Shoshanna Blanca on Challenging Shame, Reclaiming the Body, and Bridging Sexuality with Spiritual Expression

Your work has sparked strong reactions from both supporters and critics. How do you navigate creating art that intentionally pushes against cultural and religious norms?
A few people openly hated on me when I began these projects. I dated a man with misogynistic, whorephobic attitudes for a brief period. He and his friends ganged up on me and derided my work behind my back. He tried to “reform” me by getting me to stop making porn, saying it went against Jesus’s teachings. I put out almost no content during our relationship and took a lot down because I was scared of his anger. I remember recording my first “Church in Bed” video post-breakup—where I sang the Christian song “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus” naked from my bed—and feeling like I’d reunited with a long-lost friend: myself. So many people directed hatred toward the woman in the videos, I forgot how much I loved her. I found her so creative, intelligent, sexy, cool, and witchy in a hot way. It was other people who said otherise—or did they? Sometimes I think the people who hate on me are really jealous or covetous of me. Some of them described “watching all my videos,” which is days’ worth of content. If they’re that obsessed with me, they should probably tip me. After going through this, I want people to know they cannot lose people who love them by being themselves. So many of us live in fear of losing the love of our parents, our relatives, our partners, our friends—but love can withstand the test of you making controversial choices. Your family and friends want you to be happy and healthy however you can, even if that means doing something that makes them uncomfortable initially. They may actually feel left out and want to know more about your process, and they may grow more accepting once they learn more. And even when others are brutal, I find the gold in their feedback. I learned to spend time around more supportive people, get clearer in my mission and messaging, present myself in ways that make me feel beautiful and holy, and think hard about what content I want available for free vs. monetizing. I also became an even more outspoken advocate for sex-positivity and acceptance of freaks of all sorts. Sometimes it’s the harshest people who push us to grow the quickest.

You’ve spoken about your spiritual experiences and evolving relationship with Christianity and Judaism. How have those experiences shaped your identity and creative direction?
Something I’ve spoken out about in my videos is antisemitism and beauty standards. I am half Jewish and internalized lots of negative stereotypes about Jewish people growing up. Many people aren’t aware of the stereotypes, but you feel them if you are Jewish: that you have a big nose, frizzy hair, or other unattractive traits; that you are awkward or nerdy; the comedic sidekick rather than the leading lady. This is one reason porn and modeling are meaningful work to me. I spent much of my life feeling bad about my body and questioning my desirability, so this has been a journey to learn to think for myself. For instance, I like my nose and I don’t think it’s big. I’ve noticed a lot of Jewish people say they have a “big nose” when they actually do not; it’s just a lie that’s been repeated again and again to the point that we almost start to see it. I did some research and found out a lot of conventionally beautiful celebrities are Jewish, such as Scarlett Johansson, Mila Kunis, and Natalie Portman. Yet for some reason, we’re just taught to think of Barbara Streisand as the quintessential Jewish actress because she supposedly has a “big nose.” Jewish people also face pernicious stereotypes about being liars or cheaters when in general, we are hardworking, honest people. I strive to represent the best of who the Jewish people are by embodying beauty, light, compassion, wisdom, creativity, and innovation. The tribe is in desperate need of a rebrand, which I’m happy to be the face of. I record many of my videos in a messianic necklace, with a Jewish star and a cross, to represent my loyalty to the Jewish faith and Jesus, who gained much of his divine intelligence and strength through his Judaism. It’s taboo to speak out against antisemitism because we’re a privileged population in some ways. But based on the trolling comments I’ve gotten online (using such amusing phrases as “fat nose Jew whore”), I know it’s still needed.

At the core of your work is the idea of reclaiming innocence, embodiment, and personal agency. What do you hope audiences ultimately take away from engaging with your projects?
I hope to challenge conservative ideas around sexuality and spirituality. I am a PhD student in clinical sexology and am working on a dissertation on religious sex workers and how they reconcile their work with their faith. There’s also a growing movement of sex-positive religious leaders encouraging new interpretations of the Bible, whom I spotlighted in The Washington Post. Many Bible passages are misinterpreted due to the agendas of church fathers and politicians. For instance, nowhere in the Bible does it say to abstain from sex before marriage. When I asked my pastor where this belief originated, he pointed toward Hebrews 13:4: “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.” What does it mean to “defile a marriage bed,” though? In my opinion, there are so many worse forms of “sexual immorality” than having previous partners: pushing a partner’s boundaries, criticizing their body, neglecting their pleasure. We should focus on those things. I’d argue, in fact, that slut-shaming is a form of sexual immorality that religious people encourage when they misinterpret passages like this. Mainstream Christianity has become anti-sex-work despite Jesus saying prostitutes will go to heaven. Myths are prevalent that Jesus “saved” Mary Magdalene from prostitution, but the Bible depicts Mary Magdalene as a follower of Jesus, not a sex worker. If Jesus were here today, his priority would be to grant everyone the freedom to choose their line of work. Not just sex workers, but anyone “prostituting” themselves working demoralizing jobs and getting burnt out. He would advocate acceptance of the growing population of sex workers who love what they do. I find sex work to be such a liberating profession because it lets me do what feels good in my body and get paid for it. When people call sex work anti-feminist, I think back to my own experiences. More traditional jobs have caused me stress, burnout, sleep deprivation, and body pain from being crunched over a desk—and these factors contribute to period pain and other female health issues. Receiving pleasure and connection and orgasms, on the other hand, makes my body feel happy and alive. For me, that’s feminist, and for that reason, it’s Godly. God wants women to be comfortable and safe. He wants us to live in pleasure, not in pain.