Rob Benson

I got face fucked in a public restroom for Queer Porn TV and I loved it.

Name: rob benson
Location: brooklyn, ny
Identities: identity is a tough one for me. i think there are moments where it’s convenient for me to don a specific juxtaposition of identities in order to communicate within a given context, but ultimately it’s all performative and ephemeral, and nothing ever really sticks. i like the freedom of being ambiguous, existing in multiplicity, and not being recognizable via buzzwords. simultaneously, i’m aware of presenting at most times as a white cis dude, which it’s actually taken me awhile to be okay with and learn to handle responsibly while not guilting or crucifying myself over it just because i also identify with a lot of radical feminism and faggoty lifestyle bullshit.
What makes you queer? I take issue with queerness as a concept. Same with ‘marginalized groups’ and existing as an ‘other’. i get that people need language to refer to whatever suffering or injustice they may experience, and that those experiences are very real for a lot of people. however, i think that when it becomes a priority, that is, when you form your identity around a reactionary stance to normative judgements, it’s hugely limiting, and doesn’t offer much capacity for growth beyond those judgements. in terms of gender, sexuality, and life in general, i’m constantly seeking new information and experiences and ways of being and interacting that offer potential liberation and empowerment to myself and others. i want to find modes of existence that acknowledge the actuality of nearly unlimited choice and freedom available to us all. this freedom, i believe, can not ultimately be an issue of ‘difference’, because who are we really differing from? do we want to give further acknowledgement to those modes of power through our defiance? if queerness helps someone to access who i present as or what i’m saying to them, then i’m glad it’s an effective tool. but ultimately, i am no one’s radical. i just am.
How has being a queer porn star changed your life? it’s been an actualization that i really needed. i’d talked a lot with friends and others about how i’d have no problem appearing in porn or having sex on video given the right context, both before and after i got into sex work. queerporn.tv was the first shoot i’ve done for public exhibition, and it’s been really informative, not necessarily in terms of tying down what porn performance is or isn’t for me, but in showing me how i react to being documented in a sexual capacity, and how i respond to the awareness of being watched, in multiple capacities.
Pitch your life as a reality tv show: i will never be a reality television show. if we’re going on character flaws, i’d much rather be a film snob any day.
Dish about a hot exhibitionist experience: so many! gosh, i guess the most recent fun memory was sissy bouncing on the bartender’s dick at an afterparty for this film festival a couple months ago. we started out going down on each other, and i guess (naturally?) that attracted a small audience. it ended up being a flipfuck situation on top of several cases of beer, which was also pretty enjoyable.
What is your favorite sex toy? I really haven’t had a proper introduction to toys, at least not on a level that made it something i go for regularly or on my own. part of the thrill of sex for me is the visceral connection of a living, breathing, responding body and all the things i can do with another person.
Shameless self promotion: i perform a lot. i dance. i write. i design things…that is to say, i approach most creative endeavors with a relatively meticulous level of process. d.i.y. is everything to me, and i love a challenge. i’m always looking for stimulating collaborators, in any capacity. so here’s an open call. communicate with me. rbprod.85@gmail.co
Tell us about your QPTV scene: well, to be honest, i was a bit apprehensive about the framing of the scene beforehand. i figured skylar and i would end up doing something along the lines of an oral/anal scene, because that’s often what we do when we have sex offscreen. and i didn’t really see anything kinky or ‘queer’ about that, i think because of this attitude i was feeding off of that maleness and whiteness and even male homosexuality in a contemporary context are oppressively normative and unradical, patriarchal, etc. i was recently in a film screening where two fags having sex actually garnered a slow clap from a delegation of lesbian separatists in the audience. [which, by the way, i found incredibly unkind and mututally oppressive – i mean, we’re all human beings after all, i think it’s really in our best interest to at least try to be decent to each other.] in any case, the night of the shoot, we started the scene, and shortly after i think we both sort of realized that neither of us were trying to do that anyway. we ended up just sort of playing with each other and fucking in all kinds of other ways which were just as fulfilling. it was a big relief to face down this elephant in the room, of like, ‘do you need phallocentric penetration in order to validate your sexual experience?’ to which the answer is, of course, no. inhibition is a killer, truly. finding the freedom to do what we actually wanted and then giving ourselves permission to do that was pretty awesome.