An article by Martha Irvine of AP has popped up in newspapers everywhere in the last couple of days.
The article is discussing the sexualization of popular culture, in particular the influence of porn, and it’s main focus is the behaviour of young women.
Many agree that the trend has had a particularly strong influence on young women — in some cases, taking shape as an unapologetic (my italics) embracing of sexuality and exhibitionism…
But many wonder if it really is empowering, especially for younger women and girls who try to emulate what’s already on the Web.
Too often, educators and health professionals say, the results are cases of “Girls Gone Wild” — gone wild.
There are various quotes from psychologists saying that the over-sexualisation of young women is harmful and much hand-wringing about the idea that porn presents a warped view of female sexuality.
Advertisement
Support independent, ethically made, award-winning porn. Bright Desire features all of my erotic films and writing. A membership to Bright Desire gets you access to every movie I've ever made and lets me keep making female friendly porn!
Click here to find out more.
-------------------------------------------------------
I think it’s a reasonable thing to question what role models are appropriate for girls and young women. What made me angry about this article, however, was it’s double standards. This paragraph made it obvious:
While boys tend to seek out porn for their own sexual pleasure, [Simon, the California therapist] sees a sexual disconnect with girls who exhibit provocative behavior they’re not ready for — from undressing online to performing oral sex on boys.
This is the one mention the article gives to porn’s effect on boys – and note the unquestioning assumption that boys look at porn and there’s apparently nothing wrong with that.
Where’s all the hand wringing about the over-sexualisation of young men thanks to online porn and music videos? Where’s the moral panic that boys might be getting seriously negative ideas about women and sex if they encounter some of those nasty “reality” porn sites?
Cue the double standard. Society needs to worry about girls being sexual, not boys. Because girls aren’t supposed to be sexual beings, they’re supposed to be pure and wear white and stay virginally ignorant about sex until they’re married.
Boys… well, boys will be boys, right? It’s up to women to uphold society’s morals. Especially because women don’t know their own minds and are always exploited by sex, even if they themselves say otherwise.
So even though the story interviews women who say they feel empowered by exhibitionism and embracing an overt sexuality, their views are dismissed.
“Women,” says Eileen Zurbriggen, a psychologist at the University of California, “might be better off developing other sources of power.”
Sigh.