Jasper James is making waves. She’s quickly becoming the next gender-bending pop superstar, playing with the likes of Peaches and having her songs up on sheenabeaston.com. Jasper stands apart from the rest in more ways than one… but it’s one way in particular that spurred me to point her out to all you readers of Good Vibrations Magazine: Jasper sings about her sex toys!

Her song “Vibrator” is an ode to her sex toys — which as she sings “fill my every wish.” The lyrics celebrate sex and orgasms, and she’s not too shy to sing it to the mountains:

Plastic, Chrome or Silicone… You always want me to come.
Jade, glass… just shove it up my ass.
A nice pretty pearl necklace.
- from “Vibrator”

Vibrators and Dildos and Anal Toys, oh my! Vibrator is available on iTunes. It doesn’t take much for me to wonder what it’d sound like with one of those OhMiBod iPod musical vibrators. Add that to the playlist, huh.

Having opened for Debbie Harry, and with her song “This House” as part of the sexy soundtrack of John Cameron Mitchell’s film Shortbus, Jasper is a busy artist rocking underground hot-spots in New York and London. Lucky for us, Jasper wasn’t too busy to share with me and all of you about her love of sex toys and her music.

Jiz Lee: Many musicians sing about sex or put their sexuality out there as a means to sell their music, but it’s not often that a singer devotes a song (or entire album) to their sex toy! How do you relate your sexuality to your music? Are there any background stories to your decision to record a song about your vibrator?

Jasper James: Ironically enough, when I began conceptualizing this album I was celibate. I’m a Scorpio, so I was in the space of wanting to understand the power of sex and sexuality — not only a physical but in also a spiritual sense. At the time I was living in San Francisco on Haight Street with all the hippies. On my way home one day, I came across a tarot reader. I figured “Why not?” His parting words were “Pan needs to be your patron saint.” I took his words to heart, went home, masturbated the hell out of my bullet and the song “Vibrator” was formed. From there sex became fun. Exploring the humor and mystery became essential.

I began to experiment with sexuality and gender. In our culture, “boxes” and stereotypes are very important to many people. It started to become very clear that I didn’t fit into any “Box” or category sexually at all, and basically began to toy with my reality that I could do anything I want.

If I want to be a gay boy who’s into leather play and wants to fuck a bio gay boy silly, that’s exactly what I was going to do.

It was that simple. I hold true to my word. My life is an experiment and “Vibrator” is just another extension of me so, it was an experiment as well.

Jiz: In “Vibrator”, you mention chrome and silicone toys. What are your favorite?

Jasper: Aww man, Gotta love the wand…  it just sends you into outer space! Let’s just say, there are a lot of new toys that I would love to try… does Good Vibrations need a tester??

Jiz: Haha, maybe GV could work something out!

Okay, so you’ve been called the “homo love-child of Beck & Mobi, if they were Black, broke, and hungry” and also the “love-child of funk-soul legend James Brown and sexed-up electronic glam rocker Peaches.” Um, how many love-parents do you have?… LOL! Or more specifically, who are your musical influences?

Jasper: I’m into anything that makes me feel! With Michael Jackson’s passing, I realized that he had a HUGE effect on me as a musician and as a person. You see that level of talent like once every 4 or 5 decades. No one did it better, and now he’s gone. So now I see a great opportunity for all performers everywhere to step it up, I believe it’s what he would want us to do: be our greatest and fullest potential. It goes without saying that Grace Jones is also a very important influence as well, she is truly fierce beyond words… something other worldly.

Jiz: You’re putting on a fundraiser to get to Malawi. Can you tell us more about that, and where we can find out more about you and your music?

Jasper: My newest song ROCKET was actually just posted to sheenabeaston.com and is available for free download there. Feel free to check out my facebook for more about Malawi and our fundraisers and of course, if you want to know more about me go to jasperjamesmusic.blogspot.com.

Thank you Jasper and Good Vibrations for keeping the beat!

