The Porn Ultimatum

If I had to put my finger on the biggest problem with the women of our generation, I would say that it is body image.

We are more exposed to the media than ever before, and there are thousands of different perceptions and standards of beauty that we are force fed on a daily basis. Whether you're flicking through Vogue and faced with an army of girls that have the proportions of Barbie and The Green Giant's lovechild, or trashing out with Heat magazine where the cover is almost always about who looks best in a bikini; the pressure for perfection is imminent.

       

Of course just because we are bombarded with these constant images, it doesn't mean that we women all cave into it. I personally love gazing at the pictures of the beautiful models as a source of escapism, and simply appreciate the clothes and the photography. Aside from this, we have to all consider the impact of Photoshop on these images before we start going all Memoirs of a Geisha on the situation and piling on so much make-up that we can't see our faces any more. 

There is no denying that we can all fall victim to this fallacy; but it occurs to me that even if all women joined together in ignoring the media and just loving our bodies for what they are, we would still have a problem that is almost entirely out of our control. Porn.

I don't think I can name one guy I know that doesn't watch porn at least once a week. It seems that within their laptops these boys have amassed a secret hub of pornographic content, like squirrels stashing away their nuts for the winter. Only these men seem to spend much more time with their nuts...

When you consider just how much time the average male spends in front of his computer screen soaking up images into their proverbial 'wank-banks', it is only inevitable that they are all going to be somewhat influenced by what they are seeing. 

And what they are seeing is what can only be described as a totally exaggerated perception of female sexuality. This means that a man's expectations for a woman in bed is almost totally unreasonable, and leads to women being left far more insecure than they would be from any fashion magazine. It is no longer a case of women not accepting themselves, it suddenly involves the possibility of men feeling the same way.

Now I know what the male readers are thinking. And yes, I do understand that you can tell the difference between a porn star and a girlfriend. After all it's not as if you think you're playing Grand Theft Auto every time you get into your car. But the fact that there exists a Grand Theft Auto standard of women, as it were, it creates a whole new standard and paves the way for unhealthy body image worldwide. 

With the advances of the internet, the porn industry is more accessible than ever before. This leads to competition. In our parents generation, a pubescent boy harboured one copy of Playboy under their bed, complete with natural curves, full bushes and somewhat sticky pages. 

Nowadays porn is so easy to find that sometimes you get it even when you don't want it. For example I googled 'cock fight' the other day, and was more than startled by the results. 

I am not implying that boys having access to porn is wrong. At all. I believe that boys need it to grow into their sexuality and it is a totally healthy part of growing up. Even some girls need it, as my friend pointed out to me there is an entire segment of the internet devoted to 'romantic' porn for women. I assumed this was just pictures of chocolate cake and tidy cuticles, but then that's just my own problem. Either way, it is not the porn itself that is the problem, but the porn stars. 

The entire presentation of these women is absolutely artificial. Female sexuality used to be all about the soft form, women were appreciate for their dough like figures in contrast to men with their tight muscular physiques. The Greek god, Bacchus is testament to this, as he was appreciated sexually for his feminine attributes as he had the soft and subtle curves of a woman. 

Nicolas Poussin's 'Midas and Bacchus'
(he's the soft and fair one in the middle)

Nowadays however, this concept of bionic women is populated. These porn stars create a façade of unnaturally long hair, breasts like life rafts that would be big enough to fit both Kate and Leo, and vaginas that look as though they are suffering from alopecia. This has all led to an ever increasing rise in hair extensions, breast implants and anorexia. Not to mention a higher demand in wax strips at beauty salons. 

I understand if women want to have a bit of fun with their hair (after all I've technicolour dream-coated the crap out of mine) and sure a bit of breeze down under never hurt anyone for the sake of hygiene and smoothness, but these are temporary and reversible fads. As soon as women start actually changing the core elements of their bodies, it is evident we have a problem. It saddens me to think that in a world where women are given countless opportunities to be bold, smart and confident; they still feel the pressure to morph themselves into something more impressive. 

It is not just the appearance of these women though. They are also just as artificial when it comes to sex. Watch any of these videos and you will see these silicone idiots screaming as if they've just found out about a new Sex and the City movie; when they haven't even been having sex for more time than it takes to turn a TV on. 

If we let this carry on we could be facing a future of DD clones walking the streets, faking orgasms left right and centre. At least it would eliminate the need for air bags.


So we, as a generation need to ask ourselves, how much are we going to let this industry into our lives? Eliminating it all together would just be plain futile and unnecessary, and changing it would take a whole lot of leg work. 

So as a girl; I can either join the party and try to change it from the inside, or stand up and say that I actually would not want to change anything about my body. Because I wouldn't. Call me arrogant if you will, but I am not saying that I am perfect, I am simply perfect for me and wouldn't let and stereotype trick me into thinking that being sexy involves going under the knife and learning the faux-ma sutra. 

As long as women can actually take on this mantra, then perhaps we could stand strong enough for men to realise that we will never be plastic women on their screens using their vaginas as storage compartments. After all, we cannot possibly blame this all on men, we need to make the first move.

So I'm saying, let there be porn on the internet as there is magic in Harry Potter and auto-tuning in music, but  keep it where it belongs - just there. 

I hope you enjoyed reading this, and would love to hear your views as always.

Olivia Jane

xx