Oh dear. He’s anxious and worried. I reach over and grasp his hand in mine, pulling his attention back to me. His penetrating stare finally focuses, and he sets his jaw as I remind him, “I’ll protect you.”
He exhales slowly, and when his lungs are empty, he dips his chin, squeezing my hand. “I believe you.”
“Dr. Lancaster,” President Barsamian says, calling the meeting to order.
I release his hand, and Trent and I greet her respectfully, then she explains for the minutes why we’re having an emergency meeting, and she asks me for a full explanation of the current situation.
“First, thank you for your concern and interest in the university and in me and my assistant’s health and safety. While I knew on a theoretical level that the university took crimes committed on campus seriously, it’s relieving to see that quick action is important to the board when one of their students is threatened.”
I’m shaming them, I know. We’re not here because of the crime against a student, but it’s good to keep them on their toes. No one is going to deny my words because the minutes are publicly available upon request, and who wants to be the board member known for prioritizing the university’s reputation over the safety of its students? The media scandals of universities in recent years have made most of these people at least aware of how their words and actions can be interpreted.
“As you all are aware, an image of me with what appears to be ejaculate on my face was sent to you all today. The image implicates Chancellor Mustafa as the donor; however, it’s important for every person in this room to know that the image was a computer manipulation, likely an AI manipulation, and it should not be taken as a truthful representation of therelationship Chancellor Mustafa and I have. He and I have always had a respectful professional relationship, and I enjoy working for the university under his leadership.”
“The image looks real,” one of the board interrupts, and I give the elderly man a level look.
“Would you like to see the video from which the base screen shot was taken? I performed in a livestream with my assistant, and I’m happy to bring it up so you can verify the origin of the photo and the salient manipulations.”
The elderly man’s white brows rise. “Are you saying that this picture comes from pornographic content that you made?”
I return my attention to the front, smiling widely. “I was getting there, of course. During the course of securing funding for a new building for the linguistics department and renovation for the current building, I was in a meeting with Arpi Afreyan”—allow me to just name drop the university’s most generous donor (with her permission; even I know not to do that without permission when she’s sitting behind me)—“and we got onto the subject of my own personal funds and desires and my current academic goals, and I jokingly said, ‘It’s a shame I can’t make a fortune in porn to fund the life I’d like to live.’ Miss Afreyan suggested I could if I made it an academic experiment, and that started me on a course of research that has led me to start a subscription based video service, the content of which is pornographic. My subscribers know that they are participating in an experiment, and the experiment is paying for itself. I have enough income from the subscriptions to fund the research and the research assistants.
“While my research into the adult entertainment industry is riveting, I don’t think any of you really want to see the content of my videos in a group setting such as this. You are, of course, more than welcome to subscribe and participate in my research.”
Arpi’s quiet chuckle has me turning on my heels to shoot the beautiful fifty-six year old a wink. She smiles and addresses the board, “I subscribed the day he told me that he’d started his experiment. I’m not sure of the parameters of his research, but if nothing else, I am entertained by the content.”
Chancellor Mustafa nods in agreement. “I am also a subscriber. I approved this experiment at the same meeting that I approved his proposal for a new building for the linguistics department and a renovation for the old building. We have that on the agenda for the next meeting.” Thank you, Mehcad, for playing the money game with me. “Dr. Lancaster presented me with his research proposal and I’m monitoring his videos and am among some of his colleagues that will critique his work going forward.” I didn’t know that, but peer review is important, and considering what I plan to do with this research, I welcome his input.
Four of the ten women on the board echo Arpi and Mehcad, informing us that they are also subscribers, and three of the men confirm their wives are as well. I really hope they’re all participating in the research aspect; I’m curious if the husbands are also invested in me and Trent, assuming the wives are.
The president of the board, Alianya Barsamian, looks around the room. “I, too, subscribe to Dr. Lancaster and Mr. Bressler’s video content, although I have not spent time watching. I only became aware of your subscription today after a phone call with Chancellor Mustafa. I intended to peruse it before this meeting, but I could not make the time. Please continue, Dr. Lancaster.”
“Thank you, President Barsamian. Mr. Bressler and I have become somewhat well known among the consumers of adult content, and with this measure of fame comes some drawbacks, including drawing the attention of some people who have objections to our content and existence. While our content is not homosexual in nature, because we are two men making contenttogether, I expected some homophobia, and we do have hateful comments on our public social media profiles. However, more concerning is that we have attracted someone who seems to be antagonistic toward me specifically. Someone who has access to the university’s technology. The projectors in the classrooms have a password that is only given to teachers and assistants, and the person stalking me and Mr. Bressler has that password.”