It’s not a joke; in fact, it almost doesn’t even exist. Aside from a handful of recent developments in the past decade, the appearance of Asian American men has been few and far between when it comes to porno. This is to say, web and video distribution in the United States — because the adult film industries of Japan, China, and a multitude of other Asian countries have no issues finding male actors. In the USA however, the reflection of their sexuality on screen is rare.

Comedian Greg Pak released a hilarious spoof on Asian porn that starred David Henry Hwang in Asian Pride Porn xxx. The short makes fun of how Asian women are eroticized, how Asian men are feminized, and delivers several clever porn titles. It’s a good joke. Cultural revolutions have a pattern of progression that starts with a punch-line. Look at Margaret Cho, as funny as she is, she’s paving the way for representation (and still being true to herself). Greg Pak and Jefferey Lei are no exception. Leaders inspire others and before time, a niche is created, cultivated, and expanded into the mainstream. In time, people are amazed there ever was such a thing as no female politicians, that there was a ban on interracial marriages, or that there used to be no straight Asian Porn stars… at least, that’s the idea.

This isn’t a new idea to Dr. Darrell Hamamoto, the Standford professor who made headlines (well, if you count Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show and “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno) when frustrated with the lack of representation, he took matters into his own hands and invested in his own self-produced adult film titled Skin to Skin.

The video was documented in James Hou’s 2003 documentary Masters of the Pillow and starred established Asian American (Thai/Cambodian) porn star Lyla Lei and a Korean-Canadian porn virgin Chun. The film was shot on a single camera in a hotel room and for a low-budget film it satisfied the need for Asian-to-Asian sex on camera.

Another Asian to put out for the camera includes Rick Lee, who runs Asian-Man.com. In the site, Lee has sex with a number of women but conceals his face. Lee originally wanted to use an actor for these scenes, but when no one stepped up to the job he decided to do it himself.

Jeffery Lei directed a hilarious and poignant commentary on the lack of representation in the documentary Dick Ho: Asian Male Porn Star. The film stars its director and interviews notable late 70s adult stars Annie Sprinkle, Sharon Mitchell, Kay Parker, Juliet Anderson… and also sexy radical starlet Mika Tan. The mockumentary suggests a conspiracy that concealed the star’s existence in porn, as well as the size of his purportedly enormous penis.

Much of Lei’s Dick Ho makes similar comedic references to Asian stereotypes that we saw in Asian Pride Porn XXX, however this time, we’re making some progress.

Shortly after the film was released, Mika Tan announced that she would be helming her own film and put out a call for Asian males to apply. The film is titled Year of the Cock and if all goes well it may be the best example of Asian American heterosexuality yet, and by a female director. Whoot.

Of course, let us not end before acknowledging the work of trans porn purveyors. One aspect of Asian American male sexuality that has yet to be discussed in the handful of articles about Asian men in porn, including Hamamoto’s own “Joy Fuck Club” is the prior work of Christopher Lee. (Yes, though Buck Angel deserves immense credit for his work in the industry, Buck is not the first and only FTM Porn Star.)

When transsexual male pornographer Christopher Lee filmed Alley of the Tranny Boys and the gothic artcore porn Sex, Flesh in Blood, he not only directed and stared in his movies, but also became one of the first FTM trans porn stars, and an Asian, to represent a new genre of porn cinema.

Ten years later, a good number of Asian and hapa (mixed race) trans/genderqueer porn stars are featured through Pink & White Productions. A producer at Pink&White, Shawn presents masculine on screen. Shawn, Mik, Vai, and others found a radical outlet for sexual expression that brings marginalized sexual voices to the forefront.

Asian American culture is often heavy with familial obligations and societal excellence. This may explain one reason why queer Asians are a little more ‘free to be’, than their straight brothers. If you’ve already disappointed mom and dad by coming out as being queer, and the thought of grandchildren is out of the picture, there’s not much else you can do but own up to your sexuality and join the queer community where the sexual liberation front is reclaiming our images through pornography.

