Susannah Weiss Challenges Sexual Shame With “Jesus Christ Porn Star” and a Feminist Reimagining of Faith
In an EMMReport interview with Sherman Wayez, the writer and sex educator connects Christianity, consent, women’s autonomy, and creator rights through her provocative new work.
CHICAGO — Writer, journalist, and sex educator Susannah Weiss is challenging the assumed divide between Christian faith and sexual self-determination through ‘Jesus Christ Porn Star,’ a provocative creative project that combines biblical texts, performance, and a feminist religious interpretation. Weiss explains in a feature report for EMMReport how a psychedelic experience involving what she describes as a sex-positive Jesus helped inspire the project. Her work also draws on her book ‘Eve’s Blessing: Uncovering the Lost Pleasure Behind Female Pain’ and her companion ‘Uncovering Eve’ project, both of which engage with Eve, women’s bodies, and religious symbolism. Weiss frames the work not as a rejection of Christianity but as an attempt to make room for bodily autonomy within the faith. Weiss explains, “It’s not a bad thing to listen to your body. It’s not a bad thing to pursue pleasure. It’s not a bad thing to love your body, including your sexuality.” The project includes Bible readings and performances exploring the relationship between scripture, pleasure, and the freedom to interpret religious tradition for oneself.
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Weiss’s conversation extends into the historical treatment of Mary Magdalene, biblical translation, pornography literacy, and the economics of independent adult content. She argues that conversations about sexual ethics should prioritize communication, boundaries, and agreement rather than shame, and she questions interpretations of scripture that place women under male authority. Her creative work includes the OnlyFans identities Uncovering Eve and Shoshanna Blanca, participation in Make Love Not Porn, and books such as ‘Subjectified’ and ‘Eve’s Blessing.’ She also describes piracy, production expenses, and inadequate compensation as challenges performers face, and advocates for respect and support for their work. “My goal is to make porn more intellectual,” Weiss says, reflecting her ambition to bring writing and performance together. As her work continues to develop, she remains focused on inviting audiences to reconsider how faith, feminism and sexuality can coexist: “I actually wanted to do something to bridge the two worlds.” The full EMMReport feature examines the creative, spiritual and professional questions behind that bridge.
