Nude Women, Skin Color, Huh?
Although I linked early to Ethnorotica because of its general high style and because it’s the not-so-secret project of Lex from the excellent Naked Loft Party, I’m not fundamentally sympathetic to its “shine a light on the best in ethnic erotica” mission. I guess I’m still old-fashioned enough to dream of a world where a pretty naked woman is judged not by the color of her skin, but by the contents of her birthday suit. When it comes to ethnicity in porn, I myself am frequently oblivious; I’ve posted pretty pictures on this blog and been taken aback by comments that mentioned the color of the models, because that was not one of the features I noticed. Frankly, people who do notice make me a little nervous; I have a hard time imagining benign reasons for categorizing people by color in any context.
All of which is by way of lengthy introduction to this vintage postcard beauty, which may not be exactly the sort of ethnorotica Lex has in mind:
This postcard (which is probably pre-1970s, judging from the scalloped edges) appears to be a fairly late entry in the 120-year-old category of “ethnic nude” postcard photography. I’m not generally inclined to post these vintage postcard pictures, because their focus on “ethnic” identity strikes me as a poor reason to take or display nude photos. But beauty is beauty, and sometimes good art (or good porn) happens for bad reasons. I find this young woman’s picture just too pretty not to share.
Similar Sex Blogging:
Shorter URL for sharing: http://www.erosblog.com/?p=1561
I know what you mean – women can be beautiful in any shape or colour… but personally speaking, sometimes my tastes change from day to day. Somedays, I like Africans, another day, Latinos.
Food for thought, certainly. You inspired me to clarify the mission statement.
ethnorotica only exists because when picking out galleries for NLP I had the damndest time finding anything but the usual white models.
I totally agree with you man, beauty should not be confined to a particular skin colour. I find dark women quite exotic. like the beauty of Aishwarya Rai.. She’s a goddess! Who cares if a women/ man is white/black/latino/asian? if they are beautiful, they are just that.. Beautiful.
Lex, I’m still baffled (I think I’ll always be baffled) by why the color of the models was a sorting criterion you even *noticed*, much less why it would motivate you to start a website.
Update: Lex, I’ve looked at your new comments on Ethnoerotica, and they only leave me more puzzled. You say my dream of judging a woman’s erotic appearance consideration of her race is “a fine sentiment” but “unfortunately we have a long way to go.” If you agree that it’s the right direction, why do you then marshall four arguments for going in the *other* direction, justifying paying more, and not less, attention to race?
I’m almost amused (but a bit horrified too) that your first reason “why color matters” (in your words) is that porn is “overwhelmingly white”. That wouldn’t be an argument for the proposition unless we’d already agreed that the proposition was true, would it?
I totally agree with you in spirit, but I think there is something to be said for catering to specific tastes. This is why there are so many “big tit,” “small tit,” chubby women,” etc. etc. sites.
I have a girlfriend who is only into Asian guys. She won’t even date non-Asian men. She isn’t a racist, and I’m sure she would see beauty in African or Latino men, but she is *into* Asians. A site dedicated only to naked Asian men would be like heaven for her, I’m sure.
What I noticed was an *absence* of variety. God forbid I should want to post a pretty brown-skinned woman on my website from time to time without all the annoying ghetto stereotypes thrown in. Ethno is my attempt to pull together erotic imagery from sites that — at the very least — aren’t blatantly offensive in terms of race. I don’t see how this is objectionable in the least. And I don’t see how it’s any different than what alt-porn attempts to do re the presentation of women in porn.
I don’t know how anyone can argue that it’s okay to present alternatives to cum-soaked-fuckholes (thus calling attention to gender stereotypes), yet it’s somehow not okay to present alternatives to ghetto porn (thus calling attention to racial stereotypes). Shutting up about a problem doesn’t make it go away.
And yes, the overwhelming whiteness of porn *is* an argument for why color matters. At the very least, we have to ask ourselves why it is — if beauty is beauty as you say — that the beauty presented to us adheres to a very narrow standard in terms of ethnicity. Especially at a time when many other kinds of beauty standards are being challenged.
First of all, Lex, let’s not overcharacterize my point — I said I wasn’t “fundamentally sympathetic” to your project, but I hope I didn’t suggest that I found it objectionable. I’ve used words like puzzling and baffling, yes, but I wouldn’t have linked so swiftly if I had any serious objection. In fact, I think you’ve presented a very nice selection of quality porn.
The way to avoid moronic/bad/evil/stupid porn (whether it’s lily-white cum-soaked-fuckholes or racist/ghetto porn) is to *avoid* it, which I try to do. I strive mightily to avoid posting porn that fails to respect its subjects, and I strive even *harder* to avoid reproducing or linking to the misogynistic or racist or otherwise idiotic sales text that surrounds a lot of otherwise unobjectional porn.
