The Sydney Feminists

Pornsites reinforce an ideal physique, breast size, shape, nipples, anticipated behaviours and, just as worryingly, vulvas. Generally speaking, porn is the first exposure many people have to the uncensored human body. Its power grabs at our concept of self, dictates how we perceive our sexuality and love our bodies.  Image Description:  Photo of a woman with pale skin, standing in white underpants, holding a red love heart over her pubic area. It seems people are more self-conscious than ever about attaining the ‘ideal vulva’. For those playing at home, the vulva is made up of several well designed and useful parts, starting with the labia minora and the labia majora. The labia majora are the outside lips, the ones seen straight away. The labia minora are the inside lips that are externally visible for some and not for others. The “ideal” vulva, most often portrayed in pornography, has a uniformly pink, small and symmetrical labia minora that does not protrude pa...

It's 7:30 on a Tuesday night, and I'm surrounded by other women, of all shapes, sizes and ages, wearing very little and having the time of their lives. The music is pumping, everyone is chatting animatedly, and waiting to go in for their classes. It's pole time and there's not a gym-bro in sight. I first found my way to pole three years ago, after I'd started getting involved in weight lifting. I was missing aspects of my performing days, and looking for something that blended the two - and I confess, I've always been a sucker for exercise that incorporates fun outfits and great music. Learning to appreciate my body for what it can do rather than what it looks like was a long journey, and one that regular exercising - especially weight-lifting - started. But I was still riddled with body issues - still worried about getting too big, still watching every bite that went into my mouth like a hawk, and still treating food, and my body, as something to wrestle w...