The Myth Of The Perfect Porn Pussy

In the mainstream sphere, porn tends to get blamed for a wide variety of social ills. Some of these are legitimate criticisms: porn is certainly responsible for the rise of the Brazilian wax, and—in combination with America's appalling lack of sex education—can give people skewed ideas about the way sex is "supposed" to work. Some criticisms at least sound true, even if the science behind them is fuzzy (the connection between porn and sex "addiction," for instance; or the way porn supposedly deadens sexual response). But there's one perennial complaint that's so patently false, so completely detached from reality, that I'm forced to speak out against it: and that, friends, is this idea that porn somehow promotes the idea of one universally ideal vulva.

I've read numerous articles promoting the idea that this is, in fact, a phenomenon; they're usually pieces discussing the disturbing trend of labial/vaginal cosmetic surgery (including labiaplasties, vaginoplasties, and the euphemistic "vaginal rejuvenation")—pieces with headlines like "Is porn pushing popularity of 'designer vaginas?'" that are apparently penned by people who haven't watched a single porn movie, ever, and only interview other people who are similarly sheltered from porn.

As an example: the above mentioned article about the correlation between porn watching and designer vaginas includes this gem:

"We haven't completed the research, but there is suspicion that this is related to much greater access to porn, so it is easier for women to compare themselves to actresses who may have had it done," Dr. David Veale, a psychiatrist who has studied vaginal rejuvenation, told the Guardian. "This is to do with the increasing sexualization of society - it's the last part of the body to be changed."

Why do any research when you can blame the perennial bogeyman that is porn, right?

Now, before we go any further, I'll admit this straight up: there are a lot of ways that porn might skew or negatively impact someone's body image. There's certainly a preference for larger breasted women, and as I mentioned above, pubic hair is often persona non grata on porn sets. But in a world where women openly discuss their breast implants, ass implants, and facial work, it seems telling that I've never—not once!—heard a single story of a porn performer getting a labiaplasty.

And why should they? For all its faults, the porn world is more than happy to celebrate a diverse array of pussies—any pussies, all pussies, as long as they're willing to be on camera. Now, I don't claim to be a scientist, and like Dr. Veale, I haven't done any real research. But I have watched a lot of porn, and I have looked at a lot of different pussies, and I can say with great assurance that most women in porn are not getting labiaplasties. But let's examine some evidence, shall we?

[Above: The luscious labia of Nyomi Banxxx]

Now, the writers of Fleshbot have already compiled a list of porn performers with delightfully meaty pussies. But perhaps that's too targeted a group—after all, these were women who were specifically selected for their luscious labia. So what happens when we examine the pussies of a more random selection of women? Something like what you see above. Those are the labia of the women who earned the top ten slots on Complex's 100 Hottest Pornstars list. While the don't have the diversity of, say, the women of the Great Wall of Vagina they're nowhere near as uniform as the after photos of labiaplasty patients—and some aren't that different from a few of the before photos. But perhaps we should take a moment to look at a few more porn pussies....

[Above, from left to right: Tori Black, Isis Taylor, Kayden Kross, Asa Akira, Lisa Ann, Jennifer White, Sunny Leone, Abella Anderson, Faye Reagan, Kristina Rose]

Above we have the labia of the AVN Awards' ten most recent Female Performers of the Year—or, in other words, the decade's most celebrated porn pussies. And again we have many different styles of labia—with, honestly, just one that seems to fit with the cultural conception of a perfect porn pussy (ironically belonging to the celebrated non-porny pornstar Sasha Grey). So it would seem that there's no one type of pussy that'll get you ahead in porn—and no one "designer vagina" that porn might be peddling on the masses. So if it's not from porn, well...where exactly are women getting the idea that there's one right style of pussy, and that there's is lacking?

Well, again, I'm not a scientist, and I haven't done any research, but I do have a few ideas about what might make women think that their pussies don't measure up. For one: there's something of a veil of secrecy around the vulva—and I don't just mean the way most people refuse to talk about it (though there is that too). By virtue of anatomy, the vulva's not in the most public place; even if you're a driven, sexually liberated lady, it takes a good deal of effort (and possibly a mirror) to get a good look at what's going on down there. Men might be able to casually check each other's penises out in the locker room, but a woman who attempted to see what her fellow gym patrons had between their legs would probably end up with a restraining order slapped on her.

And though the media likes to discuss how porn is everywhere, warping the minds of young people, there is, in fact, one vastly more prevalent source of sexual education that's far more likely to create a lasting impression of one "proper" way for a vulva to look: the diagram found in a biology textbook. Search for vagina on Google image search and you'll see this long before you find any porn.

So if porn isn't giving women one solid, specific vision of the perfect pussy; and biology textbooks are, why on earth is an educated and (presumably) respectable psychiatrist like the aforementioned Dr. Veale automatically assuming that porn is to blame for the recent rash of female mutilation? Could it be something as simple as the fact that it's easy to blame porn, that it's easy to pin a variety of social ills on a stigmatized population such as the adult industry—that it's far easier to tar and feather the pornstar than it is to, say, examine the possibility that a combination of sex negativity, shameful silence, and the proliferation of a stripped down, line diagram as the preeminent view of the female genitalia might be what's giving women the idea that their parts aren't right?

Well, it could be. But let's be serious, people. Everyone knows the medical and scientific establishments can do no wrong. It's gotta be the pornstars.

[Above, from left to right: Jewel De'Nyle, Nikita Denise, Aurora Snow, Ashley Blue, Lauren Phoenix, Audrey Hollander, Hillary Scott, Sasha Grey, Jenna Haze, Tori Black]