“When everyone tells you that what you might be curious about, or even secretly like, is wrong, bad, sleazy, and shameful, you don’t have to cast a line very far to land a set of inhibitions.”
So writes author and sex educator Violet Blue in her recent article “Are More Women OK With Watching Porn?” Blue makes the case that, while recent studies show women to be as physically aroused by pornography as men (and actually less discriminatory when it comes to whether the porn is “gay, lesbian, [or] straight”), “not every woman feels empowered to enjoy the show.”
Violet blames a culture that assaults women with the message that porn is evil from all sides, “from conservative Christian organizations” to the likes of “radical feminist Catharine MacKinnon (who says porn exploits and discriminates against women, and encourages rape).”
But this anti-porn landscape is starting to change, and thus “women are changing the market.” Blue points to director Maria Beatty, Comstock Films (“Real People, Real Life, Real Sex”), and the fact that pornos are becoming more realistic (read better and not as cliche) as proof that females are becoming more porn positive, seeing pornography as “one more pleasure to add to life’s sexual buffet, one that can be enjoyed with a partner or alone.”
A quick aside to those few who don’t buy porn’s growing popularity with women: “Are More Women OK With Watching Porn?” ran on the homepages of CNN.com and, even more tellingly, Oprah.com. Just saying.
