The Americans Season 5 - The SSL Review

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The Americans Season 5
As I've said before, I LOVED the Americans. Unfortunately the series is over now. It ended as well as I could imagine though, so it still stands as one of my very favorite TV series. Plus, although not always perfect, it went a bit above and beyond in my opinion with how it depicted female orgasm, sexuality and gender.  Anyway, there were no SSL reviewable scenes in Season 6, but there were 2 in Season 5 - both in episode 5.

As you know, only depiction or discussion of female orgasm and/or female masturbation and/or the clit are eligible for SSL Review. Nothing else counts, including plain 'ol sex if it doesn't include anything listed above. I specifically critique the realism (for instance, were the physical things happening to that women while she orgasmed things that could realistically cause orgasm for a woman?) and also speak on what the depiction/discussion reflects from and adds to the larger cultural discussion around lady-gasms and female sexuality.

You can see all the SSL TV Reviews HERE (and as always you can find all the movie SSL Reviews HERE).

The lady-on-top

The scene begins with Philip having sex with a woman. It's spy stuff, so he's just getting the job done. Normally he's pretty damn focused on these types of tasks, but in this we see he's particularly disengaged. We see a bust shot of him above her in missionary clearly pushing his dick in and out of her. We can't see what's going on with their bodies much below the shoulders, but it's clear that there are no hands doing any work near the clit/vulva area.

We also see her as he's banging her. She has her eyes closed and seems to be enjoying it - although I wouldn't say she is being depicted as near orgasm. Philip is looking down on her with such lack of interest in what he is doing that it seems almost robotic.

It then cuts to a memory of him as a child. Clearly he is poor and starving and his dad brings home what appears to be 3 rocks (for real - I really don't know what this food thing is) that his mom heats up and gives to the family to eat.

It cuts back to Philip and the woman in bed, but this time he's on his back. The camera is looking down on him and immediately the woman falls forward into frame with a quick orgasmic yelp as if in the last moment of her orgasm. She then rolls off him and breaths into recovery next to him. Clearly time had passed and they had changed positions during the Russia flashback, and she was riding him cowgirl style when she came.

My Thoughts (the SSL Review)
There is not enough shown to see where all 4 hands were or how she was having intercourse with him. Was she laying so her pelvis was pressed close against him so she could grind the clit/vulva area against his pelvis while he was inside her? Was she or he using one of their offscreen hands to rub the clit? I don't know. Now, Philip does still look very disengaged the moment before she slumps forward in orgasm, but if you know his character, he doesn't need to be engaged with this kind of thing to be doing the right thing to get the right results (stimulating her clit to make her come). There's no indication he was doing that, but no indication he wasn't either.

Anything could have been happening. In one way I appreciate that this was not a depiction of a lady-gasm during intercourse that was clearly unrealistic. It wasn't a classic scene where a woman just gets banged, where we see for sure there was no additional clit/vulva stimulation - either through hands/vibrators or deliberate close grinding of the clit/vulva against something. So I can't knock the scene. There truly could have been clit/vuvla stimulation we didn't see.

On the other hand, nobody in the world thinks as deeply and rewatches scenes like this so closely for that kind of information except me. Most people probably just see this scene as a woman that came while bouncing on top of a dude, and that's not exactly the progressive lady-gasm depiction I hope for.

And honestly, people have a weird idea about lady-on-top intercourse because sexperts, and especially feminist ones, often say that lady-on-top is the best sex position for the female orgasm because she can control the movements.

That's kind of true, but it misses the point. Getting an orgasm during intercourse is somewhat about being in control of the movements, but only because the heart of it is that the clit/vulva area gets consistent, appropriate stimulation and being in control of the movement helps achieve that. That very integral part of why a woman needs to control the movement is left out and so it is confusing, and I think sometimes misleading. People often think about it as the woman being able to control how the penis moves inside her against her vaginal canal - and that's maybe nice for her comfort and fun, but stimulation inside the vaginal canal - however you're doing it, is not going to cause orgasm. Point is - because as a culture we simply don't get that a woman needs clitoral/vuvla stimulation to orgasm and think that a penis moving inside the vagina can cause a woman to orgasm - it's sensible to assume that a woman on  top during sex can 'get her orgasm' by controlling the way a penis moves in the vagina. However that's unrealistic BS.

What we should really be saying is that any sexual position that allows a woman to control how and when her clit/vulva is getting good, consistent stimulation, is a good position for female orgasm during intercourse...you know, to be clear about what's really going on.

