Citation: Darling, D.M.G. (2026). Topping the genre: Pro-porn feminist implications of trans-topping in gay pornography. Critical Studies in Media Communication. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295036.2025.2602733
Abstract:
This article examines the socio-political potential of trans-topping in gay pornography through a case study of Trans Guys in Sweatpants. Using Audre Lorde’s conception of the erotic, this essay positions trans-feminist pornography as a critical theoretical foundation for analyzing the intersections of transness, sexuality, and power. Through a critical reading of Trans Guys in Sweatpants and its corresponding media, this essay mobilizes the erotic as a means of conducting critical textual analysis, interrogating how trans bodies are positioned within dominant socio-cultural and political frameworks. By engaging with pornographic production as a site of resistance, this work argues that performances of trans-topping disrupt hegemonic understandings of sex, gender, and masculinity. Ultimately, this analysis demonstrates how trans sexual performance in gay porn can expand representations of trans desire, reimagine erotic expression, and serve as a tool for challenging normative ideological constructions of transness and sexuality.
Keywords: Erotic, Gay Pornography, Pro-Porn Feminism, Trans-Topping
Link to Full Article: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15295036.2025.2602733
