2/24/2019 I watch porn. So what?

- The Hindu

CONFESSIONS OF AN ANONYMOUS WOMAN SOCIETY

I watch porn. So what?

CHENNAI:, AUGUST 07, 2015 15:00 IST
UPDATED: MARCH 29, 2016 13:49 IST

Tanya Tate, Sara Jay, Raylene… I rattle off these names like they are my buddies. Well, to be
fair, I do see them thrice a week. They are popular porn stars whose works I am often privy
to. I use the word privy because for most people, watching porn is a secretive thing. Not
many want to talk about it or admit to it, for fear of being judged. Me, I don’t really care and
I discuss it with my friends and peers whenever the need arises. As for the parents, well, that
generation really needs to get used to a lot of things. I am sure they’ve watched porn too and
browsed through the raunchy glossies with beautiful nude women plastered across the
pages, accompanied by graphic tales of passion, but like most families, are embarrassed to
discuss it.

I started watching porn quite by accident. I was 16 and browsing the Net for a teen
magazine. The magazine’s website didn’t show up, but what did, was a colourful portal –
and there, I was staring at my first porn clip. Now in my late 20s, I still resort to it. I find
pornography rather entertaining. I really do not understand all the fuss surrounding it. It’s
two or more people making love, often in the most acrobatic and impractical postures. So
what? Have you seen their gorgeous figures, or how flexible they are? And their make-up is
always so well-done and dramatic.

“You watch porn uh?” – A lot of people react this way when I show off my expertise about
the various porn production houses. What’s particularly hilarious is the storyline most of
them have. Sometimes, a tad too predictable or juvenile, but they crack me up nevertheless.
For a more refined taste and for better storylines, there’s always erotica, a world to which I
was introduced by Italian filmmaker Tinto Brass with his Frivolous Lola, Fallo! and
Monamour.
At a sleepover, I once played a collection of classic porn from the 70s for a group of girl pals
and it turned out I wasn’t the only one giggling. One of the friends seemed especially
amused by the staged screams and moans. When the government recently banned around
857 sites that included a number of my favourites, my options narrowed down. But now
that the ban is to be lifted (except for the sites that promote child pornography) it saves
people like me the hassle of accessing them through proxy servers. There are arguments
about morality, depravity and how watching porn may lead to hypersexuality… I am going
to steer clear of that because I disagree. In spite of all these years of being ‘addicted’ to
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2/24/2019 I watch porn. So what? - The Hindu

pornography, I am not a nymphomaniac and neither have I spent numerous hours

dreaming about sexual activities… heck I haven’t even done ‘the act’ yet.

There’s nudity in our art forms. The statue of David in Florence, the intricate sculptures at
Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh, Konark Sun Temple in Odisha, and Frogner Park, Oslo –
would you term people who admire them as perverts? Porn, to me, is an art form and if
connoisseurs of this genre cherish it, maybe you should let them, minus any judgment.

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