Visual erotica for women

[SparklingExplosionGoldBrass]

Because the discussion on this at Ladyfest was fascinating but didn't go on long enough, I fancy continuing it here.
Soo, iirst off, why aren't there proper erotic magazines (with pictures of naked men in them) for heterosexual women?

Yes agree that because of the conditioning these things make women feel sexy. Also that heterosexual women become programmed to respond sexually to sexual images of women. On this thread much earlier up someone (Sakura?) said that women's bodies are objectively more beautiful. But I don't think that's true, I think it's conditioning. Well built young men have extremely beautiful bodies IMO.

Comes back to a phrase I have seen on this topic about women being the "sex class" - is that what it means? I can easily imagine it being reversed, with men being sex objects for women to look at. Not that that would be any more of a healthy way to have society.

Yep agree.
I am not bi or gay and not at all interested in actual sex with women. But I do get turned on looking at pictures of them - which, in a nice twist, I always used to find embarrassing, until I sorted my head out a bit.

ISNT: The law is actually not at all specific about cocks. THe interpretation of the law by distributors etc is that hard-ons are prohibited - actually, when I was first involved in this sort of thing in the early 90s, the policy was that 'genitals may not be shown in an excited state' and yes there would be rows about the shape and size of a particular woman's labia and whether they demonstrated that she was aroused or not.
Thing is, for the viewer, it's a much smaller leap of the imagination to to consider that in a picture of a naked woman, genitals exposed, she may be aroused, than to look at a naked flaccid man and try to tell yourself that maybe ye's just about to get aroused.

TBH I think the roots of the this are what it's been for a long time - women are supposed to be the ones who are looked at, not the ones who look, hence the insistence that women only find images of other women attractive.

Sure that is very common doggie. Female sexual responses are way messed up by all of this (something that Sakura was saying earlier as well - definitely agree with that bit!).

Like how it's "sexy" to get off with your female mates. No it isn't (well for some it is but YKWIM), it's sexy for the men you're with to see you get off with your mates. And the fact that they find it sexy, is what you are actually finding sexy. Women's sexuality is so often an indirect experience. This has also come up on these threads a lot and I'm sure it's true.

Interesting about cock law there SGB.

Try sticking some magazine covers with huge erections up in tescos, and how long they would be allowed to stay there

Cock law thing is interesting - I always assumed showing a hard-on was illegal

Right will stop posting all about meee
and go and read the thread properly

'Cock Law' heh heh

Somebody said something on here a couple of weeks ago that made me think

It was related to a post about a woman losing her libido and how she could get it back

This person said that we are turned on most by ourselves so if your self-image is down for any reason, your libido may suffer

I thought it was interesting, and struck a note with me

I turn myself on, and am turned on by DH being turned on by me

Hope that makes sense, and not sure how relevant it is to this thread, but it adds fuel I think to how straight women find female nudity arousing

that's a wonderful point to make anyfucker...strikes a chord with me too.

Yes AF, but a man who is suffering from a poor self-image (worried about aging/loss of status/is disfigured in some way) may well suffer a loss of libido. I'm sure there have been threads on here on the perennial subject of men who won't have sex with their female partners, and who are also overweight and unhealthy and miserable.

Men do worry about whether they are attractive enough or not. They also worry about worrying about their looks, of course, thinking that it makes them unmanly, but if men really never worried about what they look like, there wouldn't be such a market for wigs and hair-loss prevention products, 'discreet' lifts for shoes to be worn by short men, bodybuilding stuff etc.

I agree with SGB. Both men and women care about how they look. It is natural and it is mainly done tyo be attractive to the opposite sex. Men buy smarts suits, nice shoes and flash watches and cars in order to be attractive to women. It is not really social conditioning. Both sexes know what the other sex finds attractive and hardly anybody intentionally dresses to be unattractive to the opposite sex.

Of course men have insecurities too, I wasn't disputing that. But I don't believe for one minute that they come under quite the same pressure as women do following childbirth, feeling like a sexy woman again, losing your libido because you are bf'ing/hormonal/fucking knackered etc etc

This is going a bit OT though

I thought that men bought flash watches to show off to each other! Maybe that's just the ones I know.... I can't imagine a woman thinking "wow he's as rough as a badgers arse, and a horrible person. But hold on what's that? A snazzy watch! I'll get my knickers off ASAP"...

Ditto women and handbags really.

They're prestige items to show off to others, usually of the same sex, rather than attract a mate.

Loads of young women dress to be intentionally unattractive to men, but that's another issue.

I don't think that teh pressure on women and men to conform to certain standards can be compared. the pressure on women is much much more, and the message is that their looks are the only thing that is of any relevance. While men can do humour / wealth / lovely bloke etc etc they aren't told that their looks are the only thing anyone will ever value in them.

I disagree, watches like Rolexes are a demonstration of wealth and that is what attracts many women. Other men don't even notice watches.

Agree that the pressure on women is much greater than on men. But men like George Clooney or Sean Connery still shave and want to wear smart clothes in order to be attractive to women.

Really? I would totally disagree with that statement on about 16 different levels. But I guess we are different people with different experiences.

I thoroughly used to love Mr Parent in the nude, something about the drop of the groin or the curve of the side profile around the buttocks. My first love was yummy too and meh in between. BUT the only time I have thought yummy about a man I've not fucked is Brad Pitt when he half naked and distressed in that 'all right guv, makin' a movie Mr Madonna' not Lock Stock, when there's fire and a burning caravan.....other than that I like a man dressed. I also find preening/posing men pretty vile.

oi, TFP, Brad is mine

he is a beautiful man and gets me "twitching" immediately < ahem >

if they could put that in a bottle and sell it, someone would make a killing

But Brad Pitt, or any other movie star you want to name, does something. He's a character.

OTOH porn type pictures are not.

I know, we are getting OT

Men in porn do zero for me, never found an inactive man attractive either (ie photos)....a man has to erm whisper in my ear, talk filth (and I don't mean oooo Feminst I lurve a nice dirty carpet to vacuum)...anything really!!!

I've skipped over the last ten posts or so (sorry) so as to reply to AF's post about women being turned on by themselves. I absolutely feel this is true; I know that it's an essential premise in fragrance advertising, for example. BUT ... what exercises me is that this is, in itself, an expression of how well conditioned we are to be the "object" of desire - how much purer could conditioning be? I feel sexually aroused when I perceive myself as a desirable object.

This is what really lies behind my mission to be lardy, hairy and still love myself I have to say I'm some way forward but it's taken fucking years. My self-esteem might never recover if I don't give in and epilate!

On a tangentially connected not, I was one of those trendy '80s women who liked to snog girlfriends in public. It was quite funny - enjoyable, though not sexually ... and a startling lesson in how much more effectively two women can objectify themselves together than alone