It’s all about art and anal for Madison Young

By Troy Michael

Madison Young is a multi-award winning bondage artist who has been named one of the Top t10 BDSM models in the world by BondageAwards.com. She has also been voted Best SM Suspension Model by Bishop Awards and has won several awards for her bondage and fetish releases.

However, Madison Young isn’t just a one trick pony in the adult industry. She has an impressive resume of “mainstream” porn films to her credit such as Face Fucking Inc. 4 (Evil Angel), Upload (SexZ Pictures) and Whore Within Me (Digital Sin)

This sexy well-educated redhead from Ohio is a self-proclaimed sex-positive feminist who likes to refer to herself as “your kinky girl next door changing the face of feminism one anal scene at a time.”

In an industry where porn girls are a dime a dozen, Madison stands amongst the company of a few. Pornographic icon Annie Sprinkle said, “Madison Young is an orgasm on two legs.”

Madison graduated the top of her class, went to college, developed and is currenly running a community arts gallery in San Francisco called Femina Potens, which strongly supports artists and works with sex-positive themes. She raises money for the non-profit art gallery by doing anal scenes in porn films.

At what age did you know bondage was your biggest fetish?

Actually bondage isn't a fetish, it is a kink.  A fetish is the eroticizing of an object or thing.  But, I first discovered my love and fetish for rope (natural jute and hemp rope) when I was 21, after a bondage shoot for Kink.com. I had always had kinky and rough sex and had been interested in experimenting sexually. I became sexually active at 18 and was very into public sex, exhibitionism, fisting, humiliation, spanking, restraint, golden showers, but I didn't really realize that these things were kinky.  I just thought they were what average sex was like, because it was the kind of sex that I was having. 

Of all the awards you have won, which is the most significant?

I would say the Feminist Porn Award for Best Kink Film is one of my favorite awards. It’s very important to me that my work is recognized as sex positive porn and know that my community enjoys it.

What does the “Girl Next Door" image mean to you?

For me, the “Kinky Girl Next Door” refers to my accessibility to the public. I'm a wholesome good-hearted girl who grew up in the Midwest and moved out to San Francisco to find connection and culture. I'm the sex-positive kinky girl who wants the white picket fence, a wedding ring and dog in the back yard...I just want it a little different. I want to be the dog in the back yard who fetches the paper every morning and is in an open marriage sharing my life with multiple partners of various gender identities.

But, I'm just the girl next door. I was a Girl Scout. I graduated the top of my class, went to college, and developed and run a community arts gallery in San Francisco (www.feminapotens.org). I'm not your typical porn star. My anal scenes go to support feminist art. I'm using porn to document my sexual explorations and to create a sexography, or documentation of my sexual life and of other honest sexual and kinky connections.”

Where in the Midwest did you grow up?

In a small town in Ohio called Loveland just outside of Cincinnati.

As a former Girl Scout were you one of those girls who forced neighbors to buy a lot of cookies?

Yes indeed, I did!  Mostly just my family, aunts, uncles, my mother's co-workers.  In the town that I grew up in, there was a lot of farmland and we didn't have a lot of neighbors.  My favorite cookies were the thin mints.

You mentioned being sex-positive. As a sex-positive girl, who has inspired you in that capacity along the way?

Some of my sexual heroes and mentors through out the years have been my good friends like Annie Sprinkle, Elizabeth Stephens, Carol Queen, Robert Lawrence, along with Betty Dodson, Patrick Califia, Barbara Carellas, Midori and a new generation of revolutionaries such as Tristan Taormino, Shine Louise Houston, and Eon McKai.

I heard you’re working on a book. Can you tell me about "The Tail of a Bondage Model” and have you found a publisher yet?

The Tail of a Bondage Model is a memoir of my life in the sex industry.  It leads the reader through the development of Madison Young, my first sexual experiences and relationship, delving into the queer and feminist underground in San Francisco, the development of my gallery, the struggles of maintaining a relationship and being immersed in the porn world and the life of a feminist submissive.  I am currently in negotiations with a literary agent in New York, who will shop the book around to publishers.

