PERMANENT OBSCURITY: Sexploitation and its feral influence : Female Vigilante and Women In Prison Flicks - Sexploitation -- Is It Anti-feminist or Sexist? : PERMANENT OBSCURITY: Or a Cautionary Tale Of Two Girls and Their Misadventures with Drugs, Pornography, and Death : a novel by Richard Perez : is a kind of “Thelma and Louise,” sexploitation/tabloid inspired story set in the East Village, NYC, a story of two down-and-out gals, both would-be artists, who set out to make a femdom movie with disastrous results.

It's Here!

5.
Sexploitation & Permanent Obscurity

(Sure, many into exploitation may know these, but others may not...)

Other subdivisions include:

The female vigilante (Coffy, Zero Woman, Ms. 45, I Spit On Your Grave, Lady Snowblood, Thriller)

Coffy	Zero Woman
Ms. 45	I Spit On Your Grave
Lady Snowblood	Thriller

Women in Prison pics (like Big Doll House, Women In Cages, Black Mama, White Mama, Female Prisoner #701 Scorpion, which is the inspired Japanese version of the subgenre [highly recommended]).

Big Doll House	Women In Cages
Black Mama, White Mama	Female Prisoner #701

Meiko Kaji Permanent Obscurity : permanentobscurity.com
(Meiko Kaji probably deserves her own section.)

Quentin Tarantino (who of course I love) paid tribute to the above films with Pam Grier in Jackie Brown,and Uma Thurman in Kill Bill, but while doing so completely left out the sexploitation elements. Even in the big Grindhouse double-feature made by Tarantino/Rodriguez, there was a kind of sexual conservatism: a self-conscious absence of T&A, with “Missing Scene” placards appearing whenever a sex scene popped up. Part of this is a sign of the times and the pressure of political correctness, I guess. While violence has always been A-okay in America, sex has not.

Yet part of the badass power of these films lies in their very political incorrectness, the comfort and ease with which these kick-ass mamas have in using every advantage at their disposal, especially their physical assets.

Sexploitation is a weird animal, I’ll admit. Totally contradictory in nature. Both progressive and regressive, sexist and protofeminist at once.

“Coffy”: feminist or sexist? I don’t know. Maybe both?

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“Richard Perez has the ears of the angels—lend him yours.”
—Barry Gifford, author: WILD AT HEART, PERDITA DURANGO

“Perez's is an exciting talent and his work goes far beyond most of what is published today.”
—Henry Flesh, author: MICHAEL and the Lambda Literary Award-winner,
MASSAGE

“Ready-made for Russ Meyer—
assuming, that is, if Meyer was around and still at his peak.”
—Josh Alan Friedman, author: TALES OF TIMES SQUARE, WHEN SEX WAS DIRTY

Dolores & Serena:

“They were young and immoral!...”

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For my list of top 50 sexploitation/grindhouse books and DVD recommendations, please click here.

(Oh, and one last remark.)