I've an odd relationship with pornography, having been raised by various sorts of feminists and having learned to be carefully respectful of the women in my life. Not to mention having been in a relationship with the same woman for nearly five years. I read
Getting Off last year, and it really articulated a lot of the unease I have had about my relationship to pornography. I like to think that Suicidegirls is on the better side of things - I'd hesitate to call SG "porn", as this place is thankfully devoid of "hardcore fucking" and all of the attendant violence and degradation and seems concerned with building a community (albeit, an online community) of members and models with interests beyond nudity and masturbation... but I still feel a bit odd about the whole thing.
Getting Off argues that pornography teaches men to regard women in a certain way, not only seeing them as sexual objects, but as victims, objects of violent impulse. SG, on the other hand, idolizes the women chosen as models, seems to seek to make a safe place to revel in their nudity. The community, the writing which accompanies these images, is entirely unique in my experience of the pornographic image. All of this makes Suicidegirls.com seem much less exploitative than run of the mill porn, and I love that aspect of the site.
Still, I wonder what the fantasy is for. Am I missing out on the sexual revolution by not participating in the forums? Is the worship of the image of the body, the female form as scattered and reassembled from packets of data, is it healthy, ordinary? Is it something like having a cigarette?
I suppose I'm asking myself why I'm in the closet about this. Is coming by yourself, in and of itself, a nasty habit?
I've an odd relationship with pornography, having been raised by various sorts of feminists and having learned to be carefully respectful of the women in my life. Not to mention having been in a relationship with the same woman for nearly five years. I read
Getting Off last year, and it really articulated a lot of the unease I have had about my relationship to pornography. I like to think that Suicidegirls is on the better side of things - I'd hesitate to call SG "porn", as this place is thankfully devoid of "hardcore fucking" and all of the attendant violence and degradation and seems concerned with building a community (albeit, an online community) of members and models with interests beyond nudity and masturbation... but I still feel a bit odd about the whole thing.
Getting Off argues that pornography teaches men to regard women in a certain way, not only seeing them as sexual objects, but as victims, objects of violent impulse. SG, on the other hand, idolizes the women chosen as models, seems to seek to make a safe place to revel in their nudity. The community, the writing which accompanies these images, is entirely unique in my experience of the pornographic image. All of this makes Suicidegirls.com seem much less exploitative than run of the mill porn, and I love that aspect of the site.
Still, I wonder what the fantasy is for. Am I missing out on the sexual revolution by not participating in the forums? Is the worship of the image of the body, the female form as scattered and reassembled from packets of data, is it healthy, ordinary? Is it something like having a cigarette?
I suppose I'm asking myself why I'm in the closet about this. Is coming by yourself, in and of itself, a nasty habit?
Getting Off argues that pornography teaches men to regard women in a certain way, not only seeing them as sexual objects, but as victims, objects of violent impulse. SG, on the other hand, idolizes the women chosen as models, seems to seek to make a safe place to revel in their nudity. The community, the writing which accompanies these images, is entirely unique in my experience of the pornographic image. All of this makes Suicidegirls.com seem much less exploitative than run of the mill porn, and I love that aspect of the site.
Still, I wonder what the fantasy is for. Am I missing out on the sexual revolution by not participating in the forums? Is the worship of the image of the body, the female form as scattered and reassembled from packets of data, is it healthy, ordinary? Is it something like having a cigarette?
I suppose I'm asking myself why I'm in the closet about this. Is coming by yourself, in and of itself, a nasty habit?