Anna Arrowsmith (born Anna Imogen Thompson 15 January 1972), who works under the pseudonym Anna Span, is a former English pornographic film director and producer. She makes frequent public appearances, speaking on sex, pornography and feminism.

Early life and education

She was born and raised in Kent, England, United Kingdom, the daughter of finance director Clive Thompson. She is a graduate of film from the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. Her films are female-friendly based on her ideas first outlined in her 1997 dissertation 'Towards a New Pornography'. She later graduated with an MA in Philosophy from Birkbeck College, University of London, and studied for a PhD in Gender Studies at the University of Sussex, titled 'Rethinking Misogyny: How Men Experience Women to have Power in Dating Relationships'. She won Best British Film Brand at The UK's trade awards – the ETO Awards in 2008. In 2007 she won 'Indie Porn Pioneer', 2010 she won an award for Best Politician (somewhat prematurely) at the Erotic Awards and in 2011, and then the 'Best Bi Movie' at The International Emma Feminist Porn Awards, in Toronto. Her film Be My Toy Boy was nominated for best Film at the 2009 ETO Awards. and has said, 'I'm bi and looking at two women together turns me on.'

She has given talks about pornography and feminism in various countries, for example at universities or film festivals and Gail Dines. In 2011, Span was invited alongside Jessi Fischer and Johnny Anglais to debate against Gail Dines, Richard Woolfson and Shelley Lubben at the University of Cambridge. The proposition that she argued was that 'This house believes that pornography does a good public service.' Span won the proposition with 231 in favour to 187 against with 197 abstentions. Dines said her opponents won because the chamber consisted mostly of '18-22-year-old males who were using pornography on a regular basis.'

She has had one manual and two academic works published: Erotic Home Video (now known as Shoot Your Own Adult Home Movies) in 2003; My Pornographic Development, A chapter on my aesthetic philosophy, published in the book Pornographic Art & The Aesthetics of Pornography available through Palgrave Macmillan in 2013 and her PhD Thesis rewritten as a book,

Rethinking Misogyny: Men’s Perceptions of Female Power in Dating Relationships in 2015, available through Routledge. She has been a peer reviewer for the academic journals Gender Studies, Men and Masculinities and Porn Studies.

Anna ran a campaign website called WeConsent.org on behalf of the people who work in the various sex industries against the various moral panics aimed at them and their industries. She has been a regular columnist of the Daily Sport newspaper, The Guardian newspaper, and the British women's sex magazine Scarlet. She has been an active member of Feminists Against Censorship since the late 1990s. Conservative Adam Holloway held on to the seat by a considerable margin; Arrowsmith increased the Liberal Democrat vote share by nearly one third compared to the previous Lib Dem election results and by more than the regional average, but remained in third place behind Labour.

She explained her reasons for moving into politics in The Observer, which included: women's right to sexual expression and consumption, freedom of speech, and helping young people. Then Liberal Democrat party leader Nick Clegg said, "It's not exactly my cup of tea what she's been doing before she has put herself forward in parliament but I also think it's really important that people like her who really care a lot about her local area are encouraged to come into politics. You can't accuse her of being a cardboard cut-out Westminster politician."

Personal life

Span lives in the US state of California as of 2018.

Recognition

She was recognised as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2013.

See also

  • Sex-positive feminism
  • Sex-positive movement

References

  • Anna Span Films – Film Website
  • WeConsent.org – Campaign website for the sex industries run by Anna
  • AnnaArrowsmith.com – Anna's porn and politics blog
  • Easy on the Eye – Production company web site, including her early works. Note: this does not appear to have been updated since 2004
  • Lovegirls.co.uk interview
  • Arrowsmith Wine Anna's wine bar in Solvang, California.