Sex Sells to Women

"So much of what makes good writing is rhythm, the stop and start of a sentence. That's also what makes good sex."

-courtesy of The Daily Beast

Cool your jets, guys. It's not what you think. Well, I guess it kind of is.

I was reading my copy of Elle last night (because I have time to do that now!) and I ran into a tiny little insert announcing the release of Adult by founder and Editor-in-Chief Sarah Nicole Prickett - a new magazine labeled as 'female erotica' because it features sexy ladies in various states of nakedness. Not unlike Playboy, it's also slated to feature poetry, essays and interviews. But unlike Playboy, those things are slightly more likely to be read. Also it has recipes. Does Playboy have recipes? I dunno.

"The first issue of Adult," she says, "has such a retrospective feeling because it's full of all the things I was concerned about this year—surveillance, [the government] reading e-mails, censorship, Florida, which was a trending topic for half the year." She warns (and laughs), "It's incredibly dense and takes forever to read… you can't flip through it, really." -courtesy of The Daily Beast

While Elle seemed genuinely excited about it, it's getting mixed reviews online in terms of whether or not it should actually be considered transgressive and feminist. And since I don't happen to own a copy, I can't really say for sure whether I agree or disagree with this statement.

What I do know is that its feminist slant is slightly skewed by the 'male gaze' under which the photo spreads are shot. The images circulating online show examples of women essentially waiting to be taken or tied or untied - waiting to be acted UPON rather than the opposite. This is probably because the photo editor is male. I'm also a little confused as to why a magazine of female erotica or porn or whatever features so few penises and so many lady bits. Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate a woman's body and the power that can come from owning your sensuality, which I'd wager is kind of at the nucleus of this magazine.

But I also feel like it should be recognized that women enjoy taking part in voyeuristic bedtime reading just as much as men.

Image via The New Republic

Adult doesn't really seem to cater to women anymore than Playboy does, minus a few pictures of dudes.

On the flip side of all this is my annoyance at the fact that because the women in the magazine do seem to be in mostly submissive positions, they can't also be seen as feminist.

Ok, stop. I know that submissiveness isn't used as a way to describe feminists, like, ever. But feminism is marginalizing enough as it is without shaming an entire category of fetish/fantasy. Some women just get more turned on when they feel submissive. I don't think it necessarily makes them less empowered as women if it's how they feel most comfortable expressing themselves sexually. 

I guess I've just always felt a little uncomfortable with this all or nothing bullshit when it comes to what it means to be a feminist. To me, women making the decision to trust a man enough to be submissive, IF IT'S WHAT SHE WANTS, is feminist. The inverse of this would also be true. It's the woman's ability to DECIDE what she likes that gets the feminist stamp of approval.

And hopefully in upcoming issues of Adult, all sides of female sexuality - the dark, the sweet, the fucked up, the typical - will be explored and exposed in a way that honors the fact that ladies like getting some, too. And not because it sells something, but because it satisfies them.

Image via The New Republic

As a woman and consumer, and also as someone who hasn't actually seen the inside of this magazine, I'd like to hope it features pieces that stand leaps and bounds above the giant, not at all literary, pile of crap known as Fifty Shades of Grey, instead featuring commanding, curious and empowering pieces written by women of the same type.

Oh - Other noteworthy features of Adult (courtesy of The Daily Beast): an aphrodisiac breakfast recipe and an exploration of Erica Jong's 'zipless fuck' concept by Katharine Bernard.

So ladies, what say you? Would you read Adult? 

*It should be noted that at the end of the review in The Daily Beast, it was stated that the editors of Adult don't define the magazine as solely for women.