Figleaf's Real Adult Sex

“Tile, Towel, Tub 038” from my “Tile, Towel, Tub” photoset on Flickr.
Also, why these photos?

Laura Woodhouse of The F-Word Blog says

The Sixth Carnival Against Pornography and Prostitution is here, while the Fourth Feminist Carnival of Sexual Freedom and Autonomy is here.

Both offer plenty to get your teeth into, whatever your perspective!

While I’m here, can I ask: why are there next to no “sexy” images of men on sex positive sites, or sites focusing on porn for women etc?

Read the quote in context here.

It’s a really really good question. Several years ago I started taking my own photos because the little bits that pass for “porn for women” didn’t seem very sincere. That they were way more successful that at least I’d ever expected suggests there’s considerably more demand, or at least potential demand, than there is supply of erotic images of heterosexual men based on what hetero women seem to respond to instead of just trying to avoid what they turn away from.

At any rate I’m not saying that the overweight of women to men on pro-porn sites is suspicious — sexualized women outnumber sexualized men in almost all media representations from newsreaders on CNN to the cover of Reader’s Digest. To, of course, virtually all mainstream porn. And fashion magazines. And therefore it could just be that women are just as conditioned as men to respond to sexualization, and therefore even progressive “porn for women” sites might lean way towards representations of women.** Not suspicious, but still indicative of societal, if not individual, bias.

The good news is that there really are a lot more men, a lot more sexy men, and seemingly a lot more interested in what women want men out there posting their own photos for Half-nekkid Thursdays and other occasions than when I started. (Sort of a good thing — if there’d been more then I wouldn’t have bothered to take my own, and it’s actually been pretty good for my self-image that I did.)

But anyway, when I say it’s a good question I’m not saying it’s actually a good criticism. At this point anway it really is just a good question. What’s your take?

Oh yeah, and shameless plug: You can find out more about my images here.