Madison Young

 
 

Madison Young is an artist and activist dedicated to creating space for love. This sexpert grew up in the suburban landscape of southern Ohio before moving to San Francisco in 2000. Since then, this Midwestern gal has dedicated her days to facilitating safe space to dialogue on the topic of fringe identities and cultures, as well as documenting healthy expression of sexuality. Young’s breadth of work in the realm of sexuality spans from documenting our sexual culture in her feminist erotic films to serving as the artistic director of the forward thinking nonprofit arts organization Femina Potens Art Gallery. Young values sexual education in her work and has taught workshops and lectures, and she acted as a panelist on the topics of sexuality, feminist porn studies, and the politics of BDSM around the world including at Yale University, Hampshire College, Northwestern University, University of Toronto, University of Minnesota, and the University of California at Berkeley.

Her writings have been published in books such as The Ultimate Guide to Kink, Baby Remember My Name, Rope, Bondage, and Power, Best Sex Writing of 2013, and John’s Marks, Tricks, and Chickenhawks. Madison Young lives in Berkeley, CA, with her partner James and child, Em. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in clinical sexology at the Institute of Advanced Studies for Human Sexuality.

The Ultimate Guide to Sex Through Pregnancy

"Madison Young is an incredible and singular force in the world of art, and her talent, spirit and energy never fail to impress me. She’s dedicated to changing the game for women, queers, kinksters and now moms - with her individualism, innovation, insight and innate intelligence. She is downright inspirational. Madison is the real deal, the whole package. We need her voice now more than ever, and I know that supporting her work means to support the needs of women, indie women, queer women, women who want more - women everywhere. I am a longtime fan of Madison Young’s both artistically and personally, and I cannot wait for her new project. She is devoted to the truth, and that - after motherhood, truly is the noblest profession.”
— Margaret Cho

“Madison Young is living a double life—running a DIY queer, feminist art space in San Francisco by day, and jetting off to Europe to get tied up, smacked up and glamour-shot by night. Or, is she hosting trans-inclusive dirty spoken word events by night, and being a world-famous bondage model by day? And, when does she find the time to shoot her own blue movies? ‘Cause she does. This lady has done more in the first quarter of her life than most people do in a generation.”
—Michelle Tea

"I first learned about Madison during one of her live performances at her San Francisco gallery, Femina Potens. I was, of course, immediately drawn in by her intensity, sex appeal and willingness to break down some of the mysteries surrounding alternative lifestyles. In addition, her love for the arts and her drive to support other artists makes her a special and unique symbol within both the sex industry and the art community. Madison has the ability to blend these worlds while maintaining both eroticism and intellect.”
—DAVE NAVARRO, Jane's Addiction guitarist and author of Trust No One