Search Salon

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Recently in Salon Health & Body

Column
Unhappy meal
How to eat yourself to death.
By Mary Roach
[12/03/99]

Urge: Naked World
Clitoral creams and sex cues
NexMed contributes to female orgasm with topical cream; humming helps, too.
By Hank Hyena
[12/03/99]

The culture of secrecy
Docs make mistakes, but proposed regulations to make them talk about it won't change that scary fact.
By Dr. Jeff Drayer
[12/02/99]

Health Urge: Nancy Chan
Betrayal, his and hers
How can I think about my lies when Matt's are taking up all the space?
By Tracy Quan
[12/02/99]

Urge: Naked World
Kiwis elect world's first transsexual legislator
Having gotten over "the gender thing," New Zealand teaches a lesson on tolerance and maturity.
By Hank Hyena
[12/02/99]

Complete archives for Health & Body

- - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"I don't think I could have done this when I was younger," says McLean, puffing on a stogie while taking a break from editing the third Barely Legal video. "You don't really appreciate young girls until you get a little older. Then it's a bit more appealing -- the little panties, the skirts, the bicycles and the bicycle seats, all that kind of thing. Even though we joke about it, I make a serious effort to do it in a voyeuristic manner."

McLean admits that there are serious precautions they must take when filming. All the performers are documented as being 18 or above and tested for HIV. But for Barely Legal, youth is the coin of the realm, and inexperience is a plus. He estimates that 95 percent of the girls he uses have not had sex in front of a camera before.

"I like them to look natural," he says. "The obvious thing would be to put them in pony tails, bobby socks and school uniforms. I try to keep away from that, except for the segment in the limousine, called 'Coming Home.' That was the only school uniform I think I'll ever use."

McLean's referring to the scene with "Susan" and "Todd" (their actual names are only hinted at in the credits) balling in the bushes. According to McLean, they were a boyfriend-girlfriend duo from Northern California. The girl was 18, and the guy was about 20 at the time of shooting. McLean made them stepbrother and sister in the segment's story line.

McLean's proud of his work, and he bristles at the suggestion that he might be taking advantage of the youthfulness and naiveté of the talent. He points out that performers are well paid -- upwards of $2,000 a day. And he gets almost 20 calls a week from aspiring porn starlets who want to work with him.

"I don't feel like I'm exploiting anyone," says McLean. "You should be on the other end of this phone when they call. If you had any idea ..."

Despite the predictable objections of conservatives, feminists and parents worried they might see their daughters doing the nasty on a rental, Barely Legal, with all of its cock-teasing, barrette-wearing, teddy bear-hugging teen love, is only the most lurid form of a society-wide obsession with young girls. For example, the December 1999 issue of Bob Guccione Jr.'s non-porn men's mag Gear features 17-year-old actress Kirsten Dunst in a photo-spread/cover story that offers this bit of crumpet up, variously, in panties, a bikini and a tiger-print slip. Similarly the current Rolling Stone has the barely legal, 19-year-old Christina Ricci on the cover in lingerie. Inside, Ricci is featured sitting on a bed, showing off her cavernous cleavage and looking particularly girlish with a large pair of mouse ears on her head.

There are also TV shows like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" and "Time of Your Life," whose girl-protagonists could easily be potential porn starlets in a Barely Legal video. You can gauge their sex appeal by how many times the actresses who portray them appear in their underwear on the cover of Maxim or in "Got Milk?" ads.

Then there's the recent film "American Beauty," in which Kevin Spacey's cynical suburban dad comes oh so very close to deflowering Mena Suvari's decadent, pom-pom-waving teen minx. And as far as the Internet is concerned: Everyone knows, anything goes. You can even get streaming video of teens having sex coming from such places as Russia or Amsterdam, if you are so inclined.

Ecclesiastes states that there's nothing new under the sun. Along these lines, Vladimir Nabokov's "Lolita" comes to mind, as do the paintings of Balthus and the less edifying Brooke Shields vehicles "Blue Lagoon" and "Endless Love." Furthermore, history and religion are filled with too many tales of child brides to even mention. Even the age of consent in the United States varies according to state, running anywhere from as low as 13 (in New Mexico, with certain restrictions) to as high as 18 elsewhere.

"I don't find anything unusual about it at all," says Barry Dank, professor of sociology at California State University-Long Beach and editor of the academic publication Sexuality and Culture, when asked about Barely Legal. "When you look at mainstream culture, particularly at fashion models, you see the same thing -- an interest in very young, beautiful women."

Next page | "Just because something's offensive, should it be banned?"