You hit it on the nail. Like you, I’m no prude. But it seems that porn – and make no mistake that VS is porn – has become increasingly main stream and I find it disturbing. It seems to me there should be a balance between Victorian sensibilities and letting it all hang out. There is indeed a time and place for nudity and sexuality and it’s NOT everywhere and anywhere. I completely abhor the cheapening of sex.

I don’t know what the answer is. I know that men actually are obtuse when it comes to media images of idealized women. That’s why porno sells, why the Victoria Secret fashion show gets so many viewers, why Sports Illustrated has a women’s swimsuit issue which has absolutely nothing to do with sports. As long as men are visual, lust driven creatures who rule the world – and women continue to be on the bottom so to speak, it’s not going to change.

I think once we become more equal, more women in politics making decisions, then we can demand that our sexuality and our bodies not be commoditized to the extent that they are. I know some women think it’s empowerment to be freely sexual and pose for playboy, etc. But who are we kidding? I don’t see anything empowering about feeling compelled to show your breasts if you’re a young actress trying to make it, or having to strip to pay for school, or wear skimpy clothing to waitress.

If it were up to me, I would put an end to exploitation of women’s sexuality. No more Hooters, no more Lingerie Football League, no more soft-porn lingerie modeling, no more Girls Gone Wild, no more Sports Illustrated, no more Miss America, Miss Teen America, Miss Tiny Tot, no more mainstream movie female frontal nudity unless there is equal male frontal nudity, no more porn. Did you know that porn makes men love the women they are with less?

And since I’m sharing, can I complain about Victoria’s Secret? I used to shop their 20 years ago when it was classy, elusive and elegant. They didn’t have models in the windows and there was an understated elegance and an alluring mystique to it. You walked in and there was classical music playing and they offered a plethora of beautiful bedroom items to choose from. Now, it’s turned to trash. And they have 12 foot tall pictures in the windows of women in provocative, half-there underwear. Why? Are they not selling to women? I don’t want to look at naked women! And why has it become acceptable? We are not allowed to walk around the malls in our underwear, so why is it okay to post giant pictures of women in provocative positions, sometimes in the throws of passion, in skimpy underwear? Now, they may fight that they have ‘rights.’ The right to advertise. What about my rights? What about my children’s rights? Don’t we have the right not to be exposed to someone’s half naked body? If the law says we must not walk about indecently, then why are they allowed to advertise indecency?

I have started shopping at stores that don’t plaster the checkout lines with magazines (it’s a small list of places). And the places that do have magazines at the checkout lines, I try to avoid looking. I truly believe the advertisers want we women to feel like crap so we’ll buy more stuff. The worse we feel, the more we’ll spend to feel better and look better. I have also called managers over to complain about indecent magazine displays. One time at CVS I was on the childrens aisle picking out crayons and craft paper with my children when I turned to the other side of the aisle and was face to face with a Maxxim magazine…half naked, giant, mostly exposed boobs! I called the manager over and pointed to the crayons on one side and ‘Miss Half Naked-Big Boobies’ on the direct opposite side and asked him, ‘don’t you see the irony here? Doesn’t this seem a little incongruous to you?’ He said that those magazines pay high dollars to get the front line display. I suggested he find another aisle to display the magazines, away from the children’s items. I have no idea how it turned out. He probably thought I was a prude.

I’m not a prude. I’m a healthy red-blooded American woman. But there’s a time and a place for nudity and sexuality.

And if sex sells, it sells to more men than women and are men so obtuse and unevolved that they can’t see a manipulation when it’s glaring them in the face? Why on earth would any intelligent, evolved and intuitive man buy something because there was a half-naked beautiful women displayed with the ad? It makes me shake my head in wonder. There was a time when men valued modesty in women. There was a time when men didn’t value whorish dress and immodest behavior. It seems that sleaze has become the in trend in fashion.