Some years ago I was looking into the mechanics of the pornography industry. Part of the process involved looking at the ads people were using to recruit models. In almost all of them, early on in the sometimes endless paragraphs outlining possible pay, expectations, caveats about age, you’d see these disclaimers saying, basically, that proportionality and weight weren’t impediments, that on the internet there were markets for “all interests,” and therefore even people who weren’t perfect “centerfold material” were very strongly encouraged to show up anyway.
Now even a cursory check showed that the sites and photographers in question displayed the same narrow range of models, generally slender, generally busty, and (of course) generally young.
It’s worth adding that since I was looking for porn sites that really were all-ages, all looks I was actually pretty motivated to find out who was buying images of all the “off-size” models the other sites were trying to recruit.
The answer? As you might expect, there were very, very few. (Yes, there are more such sites now but still not that many.)
So! If there was scarcely any market for “not so perfect” models after all, why do you think virtually every site out there was soliciting them?
I have a theory.
Wanna know what my theory is?
If you’re at all familiar with HNT, and the process nearly everyone goes through the first time they post, I bet you can guess.
In case you’re not familiar let’s do a quick review:
- You decide to post a photo – You get terribly anxious about it – You put it off, sometimes for months and maybe sometimes forever – If you finally do post you often add heavy disclaimers saying things like “I’m not in the best of shape” or “This is my first time, be gentle.” – You expect the worst – You rarely get it – Instead the people who see your photographs have surprisingly positive things to say about them…
So!
Why do you think all those pornographers, who almost to a man (which they were, almost to a man) wound up choosing only standard-skinny models, went out of their way to solicit “all sizes and shapes” models?
Well, because scarcely anybody thinks they’re good looking “enough.”
Even though…
We look just fine.
Happy HNT (or Half-nekkid Thursday!)
Submitted by 847 (not verified) on Wed, 2006-07-26 20:48.
I'm drooling over your words and your picture...and curious about the bracelet? Care to explain?
Am I too nosy?
:D
[My 1st grader made the bracelet in summer camp, and there's just no way I'd resist "I made you a present, Daddy" even if I wanted to. :-) Thanks, AAG. --fl]
Submitted by 847 (not verified) on Wed, 2006-07-26 21:06.
always delightful...
*feeling foolish* I actually posted a hnt pic too....
[And did it hurt one bit? No. :-) And do you look sweet and lovely? Yes. Cool, huh? Thanks, SilentOne. --fl]
Submitted by 847 (not verified) on Wed, 2006-07-26 21:46.
As a long-time HNTer I tend to agree with you. We all worry about what people will think but the comments are invariably supportive. i know many people who's self esteem has taken a large jump because they posted and recieved those comments. As far as I'm concerned, anything that makes us like ourselves better can't be all bad. HHNT figleaf
[Boy am I a total case study in that, Tommy. I *really* used to think I wasn't just plain-looking but outright homely, and like I've said before it had a lot to do with specific parts I saw and hated instead of being seen the way other people see me. Anyway, I can testify to the effect. Happy HNT to you too, Tommy, and thanks. --fl]
Submitted by 847 (not verified) on Wed, 2006-07-26 21:47.
Yes we do look fine ;) HHNT!
[Thanks, Crimson. Happy HNT to you and yours. --fl]
Submitted by 847 (not verified) on Wed, 2006-07-26 22:16.
We all look great, as do you!
HHNT
[Thank you, Bellarosa. Happy HNT. --fl]
Submitted by 847 (not verified) on Thu, 2006-07-27 02:34.
it's great to see everyone in their own element :)
hhnt
[Thanks pi! Happy HNT, and by the way, your blog is off to an interesting start. Get well soon too. --fl]
Submitted by 847 (not verified) on Thu, 2006-07-27 06:00.
So, do you think that the Porn industry gets a kick back from the plastic surgeons that make those porn 'models' slim, busty and young?
[I *really* don't think pornographers often say "go get corrected" to models. Instead what I think is going on is related to the "looking for all-sizes" ad pitch -- perfectly fine-looking people are just so hard on themselves they go under the knife hoping it'll help. I think sometimes it makes a difference, I'm not sure it *helps* if you know what I mean. Thanks, Madame. --fl]
Submitted by 847 (not verified) on Thu, 2006-07-27 06:04.
Happy HNT!
Gorgeous, warm light there. And you know from the guitar photos that I have a thing for muscular forearms! Beautiful photo, Figleaf!
I know all about the stuff our kids make for us. I have a necklace my daughter (now 6) made for me that has glow-in-the-dark plastic beads, pewter butterfly beads, and a shark tooth. She requests that I wear it from time to time, and I certainly oblige her.
[Yup, so many of our bodily decorations come to us the hard way, through scrapes or accidents or age, that it's just lovely almost-serendipidy when someone you love gives you something no less accidental-seeming but pretty in its own way. I'm going to wear mine till it falls off. Thanks, WH. --fl]
Submitted by 847 (not verified) on Thu, 2006-07-27 07:26.
