IsayUsaySsay

Name   : Diana McCarthy 
Time   : 22:30 - 24:00 (Balie Autonomous Zone)
Subject: Sex in the Age of Media
Date   : Saturday 20 January 1996

What began as a potentially interesting workshop, 'Sex in the Age of Media,' ended in a masturbatory discussion of fuck. Marianna Padi, the moderator, initally posed the question of "Why do people enjoy talking about sex so much?" The presumption in that question was more than proved throughout the workshop. Interestingly enough, the audience refused to go beyond a shallow comparison of sex as a physical act in real time and its virtual manifestations in cyberspace, with physical sex taking the lead.

The invited speakers represented several areas of the sex-industry, yet few differentials in sex were identified. As issues of true stories in the media took the floor, the issue of virtual genderbending was touched, but also was lost soon after as the discussion reverted back to fucking. Mariska Majoor, the coordinator of the Prostitution Information Center, and a former prostitute, made one important point in terms of western sexuality and the media: People have a problem dealing with their sexual desires.

Again, the discussion regressed to plain old sex, with no investigation of why or how sexuality is dealt with in the media age. William Levy, publisher of the out of print magazine 'Suck', stated: "There is no sex in the media." He went on to say that he didn't understand the hype of sex in the media and called for more sexual arousing media, somehow confusing explicit representations of sex with media.

That sex is an important topic for most cannot be denied. Ironically, the discussion is indicative of the fact that the act itself has been relegated to a position where its deconstruction is little more than a verbal reenactment - virtualized.

Diana McCarthy