So I just watched the first Masters of Sex episode...and I was pretty disappointed. I figured I'd be disappointed since I'm so involved in the subjects this show could touch on, but I was a little more disappointed than I had hoped. I'm not going to get too in depth. I certainly could though. I've been thinking and talkin' about it with Charlie, and I could say all kinds of things, but it's the first episode, and I'm gonna wait it out a bit. However, here are some of my quick observations.
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| Master and Johnson in Masters of Sex |
1. There was a scene in which the famous coitus machine is used for demonstration. In real life this is a clear dildo that moved back and forth so as to pump in and out of a vagina. It is clear so you can see what's happening in the vagina. I believe it can also have a camera in it. Anyway, this is the only way M&J recorded orgasms in women that resulted only from vaginal penetration. It was with this dildo machine. M&J hypothesized that the dildo/(or penis they assumed) pulled on the engorged labia which pulled on the clitoral hood which stimulated the clit. It then caused a weaker version of the orgasms women obtained through manual clitoral orgasm. Okay. So that's reality.
In the show, the clear dildo machine is shown as really just a vibrating clear dildo. It isn't on a thrusting machine. There's even a close up of a switch marked "vibration" being flipped on. We don't really see what she does with it - put it in her vag or rub it on her vulva, but what we do get is the wrong idea about the nature of Master's and Johnson's research. This scene makes it seem like vibrators were a part of it and they certainly were not. It also seems to me like the creators are intentionally downplaying M&J's obsession with emphasizing the importance of orgasm through vaginal penetration. It is a wierd aspect of Masters and Johnson - since they specifically say and their research specifically shows that there is no such thing as a "vaginal orgasms" and that the orgasms had through penetration alone are simply less intense versions of orgasms had through more direct clitoral stimulation. I mean why were they so obsessed with coitus? Frankly, I have a theory about this after reading the book this series was based on...but no matter what it's a peculiar aspect to this scientific duo, and it annoys me that it's ignored.
2. The couple having sex at the end of the show in the lab all hooked up to equipment ended up looking just like a porn scene. It almost looks identical to a porn scene we use as an example in our movie. Anyway, it's got the woman on top - cowgirl style, back straight so that there's no way the clit/vulva area is touching his body. Her hands are in her own hair. It's really porny. The scene ended before she had an orgasm, but it seemed like she was headed that way. Hated it. So this show's about this important research on realistic physical knowledge about female (and male) orgasms, yet right from jump it shows an unrealistic depiction of what physical acts might actually get a women off.
3. It's a little over dramatic so far. I'm hoping they tone that shit down.
At one point in the show, Virginia Johnson is trying to get a female to volunteer for the studies and she tells her that this could be the biggest change in women's lives since the right to vote. I actually liked that statement a lot, and I think that if the scientific knowledge that Masters and Johnson gave us actually penetrated and stuck in our cultural consciousness, then that would be a very true statement. Unfortunately, I don't believe that change has actually happened yet. I hope we get there soon, but I'm not quite sure yet if this show will help or hurt the cause.
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