developments are taking place. As you look at elements of the current D-I-Y porn movement, they carry a strong (academic and/or activist) feminist or queer background.

What I hope attendees will get from this is that they leave with different viewpoints on the representation of sex. That boundaries aren’t as rigid at they might have thought before coming to Pinched. They don’t have to be a changed person, I’m trying not to be a missionary ☺ But I do want to offer attendants are possibilities to broaden their view on what sexuality can be and what it already is for individuals from different backgrounds. They might even get aroused by something they would never think they got aroused by. In my opinion the queer movement is making it possible to shape the thinking and acting about sex in a positive way and this is what’s Pinched all about. Especially towards people who are not always directly addressed in their critical and personal thinking about sex. Showing those positive alternatives and possibilities to integrate them more into the way people think about sex.

AR: Last year when I was in Amsterdam for C*lick Me and then in Berlin for the Berlin Porn Film Festival, one of the things that really struck me about the European approach to sexuality and porn is that both festivals easily mixed a variety of sexual content (straight, queer, etc), but there was a lot of resistance to the idea of mixing feminism and porn. Why do you think this is?
MJ: I can’t speak for the feminist movement in other countries, but I do share your experience. At certain event or feminist discussion it feels like there’s nothing changed since the 70s and all porn is still something that is exploitative. Being a Dutch feminist I get strange looks from people when sharing my sex-positive and sometimes porn positive ideas. I still don’t know why, but the sex positive movement never hit the Netherlands and also the current developments in queer theory and art seems to pass by. Which is a shame. That’s also one of the reasons why I wanted to bring somebody like Annie Sprinkle to Amsterdam again, I believe combining respected and acknowledged experts with a new generation of women, queers and interested people can create a steady base with strong roots.

AR: Pinched has a heavy focus on alternative forms of pornography and making porn as a way to create cultural resistance. This clashes a lot with the idea of porn as a capitalist form of media. How do you think porn-making can challenge the status quo?
MJ: I don’t want to say that porn is the ultimate tool in cultural resistance, but it is one of the main representations of sexuality that people have access to. Especially on the Internet, next to the nasty stuff, online porn communities for example have proven to create a steady force and bring people together in their search for alternative cultural counter movements. The possibilities of showing different thoughtful (and hot!!) expressions of sexuality can alter the way individuals relate to sex. Also with festivals like in Berlin, which now has a following in Paris, Madrid and Athens and the Pinched events in Amsterdam, this development is brought to a wider audience and is using different media-outings. On the other hand, I don’t see commercialism as a dirty word per se, people making a decent living out if it is only the better if you ask me. It’s more about how these products are made and with what intentions.