The Vulva Rating
I'd love to give this a better rating because I love this show and because I want to give it the benefit of the doubt based on past depictions, but I shouldn't. In reality this was a depiction of a lady-gasm with very little context of how it happened except that they were having intercourse and she was on top. It's not bad, but it's also not good. There is nothing progressive from this depiction and if anything it just reinforces basic cultural assumptions about women being able to come from intercourse alone.

I'm giving this a 3 vulva rating for keeping it status quo, but with no ill intent or depictions that were specifically unrealistic.

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House of Cards Season 5: The SSL Review

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House of Cards Season 5 
I really enjoy House of Cards. I love Frank and Claire's relationship. The meticulous chess games are fun to watch, but to be honest, I wonder if it's run its course. I will continue to watch it. I'm not a quitter (except with Twin Peaks -  I don't care what anyone says, David Lynch ain't no genius....and oh I don't know...maybe he gets a bit too much ass-licking??). Anyway, I just finished season 5 of House of Cards. I really felt like the show should have been wrapping up, but it didn't. Don't get me wrong. I would love to see the show focused more on Claire - which may be the way the next season goes. She's a way better character than Frank. I actually thought I would really hate this show when I started because over the years I have grown to have a general distaste for Kevin Spacey's acting. But, I liked him in this. It's like the character finally fit him. So, I don't know. Maybe the next season will pick up.

Enough of that though. Let's get to the SSL Review, which, as most of you already know, is a critique specifically of a depiction or discussion of female orgasm and/or masturbation and/or the clit. I look toward realism (for instance, were the physical things happening to that women while she orgasmed things that could realistically cause orgasm for a woman?), and I also look at what the depiction/discussion reflect from and add to the larger cultural discussion around lady-gasms and female sexuality. A show could be good with a bad SSL review or vice versa, and I really try to keep an SSL review to the SSL reviewable scenes, but if I feel like it, I can talk about anything I want to - because it's my blog.

You can see all the SSL TV Reviews HERE (and as always you can find all the movie SSL Reviews HERE).

Season 5 Episode 4 - Clean, pretty, blonde Republicans having clean, pretty sex
 We've got that attractive political couple (I will not give any spoilers here) doing it again. Them banging on a bathroom counter was a also the lone SSL review from season 4. This is a very similar review except there was more ambiguity about where hands were this time and this time she was on top of him cowgirl style. It was a very quick scene. The camera moves up from below mattress level as we hear her breathing with short intakes of breath as if she's about to come. As her upper torso then head move into the shot, we see her eyes close and head tilt back as she lets out some final breaths indicating that she just orgasmsed. The camera, as it moves up is aslo tilted up, so we see very little of what's going on. We don't see the man laying underneath her until she smiles and flops forward on him after she comes. We don't see below her elbows really. What we do see is that she is positioned mostly upright with a slight tilt towards the bed and is moving up and down with her body as one would if they were bouncing on a dick. Her hands are down in front of her. They are not completly still, there is some movement, but it's nothing clearly rhythmic or clearly like she's rubbing her clit, but I can't really rule that out. It looks more like she's steadying herself with her hands on his torso, and those said hands move slightly as she comes and then leans in toward him.

One way would be awesome and one way would be status quo. I mean, if that actress and that director decided to have here rubbing one out while she was riding him, well, I just wouldn't be able to contain my joy. That's all I ever wanted from depictions of ladies orgasming during intercourse. If they got all bold like that, I do wish they would have shown it better.

However, if  she just had her hands on him, well, that's what I would expect to be happening. That's usually what these scenes look like. I can't be mad since it's so normal to depict a woman orgasming during intercourse with no additional clit/vulva stimulation (and her body's angle against hime wasn't close enough to get the clit stim from grinding it against his pelvis). I mean, there's no physical scientific evidence that a woman can orgasm from stimulation only to the inside of the vagina in all of scientific literature, but sure, have your female characters come hard with nothing but a dick moving in her to. Why not? It makes sense, I guess, that 90% of women depicted in TV and movie can orgasm this way, right? Who needs actual clitoral stimulation. It's only the female organ of sexual pleasure, but whateves.

Vulva Rating
So, I can't completely confidently poo-poo this depiction as unrealistic because there is a slight chance that she could have been rubbing one out, which would be exactly the way a woman could come in this situation. I will poo-poo it a little though because that's probably not the case, and even if that is exactly what the actress here was performing, the director chose not to show it. So, in the end, I think most people will passively take in this scene as one of hundreds or thousands they've seen that basically says, "when women get some dick, they come!...unless their emotions or relationship problems get in the way :(" Overall, that feeling in our culture that when women have intercourse they should orgasm as much and as easily as men is just wrong, and each new insinuation that this is true layers another blanket over the fact that women need clitoral stimulation in order to orgasm. Women need that as much as men need penile stimulation, but largely women don't get that and men do.

