Today, in class, when we were watching The Girls Next Door I was thinking about how much the porn industry has really sky rocketed over the past years. There are so many different websites and magazines out there that provide different ways to access porn. Anyone who has access to the internet can get all types of porn. People can now access porn from the privacy of their own homes so there is no shame in watching porn; this is unlike it used to be. People used to be scared to purchase porn for the fear that they would be seen by others around their community. In order to see porn you would either have to rent it from the local video store, or go to a theater and watch it. However, now we have the opportunity to buy porn on Pay Per View on our televisions or watch porn on websites on our computers. Because of this new technology that allows the public to access pornographic material so easily, it is becoming more popular because people no longer find it as awkward as it used to be. People are finding themselves becoming more comfortable with their sexuality and the sexuality of others. I believe there is a major contributor to this new found comfort: Playboy.
Playboy has been around since 1953 and was founded in Chicago by Hugh Hefner. Marilyn Monroe was the very first centerfold and she was a sex icon during that time, for both men and women. Many different celebrities were centerfolds for Playboy; singers, actresses, models and of course, playmates. Playboy allowed women and men to explore their sexuality. Women would see this women as idols, people they looked up to and people they wanted to look like. They looked at these women and realized this is what men find attractive. Men looked at these women and were aroused by them; they find these women sexually attractive. Playboy was a revolutionary gateway to pornography and it is extremely profitable to those who sold it.
I agree that pornography has erupted in sales and is more widespread now than ever before critically accounted for by the internet. This made me think about another widespread almost-pornographic magazine: Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Sports Illustrated is already subscribed to by millions, both men and women, but then they throw the swimsuit issue into the mix and its practically another Playboy. There have even been models from Playboy in it. And unlike normal porn, people are less ashamed of buying the magazine because it is associated with sports and not just the bodies of the women.
ReplyDeleteIts interesting that you chose that particular picture after we talked about the surprising audience of TGND. Carmen Electra was a cultural icon, and in her heyday, she had a hand in almost every media market. She was in movies, music videos, tv shows, magazines, books, video games, and she even had her own workout video: Carmen Electra Aerobic Striptease. And in all these things, men weren't the only audience or consumers. Women wanted to be like her, be sexy like her, and be as famous as her, while men of course dreamed of sleeping with her.
ReplyDeleteIts not a coincidence that pornography has seeped into mainstream media. People like Carmen Electra and others have crept into our daily lives, and we've become desensitized to it all.