So, Nuts magazine is apparently closing after over a decade of offering us boobs, boobs, tits and a smattering of sport and 'news'. Admittedly, I've not picked up an issue of Nuts since Johnny Vaughn's celebrity was considered worthy of being on the front-cover. That's right, a long time ago. This comes only a month after the announcement that Front was to shut-up shop too. What's happening to the male magazine market?! More importantly, should I be worried?
Erm, well, yes and no.
There are many things the closure of Nuts could signify - another nail in the coffin of "lad culture"; a "win" for those radical feminists (a.k.a rad femmes) that believe these magazines existed only to objectify women; proof that if you fuck with the Co-Op then they will break you.
Personally, I was never that bothered by Nuts, or Zoo for that matter. As a woman that writes for a handful of well established porn magazines (good grief, don't let too many women's magazine commissioning editors hear me say that!) it would be difficult for me to say I was ever offended by them, but nor was I aroused. It was just a bit of titillation, a bit of fun. Bear in mind I write this from the point of view of a body confident female, that has the luxury of not being swayed so much about how my body should look compared to that of the women in the magazines. Anyhoo, the models I met that shot for them were always happy, contented and excited about being in the magazine, so fair play. However, I did always think Nuts were a bit in limbo after the height of laddishness had passed.
They weren't welcome on the middle-shelf, because kids might see cleavage, but nor were they really welcome on the top. Compare an issue of Nuts to the latest copy of Escort that I got through the post and it's fairly obvious why the two shouldn't sit next to each other. As a friend of mine so eloquently put it when she saw the pornography lying around my office: "This is well in-yer-face stuff. Don't see that in Nuts!"
Correct, you don't. If lad mags started showing full frontal pussy in their pages I don't think they would have got within 10 feet of the Co-Op. Ever. Let alone being taken off the shelves just last year. (That was the "no" I'm not worried part of the answer, they're just too different areas of the market to really compare them, alas people do, which leads me on to...)
I find it odd, then, that there have been (mostly feminist-led) suggestions the reason Nuts is closing is because of that cliched argument: there's too much free porn on the internet. Cue next wave of internet porn hysteria in a few days time (this will be the "yes", get worried, part of my answer).
In advance of the "too much porn" debate being raised for the umpteenth time, and while I don't want the magazines I write for to be the next target for feminazis, I'd like to say...
Stop grabbing on to the sad demise of one magazine to stir up more arguments about our supposed porn saturated culture. What young 20-something men want today isn't the same as what the 20-something lads of 10 years ago wanted from their media. Quite why we jump to the conclusion that it must be sex related is beyond me? Men stop looking at tits in magazines, so it simply must mean that they're replacing it by watching hardcore online? Give over.
Show me the definitive proof that's where their readers have gone before we start pointing the finger.
Also, if online porn is to blame for the closure of this magazine, then why haven't actual porn mags become extinct? Surely that should have happened long ago?
It's the fact that the publishers are running at a loss. It comes down to cold, hard facts and figures that generally speaking, as the internet grows, you're print figures are going to decline. It's then up to the publisher if those figures keep them happy or not. Realistically, I suspect the decision and reasons to close had very little to do with where blokes go these days for their wank-fodder.
Whatever may have caused the circulation to drop doesn't compensate for the fact that around 30 people, plus all of the models that posed for the magazine, are currently at risk of loosing their jobs and a form of income. As someone that has been through redundancy consultations, where the life of your much-loved magazine is hanging in the balance, I can say that it really does suck. Hugely. Try to explain to any one of them, "internet porn made you loose your job" and I think they're well within their right to tell you where to stick it.
Showing posts with label porn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label porn. Show all posts
Tuesday, 1 April 2014
Tuesday, 3 December 2013
Does the porn industry really "trap" performers?
Everyone has got an opinion on porn. In early November, Jenna Jameson (one of the most famous and highest earning adult actresses ever) announced that she was going to return to porn. The reasons cited was that she was flat broke, had kids to support and going back into the adult industry was the quickest (?) and easiest (?) way for her to make bread money.
