Pushing Boundaries: Big Screen Sexuality
(published on BitchBuzz)
It was the mid '80s, I was a child and I remember once sneakily spying on a group of adult female members of my family while they were watching a film. At some point I saw them all shocked and screaming with laughter, because during a semi-erotic scene of the film, the sexual encounter was initiated by the woman undoing the man’s trousers.
Judging by the ladies’ reaction, it was clearly completely unacceptable behaviour and no, I wasn’t supposed to be watching.
Indeed, it was a time of Sex Wars in feminism: opinions on erotica in the media, sadomasochism and porn were contradictive and possibly confusing for women of that generation who were simply trying to break free from the stereotypes they should have been following; or in many cases, pretending to be following.
I’m sure you all remember those were the years of Nine and a Half Weeks mayhem. In the film the young and beautiful Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke interpret a couple in a not-so-sane relationship where consensual sadomasochistic games are played, mainly seeing Basinger in the submissive role, pushing her boundaries till she has an emotional breakdown.
The film was not a success in cinemas, but the video made a hundred million. This says a lot about the hypocrisy of the first reaction.
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