CAKE Byte - Playgirl?

Here at CAKE we recently received a press inquiry to clarify the intention of the lingerie inspired event - La Dolce Vita. "Why would women want to see other women in lingerie - aren't they just looking for nearly naked guys ?" Ah ha! Good question, one we feel that the answer to is all too obvious - while at the same time one that addresses the tremendously complicated cultural issues of sexuality.

Why is it that women's magazines feature scantily clad women selling everything from lingerie, to jewelry, to perfume, to cosmetics, to shampoo... to soap ... ad infinitum! Open up any "women's" magazine, check out the advertisements and you will see a constant stream of sexual images where women's images are used to sell products to the reader, in this case primarily other women. Given the proclivity of scantily clad chicks - one might assume that the female readers just want to get in each other's pants. While this MAY be true on a CASE BY CASE basis (!) As a whole - this is obviously not so .... These are intended to be aspirational images!

One of the most popular magazines for women is "In Style", which is almost exclusively pictures of women and interpretations of their style - what they wore to the awards etc.etc. In our current culture, sexuality drives fashion, music, film, style, life. See the recent Gucci and Versace campaigns. Kate Moss, barely clad, showing women how sexual they can look. While these images may be both beautiful and tasteful - they clearly illustrate the way that "women" are used to sell to women. These are images of what women supposedly SHOULD be. Well - CAKE asks - what about what women ARE???

CAKE has spent the past year gathering information from today's women - getting their thoughts on erotic materials, film, concepts, pictures, demonstrations, entertainment - and as a result, we have found that there is NO prevailing understanding vis a vis mainstream media of what kind of sexual imagery women want to see. While Playboy Magazine is sometimes heralded as the pinnacle of sexual culture - Playgirl, as the reversed model (instead exploiting the male body) has not been embraced by women and is read exclusively (and this is confirmed by subscription figures) by homosexual men.

What's really going on here? Though some still doubt it, women are visually stimulated. This is supported by the millions of issues of women's magazines sold monthly -which are without a doubt, a completely visual experience. Women are extremely interested in other women's sexuality and style - as a heterosexual experience, as comparison, as aspirational living, as sharing, as reassurance. Still, no one has really what kind of eye candy gets women off. What "does it" for the straight girl? Is it just images of other women, images of women and men together, or is it really the classic "beefcake shot"? Or, as some would insist - women just like to read romance books. One thing is for sure - there is nothing that adequately represents our lifestyles - where are the men we REALLY like to look at and imagine going to bed with? Where are the tangible things that get us off?

For La Dolce Vita, we instructed every man to get "adorned", to get sexy, to present themselves as sexual beings. While we are NOT all about dress codes, this was our attempt to put the onus of responsibility on the guys to turn us on while demanding a space for women to get sexy. We found, very quickly, that men had NO idea what this meant. Women have been instructed to dress sexy, to shop sexy, to look sexy, to wear lingerie, since childhood! 50% of the CAKE audience is male and men are an integral part of the equation. Some men (not all -- more on that in this Friday's CAKE Byte) came dressed Wednesday night and provided the same sort of "eye candy" for women. By creating a dress code for men equal to that of the women, we asked the question -- what does a man wear to impress the women in the room? Lingerie is a billion dollar industry focused on women's sexuality -- interesting that there is no parallel for men....

While men are always a focal point, the real intent of La Dolce Vita was to allow women to showcase their style for one another, for their pleasure, and the pleasure of feeling sexual for themselves. CAKE assumes, first and foremost, that women ARE equal from the get go. In this sense, La Dolce Vita was not in any way a projection of the male fantasy but rather an opportunity for women to feel good about their bodies and sexuality.

Instead of objectifying "guys in briefs", we flipped the model in reverse. CAKE is about the women themselves. Our freedom of expression, our lifestyle. Women need sexual role models - and they will not find that identification in Playmates and Penthouse Pets (although we discovered that most women's first exposure to sexuality was their parent's magazines...) Women need to identify, and to identify with each other. To be the participants.

it's not as easy as it seems - you can't just flip around what "men like", and translate it into what "woman want." Herein is the mystery that is CAKE and the long road ahead. We must create something new and we invite you all along on the journey. Who knows...it may turn out the what women want, men want too...wouldn't that be nice?

We all know that Playgirl does NOT "do it" for women. But, what WOULD??? We saw hundreds of beautiful, super sexual women out last week, SURELY their must be something that will "do it" for all of us ! We want your thoughts...

Question of the Week:

What kind of eye candy would you want to see in the CAKE.Magazine?

Submit your answer and read answers from last week's question at the CAKE.REPORT .
Love,
CAKE