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When I was in Women’s Studies class, I did an assignment that had me studying the advertising in porn magazines- not Popular ones, but ones that were... what do you call it, independently owned? They weren’t published locally (probably?), but I did go to school in the Midwest in a town that had about 800 people, so I’m guessing that the customers were predominantly white men. Maybe a few college students.
I recall that day well. My friend Dan Norris drove me to Book World and said that he wasn't going in with me.
"Because I don't want to be standing next to someone who looks like a twelve year old while looking at porn." he said.
He had a point. He was also 6"10 and I needed someone that could reach the magazines. It makes me laugh to think about it now. Women's Studies was in the Winter semester, see, and I flew to and from Wisconsin in an airplane so small that there was no flight attendant. That very trip to Northland, the pilot walked down the aisle, sort of hesitantly paused at me, looking uneasy before he went. On his way back up, he said, sounding like he had to hype himself up in order to do it, "I'm sorry, but I have to ask, are you fifteen? You have to be fifteen to sit there." Exit row.
"Yes," I said, surprised, "I'm nineteen..."
He said "Oh! Oh, tha.. I thought you were eleven..."
The thought of me standing on tip-toe to try and reach the pornography magazines, all the while looking like an eleven year old is just great. I didn't have to reach, though. A guy was standing beside me reading one that looked interesting. Petite I think, with a girl playfully holding up a hose and standing in front of a car.
I said "Hey, mister?" and he actually looked up and over, then down (lawl) to see me. "Could you get me one of those please?" I asked him, indicating the one he had. He looked like he didn't know what to think.
"He probably thought 'hey, didn't I see you in May?'" was what Dan said later.
Anyway, the advertisements in the backs of all five magazines were very similar. Mostly there were white women, one or two squares of “specialty” ads (usually for pregnant woman porn), and always, always a special section with one or two pages of squares with das hot blooded ethnics.
Next time you get a chance to look at a porn magazine, look at the advertisements in the back. Look for the section where theyghettoize crowd all of the porn with non-white actors. It’s always the same- the black women have adjectives like “wild”, “raw” “raunchy” “crazy” and words that generally mean “rrraw, come and tame me or maybe don’t, but either way I’m an animal and I’ll shag you in a manner to indicate such!” while the ones featuring Asian women all say “sweet” “cute” “petite” “adorable”, and other "ooh, don’t hurt me mister big white American man! I’m just a little girl!” words for quality submissive little geisha.
I don't remember if Latino women had any adjectives different from the African American women, but I do remember that "fiery" and "spicy" came up a lot.
I know this is all in the name of fantasy, but isn’t it interesting how these tropes that follow us around? When you start to look at them, you’ll see them everywhere. Personally, I’m not offended unless I think about it for too long. Oh, and irritated when meeting people who have whole-heartedly bought into tropes, never actually met an ethnic person, and decide to let me know that they "totally see me" by clumsily using a term for whatever ethnicity they think I am.
Mostly, though, it’s funny. Literally, brings a smile to my face. "O Rly?"
Anyway, here’s my fun beta question: Chances are you have something... oh... fetishizable about you. What is it? Yes, yes, I know that anything can be fetishized, but I mean something in the niche market- big feet, bear-like, ethnic background, height, something. And how do you feel about the fact that you're fetishized for this? How do you feel about the hypothetical person who is all "unf" for you and what do you think of them (remember- they aren't the same thing!)?
I want to post this up in a discussion community, but I want to beta it here first so that someone can tell me how to re-word it.
I suspect, on reflecting a little, that it might be off-putting question to some people. I say "suspect" and "some people" because I honestly don't see a problem with it. Is that because it's not offensive or because I'm desensitized to being fetishized? In the case of the latter, do people have a right to get angry with me for asking, or is it like the human getting offended by the talking dog from the puppy mill asking "which one of your kids do you think would cry the most pitifully if they were taken away from you suddenly and without warning as infants?"
If you know what I mean.
I think I've got... two? Three glaringly obvious things to be fetishized for? I look like a loli/shota, I wear glasses, and I'm a vampire.
I recall that day well. My friend Dan Norris drove me to Book World and said that he wasn't going in with me.
"Because I don't want to be standing next to someone who looks like a twelve year old while looking at porn." he said.
He had a point. He was also 6"10 and I needed someone that could reach the magazines. It makes me laugh to think about it now. Women's Studies was in the Winter semester, see, and I flew to and from Wisconsin in an airplane so small that there was no flight attendant. That very trip to Northland, the pilot walked down the aisle, sort of hesitantly paused at me, looking uneasy before he went. On his way back up, he said, sounding like he had to hype himself up in order to do it, "I'm sorry, but I have to ask, are you fifteen? You have to be fifteen to sit there." Exit row.
"Yes," I said, surprised, "I'm nineteen..."
He said "Oh! Oh, tha.. I thought you were eleven..."
The thought of me standing on tip-toe to try and reach the pornography magazines, all the while looking like an eleven year old is just great. I didn't have to reach, though. A guy was standing beside me reading one that looked interesting. Petite I think, with a girl playfully holding up a hose and standing in front of a car.
I said "Hey, mister?" and he actually looked up and over, then down (lawl) to see me. "Could you get me one of those please?" I asked him, indicating the one he had. He looked like he didn't know what to think.
"He probably thought 'hey, didn't I see you in May?'" was what Dan said later.
Anyway, the advertisements in the backs of all five magazines were very similar. Mostly there were white women, one or two squares of “specialty” ads (usually for pregnant woman porn), and always, always a special section with one or two pages of squares with das hot blooded ethnics.
Next time you get a chance to look at a porn magazine, look at the advertisements in the back. Look for the section where they
I don't remember if Latino women had any adjectives different from the African American women, but I do remember that "fiery" and "spicy" came up a lot.
I know this is all in the name of fantasy, but isn’t it interesting how these tropes that follow us around? When you start to look at them, you’ll see them everywhere. Personally, I’m not offended unless I think about it for too long. Oh, and irritated when meeting people who have whole-heartedly bought into tropes, never actually met an ethnic person, and decide to let me know that they "totally see me" by clumsily using a term for whatever ethnicity they think I am.
Mostly, though, it’s funny. Literally, brings a smile to my face. "O Rly?"
Anyway, here’s my fun beta question: Chances are you have something... oh... fetishizable about you. What is it? Yes, yes, I know that anything can be fetishized, but I mean something in the niche market- big feet, bear-like, ethnic background, height, something. And how do you feel about the fact that you're fetishized for this? How do you feel about the hypothetical person who is all "unf" for you and what do you think of them (remember- they aren't the same thing!)?
I want to post this up in a discussion community, but I want to beta it here first so that someone can tell me how to re-word it.
I suspect, on reflecting a little, that it might be off-putting question to some people. I say "suspect" and "some people" because I honestly don't see a problem with it. Is that because it's not offensive or because I'm desensitized to being fetishized? In the case of the latter, do people have a right to get angry with me for asking, or is it like the human getting offended by the talking dog from the puppy mill asking "which one of your kids do you think would cry the most pitifully if they were taken away from you suddenly and without warning as infants?"
If you know what I mean.
I think I've got... two? Three glaringly obvious things to be fetishized for? I look like a loli/shota, I wear glasses, and I'm a vampire.