So now that means Asian and hapa Gays, Transwomen, FTMs, and genderqueers are having their slice of the porn pie. Straight Asian men, it’s time for your close up, are you ready?
Pick up your camera or give Mika Tan a call. We’re waiting.

Mika Tan wants YOU.

My search for Asian American representation in porn brought me to a film entitled Dick Ho: Asian Male Porn Star. Cleverly billed as a documentary, the film stars its director Jeffrey Lei as a legendary 1970’s porn actor who mysteriously vanished (along with all footage or other evidence of the performer in action). Dick Ho: Asian Male Porn Star is hilariously accessible while probing at an industry’s lack of attention towards Asian American masculinity. Is it lack of a market or a larger conspiracy? You decide…

Jiz Lee: Your film is brilliantly disguised as a real documentary, complete with celebrity interviews and old footage. It’s interesting to note that the fact that it is a parody goes over some peoples’ heads even after they’ve watched it in its entirety. At the risk of giving away the secret, why do you choose to bill the film, which won SinCine’s Erotic Spirit Award, as a documentary and not a mockumentary?

Dick Ho: I stress “documentary” to promote the believability factor that he actually existed and help change the social perception of Asian male sexuality as you know very well its present state in the business. There are people who believe this is real which is the intention. I see it as a justifiable lie. I hear ya on that hunger to see Asian male rep, which is why I had to make this!

Jiz: Part of the brilliance in the footage is the reference to other unsolved mysteries, such as the Loch Ness monster, Sasquatch, and of strange cults. Much of the mystery is surrounded by rumors about Dick’s enormous penis, which also avoids an explicit shot. Why did you choose to conceal explicit sex? And, where has the film screened?

Dick: I used the conspiracy element, like the dark figure’s dialogue “…most of the footage was purposely edited to conceal the size of Dick Ho’s penis” to add suspicion to the footage and to avoid any hardcore as well. Aside from the sex/erotic festivals, most film festivals and distributors would probably not screen or market this if it was. It’s not meant to be actual porn but a statement that can be more widely seen for a general market. For some of the Asian American film festivals, it still pushes the envelope. So, it’s been through the sex fests like the ‘S.F. Sex Worker Film & Arts Festival’, ‘SinCine Erotic Film Fest’, ‘CineKink NYC’ and most of the Asian fests, including the ‘S.F. Int’l Asian American Film Festival’. The Asian screenings are always very nerve-racking but they’re extremely receptive overall. I would love to have more screenings.

Jiz: Do you think the myth of Asian men having small penises is around because of a lack of representation in porn, which I believe, is where most people get their sex ed?

Dick: The idea of Asian men having small dicks isn’t due to their absence in porn, I don’t think, as viewers wouldn’t know not seeing it. It seems to be spreading in the social mindset though, just by word of mouth and in the media. And from my experience, it seems some non-Asian women don’t even know about this stereotype, being they’ve never been with an Asian man.

Jiz: I think there is some irony that a film about the lack of straight Asian dick in film does not show any Asian dick. Then again, Rick Lee (www.Asian-Man.com) is one of the few straight men Asian Americans fucking online, and he intentionally covers his face so that his identity is not revealed. This seems to me to mirror the idea of a hidden figure, like the obscured or missing footage in your film. How did you come up with the idea for the film? And, have you ever considered being in porn?

Dick: Personally, I’ve never officially auditioned for a production…but I have been to some “parties”. The idea for Dick Ho actually first started as an on-going joke I had, “If I was an Asian male porn star, I’d call myself ‘Dick Ho’.” Then, it spawned on me, why not make this into a mockumentary, better yet, play it off as real or an investigative piece; is the footage real or not? The lack of hardcore was not completely my decision, but it also builds up to the Bigfoot parody scene or, as I call it, the “Bigdick” footage where I do show Asian dick and a lot of it!

Jiz: Annie Sprinkle seemed to be the only interviewed celebrity to throw in stereotypes for Dick Ho — “that karate guy”, “Japan or China or wherever he was from”, “Bruce Lee with a really big dick”, and also a fetishist view of spirituality (such as the western view of eastern religion, Buddhism, etc…) was that intentional? And, what was the inside joke behind Sharon Mitchell’s reference to drug use?

