Wasteland founder and producer Colin Rowntree discovered a video podcast of her, produced by UK based “I Hate Porn” (which received mainstream media coverage), a popular sex-positive podcast run by Tommy McDonald about the nuances off the adult entertainment industry
As his podcast describes her, “Yasmeena is Afghanistan’s only pornstar. She moved to Britain with her family after they helped during the American led invasion. She talks about her strict Islamic upbringing in Afghanistan and in the west. We have a wide-ranging talk about women’s rights, domestic violence and sexuality where she talks about how she went from ultra-conservative to super-liberal pornstar.”
Photo Credit: David Cohen
Here is Wasteland’s interview with this fascinating, empowered young woman that immigrated to the UK at age 9 from Afghanistan. Links to follow her are at the bottom so you can keep in touch with her and her journey through sexual empowerment and freedom from ideological oppression.
Wasteland: What do you remember most about your childhood under the Taliban? What do you remember about your mum and the adult women who cared for you at that time and their experiences?
Yasmeena: My childhood in Afghanistan was full of fear, darkness and at the same time moments of joy for example gazing at the starry night sky or playing hide and seek. This is perfectly summed up by Leonard Cohen “”There is a crack in everything, That’s how the light gets in.”
When you are surrounded by atrocities, poverty and religious insanity, it is almost impossible to be whole (again). I remember the women (I was surrounded with) were baby machines, broken, scarred not just physically but mentally. A few of them were uneducated and many educated during the Soviet era. They were well-versed in politics, history, science and math etc. I saw photos of them as teenagers and young adults without hijabs wearing mini skirts and they were smiling. They would talk about how free they were. Their dreams and passions shattered in the name of some “god”. These women were no better than their husbands, they treated their daughters with disdain, disrespect and shame. I remember one neighbor who burnt her daughters back for making a mistake.
Wasteland: In what ways did your arrival in the UK change you? Looking back at yourself back then, what excited you, scared you, or made you curious when it came to integrating into a whole new culture?
Yasmeena: It changed me a lot and at that time I didn’t realize the impact of European culture on my upbringing. I was excited about school, making friends and finally learning how to read and write as I was denied basic human rights in Afghanistan. I was curious about meeting other people regardless of where they came from. I would get up really early to go to school. I was only scared about not being accepted at school, going to hell for disrespecting “god” and being a shame to my biological family. My biological parents controlled every aspect of my life because of their religious beliefs. I was afraid of being sent back to Afghanistan for not getting good grades, or coming home late etc. It was mental terror. I would compare life outside to life inside the house. It was like time traveling from 21st century to 7th century Arabia every day.
Photo Credit: David Cohen
Wasteland: When did your own “sexual revolution” and/or “sexual rebellion” begin and what are some defining moments?
Yasmeena: My sexual revolution started when I left at the age of 19 after there were increasing talks about marrying me off as is the case in patriarchal societies. It was very challenging coming to terms with the fact that my childhood was anything but normal. I left at the age of 19 and it took me several months to have my first orgasm in freedom and when I did it was a trigger for my sexual development. I had been brainwashed with hate for myself, shame and humiliation. I really believed I would be punished and burn in hell as I was often told as a child. Nothing happened and I loved it and had fun. This led me to discovering BDSM and exploring my sexuality.
Wasteland: What or who initially inspired you to explore your sexuality/kink –and put yourself out there?
Yasmeena: I am grateful I have a loving and supportive partner who helped me in my dark times and encouraged me to explore my sexuality and take as much time as I needed. I was inspired by The Story of O, The Secretary, SpankingServer, Pandora Blake, Ariel Anderssen and a lot of short stories and reddit entries. I was afraid in the beginning but it didn’t take me long to realize it is my life, my body and my rules. I stopped giving a damn about what others thought of me and followed my path. I applied to production companies, started my own content creation and webcamming which helped me become confident and my own boss.
Wasteland: You offer your clients the possibility of Sari/Hijab roleplay – do you find it humorous, ironic, or delectably subversive that you get to do consensual submissive roleplay using some of the props of religion/politics that continue to symbolize the oppression of women? And as someone who has actually survived life under the Taliban, how is consensual sexual submission liberating?
Yasmeena: These clothings are symbols of patriarchal societies and they are only acceptable in those contexts as my friends’ and foes’ reactions confirm. There is nothing wrong about submission, as long as it is my choice, my game and I use the men to cause me pleasure, while at the same time, they also find it. Real submission (games) take place much more in the head than in the action, it is female-centered. An example is women enjoying “rape” games. They plan everything from the casual date until they are roughly taken. Again, it is consensual and that makes all the difference. They would never enjoy rape but they have these fantasies and that is perfectly fine. Sexuality is multilayered and there is no right and wrong as long as it takes place between consenting adults.
Wasteland: Since you also work as a model in the realm of erotic photography, what are some of your favorite photographers and/or previous projects? What creatively excites you the most about photography?
Yasmeena: I would have loved to work with Peter Lindberg (died 2019), Leonard Nimoy (died in 2015), David Hamilton (died 2016), Helmut Newton (died 2004). I would love to create with Andreas Bitesnich, Petter Hegre, Holly Randall, Annie Leibovitz, Stefan Soell, and Stefan Beutler. Photography is telling a story and I love to experiment and use my body as a canvas to portray my sensuality.
Photo Credit: David Cohen
Wasteland: Describe a “dream project” that you would one day like to do or take part in “some day.” And what are your goals for the coming year?
Yasmeena: I have a few projects planned with other content creators but it also depends on the pandemic. My husband is a professional, former Playboy contributing photographer which makes things easy as we can create content from anywhere. We both want to break taboos and create more blasphemous content. It is high on time to speak out against “modest” dress codes invented by primitive men to control us. I love to photograph and draw and I am planning to publish my artworks as NFTs soon.
Wasteland: As a content creator who obviously truly does not take freedom of expression or sexual freedom for granted, what do you wish people (both in the industry and outside) could understand better? If you could say anything, what would it be?
Yasmeena: I wish people wouldn’t take their freedom for granted. Many people and in particular a certain breed of “feminists” look down on female sex workers, they ignore, belittle, marginalise and ridicule our voices claiming we are zombie victims of our industry. They look down on us because we are having fun and autonomy over our bodies and we are paid the price we set. I know what it means to be a victim of a male-dominated society and no matter what I say these holier-than-you persons will continue their attacks on our industry. I wish them many orgasms.
Coleen is a writer, photographer and film maker at Wasteland and Sssh.com.
Here at BDSMCafe.com, she is editor and curator of this comprehensive library of BDSM fiction, informational articles and other educational features that date back to the early days of the internet in 1996 when the site was first launched.
