Regular people

October 21, 2005

Ah, the girl next door, that archetype of porn. It�s the timeless look � kind of ironic, because it�s a look very much tied to youthful exuberance and na�vete. It�s a look that sells � the look that seemingly every porn producer is seeking. It�s the thought that sluts are everywhere, even right next door to you, that gets folks in a tizzy, I suppose.

I�ve been reading Carly Milne�s anthology Naked Ambition (which is extraordinary, and you should buy it and read it) and one of the things that has struck me in a few different essays is the writers� claims that �we [we being people in porn] are just regular people.�

On one hand, I understand this claim � folks who work in sex are not mystical creatures. We have houses and families and bullshit to attend to just like everyone else in the world. Porn is something that regular people can just kind of fall into and wind up in � especially from the technical and administrative sides of the business. But is claiming to be �regular people� overstating the case? Although there are regularities to the days and schedules of folks who work in porn, and it really does feel regular to see anal cream pies at nine in the morning from a professional perspective � there is really nothing regular about being surrounded by the makings of sexual fantasies and realities all day long. This is not to say that it�s inherently bad or unhealthy � but in most people�s perceptions, it is definitely not normal or regular.

But maybe even though it�s a bit ludicrous, it is necessary to claim to be �regular people� � because then perhaps harsh judgment will get nudged back a little bit, and readers will dismiss the �regular� qualifier and think of people in porn as people. Maybe that�s the crux of the problem � it�s not so essential to prove how normal porn folks are, but just to show that they are human, with human needs, desires and choices.

So what about the girl next door? She�s regular people � your neighbor even. But is it easier to imagine a regular person as a wanton slut than it is to imagine a confirmed wanton slut as a regular person?

Posted by Dacia at October 21, 2005 02:07 PM