This scene gets a 2 1/2 vulva rating
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Bojack Horseman S1 Ep. 1-4: The SSL Review

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I had heard some good things about Bojack Horseman, so Charlie and I watched about 8 of the first season's 12 episodes. At that point we both got a little bored with it and haven't watched any since. However, in writing this, I was looking some stuff up about the show, and apparently it got A LOT better after the 1st half of the 1st season. So, if you think you might be into this show, maybe it's actually better than I am letting on - if you stick with it. You do you. Who knows, maybe I'll watch some more myself.

Anyway, there was some lady-bations/lady-gasm type stuff in there, so here I am doing an SSL Review for you all. As most of you already know, an SSL Review is a critique specifically of a depiction or discussion of female orgasm and/or masturbation. I look toward realism (for instance, were the physical things happening to that women while she orgasmed things that could realistically cause orgasm for a woman?), and I also look at what the depiction/discussion reflect from and add to the larger cultural discussion around lady-gasms and female sexuality. A show could be good with a bad SSL review or vice versa, and I really try to keep an SSL review to the SSL reviewable scenes, but if I feel like it, I can talk about anything I want to - because it's my blog.

You can see all the SSL TV Reviews HERE (and as always you can find all the movie SSL Reviews HERE).

So here we go:

S1 Ep. 1 Orgasm Interrupted
The scene
BoJack is in bed, lying on his back. A human woman (oh - Bojack is actually a horse. I mean he stands on two legs and  wears clothes, but he's a horse) is riding cowgirl on him bouncing up and down. Her upper body is fully upright, so there's no leaning forward to push the ol' clit/vulva area against his body - just hole on pole.

We don't see what her hands are doing. We're looking at it from behind her back, and her hands are in front of her, so it is possible she could be rubbing the clit while she's bouncing on his literal horsecock, but there is no specific indication that is what's happening. More likely the intention (because it's drawn, so there probably has to be some intention there) is that her hands are on him, helping her steady herself as she bounces. I assumed this, and I assume most people would too (if they actually put active thought into it at all) because we're used to seeing women have sex this way, but not used to seeing a woman rub her clit during intercourse.

His arms are definitely not on her clit area either. Anyway, she starts saying, "Oh, oh, oh, Bojack, I'm almost theee..." But, he stops her before it fully happens in order to look past her and see the beginning of his old TV show "Horsing Around." She gets an annoyed look on her face and goes silent.

The orgasm and my take
So, somehow she is getting the stimulation to orgasm even though it seems to be all in the vagina, and as any good SSL reader knows, there is no physical record of a woman coming from stimulation inside the vagina anywhere in scientific literature. So, I deem it an unrealistic but very common depiction of female orgasm.

There are complications to this though. The fact that her hands were not clearly away from her clit area is a bit more unusual, and leaves some doubt. However, the woman's hands on the dude's stomach/chest is a very common way to depict this position (unless she is supposed to be really wild or really insane, and then she is running them through her hair and waving them in the air like she just don't care....or if the position is on regular TV and she's naked up top, then her hands would be on her boobs so they are covered), so I think there was no intention to show this woman touching her own clit, and I doubt viewers would see that insinuated because ladies rubbing their own clits to orgasm in movies and TV is just not even on the radar...but getting banged into orgasm sure is.

Oh, and to complicate it further- I also just realized that it looks like she has her underwear on the whole time...maybe it's a panties to the side kind of thing? OR...maybe she was all panties on, just grinding her clit against his stomach the whole time. That would be cool. I'm certain it wasn't the intention, but that would be cool.

S1 Ep. 3 - They said the word 'clitoris'
The scene
Sextina Aquafina, who is a fish that is a hot sexy new singer starlet, says,  "My clitoris is ginormous!" It's not really in relation to anything. She's on the TV a lot, and she's used in the show as comparison to a now 30-year old actress who was once a kid on Bojack's show and then became a sexy starlet and is now just drugged up and washed out.

Why talk about it???
Okay, this one is technically not SSL reviewable being that there was no orgasm or masturbation involved, but I wanted to mention it anyway because the word 'clitoris' was mentioned. The truth is, clitoris is not mentioned in pop culture that much. It just isn't. 'Vagina,' 'pussy,' 'hole' - these types of things are mentioned on the regular, and you know dick is mentioned all the damn time.

So, I like to point it out when I hear it, because I think people like Sophia Wallace and her Cliteracy campaign are correct. The clit is a bit invisible. It's the thing that causes women to orgasm, but how often do you hear about it or see it insinuated in depictions of female orgasm - even in porn? Rarely...it's almost always the hole, which is a bunch of bullshit that just goes to show you how deep the problems with societal misunderstanding of lady-gasms are.

