Manifesto: a return to sex as haute couture

We want to get rid of the idea that femininity is defined predominantly by beauty. Normal should become normal again; the extreme is not the norm. Sexual freedom does not equal vulgarity and a complete lack of boundaries.

1. Ordinary beauty is beautiful enough!

Legs without cellulite, without visible veins, perky breasts, a round but firm bottom, sensuous lips and a Playboy-pussy: women who fit this description do not represent reality, so we should not all want to look like them. It's an ideal of beauty that the average woman can simply not match and it's an illusion that makes us unhappy. Unfortunately, a lot of girls, as well as mature women, feel pressurised to adapt their bodies to conform to these fake, photoshopped images. Research shows that only two percent of women worldwide dare call themselves beautiful. A depressingly low number which shows that this is an existential problem for women.

Extreme measures, such as plastic surgery, are a blessing for people with serious abnormalities, but as far as we're concerned it is not a means to undo every single minor imperfection. Who wrote the law that states that different is wrong? Why does the ageing body need "necessary maintenance" in the form of toxins, silicones and painful face lifts? Who decided that ageing is ugly?

We call upon advertisers and magazine editors to provide clarity in the murky unknown: accompany every manipulated too-good-to-be-true image with a fitting caption: "Pore-less thanks to Photoshop" or "This model was digitally narrowed and her neck was elongated". This way, everyone will be able to tell fact from fiction in future.
And women: let's stop judging and categorising one another so sharply and maliciously. The old man versus woman divide is outdated; we make our own contribution to the creation and maintaining of mythical beauty ideals.

2. Trash the compliant sex kitten!

Our dream woman is not a humourless symbol of new prudishness. But she is even less of a 'ho' or a bitch to be dominated by loser wannabe pimps. We've had more than enough of the image of the compliant sex kitten allowing herself to be smacked on the ass. Why can trigger-happy gangsters surrounded by horny underlings decked out with massive fake breasts count on a never-ending amount of air-time? When did submissiveness become an admirable trait? Whose respect and approval do these young women seek? However, it's not just the reviled rapper macho-culture that annoys us, the woman as a "Playboy bunny" is found everywhere. Paris Hilton fills her reality show with lap dances; Jessica Simpson meekly drapes herself across car bonnets. "In TV shows and magazines there is a constant debate about which of the female stars is "the hottest". We don't believe in the type of 'girl power' as praised in song by the Pussycat Dolls" . A woman can be sexy in many different ways. Real sex is exiting, strange, complicated and diverse. The image it currently has is one-dimensional and too easy. At the moment, the mottoes sex sells & money talks appear to be beating pride and uniqueness.

3. Sexuality is haute couture, not a cheap sale

The sale, strongly influenced by the internet, is over. In the past decade, every sexual excess was within easy reach. A simple Google search reveals films of women being defecated on, people giving horses blow jobs, and ladies willingly allowing themselves to be simultaneously fucked in every imaginable orifice. Anyone watching TV expecting to see sex linked to the emotions of love or infatuation is set for disappointment. Anyone who voices this out loud is immediately labelled an esoteric idealist or lambasted as a scary feminist. For: "is it not amazingly progressive that we can see all this?" We think these mulish progressives are outdated. Sexual liberty does not equate complete boundlessness and vulgarity. Forty years ago, at the beginning of the sexual revolution, there were still a great many battles to be won, but what's the significance of sexual liberty if it means 'everything must go' rather than 'anything goes'? At the same time, we don't want sexuality to forge an alliance with values such as shame and honour or religion. The debate shouldn't be a game of ping pong between prudish and liberated, conservative and liberal. Women themselves must make a stand against the one-dimensional way in which femininity and sexuality are currently defined.

Who teaches adolescents to place the images and words they consume via various media in perspective? Teenagers are experienced web-surfers, but are they proof against the overkill of hardcore sex, shady characters, obscure preferences and commercial powers that inhabit the World Wide Web?

We call upon the government to introduce the subject of media-education in primary and secondary schools. Make clear how manipulative the media can be and conduct an open and lively debate about sexuality.

Everything can be enlarged, toned or lifted, a strong intellect should be a special accessory. For those who appreciate that, the beauty of a woman is eternal. Should the 0909-horny-fuck-me-up-my-tight-little-ass-trend turn out to be irreversible, then we hope at the very least to see a loud and critical counter-movement. This manifesto is a first step. We call upon everyone, male or female, who agrees with the above text to sign our manifesto on this website. Furthermore, we request that everyone put forward their own ideas and activities to give a new angle to sexuality and the beauty ideal.

Larissa Pans (historian, free-lance journalist), Marije Lieuwens (free-lance journalist) and Myrthe Hilkens (journalist for De Pers), Sunny Bergman (documentary maker) and Stine Jensen (philosopher and journalist).

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