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Is Pop Culture Finally Admitting That Women Like to Touch Themselves?
Maybe I’m imagining things, but has anyone else noticed more allusions to female masturbation on TV? On Gossip Girl a couple of weeks ago, the show started with Blair having a sex dream and Dorota (her housekeeper) warning her that “God is always watching” -- and Blair telling her to go away, ostensibly so Blair can finish her business. Last week on Grey’s Anatomy -- a show which is legitimately terrible at this point -- Izzy (spoiler alert!) is having loud sex with her ghost-boyfriend and her room mates (including her real-boyfriend Alex) hear her. Everyone’s confused, and Alex says something like, “She’s flying solo. It’s hot.”
I’m only 25, but growing up I never heard about women masturbating -- and I certainly never saw it referenced on TV. Male masturbation, on the other hand, was an assumption -- something all men supposedly did, that they could joke and talk about. Female masturbation was gross and weird, something we all denied doing, if we talked about it at all. So I’m glad to see it presented as normal.
In other pop-culture self-love references, Jezebel has the top 10 pop songs about female masturbation. And just because it’s the holiday season and I’m feeling generous, a little Chuck Bass to inspire your dreams tonight. Thanks for the link, Ann!
Jill Filipovic is a New York-based freelance writer and a law student at NYU. More of her writing is available online at her blog, Feministe.
| Also by Jill Filipovic | ||||
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Everyone's Talking About Stupak, But What About the Health Care Bill's More Insidious Features? The current bill involves some quietly coercive (and racist) provisions that no one wants to mention. November 24, 2009. |
Is Taxing Plastic Surgery Sexist? Part of the funding for the Senate's health care bill will come from a 5 percent tax on cosmetic surgery, on procedures overwhelmingly obtained by women. November 23, 2009. |
So the Stupak Amendment Sucks: Here's What You Can Do About It Find out how your representative voted on and call their office, to thank them or to tell them that you'll be supporting a pro-choice democrat in the next primary. November 10, 2009. |
Word to the Wise: Never Date a Guy Who Reads Details Magazine A few experts discuss the "trend" of women tricking men into impregnating them, without offering any hard information or statistics. October 28, 2009. |
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