Too Alt to be Mainstream, too Mainstream to be Alt
Posted at 4:28 PM Jun 10, 2008
Sex Worker Rant runs on Tuesdays and is written by Renegade Evolution, a sex worker, sexual mercenary, and all around fan of “The Sexy” living somewhere near our nation’s capital. Quirky might as well be her middle name.
It's interesting that I was pondering this topic a bit, then I come on over here and see Ms. Dacia and others are already all over it! I've talked about Alt vs. Mainstream with regards to the Suicide Girls before, and it seems to be a subject that a lot of people are all over; and yet the question remains: What the hell is an alt girl? Is she a goth rockabilly girl whose lack of implants, addition of other body mods, and a hair color other than blonde make her different, though in body, she is not so different at all? Is it a trans woman who looks like a Super Model? Is it a plus size model whom, if not for her size, would be tearing up a runway in Milan or on the cover of "Maxim"? Is it someone like Viktoria, who is slim and petite yet also a person with a disability? Is it all about a face that with enough or the right make up is still not that far from what we see everywhere else, or a body that is pretty much the same?
I don't know. I think of Morrigan Hel as an alt model, even though she is conventionally attractive and has implants. I do so because of the type of porn and erotica she's in, and because, well…she is a bit older than the average Suicide Girl. I remember I was quite taken with the women in Blue Blood (Magazine back in the day) the first time I saw them, because they did look different than the women in Penthouse…but looking back on it, ink, metal, and hairstyles aside, they really weren't.
I just know for as long as I've been involved in erotic modeling, stripping, porn, what have you, I've heard the following more than a few times: "You're too alt to be mainstream, and too mainstream to be alt."
Grrrr…
And it's true in some ways- I'm a light-eyed, cis woman, no physical disabilities, and well, on the thin side. I've never, even with make up, had the China Doll white goth skin, my chest is man made, I'm waxed, and I'm a…little…on the athletic side. Yet, looking at it the other way, I'm 5'2" and all shoulders, my hair is naturally black, and I have a fair amount of ink (and none of that roses, dolphins and butterflies crap either). I've been called exotic before, unusual, "buff" and different, but it seems it is my destiny to be trapped somewhere between the realms of fitness fetish, alt, and mainstream…
And I'm not sure what the hell that means either. All I know is it's damn frustrating! And no way I'll ever bleach my hair again. But it does beg the question, as others are asking…what the fuck does Alt mean anyway? Has it come down to being a catch all for anyone who isn't < ahref="http://clubjenna.com/">Jenna Jameson, a label for any sort of "look" or fetish?
It sort of seems like it, no?
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