By Tatiana von Tauber
When I was a kid I was mad that anyone would laugh at or with Benny Hill. The idea of making fun of T & A sickened me. Then I grew up and discovered that if one can’t have fun with sex one is just lacking the humor around the absurdity of seriousness society has placed on gender and sex. Meaning, we’re merely living in a more modern fashion of Puritan times. Clearly the sex industry is winning and one doesn’t need to go far to see how sex has jumped into the mainstream. Why? People want it.
Some people are offended by sexist humor or sexist anything that depicts the stereotypes we know we don’t fit into, but when stereotypes are created, they are so clearly because of those few generalities which stand out to the masses. The uncomfortable nature of feeling victimized to stereotyping and thus judgment is to simply accept that sex can be funny just as easily as it can be serious and just as easily as it can be sexually stimulating. In other words, it seems wise to open up to its many possibilities rather than forcing them into the closet based on out of date ideology rooting in shame and fear. Sex has many sides but ultimately sex is the pursuit of pleasure. It is typical that society attempts more than anything to control the pleasure of others, especially those which are natural.
The most common characteristic I see in women I photograph boudoir with is their initial discomfort about the entire “pornography” thing but once they realize they’re in control of their own “on camera” sensuality, an hour into the session they let go and have fun. It opens a new perception on the fact that the erotic need not be scary. Suddenly what they were most afraid to do became something exciting, fun and pleasurable to them. And there begins the transition from sexual repression to sexual awakening. At its end, sex is a human benefit despite its shadows and now studies are finally showing what too many would rather not know or deal with: pornography is good for you! Time to take that secret out of the closet and look at it in the light.
