Pornographic Influences
#1: Sweet, Sex(less) Teen
1970s, New York
By M.I. CLUBB
I may well be the only living person who was a teenager in the 1970s but did not have sex until I was 20.
Back then, every neighborhood had at least one theater showing pornos, all of which had plots, some very well-acted. The New York Times ran ads for these films until 1984, when it announced a change in policy. The suburbs were full of wife-swapping swing parties. On college campuses, sexuality was flaunted to the point where couples sometimes copulated right out on the quad grass.
I spent lots of time in those porno theaters – the age limits were honored in the breach - and in 42nd Street burlesque houses where strippers did little acts between films.
Then the word came down. The final barrier would be broken. Live sex acts would be performed on stage. The mayor and the police quickly conveyed their apathy. Once we knew no one would get arrested, this 14-year-old couldn’t resist the opportunity.
The vibe in the theater was no different than usual. We watched the movie for a while, then it screeched off. The dark room became partially illuminated by a light beamed onto stage. Out came a very skinny black man with an Afro and about 6 inches of soft penis. He was joined by a pale blonde, curvy, but with a hollow, drugged-out look.
Perhaps they had been doing this too often to muster enthusiasm. Or maybe they were both just miserable. He stayed hard, and they changed positions a few times, but it wouldn’t end. On and on, pump pump pump. At first she looked bored, then she would throw him dirty looks and mutter. Finally, they gave up.
To witness such a joyless marathon at that age was profoundly traumatic. It told me that my original concept, the notion that the sensory nerve endings down there made the very act of insertion pleasant and pleasing, was way off base. The humanity must be first, the caring, the giving, the love.
My parents would have killed me, had they learned how I learned to follow their advice, but follow I did, without regret.
M.I. Clubb is a successful East Coast entrepreneur. He is using a pseudonym.
#2: Prude and Prejudice
November 2005, South Carolina
By SARA WHITFORD
I used to be such a prude that the mere mention of the word “pussy” would put my innocent mind in a tailspin. The word “cunt” was a ghastly aberration to womankind, and skin magazines were so offensive to me that I once burned a whole pile of Playboys circa 1995. I tightened my chastity belt and watched with self-righteous satisfaction the face of Marliece Andrada’s busty cleavage disintegrate into a flame. I even picketed Hooters.
I was burning literature and protesting in the street. What was next, an attempted assassination of Hugh Hefner? But as I was trying so diligently to protect myself, I was actually repressing my own budding sexuality.
And then one drunken night, I got dragged to a strip club, and my life changed forever. After a few headache-in-a-glass low-shelf cocktails, my defenses went down, and I was finally convinced to go to a dive strip club off the interstate. This place had a wide variety of girls beside the really hot ones: fat girls, scary cokehead girls, Helga the Russian Porn Star with gigantic tits girls.
The most beautiful one looked like a ’20s flapper, with her black bob and fringe lingerie. I braved forward and gave her a dollar. And then the most unexpected thing happened. She pulled me onstage and kissed me, her mouth soft and pure, a shocking anomaly in this backdrop of smoke and grime, and the smell of sweat and stale beer.
Of course, my moment of purity was cut off abruptly when she went to the bar and chatted up some rich old man for the rest of the night. But little did she know that I had suddenly been opened up to a whole new world, not one that objectified women, but instead celebrated their sexuality with unapologetic decadence.
Sara Whitford is a freelance writer who contributes to The Naughty American and AR Tourism’s online travel guides for South America. She was a quarterfinalist in the 2007 Page International Screenwriting Competition. She lives in Gainesville, Florida, and is working on her first novel.
Posted by Common Ties on Monday, December 3rd, 2007 | Email This PostThis entry was posted on Monday, December 3rd, 2007 at 12:01 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
4 Responses to “Pornographic Influences”
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December 6th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
Mr.Clubb and Sara Whitford have written powerful stories.I thank the both of you.Mike G.
January 2nd, 2008 at 11:40 am
Very good article, very naive however. She would love Gloria Steinman the leader of the womens rights group of the 60’s. There will be no one to grieve her passing though. It is to bad that women get caught up in watching porn, I would much rather have the real thing. Porn is such a waste of time, too bad for her I suppose going down an empty road leading to nowhere is where she wants to be , for now……….
January 24th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
I loved Prude and Prejudice. Very nice. Not only is it a great writing style, but it brought blushing moments of late teen moments to mind.
May 12th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
The first time I went into a strip club I was determined to believe that the women were being objectified and used. By the time I walked out, however, I knew that the ladies on stage were in truth the ones with the power. It was the male audience that was being manipulated. A woman’s sexuality is something that should be revered and respected by the woman, rather than feared and repressed. It is a powerful tool and a great gift. In a world where men still hold the position of privilege, it is important for us to use our edge.