Two recent news quotes:
From “All Headline News” – “Los Angeles, CA – Angelina Jolie’s former lesbian lover says the stunning actress was very provocative and raunchy before ever settling down. She even claims the two visited dominatrix dens together, which Angelina “loved.”
From “The New York Daily News” – “At a celebration for President Bill Clinton’s 50th birthday, at Radio City Music Hall, in 1996, Simon, terrified of following Smokey Robinson, invited the entire horn section to let her have it,” writes
John Lahr in the New Yorker. ”’They all took turns spanking me,’she says. ‘During the spank the curtain went up.’“
What do these two random newsclips (there are many, many more each week) tell us? Well, first of all that celebrities have a sexlife as well (duhh). Secondly, that some celebrities are into forms of kinky sex. No wonder, 30 percent of the adult population in the western world at the very least has fantasies about alternative lifestyles and kinky sex, so statistically one out of each three celebrities is likely to be into that kind of thing.
The question is, is this actually news? Well, while a more or less public spanking – especially in front of a former US-president – will certainly make the headlines that doesn’t mean it qualifies as “news”. Had it been Jane Doe, singing at her grandma’s birthday party nobody would have bothered. So, just because it happens to celebrities, it triggers the attention of the media.
Let’s not forget that – again according to the above statistics – one out of every three reporters also has such fantasies, or actually is actively involved in some form of alternative sexuality. That we do not hear about of course.
From a simple, basic journalistic point of view …. if 1/3 of the population does it all the time, it is probably very common. That is why nobody reports about the fact that people go to football or baseball stadiums to watch their favorite team play. That is why watching a sitcom will not get you on the New York Times’ front page. That is why eating a slice of pizza will not make you famous. Simply because these are activities almost everyone does every now and then. And actually “kinky sex” is no different.
The United States is by far the largest producer of pornography. Yet the country does not want to know about that. A survey by the Powerotics Foundation revealed that no mainstream television soap can be successful without the occasional “damsel in distress” action. Actresses are tied up, abducted, gagged or caged all the time on daytime television. Several years ago a collector had no problem finding thousands of whipping, caning, bondage and spanking scenes from thousands and thousands of mainstream Hollywood movies.
And here we get to the real point: kinky sex, or hints to kinky or alternative sex, SELLS! It sells newspapers and magazines, movies and television shows. It even sells entire careers, such as those of Madonna and Billy Idol. it is largely what makes Bill Clinton’s recent autobiography sell. If it is such a powerful sales argument, why not use it, instead of condemning it?
©2007 Hans Meijer
Hans Meijer is 54, a Dutch former journalist and government spokesmen, webmaster and filmmaker, active in the sexual and erotic information realm. He was the chairman for powerotics Foundation (now closed). This organization is dedicated to provide quality information about alternative lifestyles. His 5 e-book series “Shibari Fumo Ryu” about the Japanese erotic Shibari technique and art is considered groundbreaking. Reproduced with permission.