The majority of the press reports in relation to this news don't exactly paint a pretty picture (like this one). It plays up to the unfortunate stereotype so many people hold about porn stars: that they've all had "troubled pasts", are addicted to drugs and blah, blah, blah. A perfect example of this prejudice way of thinking is in this recent article by Morality In Media, which does it's best to paint a stifling, no-way-out picture of the adult industry and that it does more harm than good to women and their careers post-porn.
To summarise, it's basically saying that porn harms. Work in the adult industry at any point in your life and you'll be pretty well fucked in the future should you want to try your hand at anything else.
Thankfully, not everyone thinks like that and excellent site www.PVVonline.com offers an alternative view on the argument:
"This – “Halsey was able to get her real estate license and worked as a broker for 3 years until she was recognized and fired.” – is supposed to convince me that porn harms? No. All this does is convince me the we, as a culture and as a society, are a bunch of judgemental hypocritical assholes.
The harms of porn are not “well documented.” In fact, they’re not *documented* at all. To date, not even one study exists that connects porn consumption and/or production to causing “harms.” Whatsmore, even works that attempt to draw correlations between (read: possible connections with), say, porn consumption and socially undesirable behaviors (e.g. “sexist” attitudes) can be picked apart methodologically. In others words, the studies are done poorly and/or incorrectly."
Reprinted from Porn Valley Vantage/PVVOnline, copyright © Chauntelle Anne Tibbals, PhD (www.PVVOnline.com)
I particularly like the 'judgemental hypocritical assholes' sentiment in that quote (read the full article here). This is possibly because even in my limited time of writing about sex work, I have encountered people that dismiss porn as a profession. Apparently, I have been informed by people with "normal" jobs, because they work in the sex industry that's all they know how to do. The same incorrect ideologies are often associated with strippers, escorts and glamour models too, so I would extend this misrepresentation to beyond porn.
So, those porn stars, strippers and escorts I've met that are also trained teachers, nurses, authors, entrepreneurs, professional dancers and business men and women are making all of these other skills up? Because apparently if your first/current choice of career is working in the sex industry, it must mean that you're *unable* to ever do any other type of profession? That's just bull.
The problem arises, as touched on by Tibbals, is that once you've worked in the adult industry, once you've had sex associated with your name - whether that's doing it on film, privately with clients, or even writing about it - you're tarred with a brush by society.
Why is it so hard to move from the adult industry into another profession should someone choose to? Why can it not be like any other career move? If someone has made the active decision to say, "I don't want to work in adult anymore. Actually I think I'd rather go and work in banking/nursing/be a travel agent," why can they not escape professional prejudices in the same way someone would if they decided they didn't want to be a teacher anymore, but would actually like to go train to be a vet?
Even if their career history does come to light, why should that matter? Why should that mean they're not able to do their new job of choice anymore, even though they've been doing a fine and dandy job previously, just because before that time they decided to make their living by starring in porn? I don't get it. I honestly do not see the sense in that.
This stigma of, if you do sex it must mean you're lacking else where, just doesn't fly with me. Like I said, my experience isn't extensive, but as my freelance career continues so does the number of adult industry professionals I speak to and come into contact with. All of the "extra skills" I listed above are examples of what these professionals have told me they have under their belt as well as doing adult film.
So no, they're not just tits, pussy, dick and ass. It's not the porn industry that traps people in, or forces them to return; it's the wider professions and industries that keep these individuals out because of societal prejudices.
The majority of the press reports in relation to this news don't exactly paint a pretty picture (like this one). It plays up to the unfortunate stereotype so many people hold about porn stars: that they've all had "troubled pasts", are addicted to drugs and blah, blah, blah. A perfect example of this prejudice way of thinking is in this recent article by Morality In Media, which does it's best to paint a stifling, no-way-out picture of the adult industry and that it does more harm than good to women and their careers post-porn.
To summarise, it's basically saying that porn harms. Work in the adult industry at any point in your life and you'll be pretty well fucked in the future should you want to try your hand at anything else.
