One woman is depicting female sexuality in its most honest, natural state.
Lauren Crow, a photographer based out of Portland, Oregon, photographed women while they were masturbating to show what female pleasure really looks like. Instead of depicting the common cultural assumption that women's pleasure is solely for the consumption of men -- so often seen in movies and porn -- Crow is illustrating real women having real orgasms.
"In a patriarchal society, women are flooded with information on how to be and how to look in order to please others, namely men," Crow wrote on her website. "In terms of female pleasure, we are rarely shown what it really looks like."
Far too often, popular representations of sex hide female sexuality, either by highlighting only male pleasure or illustrating flawed depictions of female orgasms. These depictions can lead to a distorted perception of female pleasure, for women themselves and their partners. Crow hopes to change that by revealing messy, sweaty and honest images of women climaxing.
"I think honest depictions of female sexuality and pleasure is important because every female-identified person has enough issues with media telling her she is wrong or not good enough," Crow said.
Crow wants to empower all women to understand that pleasure is pleasure -- and you don't need to look gorgeous to feel it. "We need more media telling us we are beautiful, unique and wonderful and that there is no wrong way to look while enjoying yourself," Crow told The Huffington Post.
Scroll below to see 14 images of the beautiful, disheveled and real depictions of women orgasming.
Head over to Crow's website to see more of her work.
H/T Refinery29
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