Here's a miserable little tale: I started reading feminist blogs after I stumbled on Bitch PhD. I came across her site one day last year and I liked what I read, so I stayed. I eventually strayed into my own blogging territory and those of other radical feminists but the Bitch still offered a good place to visit occasionally. Sadly, not any more.
You may or may not know (via Twisty, thank you very much) that Bitch has taken a paying job with Suicide Girls, blogging as culture editor or some such thing. My disappointment is palpable. Really, I believe it may be felt from yards away. I feel betrayed and I don't know why. She doesn't owe me anything. We're not friends. We have only academia and feminism in common... Oh, that may be it. The feminism thing.
Suicide Girls purports to be all about "unique, strong, sexy and confident women". They "are an army of 1,318 unconventionally gorgeous pin-up girls devoted to changing your idea of what makes women beautiful. [They] are the girls you've wanted to meet all your life."
Good God Almighty! How does an intelligent woman fall for this bullshit? Look at the "girls" page. Do any of those women look unconventionally beautiful to you? Do any of them have stretch marks, mastectomy, body hair, body fat, acne or any other human feature that might be (culturally) considered imperfect? Do me a favour. These "girls" are not even afforded the courtesy of being described as women, having adult status.
Porn irreparably damages women and girls. Porn encourages rape. Porn is a tool of the patriarchy. And porn is porn, no matter how you tattoo it, pierce it, label it, dress it up in faux-feminism and try to defend it. That's all.