You mentioned the art gallery earlier, how’s that going? As an art lover myself, I find it amazing all you do for the sake of art.

My art gallery is fabulous.  Our support and volunteers staff is growing daily.  Our programs are reaching out to thousands of community members and giving exposure to hundreds of artists.  We are currently running the countries only queer public art program, which focuses on the creation of new site specific installations that address queer health and wellness.  We are adding features such as an art cam in which people can check out the entire artists’ process of creation, installation and performance, even if they are outside of the bay area.  Our erotic open mic and literary series continues to bring in packed houses.  We are bringing in new writing workshops and workshops on BDSM and poly discussion groups that have had a strong impact on our community.  The gallery continues to grow and thrive and serve as one of the cities largest resources for the female, trans, queer and kink communities. 

What gave you the idea to donate the money from your anal scenes to fund the gallery?

I decided to open the gallery first and then it was a matter of finding a job (which turned into a second career) that would have a flexible schedule, allow me to do something that I love, and be a part of a community and movement that I believed in.  So being a sex-positive feminist pornstar was the job that fit and that was able to pay the bills on the gallery at the same time. 

You once said you enjoy pushing your sexual limits. Where is the stopping point for those limitations?

I do enjoy pushing myself especially with in my bondage work.  I like to see exactly what my body is capable of.  I'm very in tune with my body and know how to communicate my needs to the rope artist that I'm working with.  If I feel like something needs adjusted, I make sure to communicate that to my partner. 

As a rope slut, do you see the rope as almost an extension of yourself a type of living breathing accessory?

I don't see rope as an accessory, but I do see it as another lover of mine.  I do personify it.  I love its taste, its bite, its smell, its touch.  I do feel like it can be an extension of myself.  I feel completely at home in its presence and held closely in its touch.

When you were younger did you ever think that you might become a porn star one day?

It wasn't a long or complicated journey to engaging in porn, but it was something that I thought about.  I didn't just jump into the decision.  I knew if it was something that I was going to do that I would need to do it on my own terms.  I believe if I'm doing something I want to believe in it with all my heart and know that what I'm doing is making a difference.  And it is.  Every honest female orgasm that is being documented is a revolutionary act.  Every honest sexual connection, it is all very crucial.  We are gladiators, soldiers putting our body on the line for the entertainment and education and change that we know our work is capable of imprinting on our society.  I didn't always know that I was going to be in front of the camera having sex.  But I did always know that I was compelled to create community and connection through visual and performative imagery and actions. 

Were you sexual, like the neighborhood slut growing up?

Not at all.  I hadn't even been kissed by the age of 18.  I had never had a girlfriend or boyfriend.  I was petrified of sex, until I drew the connection between art and sex.  That was before I gave in and discovered the immense release and pleasure that existed in sex.

How do your parents feel about this new career choice in the adult industry?

Well I'm in my 7th year in the adult industry, so it’s not really a new career choice.  But I have always been honest with my parents, regarding what I do.  They are supportive of my choices and I'm able to talk with them about using porn as a medium to archive our sexual subcultures and to educate, empower and inspire others sexually.  I think they understand the significance of what I'm doing and they are supportive of my activist nature, even if they don't always agree with me 100%

Have you ever done anything on film that you thought you would never do?

No.  I have always made a point of never engaging in anything that I could explain or defend to my peers, friends, family or press.

Outside of the business, what do you do in your free time?

I don't have a lot of free time.  I run two businesses - Madison Bound Productions and Femina Potens Art Gallery, then I perform for other directors’ productions and direct for other studios, such as Abigail Productions and Gwen Media, and I'm a writer who mostly contributes to anthologies and collections of essays on subjects, such as Submission and Feminism.  If I have a moment when I'm not working, I usually just want to cuddle up with my love or get away to our favorite resort in Santa Cruz.  I get to rest when we go on vacation, so we try to get away every couple of months. 

What is your biggest guilty pleasure?

Sappy romantic comedies like When Harry Met Sally...or vegan chocolate truffles