Thankfully, not everyone thinks like that and excellent site www.PVVonline.com offers an alternative view on the argument:
"This – “Halsey was able to get her real estate license and worked as a broker for 3 years until she was recognized and fired.” – is supposed to convince me that porn harms? No. All this does is convince me the we, as a culture and as a society, are a bunch of judgemental hypocritical assholes.
The harms of porn are not “well documented.” In fact, they’re not *documented* at all. To date, not even one study exists that connects porn consumption and/or production to causing “harms.” Whatsmore, even works that attempt to draw correlations between (read: possible connections with), say, porn consumption and socially undesirable behaviors (e.g. “sexist” attitudes) can be picked apart methodologically. In others words, the studies are done poorly and/or incorrectly."
Reprinted from Porn Valley Vantage/PVVOnline, copyright © Chauntelle Anne Tibbals, PhD (www.PVVOnline.com)
I particularly like the 'judgemental hypocritical assholes' sentiment in that quote (read the full article here). This is possibly because even in my limited time of writing about sex work, I have encountered people that dismiss porn as a profession. Apparently, I have been informed by people with "normal" jobs, because they work in the sex industry that's all they know how to do. The same incorrect ideologies are often associated with strippers, escorts and glamour models too, so I would extend this misrepresentation to beyond porn.
So, those porn stars, strippers and escorts I've met that are also trained teachers, nurses, authors, entrepreneurs, professional dancers and business men and women are making all of these other skills up? Because apparently if your first/current choice of career is working in the sex industry, it must mean that you're *unable* to ever do any other type of profession? That's just bull.
The problem arises, as touched on by Tibbals, is that once you've worked in the adult industry, once you've had sex associated with your name - whether that's doing it on film, privately with clients, or even writing about it - you're tarred with a brush by society.
Why is it so hard to move from the adult industry into another profession should someone choose to? Why can it not be like any other career move? If someone has made the active decision to say, "I don't want to work in adult anymore. Actually I think I'd rather go and work in banking/nursing/be a travel agent," why can they not escape professional prejudices in the same way someone would if they decided they didn't want to be a teacher anymore, but would actually like to go train to be a vet?
Even if their career history does come to light, why should that matter? Why should that mean they're not able to do their new job of choice anymore, even though they've been doing a fine and dandy job previously, just because before that time they decided to make their living by starring in porn? I don't get it. I honestly do not see the sense in that.
This stigma of, if you do sex it must mean you're lacking else where, just doesn't fly with me. Like I said, my experience isn't extensive, but as my freelance career continues so does the number of adult industry professionals I speak to and come into contact with. All of the "extra skills" I listed above are examples of what these professionals have told me they have under their belt as well as doing adult film.
So no, they're not just tits, pussy, dick and ass. It's not the porn industry that traps people in, or forces them to return; it's the wider professions and industries that keep these individuals out because of societal prejudices.
Wednesday, 20 November 2013
Sex Journalism: A crazy ambition?
Doing face to face interviews is a rare occurrence for me. I'm not sure why this is as I always enjoy them more if I can sit and chat with the person. Anyway, today was one of those rare times when I got to actually go and see someone and do an interview with them. It was with a male porn star - I think only the second male adult performer I've ever interviewed, so it was quite an experience and nice to get the other side of the story. The majority of the time it's women from the adult industry that I interview.
Sadly, I can't go into the in's and outs of my interview with him here (at the moment) as it all needs to go to press and stuff first, but we got on well. Cheekily he tried to turn the tables a few times and get me to answer a few questions, most of which I did in a very broad manner without giving too much away about myself, but there was one question he asked and it kind of threw me. He asked, "What's your ambition, there must be an end goal and something you want to achieve?"
At the time I wasn't sure how to answer it. One of the reasons I started this blog was in the hope that it would give me somewhere to put down a few ideas and maybe from that a direction would emerge about my career and what I want to do. It is starting to...I think.
