In this episode, Dara is looking at women's bits and how they continue to exert such a hold on so many onlookers, many with cash in hand, some holding other things. If the names Sydney Sweeney and Bonnie Blue are not instantly familiar to you, you have not been keeping abreast of things topical and pertinent this week. Sweeney is a Hollywood hot property who has made no bones about her need to make money to keep the show on the road. Blue is an English porn star who has just been the focus of a Channel 4 documentary following her facilitation of a jaw-dropping sex stunt.

What do they have in common? They are both blonde, beautiful, and buxom - and willing to trade on their physical assets. They have both found themselves at the centre of recent controversies, one invoking moral outrage, the other more in the area of identity politics and culture wars. Dara draws a connection between these young women, the commodification of their looks and bodies, and the experience of the Hemingway sisters - Margaux and Mariel - almost 50 years ago. The story doesn't seem to change. Young, beautiful and female equates to opportunities to capitalise or be capitalised upon, and usually for the sexual satisfaction of an eager male audience.

Dara questions the value of being morally dismissive of the women in question and wonders more about the damage being done by the ubiquity of sexualised imagery. He is certain the devices we carry with us everywhere are a huge part of the problem and advocates for putting them away and immersing ourselves in things more sensory and natural before we lose our perspective completely on what is and isn't real.

Also in this episode, two excellent words, recommended texts on the porn industry, and a brilliant book on parenting teenage girls.

Sydney Sweeney's 'racist' jeans: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/aug/05/sydney-sweeney-controversy

YMRT episode on the Hemingway sisters: https://www.youmustrememberthispodcast.com/episodes/2020/2/24/the-hemingway-curse-mariel-and-margaux-make-me-over-episode-7

Unherd discuss Bonnie Blue's recent Channel 4 documentary: https://unherd.com/watch-listen/should-we-morally-condemn-bonnie-blue/?lang=us

The Last Days of August: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jan/11/the-last-days-of-august-review-ames-jon-ronson-podcast-porn-industry

Untangled by Lisa Damour: https://drlisadamour.com/books/untangled/

Website: https://theclearout.com/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout

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