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By Root 360 0

say that there aren’t outed women in the mainstream—there are. But the pop culture, sexed-up version of lesbians is what reigns supreme. Just think of the appropriation of lesbianism by straight male porn. As I mentioned before, there are a ton of young feminists who have thought and written about this in a political frame of mind. By filtering porn/pop through that thought process, I think we can end up in a space where we recognize that while some things are fucked up, there’s still room to do things that are fun and powerful. While a lesbian make-out session may be a fake expression of lust to some, it’s an awesome, authentic experience to others, so if you want to make out with a girl, go for it. It’s about the consciousness behind your decisions. Many younger women know what we want and go for it. And that’s nothing to apologize for. But if you’re doing something you wouldn’t normally want to do, or if the only thought behind something sexual is Please god, let him like me, you may be in trouble. If you’re doing something that mimics someone else’s sexual choices—for someone else’s benefit or because you feel pressured—then you might want to consider how empowered that choice actually is.

BE A WOMAN OF COLOR . . . BUT ONLY IN STEREOTYPES, PLEASE

Women who aren’t white (or at least aren’t on the fair side) are nearly invisible in pop culture—unless they’re adhering to the most vile racial stereotypes. Sure, Maxim or Playboy will occasionally feature women of color on their pages, but they’re generally as Caucasian-looking as possible. And you don’t have to look far for the tired old stereotypes. Black women are bitchy! And if there’s an overweight black woman, she’s going to be all sassy! Asian women are docile and bow a lot! Latinas are spicy hot hot hot! Puke. It’s not just in the sexual stereotyping of women of color in magazines—but in television shows, movies, and even porn listings. Actually, if you want the perfect example of this pattern, go to the back pages of a local paper that has escort-service ads. You will undoubtedly see ads of black women that are all ass shots (“Big Booty!”), ads of Asian women who are all shy (“Lotus Flowers!”), and ads of white girls touted as college gals (“All American!”). So many stereotypes, so little time. But truly, just the fact that women of color are pretty much invisible in pop culture speaks volumes.

The world’s first Feminist Porn Awards were given in June 2006 in Toronto, Canada.

What all of these contradictions add up to are insanely impossible expectations of women. (And yes, I’m aware that pop culture puts expectations on men as well. But really, not like it does on women.) These baffling expectations mean that any authentic expression of yourself is near impossible. How do you act like yourself when you’re constantly putting on a show?

Performance vs. Reality

Contradictions aside, what all this porn/pop culture has in common is performance. Sometimes performance can be a cool thing when it comes to sexuality.

Rachel Kramer Bussel, a feminist sex columnist at The Village Voice, says that younger women are claiming a public space for their sexuality.

❂ I think we have to move beyond the overly simplistic “empowered” or “exploited” debate. We can acknowledge that our motivations for putting our bodies “out there” may not be the same as what’s ta ken away by certain consumers, but we wrestle with and confront those contradictions. Instead of attacking women for the choices they make, we should be working toward creating a more accepting, welcoming culture that values sexual diversity. I see many positive signs that sexual culture is flourishing and thriving among the younger generation in ways that are more egalitarian, open, and honest, whether it’s indie porn magazine Sweet Action, the many college sex magazines and columns, or the thriving burlesque scenes happening across the country which celebrate curvy girls, striptease, double entendre, and sexuality. Some even have male dancers and you can really see with the new burlesque how “sexy” does not