Today is Lady Porn Day
By Kelly BourdetFebruary 22nd, 2011, 1:34 pmComments (5)
Okay, so "Lady Porn Day" is kind of a silly, made-up holiday, but, at its heart, it's a laudable effort by feminist bloggers to open a dialogue on women, their sexuality, and their relationship to pornography. The site contains links to many feminist sex bloggers as well as a compilation of porn links submitted by women.
I've read countless articles and advice columns dedicated to women's ambivalent relationship with pornography. It seems that a sex-advice columnist can barely go a couple weeks without answering a question about a woman feeling threatened by or unsure about her husband/boyfriend's porn habits. Culturally, men's masturbation, and the pornography that sometimes accompanies it, is up for discussion in a way that female masturbation is not. While male masturbation is the often depicted humorously, even its inclusion as the butt of countless teen-comedy jokes destigmatizes it.
In my middle- and high-school years, the topic of male masturbation was fairly prevalent. It wasn't surprising to hear guys discussing their jerk-off habits or what kinds of porn they liked to watch. Conversely, I don't think I ever overheard or took part in a conversation about female masturbation. I did grow up in a very conservative part of the South, so maybe that's not everyone's experience, but I didn't hear women openly discuss their solo sexuality until I arrived at college.
There are certainly plenty of women who take issue with pornography, considering it exploitative and often misogynist. And while I believe that in some instances they are correct, perhaps this is due in part to the current reality that most pornography is created for men by men. Women watch porn too! And they create it, not just by acting in films, but increasingly by directing and producing content.
I, for one, am glad to engage in a conversation about women and porn and I'm glad that Lady Porn Day inspired me to do so.
Commentarium (5 Comments)
I hope to one day live in a world where there is no need to distinguish between Guy Porn Day and Lady Porn Day. It is a nice idea though, too bad it's a publicity stunt for a blog. How would you define "Lady Porn" anyway?
In a class in college, my sociology professor announced that our homework was to go back to our rooms and masturbate. The guys were high-fiving. The girls got red in the face and looked like they wanted to disappear.
I knew there was a reason I shouldn't have studied Physics.
Men have always been more honest and courageous about the subject of masturbation, but we've always known that women masturbate too; it's just that they haven't, in the past, liked to talk about it. I suppose too that the shortage of men has left many women today without even a boyfriend much less a husband so the "do-it-yourself" movement has taken on a whole new meaning for women.
DIY can be very tiring for a woman (compared to a man). A cock is ergonomicly designed to fit the fist at just the right/easy angle, whereas a woman must contort her arm, hand and fingers to fully satisfy herself. Then it may take a Herculean effort to finally reach orgasm.