Sitting on the train home, I thought about this question more. I thought about what it is that I enjoy writing and why I write. Looking at my portfolio my subject of choice is pretty obvious, although there are times I crave to write abut stuff other than sex, but why do I choose to write on this subject primarily? Well, thinking back to a slightly drunken conversation I had with a friend of mine last year, what I really want and what I think my ambition is, is for people, everyone, to have good sex.
Mostly I write because there's a lot of bad sex journalism out there. I don't want to be a "sexpert", I don't want to be a psychologist, a relationship councillor or body language expert. My ambition is to be the journalist that takes the time to properly hunt out those people to give good, honest sex advice and create features, articles, stories and books that bring the right, best and most enjoyable aspects of sex to the page.
I want to do this because I give a shit, because I think sex gets a lot of bad press or seedy press or is just used as a fad and so often everything that's fanfuckingtastic about it is overlooked.
So there, I guess that's my ambition. I want to be that journalist.
Sadly, I can't go into the in's and outs of my interview with him here (at the moment) as it all needs to go to press and stuff first, but we got on well. Cheekily he tried to turn the tables a few times and get me to answer a few questions, most of which I did in a very broad manner without giving too much away about myself, but there was one question he asked and it kind of threw me. He asked, "What's your ambition, there must be an end goal and something you want to achieve?"
At the time I wasn't sure how to answer it. One of the reasons I started this blog was in the hope that it would give me somewhere to put down a few ideas and maybe from that a direction would emerge about my career and what I want to do. It is starting to...I think.
Sitting on the train home, I thought about this question more. I thought about what it is that I enjoy writing and why I write. Looking at my portfolio my subject of choice is pretty obvious, although there are times I crave to write abut stuff other than sex, but why do I choose to write on this subject primarily? Well, thinking back to a slightly drunken conversation I had with a friend of mine last year, what I really want and what I think my ambition is, is for people, everyone, to have good sex.
Mostly I write because there's a lot of bad sex journalism out there. I don't want to be a "sexpert", I don't want to be a psychologist, a relationship councillor or body language expert. My ambition is to be the journalist that takes the time to properly hunt out those people to give good, honest sex advice and create features, articles, stories and books that bring the right, best and most enjoyable aspects of sex to the page.
I want to do this because I give a shit, because I think sex gets a lot of bad press or seedy press or is just used as a fad and so often everything that's fanfuckingtastic about it is overlooked.
So there, I guess that's my ambition. I want to be that journalist.
Monday, 16 January 2012
Mind the gutter (NSFW, probably)
There used to be a time when sex was an everyday part of my life. No, I don't mean I was 'doing it' every day (chance would be a fine thing), but I was either reading, writing, watching or talking about it. For most people rocking up into the office and turning on their computer means they're usually faced with the same old desktop - a cute animal of some sort, or a favourite holiday snap to remind them that there's a goal to the dreary existence that makes earning money all worthwhile - but for me turning up to work on a morning I would be faced with images of tits or close ups of a woman's fanny.
We'd then sit and discuss the finer points of using sexual lubricants during foreplay, if the latest designer sex toy really is that good because it only made me come twice in five minutes, or whether it's acceptable to wake your partner up by fucking them or whether that amounts to some form of relationship rape as they're technically not conscious to consent. (This is still to be resolved or clarified, feel free to wade in.) These were every day discussions and points of interest, and I've been missing it.
Obviously when I was working in the school I had to keep quiet about where I used to work or some of the things I'd write about. There were a few people I told, perhaps because I liked to shock them, I liked that reaction when they went, "Oh my word! And now you work in a school, that's a bit of a change," and yes, quite frankly it was; it was a change that forced me to clean up my act and watch my mouth and be grown up and honestly, it was so unsexy.
Thankfully though, the last few days I've been putting my filth hat back on and am happy to trip back into the gutter. I still have plenty of sex feature ideas in my file left over from Scarlet that I've had chance to go back over and rehash into better ideas. I've been writing some of my own erotic fiction. Granted this has never been my strong point, but I find it fun to write for myself so I've been doing that.
