I am looking at a lot of studies around the correlation of porn and body dysmorphia or “body dissatisfaction” which is surprisingly inconclusive actually. It would seem in this particular area whilst there is strong evidence linking it to all the things you would assume: labiaplasty, breast implants, negative body image, steroid use, pubic hair removal etc etc the studies were too broad for anything to be used as strong evidence. There was also a lack of distinction between results for adults vs teens and for any unilateral definition of “body image”.
It seemed also that there was also no way to extract the effects of media more generally from these studies and potentially they showed that media is just as or if not more harmful – partly because we consume it more as its a larger entity – and that porn seems to reinforced many harmful stereotypes and messages already being coded into our everyday lives. This is pretty fascinating I think. Clearly more studies need to be done on these subjects to substantiate the fairly evident links between porn and increasing likelihood to have genital surgery for example.
Something else that pops up is the link between porn and an increase in strict expectations for your partner’s body and I think this could be very interesting when consider the male vs the female gaze.
All this is prep for the collage workshop with artist Gem Allison (Unattainable Blonde) where the focus will be on porn in relation to the body. I have been plotting ways to gather some more instant feedback and ruminating on something that I said to Betty in a tutorial which actually ended up helping me! – What do I want to find out?