Well, you, Figleaf, look fine at any rate. better than fine, most times. :)
HAPPY HNT!
[Thank you, Polt. Happy HNT. --fl]
Submitted by 847 (not verified) on Thu, 2006-07-27 09:30.
Fascinating commentary. Funny though, how we all think we're the *only* ones who agonize over posting a picture...if I had a nickel for every shot I've taken and discarded, I'd be able to *afford* that plastic surgery ;-)
In the end though, we are who we are, and we either chose to embrace it or reject it...
The picture is incredible...why do I get the impression that your biting into an apple just out of reach of the camera lens?
Well done...
HHNT!
[Thank you, Becca. No, I haven't checked with everybody but I've yakked with a large enough sample to say, with complete confidence, that no, you're not the only one. And neither are everybody else. :-) Also, I can't tell you how many otherwise totally wonderful photos I've tossed because my camera is very old and can't keep up with the low-light situations I tend to take pictures in. I rarely toss photos anymore because I don't like the way I look. Its not that I still down't think I look awful in them, it's that I've learned that like most people I have *awful* taste when it comes to me. (Quick anecdote: A friend of mine had the most beautiful half-lidded bedroom eyes but all her photos had the same, strained wide-open eyes expression. It turned out she thought her eyelids were just gross and went to great pains to avoid any hint of them... with the result that she appeared to photograph terribly. The point is you just never know.) --fl]
Submitted by 847 (not verified) on Thu, 2006-07-27 10:13.
You are certainly beautiful to look at as are the HNT'ers that I know...
All I can say about my HNT postings is that while I know my body is not beautiful, I am trying to become more accepting of it. It may be fat, stretched, wrinkled and scarred but is MINE. And even if I know it isn't beautiful, I can make it look intriguing.
[I guess it all depends on how we define beautiful, Lushlyme. Very few of us are Barbies or Kens but there's more to us than that. Thank goodness! Thank you. --fl]
Submitted by 847 (not verified) on Thu, 2006-07-27 12:13.
You are yummy!
Truly yummy!
Happy HNT!
[Thank you, Lee Ann. Happy (belated) HNT to you. --fl]
Submitted by 847 (not verified) on Thu, 2006-07-27 15:17.
I'm inspired. I finally took the plunge. Thanks for this post. :-*
[Hey, cool photos too, Alice! Happy first HNT to you. --fl]
Submitted by 847 (not verified) on Thu, 2006-07-27 17:43.
a very interesting commentary. I do know hnt has helped me a bit in the self-confidence dept. i still have a way to go. but you make some good points. but i will say, kind comments from dozens of starngers are wonderful but a dozen words from a devoted lover are the world. HHNT. wonderful pic!
[Good point, Lime. I need to ponder why it is, exactly, that our partners are rarely as generous as strangers on the internet, and that might someday turn into its own HNT essay. For now I'll just say that usually there are other dynamics at work in relationships than simple esthetics, and even in untroubled relationships I think there's a tendency to avoid repetition... even if it was last repeated years before. Hmm. Thank you, Lime! --fl]
Submitted by 847 (not verified) on Thu, 2006-07-27 20:04.
Nice arm. Nice bracelet. Nice kid. Nice Dad.
Seeing this pic makes me realize I have a "guy" tan.
Oh well. : )
[Thank you, Cheryl! --fl]
Submitted by 847 (not verified) on Fri, 2006-07-28 17:14.
Okay, I'm confused... They solicit for photos of the not so skinny and busty because they think they aren't good enough? Oh..... the little skinny busty girls think they aren't good enough and turn out to be okay. Gotcha. I'm slow sometimes.
Great HNT. Hope you have a good weekend.
[As far as I know there's no real insulation against insecurity, so yeah, I think pornographers say things like "size doesn't matter" in order to get *anyone at all* to try out. Thanks, Bama Girl. --fl]
Submitted by 847 (not verified) on Fri, 2006-07-28 21:07.
Great post! I'd never thought of it that way.
[Thank you, R&R. --fl]
Submitted by 847 (not verified) on Sat, 2006-07-29 18:45.
I just had to say I love this entry. It's so true. Was recently talking with a friend about all the things I kept not doing (HNT as well) because of a fear of negative feedback. But really, it's never the nightmare you think it will be.
[Thanks, Lyregal! It's not always what you expect, but no, it's rarely a nightmare at all. The worst thing, really, is the occasional knucklehead who's either trying to hurt feelings for the same reason they'll drive through stranger's flowerbeds or who would find fault no matter how you looked. But in the face of other positive feedback (and often outraged protests from subsequent posters castigating the negative outlier) those become little exercises in character development: are we going to believe a dozen people who say we look good or the one outlier/jerk? --fl]
Submitted by 847 (not verified) on Sat, 2006-07-29 23:59.
I have the same bracelet...and always wear them till they fall off....yes...everytime my Rinpoche ties one on me....Interesting answer you have for yours... =)
Namaste'
** great HNT btw
[Thanks, DrM2B! --fl]