Porn For Straight Girls: Polish Your Pearl With Jessica Drake

A really long time ago a boyfriend and I snuck into the adult section at the local indie video store and rented a VHS tape of Deborah Sundahl's "How to Female Ejaculate: Find Your G-Spot." I don't remember it really helping us along on my quest to squirt -- after all, Sundahl also wrote the book on it, literally, which I'd already read -- but it was interesting and hot and, well, that's maybe a story for another time. The guide had a certain crunchy queer Bay Area vibe to it that I liked. Sundahl does have a guide specifically for couples, but this wasn't it; this was sort of a space pioneered by feminists like Sundahl, Annie Sprinkle, Carol Queen (who is in the guide), Nina Hartley, and Susie Bright. It would have turned off many a "typical" hetero dude looking for some wank material.

Since then, the how-to DVD market has exploded with something for almost everyone, from smoochy smoochy couples-targeted films and Axel Braun's more dude-oriented "Squirting 101" to Tristan Taormino's feminist, queer-friendly offerings. I checked out "Jessica Drake's Guide to Wicked Sex: Female Masturbation" and found that it fell somewhere in the middle of it all -- it's not not wank material for people who enjoy watching women masturbate, but Drake is striving to offer some information to women about their bodies, even if it's very, very basic.

On the back of the DVD, it's marked to be displayed in the couples' section, but Drake's guide is sort of confusing in that aspect. It definitely looks, for lack of a better word, porn-y. Maybe it's the sort of thing a guy could bring home for his porn-shy girlfriend, because it doesn't seem like a film that a woman who is seeking out porn on her own would find informative. Then again, maybe I live in a weird bubble where my friends are like, "Hey, I totally need to go get a new vibrator after brunch!" I don't believe there's nothing new under the sun, but I do believe I didn't learn anything from this hour-long guide to masturbation. Then again, I could have spent an hour doing something far more unpleasant than watching Lily LaBeau, Misty Stone, and Julia Ann do a show-and-tell about their rabbit habits.

Drake offers gentle verbal affirmations for the viewer and also interviews the stars about masturbating, what they love about it, what turns them on, how often they masturbate, and how they like to get off. There are also three extra scenes where each star gets to do whatever she likes to get off, which is a nice touch, so to speak.

Drake gets props for emphasizing finding out what makes you the viewer feel good and offering a fairly simple biology lesson with verbal affirmation that, hey, inner and outer labia and clits and clitoral hoods come in all shapes and sizes and it's all good. There's also an emphasis on clitoral stimulation and how many women find it necessary for orgasm. Although it doesn't get too heavy into G-spot and anal info, it's enough to pique the viewer's interest in exploring those topics in the future. Drake even goes over the different types of materials in toys and concerns over phthalates.

At the same time, the women in the guide are porn stars, so while there's the smallest nod towards diversity of age and body type and race, it's not incredibly inclusive. It also doesn't address the mental or physical blocks many women face trying to have orgasms, because the three stars, whether through the magic of libido, timing, or editing, come quite quickly compared to, say, someone who's stressed out about work or on anti-depressants or any number of things that make it difficult for many women to tune out and get off. I'm concerned that women watching this might see Julia Ann say that she's "not someone who can orgasm very quickly" and that her fastest time is 8 minutes will think they're total freaks for taking half an hour, an hour, whatever to have an orgasm.

Drake's guide tries to straddle the line between being "Wicked" and being female-friendly in a way that other brands do much better and smarter. However, it's not damaging or malicious, the orgasms are authentic, and it's a straight-forward introduction to these types of guides for people who might be intimidated or overwhelmed by edgier stuff. I'd hope, however, that eventually viewers who pick up Jessica Drake's guides eventually make their way to more challenging, informative movies like Tristan Taormino and the latest findings on the excited, internal clitoris.

Why this is a good porn for straight girls:

· Each scene is solo, so the emphasis is totally on the performer's pleasure. Even if you aren't into watching women masturbate at all, it's still interesting to see learn the differences and similarities between how we all get down. Maybe their bodies don't look like yours -- I know they don't look like mine! -- but masturbation is a great equalizer. Personally, I found it hot.

· Debunking what's "normal" when it comes to how you get off or how big or small your labia are or whatever is essential. Essential. Ideally, this would be backed up by the stars themselves; alas, there is not a great range of body types, and it's possible that Julia Ann has had labiaplasty in addition to a rather obvious boob job. (The labiaplasty info is in Wikipedia and cites a dead link, so this is something I'd take with a grain of salt.)

· Drake emphasizes how important it is for you to find out what makes you hot and that it's okay if it's not the same thing as what's happening onscreen -- but that if you want to try sticking a finger up your butt, you should totally go for it.

· Although the scenes are performative by their very nature, the three women really seem to be getting off. And the extra scenes where they're allowed to do whatever they want are hot stuff. Especially Misty Stone and her epic shower head masturbation.

· These aren't hard-hitting interviews, but they humanize the performers and give us a glimpse of their personalities and fantasies.

*****

Previously: Porn For Straight Girls Archive