Look, I don’t argue that it’s “not OK” to present alternatives to the stupid/foul/hateful porn out there; I try to do that very thing every day. What I don’t understand is why you would choose to filter that presentation by race. “Color matters” was once the exclusive motto of racists. My own preference is to let them keep it.
I think I see good points on both sides. In terms of social interaction color matters because of history and ongoing racism, it’s not something that can be idealistically negated because it “shouldn’t” matter. The reality is that social dynamics include race as a parameter.
Bacchus (and, by all means, please correct me if I’ve misinterpreted) is espousing the view that beauty is not related to race, and I agree. Beauty is beauty.
I think Lex is addressing the issue that though beauty is not bound by race, the portrayal is. His “race matters” seems to be more about the fact that if beauty/sexuality is only portrayed in limited ways, then there is a problem. And he’s right, most media point to skinny white women as the epitome of beauty, and only portray women of color as stereotypes. Providing an alternative set of “beautiful” options provides variety to those who don’t want to see the same icon over and over. It also provides for people who have preferences that don’t include skinny white women.
If no one addresses the issue, it doesn’t go away. At the moment, you can vote in the US no matter what color your skin is or what the arrangement of your gonads is, but it didn’t get that way without people pushing to let those groups into the “mainstream.”
Ideally, projects like this one, which propone the idea of beautiful women of all colors and ethnicities by demonstrating non-typical examples, will erode the stereotypes that limit the expression of beauty to one race and body type. Eventually race will be as meaningless to the portrayal of beauty as it is to the actual aesthetics.
What I don’t like is that nowadays if you look at the “world” beauty contests even the black women look like they are white Babies with darker skin. What I mean this is how a black women looks.
It was only recently I realized I failed to mention that the lesbian title we have in post features two black women. Perhaps that explains why pre-orders for that title have been weak as compared to our (white) straight title and (white) gay title.
I guess I’ve got a thing or two to learn about marketing “ethnic erotica”.
Oh wait, I forgot to mention they were lesbians too. Doh!
I’ve arrived here through various links.
As a woman of color, I’d like to attempt to put in my two cents about the need for ethnorotica.
Default is the issue.
Being oblivious to what is default does not make it any less so. Nor does it contribute to changing it.
The reason why there is a need for sites like ethnorotica is the same reason I can’t find a band-aid to match my skin.
Narrowing focus so it’s easier for me and other non-defaults to find porn reflective of themselves is not a bad thing.
Specializing in that form is sadly, the only way that I can find variety in any form that is not degrading or stereotyping.
Assuming that one’s one own obliviousness to the absence or presence of diversity is somehow a positive, is an exercise in earplugged “la-la-las”.
Having just done a similar search on your site for color, for example, I found only this article; featuring an African amputee. A photo which is clearly not meant to be sexually arousing.
Love this site, otherwise.
Coco, amputee? I’ll confess my first reaction to this photo was that she had her hand behind her back at an awkward angle, designed to make her breasts stick out.
Regardless, I disagree that this photo was not meant to be arousing. I think the photo was “clearly” posed to be erotic. Even if you’re right about the amputation, you are aware that amputee porn is a thriving fetish? And this girl is beautiful, a fact which has not escaped our photographer.
I put my own “clearly” in quotes to mirror yours, and to highlight that it’s a rhetorical trigger word we typically see in arguments where someone is trying to present opinion as fact.
Thanks for your perspective on the need for racialized porn. If it’s what turns you on, I’d be a hypocrite to speak against that. I’m mildly startled to encounter someone for whom “reflective of themselves” is a porn selection criterion (I myself don’t seek out porn based on whether or not it contains middle-aged white people) but hey, it’s your libido.
But I’m still not going to start categorizing the porn on Erosblog by the skin color of the models. For the reasons expressed in my Not Ignorant, Adamant post, I “remain convinced it’s a bad business.”
I am curious how you conducted a search on my site “for color”, though. Did you page through five years of posts day-by-day? If so, I’m impressed. If not, what did you do, to search for photographs that aren’t labeled with “racial tags or identifiers” that I prefer to avoid? How do you do a text-based search for “color” in a database of text prepared by a willfully colorblind man?
I should point out that two of the three “Similar Sex Blogging” links at the end of this post take you to photographs of what you are calling “color”. (Doesn’t that sound dehumanizing to you? I’d much prefer to say something like “photographs of women”.) So if this post was the only “color” you found on ErosBlog, I submit to you that your search was defective.
Glad you “otherwise” enjoy the site, and sorry I can’t (won’t, prefer not to) help you in your ongoing quest for color-labeled porn.
re: “…ethic erotica…”
Heh-heh! I wonder if Africa has its OWN “ethnic erotica”, or will someday in the future, that features “white” models…
I’ve always wondered if Africa has an isle in its department stores for “ethnic hair and beauty products”, that features Caucasian oriented cosmetics…