Sex Salon: The ‘Indecent Desires’ of Doris Wishman: Screening & Discussion

Known as the “queen of sexploitation,” Doris Wishman was a prolific filmmaker within a genre characterized by independent filmmaking, low budgets, and the use of narrative towards sexualizing its female stars. Within sexploitation, there were subgenres of nudist camp films, nudie cuties, and roughies-all of which can be found across Wishman’s decades-spanning career, transitioning easily with her unique style. Her films are marked by innovative filmmaking techniques and unusual narratives that often reorganize ways of looking, though this is not to suggest that her works are feminist. This event is a screening of her 1968 film Indecent Desires, with an extended introduction and a guided discussion, interrogating the ways Wishman’s contributions are complicit in her objectification and sexualization of women, while also complicating the genre’s customs and structures.

Discussion with Alexander Mooney and Winnie Wang following screening.