03.08.18

BedPost: Helping, not hindering

Meghan Morris / For The Post

Editor’s note: The following column contains sexually explicit content.

In the U.S., teenage girls and women are shamed for enjoying sex. Parents don’t want them to discover their sexuality for fear that their little girl will get a bad reputation or a sexually transmitted disease. When parents or guardians finally acknowledge the special talk about birds and the bees is necessary, they teach girls that sex should be pleasant and done with someone they love. But sometimes it’s just good for people to quench their sexual urges alone.

Mijana Mazur | FOR THE POST

Masturbation has been conveniently left out of conversations between parents and children, and it’s not discussed in health classes either. Teens have to answer sex-related questions on their own by experimenting with techniques heard from friends or seen on the internet. Girls tend to start masturbating after their pubescent years — a late start compared to boys — because they’re embarrassed and don’t want to be called a nymphomaniac.

Whenever a person first experiences the wonders of masturbation and orgasm, online pornography can either help or hinder their experiences. Guys mostly gravitate toward porn sites, such as the infamous PornHub; however, girls are taking a different approach.

Tumblr, a popular social media platform, gives young women a safe and easy way to discover their sexuality and erotic desires. Thirty-three percent of Marie Claire’s 3,000 respondents said they relied on Tumblr accounts and image searches for sexual content.

Out of Tumblr’s 200,000 most-visited blogs, about 22,775 blogs focus on adult content, according to TechCrunch. The website has extremely liberal standards dealing with sexually explicit content compared to other social media platforms. For example, you may be banned on Instagram for showing a woman’s nipple but can have GIFs of vaginal penetration on Tumblr. Content curators must mark their blogs as NSFW, short for not suitable/safe for work, so people who stumble across them know what they’re getting into.

The website’s sexual content seems especially geared toward women because many pictures and GIFs have an artsy vibe. Black and white images give off a seductive feel that’s less in-your-face about the explicit acts they’re depicting. The short GIFs leave out any fake moans performed by porn stars, which makes the experience more authentic. There’s also of a balance between content that’s demeaning and what’s noticeably enjoyed by both partners.

Tumblr’s X-rated blogs usually follow certain themes, ranging from cunnilingus to bondage, dominance, sadism and masochism, or BDSM. About 1/3 of women watch hardcore porn, while another 1/3 enjoy softcore or “artsy” porn, according to Marie Claire. Tumblr has something for everyone. A viewer can look for something more traditional, like a guy going down on a girl, or something really extreme, like the marks a paddle with a cheese grater attached can make on a butt.

Fifty-six percent of women said they were conflicted about watching porn because of the harsh treatment of women in the industry and the perpetuation of negative stereotypes, according to Marie Claire. However, with Tumblr’s X-rated blogs, more representation of identities can be found without those groups becoming fetishized. Racial minorities aren’t played up to stereotypes about being submissive or hot-blooded as much on Tumblr. People of different sizes also find others who look like them and are just as sexy in the same sexual situations as skinny girls.

Although a vast majority of users who run X-rated blogs curate but don’t create the material, there’s a small number of people who post content of themselves and their partners. Viewers often send them praise for their confidence in showing their bodies publicly. Many sexually explicit blogs even receive nude pictures from fans. The blogger will post them, if given consent from the fan, and add their thoughts on the photo.

Young women looking at those X-rated blogs could see them as encouragement to be more confident about their own bodies. Thirty-six percent of women said looking at sexual images helps them feel in control of their sexuality, according to Marie Claire. More women need to feel comfortable expressing their interest in porn because much more people watch it than thought. The sexual content can be used as a self-esteem booster and guide to future sexual encounters.

Meghan Morris is a sophomore studying journalism with a focus in news and information at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. What do you think of Tumblr porn? Let Meghan know by tweeting her @marvelllousmeg.

Development by: Alex Vella / For The Post