My thoughts
I don't have too much to say about this. I think probably it was just a funny line the writers made up to show this woman is throwing her sex out there real hard. That said though, I do also want to mention that I feel that her specifically talking about her clit and specifically about it being large is tailored to make the audience feel a little gross about her in a particular way.

I say this because I feel like talking about the clit seems a bit more raucous - more wild and dirty for a girl to do because we just don't do it much and it seems a little selfish too. Then saying it's big is almost saying she's man-like - which I think has an 8-year-old boy style humor of  'Oh gross, she's trying to be sexy, but it's just gross because its not feminine,' feel to it. Anyway, maybe this was just a simple rhyming line some writers shit out, but maybe there was some thought put into it, and maybe it emphasized  the grossness and non-femininity of the clit and the women who talk about them - and that's not awesome.

And yeah - that's probably getting too deep into the weeds with this, but that's how we roll here sometimes.

S1 Ep. 4 - "not even inside me"
The scene
BoJack is face down missionary style on top of his agent - a cat named Princess Carolyn played by Amy Sedaris. (I mean, a horse should not be penetrating a cat, really - but I assume they were written as lovers for the inherent joke in the wrongness of it).

He is straight pounding her and breathing real hard as he's speaking. She's on her back. Her arms are at her side. So, no one's hands are on her clit area. She's straight-faced and annoyed.

Bojack: Are you close?
Princess Carolyn: No. (exasperated)
Bojack: How 'bout now?
Princess Carolyn: No. (even more exasperated)
Bojack: Now?
Princess Carolyn: You're not even inside of me.
Bojack: Oh gaaaaaahhhhhhd! (as he comes)
He immediately rolls off her and immediately says
Bojack: Did you get there?

Then someone comes into the room and interrupts them with something completely different, so this isn't discussed any further.

My thoughts
It was a scene to show, like in the first scene I discuss above, that Bojack is oblivious to the circumstances of the women he's having sex with...i.e. a classic way to show a man as being selfish.

The scene's on point in a way. A dude banging on a woman without any extra external stimulation is not going to get her there, so that's not unrealistic. I think the interesting thing is in the punchline of this scene: "You're not even inside of me." Hilarious, right? He's so oblivious that he's not even inside her (I mean, probably best given she's a cat and he's a horse, but whatever). He's just rubbing up against her or something.

The thing is, that punchline really shines a light on one of the main unchecked assumptions we have about female orgasm in this culture; that at the very least, you must be inside her vagina. I mean if he actually cared about her orgasm instead of just caring enough to mindlessly ask her about it, he would at least do the most basic of things a man must do to get a woman off - be inside her, right? Well, that only works if your audience strongly feels that a penis inside a woman can cause a woman to orgasm, and of course the audiences does because our society does, But it's not true. In reality, the penis inside the vag has never been shown to cause orgasm, but rubbing stuff against the external genitals has.

So, it's like if we look at this situation in a physically realistic way, him rubbing against her outer parts might actually be super duper nice for her. That, unlike banging a vagina, has actually been shown to cause orgasm in women. So, the scene works for what it's supposed to be - showing Bojack as a thoughtless, selfish lover, but in doing so, it point out clearly how badly the culture misunderstands how women actually orgasm.

The Vulva Rating
This is status quo stuff here. This is women getting off from bouncing on a dick with no external clitoral stimulation. This is jokes about a dude being so bad in bed that he doesn't even put the dick in her. It's not new or exciting or progressive. It's just jokes about sex and selfishness from a male perspective.

"Haha," the writers I'm sure said, "wouldn't it be funny to demonstrate this dude's selfishness through caring not about his partner's orgasm?" Yes, it would be funny if 1) the anatomical aspects of how they made that joke were correct and 2) if it were't like everyday life...if women not orgasming with men during sex wasn't more common than not.

These kinds of sex jokes are from a very male perspective. I mean, I think they're meant to be thoughtful of the female perspective, but they're not really. I know they're trying, but the jokes are more like a dude's idea of what a female perspective might be. It's played out, kinda tone-def, but it's born from a huge cultural miseducation about the female orgasm and the clit being necessary for it...so in the end, since this miseducation is pretty ubiquitous, it's also still fine as a joke...which is sad.

This did not take the discussion of female orgasm back any and it wasn't mean-spirited. It also didn't move it forward, and it's not realistic. So, I'm giving these first 4 episodes of Bojack Horseman a 2 vulva rating.
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