here's looking at you, Mr. Clean
Above: The Cambridge Women’s Pornography Cooperative’s new book, “Porn for Women.”
The premise is simple enough—dress men up in domestic drag, and the women will drool. (I’ll admit, I laughed). All joking aside, though, the joke is based on a painful ideal of wish-fulfillment: women still work the legendary double day, and albeit a few exceptions, many men still act as though the dishwasher had an invisible sign that said “Estrogen Required.”
But this ain’t my main beef with the Pornography Cooperative. Don’t get me wrong, I find the occasional Sensitive Male as hot as the next gal, and as a gimmick, this book is pretty cute. A guy who’s intelligent, hot, and domestic? Count me in! But where’s my highly objectifiable imagery of fucking and sucking told from a female perspective? Is this really what the Cooperative thinks gets women off?
I realize I’m nitpicking, but that whole “women aren’t really sexual creatures, except when hubby finishes chores” meme is kinda annoying. Must we always be portrayed as conditionally desirous? Can’t we have our eye candy too? (And no, the primarily gay audience that devours Playgirl doesn’t count. That rag isn’t staying afloat from het female subscriptions, that’s for sure.)
I’m sure evidence will be thrown at me that women just “aren’t visual creatures”, but I’m not sure that isn’t just cultural wishful thinking. The chicks I know talk about hot guys all the time! So could it be that the porn industry just hasn’t found our market yet? Or is porn a phenomenon that will always belong to one side of the gender gap?
(This message brought to you from the Department of Cheekily Overanalyzing Cheesy Coffee Table Books.)
Comments
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Ms Naughty, Apr 28, 04:04:
You’re not alone in thinking that this book is a bit… disappointing. Yes, it’s meant to be funny, but the idea that women are only turned on by a clean house is unfortunate.
Women definitely ARE visual creatures – I make my living offering women my own brand of porn. And while women don’t make up as much of the porn market as men, they’re still there in significant numbers – 30% of all porn surfers are female :)