Warning: Do not read on your lunch break. You may throw up.
Last June, VICE ran a piece on “rosebud,” a recent trend in mainstream adult film that has nothing to do with Citizen Kane or actual rosebuds. In the porn world, “rosebud” refers to what is essentially a self-inflicted anal prolapse: the inner rectal tissue collapses and squeezes out of the butthole, emerging in a bright red “bloom.” The result is the so-called rosebud and, apparently, erections. I watched the clip called “Anal Acrobats Extreme Prolapse” which is absolutely NOT SAFE FOR WORK OR POSSIBLY LIFE, and if seeing a rosebud in action sounds like watching a piece of someone’s intestines fall out of their asshole, that’s because it is. Actually, imagine what you think it might be like to see a piece of someone’s intestines fall out of their asshole, and multiply that feeling by ten. Actually, forget that, because there’s no way you could possibly imagine what you may or may not be about to see.
It’s graphic, it’s unsettling, and it’s so much more Valentine red than I ever thought the inside of someone’s butthole would look like.
You say rosebud, I say serious condition that requires medical attention. Tomato, tom-ah-to.
Michelle Lhooq of VICE writes that rosebud, which was formerly relegated to a niche audience of ass-gapers and fisting aficionados, is quickly gaining mainstream porn popularity. Genres like “extreme anal” and “facial abuse” (forced oral sex that causes gagging, vomiting) are not only becoming more widely tolerated among the mainstream, but have been the object of a specific increase in viewer demand. With ubiquitous amateur porn available anytime, anywhere, for free, Lhooq posits that the growing popularity of rosebud is an example of a dying industry trying to keep up with an audience that’s grown increasingly desensitized in the face of “extreme” genres. And of course, to make money.
Mainstream porn continues to push the boundaries of what is culturally acceptable (and what its audiences can stomach), but when women are forcing their intestines out of their buttholes for a paying online audience, how can we distinguish between an extreme kink or fetish and something else entirely? And how far is this whole rectal prolapse thing going to go? What’s next? Are women going to be reaching down their throats, pulling out their intestines and wearing them as scarves? Or is that already a thing?
I don’t hate porn. I’m not a puritanical psycho. I’m not going to judge anyone’s PornHub search words, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with porn being performed by consenting parties doing consensual, safe things. Whatever gets you off, in the privacy of your home is your business. Fap on, bro.
Is it consensual if your job is on the line?
But can we really call a rectal prolapse porn? Prolapsed organs aren’t some kind of party trick. WebMD that sh*t. Reversal of a rectal prolapse requires ASSHOLE SURGERY, which I imagine can be ridiculously expensive. So, who is rosebud really for? Is anyone really getting off to it, or is just a stunt to bring in paying viewers, performed at the expense of women whose bodies will be forever wrecked as a result? It’s no secret that mainstream porn doesn’t love women (feminist/queer/queer feminist porn exists, which is great, but it’s typically not free or as widely viewed), and rosebud seems like another manifestation of the industry’s use and subsequent disposal of women’s bodies. Rosebud may be consensual, but is it really consent if doing it is someone’s only perceived option to stay competitive in their industry? Is it consensual if your job is on the line?
Once when I was a kid, I was on a visit to my grandparents’ house when I noticed a stack of my grandpa’s Playboys lined up a magazine holder in the bathroom. I developed this weird fascination with porn: because I knew I wasn’t supposed to be watching it, because it was sexy, because it was funny. I have a lot of good memories involving porn. In high school, me and my best friend would sneak into her brother’s room when he wasn’t home and watch all the porn he kept hidden under his bed. Drunk-watching Colin Farrell’s sex tape (link NSFW) with my friends one night during our last week of college was is one of my most-loved college memories. But now, most porn just makes me sad.
With the prevalence of genres like facial abuse, torture porn devoid of any depiction of women’s pleasure, with those visibly sad, eye-watering blowjobs, it’s a wonder anyone can get off to this stuff anymore. I know I can’t. — Sophia Barrett-Ibarria
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