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Hi Betty,

I'm a big fan of your website and of your work (I have both your books!) and I'm always coming up with questions to ask you. The question I have for you today is in regards to this really awful episode of the Tyra Banks Show that my boyfriend and I stumbled upon on youtube. We were looking up videos about Sasha Grey, the new porn star, who has a new (mainstream) movie coming out and we came across an interview of Sasha on the Tyra show.

The video is in 4 parts:
part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxUq_zzvAaA
part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYs2YfNlRBg
part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06SHWu1ebc0
part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RioTz9BarWU

During the interview, Tyra questions Sasha in an extremely condescending tone and keeps asking her why she became a porn star. Sasha says she finds traditional porn boring and wants to experiment sexually not just by starring in those films, but also when it comes to her own sexuality. Tyra thinks that this is not a "deep soul reason".

Anyway, by the end of the interview Tyra had an ex-porn star/prostitute basically telling Sasha what horrors she was doing to her body. She told Sasha: "By the time you're 30 years old, you're going to be wearing a diaper because you're not going to be able to hold in your bodily fluids". They also had Dr. Drew (who used to host the talk/radio show "Loveline") on the show - who I always thought was open minded about sex - confirm this statement by saying: "If she doesn't get prolapse of those organs then, yes, she will be wearing a diaper, yes". There was a lot in this episode that I found ridiculous, but most of all this! I wanted to ask you what their possible basis for this could be?? My mother is a midwife and as far as I know, prolapse of the uterus happens sometimes in older women or after giving birth, but I've never ever heard of it being a result of having too much sex! A prolapse is based on stress placed on the uterus from less vaginal toning -- so wouldn't that actually be LESS likely to happen to someone who had lots of sex and who experimented sexually??

I want to write an article about the video and would appreciate any light you could shed on the subject -- why would they say such a thing?? And what is the actual SCIENTIFIC reality of the effects that sex can have on the body? Isn't sex (assuming that it is consensual) actually physically as well as emotionally healthy for the body?

Also, I know that Dr. Drew is not a sexologist, he's a physician and surgeon. He also compared people in the porn industry to heroine addicts because they "have a warped view of reality". To me, it sounded more like
the people on Tyra had the warped view of reality.

Thanks Betty :)

Hi M,

You summed it up very well. Tyra, Phil and the X porn star/prostitute were all passing moral judgement on someone who is having more fun with sex that they are. The prolapse of the uterus happens when women have multiple births and do not strengthen their pelvic floors by doing Kegel exercises. I've never heard of this being the result of too much sex! As you observed, it would be LESS likely to happen to someone who had lots of sex with herself and other partners. I'm disappointed in Tyra. She seemed to be more hip than this. What is it about national television that turns their hosts into absolute sexual prudes? Is it for better ratings?

Dr. Betty