On Wednesday May 3rd porn star Puma Swede, or Johanna Jussinniemi, which is her actual name, visited Studentafton for a discussion with the title “Fuck Jante”. In 1912 on this date Studentafton held a debate regarding women’s right to vote and the last time I visited Studentafton was the night of Fredrik Reinfeldt, our former Prime Minister. A wide span, so to say, but also a very important width, especially in the academic society, which is often caught in a bubble. Therefore, I found Puma Swede the perfect guest for this arena.
My first impression of Puma is “I love this person and I want to be her friend”. She seems warm, smart and quick on her feet. In addition, she lives a life so different from the one we live; at least that was what I thought.
I find myself laughing so much and I don’t even miss the lack of deeper discussion regarding the bigger issues related to the porn industry. However, when the discussion did touch down on some of the problems, it got even more interesting. Puma tells a story about a lecture she held in a gymnasium in Bromma, an evening highly appreciated by the students there. “If there is someone who is suitable to talk to kids about sex, it is me. I can tell them about the differences between movies and real life”. Nonetheless, the evening was not as appreciated by other teachers and the principal, who, of fear of parents’ unapproval tried to silence her visit until months later when the students’ yearbook (where they praised the evening) was published. She has a valid point, yet, the question whether schools in Sweden are ready for this kind of discussion remains. Perhaps we still live by the rules of Jante too much. Hopefully we can change this by broadening our minds, and most importantly, by forums like Studentafton, schools and television inviting people from all fields to create a discussion and then let people make up their mind.
She talked about herself in third person and referred to herself as Puma, like a brand. In addition, she makes t-shirt with her own printing, is an artist, runs a blog and much more. In other words, she is a highly successful entrepreneur. I realized that perhaps we are not that different after all. Perhaps what sets her job apart from many (besides the obvious) is the fact that she loves her job.