I turn on the projector I have set up, and draw everyone’s attention there. “Here is a transcript of the direct message exchanges each of us have had with our stalker. If I knew who this was, I would file a police report for the stalking, but I don’t. Yet. I will find out. I will end this person’s stalking, believe me.”
I walk them through the message exchanges, including a blurred copy of the image Trent was sent. Then I tell them the specifics of the incident that led to this meeting, including a list of the students who saw the image, and I hold up a stack of waivers that the same students signed, alleviating the university of any responsibility for the image they saw.
At the end of the presentation, I look around the room. “Are there any questions?”
“I would like to know why the chancellor allowed you, a professor and student of this university, to engage in sex work. Why haven’t you been brought before the university’s ethics board? This should never have happened because you shouldn’t have been allowed to engage in the making of pornographic content for money. This is a prestigious university. Our professors don’t engage in sex work.” That objection comes from the old man sitting next to the first one to raise a question.
I smile brightly at him in the way that Trent says makes people uncomfortable, and I clap my hands together. “I’m really glad you brought this up right off, Mr?—?”
“Guyman.DoctorGuyman.”
“Dr. Guyman,” I repeat, giving myself over to the protectiveness I feel toward Trent and the need to not let these fuckers win over an outdated philosophy on sex work. “As I’m sure you heard me say, my research into the adult film industry is for the PhD that I’m currently working toward in sociology. As it happens, the research into this will likely influence lawmakers in the future. As you know, the creation of adult content, such as what Trent and I are doing, is not illegal, and while you may have philosophical objections to the industry of sex work, the trend is toward decriminalizing all sex work so that it can be made more safe for the people who have made it their career and to help stymie the trafficking of humans.
“Furthermore, research suggests, and I happen to agree, that the current moral objections to sex workers have their roots in misogyny and the system of patriarchal control that this university and the generation of students that are currently enrolled are actively working to change. The fact that twenty percent of our board of trustees are women is a testament to that, although we need to make it better. While I don’t wish any of you to lose your place on this board, I do wish that the population of this board reflected the population of humans in this nation more accurately.
“The point is: my research isn’t illegal, and the question of the ethical concerns about the content should be approached within the greater narrative of the patriarchal system of control over women and non-white men, over non-cis-gender people, and over the poor. The idea that sex workers are less than comes from a frankly arcane and morally bankrupt attitude. If you want to have a more thorough discussion on the topic, I will happily work you into my schedule, but the fact is, I am not doing anything that approaches illegal, and I am not in contention with the ethics rules in any of the university’s publications for students or staff. I know because I checked.” I pause and give theman a pointedly antagonistic frown, challenging him to bring that up again. When he merely narrows his eyes without opening his mouth again, I turn back to President Barsamian.
“Now, if we’re finished going off topic about ethics, shall we address the issue of the stalker and the safety of the students and staff involved?” I ask, making sure to make eye contact with as many of these people as I can.
President Barsamian doesn’t give herself away with her facial expressions, but the way she looks around the room tells me she’s on my side, and that’s everything I need for the rest of this meeting. “As this is not an ethics board and we do not have any established rules about students or staff engaging in sex work within or outside of the university, since any research Dr. Lancaster has done has greatly benefited the university since his enrollment, and because I think we all agree that this university has a legacy of overturning the established norms of social constructs considering it was one of the first to include women and then people of color and it has always sought to establish equity among the students and staff, we will focus this meeting on the university’s role in keeping Dr. Lancaster and Mr. Bressler safe. Dr. Lancaster, please continue. I assume you have a reasonable plan of action.”
I smile at President Barsamian and go to the next slide on my presentation. “Thank you, ma’am. I do.”
Even when the politics involved make me irritable, I love this university. Honestly, if they didn’t want to head into the progressive side of the twenty-first century, they shouldn’t have elected Alianya Barisaiman to preside over the board of trustees. I’m going to have to send her a thank you gift—fortunately, I happen to know that Amani Mustafa and President Barsamian are croqueting buddies, and Amani and I have a dinner date this Friday. I’m happy to ask her about thank-you gift ideas.
