The comments section on this article provided many interesting views on this issue, and very divided opinions. This division emphasizes the absurdity of demonizing female masturbation before other activities that are clearly more detrimental to society, such as rape. One comment said that they believed that female masturbation is taboo because it involves a female pleasuring herself entirely independent of men and this makes it intimidating to men. I believe that this is a valid argument as it involves a woman taking charge of her needs and wants and catering to this without the help of a man.
While there isn’t too much male masturbation shown on television or in film, it is definitely more prevalent than female masturbation and referred to a lot more. When it is referred to, it is often joked and laughed about even on family shows and it is deemed somewhat acceptable because “boys will be boys”. This shows that it is not so much solo pleasure that shocks society, but specifically female masturbation.
I think to a certain extent this taboo extends from the retrograde notion that women are there for men - they are there to please them and look after them in all aspects of life. Traditionally, they are supposed to make a nice home for their man to live in, raise a lovely and obedient family and be a supportive partner and lover. Despite how progressive our society has become I think that masturbation, an act that is purely selfish, as seen being done by a women shocks society as we unconsciously still harbor some belief that women should be serving men. This solo act provides no service to men - in fact, it makes slightly irrelevant the thing they hold most dear; the penis - and I believe this can be intimidating and shocking to both men and women.
I'm really glad this topic was posted, because it is one that has such a weird and flip-flopping history in American media. The most famous and horrifying example of this censorship was the MPAA's rating controversy over "Boys Don't Cry" back in 1999. The film, which depicts the tragic life and death of Brandon Teena, a transgender man who was murdered in Nebraska, was originally rated NC-17 for graphic sexual content. In order to secure an 'R' rating for widespread distribution to American audiences, the length of a female orgasm had to be shortened. Left untouched was the violent scene of a brutal double rape forced on Teena by two of her friends upon discovering he was trans. While this was not technically masturbation, it was a scene of mutual self-pleasure shared by two individuals considered by their peers in the film to be female. The rape scene, brutal and significantly longer (if length had indeed been the MPAA's concern) was left in the movie and dealt with the agency of "men" as seen by society of the time. The European release of boys don't cry has vastly more explicit sexual content, but this additional content depicts love and pleasure.
ReplyDeleteAnectodally, I don't think the American censorship extends to all female pleasure. I can think of various vulgar examples from pop culture that refer to female orgasm, even grittier ones. Freak A Leak was released just three years after that movie and includes the non-censored lyric "It's time for me to give her hers". The ticket to staying explicit seems to be ensuring that whenever a woman has an orgasm, it is a man who gives it to her.