Shopping Advice 
Violet Blue on Tyra Banks Show
Violet Blue, blogger and sex educator extraordinaries was just on the Tyra banks show and had a pretty horrific time. She was asked on because of her article in Oprah’s magazine about porn for women. I was thrilled about that article and hoped that Tyra’s show would do it justice. Instead, it sounds like they screwed up in almost every way possible. If you want a good picture of how porn is being represented to women, I highly recommend reading Violet’s story at her blog, Tiny Nibbles. Here’s a snippet:
I watched as the show evolved into a giant ad for Candida Royalle’s films — which is great, except the underlying message was, in repetition, that women who watch porn want romance. And romantic porn. That porn made for men is icky and dumb, and women don’t like that. (…so, if we do, then we should be ashamed?) No mention was made about any other kind of porn, or that the women watching porn (and getting off to it) are watching *all kinds* of porn, showing how empowered we women are to now really finally be asking for what we want (to see, and do) sexually. To Royalle’s disservice (though she came off terrific), only Candice’s older, more romantic, nay, softer films were showcased.
Update: Cory Silverberg on About.com wrote a great piece on this.
September 21st, 2007 at 4:55 pm
The one and only time I ever watched the Tyra show she had a guest who was deathly afraid of garden gnomes. Tyra did an intervention where the poor girl had to approach a whole arrangement of different sized garden gnomes to “conquer” her fear.
I’m not surprised about Violet’s terrible experience.
September 24th, 2007 at 6:35 pm
After hearing Violet Blue’s account about being on the show, I searched online and found a porn star who had been invited to the show, and in those clips, Tyra told her to “do some deep soul-searching” to ask herself if doing porn was what she really wanted to make of her life.
The star, Sasha Grey, is one of the most intelligent, respected, and rising stars in the adult industry and despite her barely legal age, I consider her business sense right up there with Belladonna and Jenna Jameson ready to fill their shoes. On the show, they manipulated her answers, and even forced her to wear clothes that made her look younger. The Tyra Banks show is awful. And, it’s right in line with Transphobic Daytime Shows that sensationalize the Trans experience. Over all, crap.
September 25th, 2007 at 3:26 am
I’ve seen the intellectual talents of Banks, and they’re rather limited. Her most frequently used word is ‘fierce,’ and it all goes pear shaped the moment she opens her mouth. I’m suprised that someone as eloquent as Violet experienced something like this, then again it’s always been about ‘Tyra’. Wow, another supermodel. What have supermodel’s contributed to this world? They barely write articles, they seldom explore social complexities. They’re perrennial poseurs. TV Networks really need to wake up, because there’s only so many empty headed bimbo-hostesses that a person can tolerate, for women’s issues to be ignored or percieved in a generic manner. This experience does little to promote any sexual discussion (apart from Tyra’s own personal preferences).