Over the last thirty years, Heather has created visionary, original, affirming, brave, radical, vulnerable, empathetic and feminist work — primarily books, other written work and art, online and offline communities and learning environments — for and with people of all ages.
Projects
Scarleteen
Scarleteen is an independent, inclusive, grassroots sexuality and relationships education and support organization and online clearinghouse for young people in their teens and twenties. Millions of young people from all around the world utilize Scarleteen and its free resources and services each year. Heather Corinna founded Scarleteen in 1998 and remains its creative and executive director, lead editor and designer. Heather is still engaged with all aspects of the day-to-day operations, including direct services like the moderated message boards and SMS helpline. Scarleteen is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary year.
Scarlet Letters
"Beautifully designed; a relaxed, healthy sexual ethos permeates every aspect of Corinna's site." - Playboy Online
Scarlet Letters (1998 - 2005) was one of the web's first and rare queer, feminist publishers of unabashedly sex-positive, smart and original creative and artistic work centered around sex and sexuality. It included erotic art and literature, sex advice and information and smashed genre and gender barricades and typical media approaches to sex and sexuality. It showcased many authors and artists working in and around sexuality at the time. Contributors and staff of Scarlet Letters included Hanne Blank, Lori Selke, Roxane Gay, Michele Serchuk, David Steinberg, Charles Gatewood, Geoff Cordner, Debra Hyde, Seska, Kip Manley, Carolyn Weltman, Rahne Alexander, Anne Tourney, Jaime Carrera and others. It was highly influential in the field of erotica and sexuality on the web at the time and in feminist pornography and online sexuality content that followed its era.
"Cancel appointments, be prepared to linger!" - Betty Dodson
Femmerotic
Femmerotic (2000 - 2009) was an online hub for sex-positive, primarily queer and/or women-led independent online media of the era, including sites like Scarlet Letters, Nightcharm, Libido magazine, Technodyke, Fatale Media, Babeland, Daze Reader, the personal sites of Susie Bright, Geoff Cordner and Ducky Doolittle, Venus or Vixen, Cliterati, the Erotica Readers and Writers Association, Hoot Island, Suspect Thoughts and Clean Sheets. It later added and eventually became a spotlight site for Heather’s online journal, poetry, short erotic fiction and photography.
"If you meet only one pornographer, consider yourself lucky if it's Heather Corinna." - The City Pages
Photography
Heather is a photographer and multimedia artist whose work has primarily focused on fine art self-portraiture and portraiture of other subjects, body image, sculptural nudes, and the natural world. Their work has been seen in/at On Our Backs magazine, The Mammoth Book of Erotic Women (2005), Michelle 7, Jane’s Guide, Scarlet Letters/Femmerotic, Babeland, The Bryant-Lake Bowl, the 2004 Seattle Erotic Art Festival, the BECAUSE conference (gallery show and workshop, 2003), and in a solo show at The Independent (Minneapolis, MN, summer 2005). Their commercial photography clients have included Planetout/Gay.com, Dykes Do Drag, Discfunktion/ Premier Entertainment and District 202.
Heather is currently on hiatus from photography work, and is reviewing their portfolio for archival publication. Some highlights can be found at Flickr here.
All Girl Army
The All Girl Army (2006 - 2011) was a small online blog collective of girls and young women between the ages of 10 and 25, who identified as feminists. It included an umbrella support group of women of all ages, working to help the young bloggers create and publish content, to mentor and strengthen young women and girls in their relationships with each other, to bridge gaps between older feminists and younger feminists, and to sponsor women-centered space for young people.
It aimed to increase visibility and self-representation of young women: their lives, ideas, goals, achievements and struggles, to counteract lookism and the media's representation of young women with real voices, unscripted words and real lives. It sought to provide a diverse, candid and visible exploration and examination of feminism by and for young women.
Magical Child
Magical Child (1992 - 1997) was a small, experimental community preschool Heather started and ran in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. It was centered in unschooling and Montessori philosophies and was made affordable for parents and families. It was focused on teaching and nurturing kindness and creativity, healthy social relationships including early childhood conflict resolution, celebrating diversity and creating a caring community.