East Bay Yesterday

After years of working a corporate job in downtown Oakland, Nenna Joiner woke up one morning with a dream: They wanted to be in the sex industry. After their job applications were rejected by every adult pleasure shop in the area, Nenna decided to launch their own business. They started by selling sex toys and porn DVDs out of a box at bars (and sometimes even at BART stations), but from these humble beginnings grew a mini-empire. More than a decade later, Nenna now owns two Feelmore Adult Galleries, plans to open a sex-themed bar called Feelmore Social later this year, and is running for a seat on Oakland’s City Council. Nenna’s first position in politics was as a member of the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board, which led them to an interest in the East Bay’s sex history. Years of purchasing adult artifacts from Oakland collectors and now-defunct sex shops deepened their knowledge of former bordellos, theaters, underground sex clubs, and nightlife institutions. For obvious reasons, “sex history” isn’