Annie Sprinkle

Annie M. Sprinkle (born Ellen F. Steinberg on July 23, 1954) is an American certified sexologist, performance artist, former sex worker, filmmaker, and advocate for the decriminalization of sex work.

Sprinkle has worked as a prostitute, sex educator, feminist stripper, pornographic film actress, sex film producer and director, and documentary film director. She became known in the 1980s as a maker of feminist, lesbian, and sex-positive pornography. In 1996, Sprinkle became the first known porn star to get a doctoral degree, earning a Doctor of Philosophy in human sexuality from the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco.

Sprinkle, who identifies as ecosexual, is best known for her experimental pornography style, teaching individuals about pleasure, and for her mainstream pornographic film Deep Inside Annie Sprinkle (1981). She has also contributed to the rise of the post-porn movement. Sprinkle married her long-time partner Elizabeth Stephens in Canada on January 14, 2007.