Today I put together a sex-related pitch that I hope will get me into a national women's magazine and then have been researching another, but can't say I've had much success. Apparently there aren't many logical, good reasons to get naked everyday, other than showering, if you're a naturist or if you're an egotistical sod. I mean there are no obvious health or well-being benefits so I may have to prod and probe to create my own!
I've managed to unearth many illogical ones though, such as World Naked Gardening Day (it's on Saturday May 5th in case you were wondering, and no it's not something I'll be covering on the gardening website) which appears to be nothing more than encouraging people to get their kit off in the garden for a day and there's no 'political agenda' behind it, or reason. It's just a get naked and do a bit of gardening day. Hardly a good enough reason to get nude, imagine all the nettles if you've got a garden full or weeds, or all the pricks you could get. From the rose bushes I mean...
I found stuff on naked changing room etiquette, that getting naked in front of your partner everyday can help keep the romance....oh wait hang on, that might actually work for the article. Again, knowing whether it's good to strip off in front of your brother (er, no) or if it will help you get laid by your neighbour who happens to be a swinger, is not particularly useful to me and then I just knew it was going wrong when I got into all of the 'abused naked' regions of Google's dark side and decided to stop looking.
I mean there's being in the gutter and enjoying a bit of filth and nuddy fun, but then there's places you should never go. At least not for the articles I want to write, then they're practically tame in comparison to some people's debauched minds.
It feels good to put at least one foot back in the gutter for now.
RoseC -x-
We'd then sit and discuss the finer points of using sexual lubricants during foreplay, if the latest designer sex toy really is that good because it only made me come twice in five minutes, or whether it's acceptable to wake your partner up by fucking them or whether that amounts to some form of relationship rape as they're technically not conscious to consent. (This is still to be resolved or clarified, feel free to wade in.) These were every day discussions and points of interest, and I've been missing it.
Obviously when I was working in the school I had to keep quiet about where I used to work or some of the things I'd write about. There were a few people I told, perhaps because I liked to shock them, I liked that reaction when they went, "Oh my word! And now you work in a school, that's a bit of a change," and yes, quite frankly it was; it was a change that forced me to clean up my act and watch my mouth and be grown up and honestly, it was so unsexy.
Thankfully though, the last few days I've been putting my filth hat back on and am happy to trip back into the gutter. I still have plenty of sex feature ideas in my file left over from Scarlet that I've had chance to go back over and rehash into better ideas. I've been writing some of my own erotic fiction. Granted this has never been my strong point, but I find it fun to write for myself so I've been doing that.
Today I put together a sex-related pitch that I hope will get me into a national women's magazine and then have been researching another, but can't say I've had much success. Apparently there aren't many logical, good reasons to get naked everyday, other than showering, if you're a naturist or if you're an egotistical sod. I mean there are no obvious health or well-being benefits so I may have to prod and probe to create my own!
I've managed to unearth many illogical ones though, such as World Naked Gardening Day (it's on Saturday May 5th in case you were wondering, and no it's not something I'll be covering on the gardening website) which appears to be nothing more than encouraging people to get their kit off in the garden for a day and there's no 'political agenda' behind it, or reason. It's just a get naked and do a bit of gardening day. Hardly a good enough reason to get nude, imagine all the nettles if you've got a garden full or weeds, or all the pricks you could get. From the rose bushes I mean...
I found stuff on naked changing room etiquette, that getting naked in front of your partner everyday can help keep the romance....oh wait hang on, that might actually work for the article. Again, knowing whether it's good to strip off in front of your brother (er, no) or if it will help you get laid by your neighbour who happens to be a swinger, is not particularly useful to me and then I just knew it was going wrong when I got into all of the 'abused naked' regions of Google's dark side and decided to stop looking.
I mean there's being in the gutter and enjoying a bit of filth and nuddy fun, but then there's places you should never go. At least not for the articles I want to write, then they're practically tame in comparison to some people's debauched minds.
It feels good to put at least one foot back in the gutter for now.
RoseC -x-
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