Dick: Yeah, some of the comments by the porn stars like Annie, are meant to be satirical. I thought they did a great job! You nailed it. Most of the porn star’s responses were improvised. They didn’t want to be scripted so I only directed them in terms of theme. I think Annie was also poking fun at white Orientalistic views of Asians with the stereotypes. I guess it depends how you take it. Sharon seemed to be drawing from her past experiences, I think with John Holmes, with the drug use story.

Jiz: When I think of an Asian American male porn star, the only examples I have are performers who are gay or transsexual women. Sometimes I think that gay Asians have an easier time getting into porn because they’ve already faced coming out to their family — in a sense they are ‘freed’ of familial obligation. Why do you think it is more acceptable for Queer Asian porn actors?

Dick: I’ve come to realize from Mika Tan’s perspective that Asian men don’t want to be in porn because of cultural restraints. In terms of the lack of straight Asian guys in the biz, it first seemed to me that the white male-dominated industry is not threatened by gay Asian men who they might see as feminine anyway, making them no different than the number of straight Asian female porn stars. But then I always wonder, are most of the gay Asian male porn stars ‘bottoms’? Are there any Asian male ‘tops’ to portray masculinity? That would definitely challenge that aspect.

Jiz: I definitely agree that most gay Asian porn actors are bottoms. It seems to reflect the media’s feminization of Asian men. However, I see a future for straight Asian men in porn; do you consider your film to have opened some doors for further discussion and new opportunities, having broken down stereotypes and given permission for the conversation to move on? Mika Tan is casting Asian men for “Year of the Cock”, to be filmed next month. Do you think your interview with her inspired a desire to pull this cast together?

Dick: Not sure if I’ve opened any doors. I get a sense there’s some discussion. Also aware of some Asian guys with their own amateur websites of them having sex with non-Asian women like, as you mentioned, Rick Lee. But they were already around before I’d finished shooting. As for Mika Tan, it seemed she started casting for “Year of the Cock” shortly after I interviewed her. Hmmm…Coincidence or inspiration? She did have a lot to say on the issue. Maybe Dick Ho was the final catalyst for her.

Jiz: Has Dick Ho: Asian Male Porn Star screened for any Asian American classes at colleges and universities?

Dick: Funny you mentioned that. Darrell Hamamoto told me he did screen it for his class at U.C. Davis. Much respect. Interesting that he focuses on an all-Asian cast/representation in his skin flick, but I guess that reflects his theories.

Jiz: I think Darrell Hamamoto’s film may be the only one which has an Asian (Asian Canadian) man paired with an Asian American female. There are many Asian American and Hapa (mixed race) female porn stars working in the field. The women on Rick Lee’s site tend to be white, however he says that there are just more applicants who are white women. I got the sense that you cast white women for the archival footage found in Dick Ho, to reflect the predominantly white range of actresses in the 1970s (such as the celebrities interviewed like Juliet Anderson, Sharon Mitchell, Kay Parker, and Annie Sprinkle… ) How did you cast them?

Dick: I can relate to Rick Lee whereas the only women to answer the call are white, although my film’s performers aren’t porn actors. There were a few Asian women that showed interests but they either never followed through or only wanted to be in non-porn scenes. This brings up another factor I forgot to mention regarding the sex scenes in ‘Dick Ho’ being soft core is that none of my actresses would agree to have actual sex with me on camera…well, almost none. One of them was an ex-girlfriend. So I had in mind of using the myth/conspiracy angle to explain the missing penetration shots. I would’ve screened it in full at the erotic film festivals but still edit out the hardcore for the general and Asian film festivals – they always stress in their guidelines, “No pornographic material.”

For more about Dick Ho: Asian Male Porn Star and to view the trailer and buy the DVD visit: http://www.idontcarefilms.com/dickho/.