Feminist text for your bookshelf

The latest edition of The Big Issue (its 300th edition) had the following article in it, written by your favourite feminist. Because I am notoriously bad at sticking to word limits, it was edited down slightly. Following is the article in its original form. I strongly urge everyone to pick up a copy of Emily Maguire's book (the subject of the article). It is brilliant.

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When CLEO's annual 50 Most Eligible Bachelor list was revealed in late February this year, it managed, if possible, to be even more insulting to women than usual. In response to the frankly unnecessary question "Bush or Bare?", approximately 80% indicated a preference for a hairfree cunt, while a handful more said they liked a landing strip. One bachelor was undecided while only one preferred what he called a "trimmed hedge".

That CLEO posed the question in the first place only reinforced the idea it is right and even necessary for women to consider how the state of their pubic hair might be influential in attracting a mate. That Australia's supposedly most eligible (and available) men might consider pubic hair a deal breaker is only further evidence of how much women's bodies have become captive to social mores that place their own enjoyment of and engagement with sexuality distinctly on the periphery to the more important question of how that sexuality can be used to satisfy male desire.

"It's disturbing that the porn aesthetic has become so normalised", says Emily Maguire. "I do think that the more women are seen as equal, generally the less willing men will be to see us as objects rather than active subjects."

The issue is one close to Maguire's heart. The Sydney based writer has just released her first non-fiction book, Princesses & Pornstars: Sex. Power, Identity, a work that is at turns anecdotal, funny, heartbreaking and above all razor sharp. Described as a "call to arms", Maguire wrote the book "for young-ish women (and men), many of whom I suspect feel discomfort around a lot of the things I talk about but perhaps can't articulate what's bothering them."

And there is a lot to be bothered by. Maguire expertly traverses the gamut of problematic gender disparity facing women and men today, from the well worn practise of "slut" shaming to the constructed notion of female sexual modesty; from the continued insistence of society to attribute motherhood as a woman's natural (and most fulfilling) role to the overwhelming presence of misogyny in porn.

Among the gendered expectations Maguire argues against are the limited ways in which female sexuality is allowed to express itself. "Most people will go through several phases in their sexual lives...The 'slut', the 'virgin', the 'girl gone wild' and the sexually conservative mother of three are all likely to be the same person."

Yet we still find ourselves operating within a dichotomy of the Girl Gone Either Mild Or Wild. We can be the Princess (delicate and in need of protection) or the Slut (whose sexual promiscuity is no doubt due to both her crushingly low self esteem and her inability to make decisions for herself).

Equally true is that society continues to falsely claim natural biological inclinations regarding male and female sexuality. For example, teenage boys have long been the recipients of sitcom fathers' animosity, being "only after one thing". Meanwhile, teenage girls are told their vagina is something they must guard from men lest it be tampered with and ultimately devalued through over use.

"A vagina is not a car", Maguire snorts derisively. "I believe [slut shaming] seriously harms girls and young women by making them ashamed of what they naturally feel. That boys are encouraged to experiment and masturbate and be embarassed and be alive to their urges is excellent. I want this for girls. Fun, shame-free, safe."

The sexual desires and rampant curiosity of teenage girls are rarely, if ever acknowledged. Instead, we read panic stories about sex education and contraceptive access, sounding the alarm that the availability of such things can only lead to female promiscuity. Even the Australian Medical Association is guilty of such dismissal, claiming earlier this month that it was less important for high schools to provide teenage girls with the Morning After Pill than it was for them to provide comprehensive sex education.

Why, the rational person must ask themselves, can't there be both?

This odd conservatism continues into adulthood, with women succumbing to restrictive sexual moulds that enhance enjoyment not through physical experience but through the understanding that inhabiting them confirms their attractiveness in the eyes of their partner. The sexually attractive woman is compliant, available and in denial of almost everything that grows naturally on her body - yet that same woman is not supposed to pursue sex vigorously, enjoy sex unashamedly or exude sexuality in any way other than those prescribed to her as socially acceptable.

Maguire agrees. "Women have been convinced that being sexual objects is okay, because men like it and men liking you is good and it means you're a proper woman. But being a sexual being in and of and for yourself is shameful. It's why women never talk about masturbation - having sex to show your love or admiration for a man is okay, but having sex (with yourself) because you had the urge is shameful. "

This Stepfordism is frightening enough when applied insidiously. Knowing it's exaggerated in modern porn is downright terrifying given that's where most young men glean their first sexual experiences. Mainstream porn today is overwhelmingly male centric, with the degradation and humiliation of the women involved seemingly the norm. Maguire's commentary on the porn industry reveals some disturbing attitudes amongst otherwise sociable young men of her acquaintance.

"I've heard men justify their porn watching by arguing that 'it's just a fantasy - I wouldn't treat a woman like that in real life'. But someone did treat a woman like that in real life to create the image. That stuff really happened; that's the point."

If men are learning to view sex as something that happens TO women rather than WITH them, what hope have we got?

"I think we really have come a long way in the last fifty years or so, but the history of the world is one of women's oppression and so there's millennia of sexism to overcome, not just decades," laments Maguire. "As tough as it can be, we need to keep on keeping on...We need to cut off the misogyny poisoning at a younger age and hope that this minimises the damage."

Princesses & Pornstars: Sex, Power, Identity is available now through Text Publishing for $32.95.

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Hope everyone enjoyed the ridiculously long holiday that was Easter. I for one am glad it's over. Next weekend I jet to Melbourne to swan about with my lovely Mata Hari and moon over all the visiting comedians from overseas. The week after that, I'm going to Sydney to indulge in my musical theatre obsession and shape the young female minds of my awesome cousins.

Peace out (and congratulations to The Big Issue for achieving such a milestone!)