NEW YORK—Whoopi got bleeped on The View the other day for saying “assholes,” but there wasn’t much the censors could do yesterday morning when she said she loved porn, and then used the word “pudenda” a few times. (One pictures a network plebe in a mad search for its definition in the frantic seconds after she uttered it.) Underlying the jokes was a pretty serious (and controversial) theory that unshaven pussies promote a greater interest in underage girls.
The conversation began with Whoopi mentioning a new software product that purports to help women find their man’s hidden porn stash on his computer. She wondered if it would bother the other panelists to learn that their significant others were watching porn.
“It would bother me more if he was watching Glee,” said Joy Behar. Pretty funny.
Behar then said it really wouldn’t bother her, Sherri Shepherd said it would bother her because porn sets up unrealistic expectations in men, and Elisabeth Hasselbeck was conspicuously quiet on the subject. Whoopi had a few other points about porn to make, however.
Her first was that she thinks it makes no sense to watch porn on a computer, because the screen is too small.
“To me, if you want to watch porn you get a videotape and put it in,” she said, to the eternal endearment of untold numbers of adult studios who wish people still did that.
Her co-anchors pushed back, saying screens were big enough and maybe men didn’t want to watch videos anymore because the computer gave them more privacy and the ability to hide their porn viewing from their partners, which should have diverted the conversation back to the original topic, but it didn’t. What it did was give Whoopie an opportunity to wax (ahem) on the pros of porn and the cons of … too much waxing.
“I like porn. I do. I think it’s good. I think it can be great for couples if you don’t have a device and great for you as well. But I will tell you what bothers the hell out of me, because this is something that I should have watched over the years,” she said, just warming up. “When you see where porn stars are—the women, what their pudendas look like, you can track what other women are going to be doing … there used to be a time when a woman’s pudenda—they looked like women. Then suddenly it became like a landing strip, and then it became bald, and I’m saying what’s wrong with that is they made it what a young girl’s pudenda looks like, and I think this has had a lot to do with how folks are after younger … It’s bad because I understand you want to do some grooming, but to make yourself look like you did when you were 12 or 13 sends a message to people that you want a kid’s body.”
Behar managed to end the segment with another joke—“I like Hitler’s moustache as a look”—so the more serious discussion was not allowed to develop, but perhaps that is just as well.
The perceived infantilism of porn stars as represented by unshaved genitals is nothing new, but neither does it appear to have any actual foundation. Like everything else, the trend to shave is just that, a trend that became the norm for many performers and civilians alike. While it is unlikely that the bad old days of Amazon-like bush will return, the idea that most porn stars somehow want to project an underage look is pretty ridiculous, and a little insulting.
It’s also unnecessary. There are lots of reasons to prefer some hair down there without going whole hog and suggesting that the current bald trend has led to an increased sexual interest in underage girls. After all, there’s a lot more to porn stars (and all women) than their shaved or unshaven pudenda.
The segment can be watched here.
Photo: A bald pussy
