Come On Ladies, Let's Demand Some Quality with our Sexual Entertainment

The other day an acquaintance posted a Facebook status gushing about Magic Mike.  She acknowledged that the story was bad, but forgave that for the opportunity to see hot men dancing around shirtless.  I replied, "If you want hot naked men doing sexy things with no plot, try porn.  You can skip all the awkward conversation and shots of cars parking."  My reply was deleted almost immediately.  Why?  Why does it cross the line in polite society to suggest that women simply watch porn to get what they want?  You might make the argument that it might be an unprofessional thing to say, but I don't think that's it.

Every night, I see coworkers and patients reading Fifty Shades of Grey without shame in the open.  It's okay to admit that reading about being tied up and taken advantage of turns you on, but it's not okay to watch it.  Why?  You can gush to your friends and blow up Facebook when a movie about male strippers debuts, but it's not okay to admit you want to watch men in a more graphic state. Why?

In this day and age when porn is so easily available on the Internet.  You don't have to go out and rent it at a store where someone might see you.  You don't have to go out and buy it where you might run into someone you know and have to pretend not to see each other.  You don't have to pay for premium cable channels and tune in late at night and hope that there's something on that appeals to your interests.  You can hop on your computer in the comfort of your own home and pull up whatever vanilla or kinky thing that turns your crank. 

Is it because women aren't allowed to admit that they masturbate?  Does it cross the line to admit that you enjoy sex?  Fifty Shades of Grey is wrapped neatly in a Twilight-inspired love story, making it okay to enjoy the sexy parts.  Magic Mike allows you to appreciate sexy men without having to admit that you want to have sex with them.  You just want to watch them dance around.  Porn crosses the line as it involves actual nudity and actual sex acts.

At least if we are going to talk about liking things that turn us on, can we please seek out something of quality?  Why do we have to wait for everyone else to like something before we can admit to liking it to?  And why when I state that I don't like Twilight or Fifty Shades or Magic Mike am I looked at like I'm a party pooper?  I'm not judging you for your sexy interests, that's for sure!  I'm judging you for your apparent inability to recognize your entertainment as vapid and poorly written, or your failure to think for yourself about what you are consuming and just agreeing with the rest of your circle that it's good. 

If we are going to agree on something as a culture, ladies, lets agree that it's okay to like what you like.  Most importantly, that it's okay to like sex and it's okay to like whatever kind of sex you like.  You don't have to like the sex that's popular.  And if you don't like sex, that's okay too, but it doesn't make those of us who do any better or worse.  Maybe that's what we are working towards and maybe I shouldn't be so critical of these popular things when they may lead to the sort of open society that I'd like to see.  I just don't understand why it's okay to like Fifty Shades, but it's not okay to like some kinky porn to help you get off when you're working alone.  Now if you'll excuse me, I have something to attend to...

Side Note:

I wanted to include in this post a short description of how I enjoyed Magic Mike.  I saw it at the drive-in from the bed of my truck.  I really didn't see much of the movie as much of the time my back was to the screen so I could straddle my boyfriend and make out with his adorable face.  He gave me notice of when I should turn around to see sexy men, which we enjoyed together.  I spent way more time making out than I did watching the movie, taking advantage of my exhibitionist streak and working up an appetite for more.  That's how I enjoyed Magic Mike and I'll dare to say I had a better experience than most patrons of the movie.  The movie, however, had little to do with that.  ;)