It smacks almost everywhere in society, but it seems that within the past decade we have been riding ever-cresting waves of controversy. It could be the net allowing for so much more cross talk, posting and opinion, videos going viral. It could be that we are all just so much more interested in one another’s business these days. Or it could be (and this I truly believe is the reason more than any other) political correctness has grown cancer-like to Biblical proportions influencing our every utterance, mindset and deed. The two controversies that surfaced this week certainly come from, are informed by, concern people/places and things of a more salacious bent (as controversies often do) and one concerns a porn star, while the other comes from actions of one of our most popular present day models. In one case it might indeed be a case of P.C.-ness that drives the outcry, but in the other more serious accusations, fuel the fire.

Porn star James Deen has been called out-across Twitter-by his ex-girlfriend Stoya (a porn player as well and somebody that I have featured and interviewed in THE SEX FILES) for sexual assault. From this revelation this past Saturday came two other accusations from two other ladies, that Deen abused them as well (one talking about assault actually on a porn set.) Of course those against porn and those so quick to label any rough sex as “sick,” are licking their chops to prove how Deen’s alleged actions here speak to the larger ills they have always preached against. But one needs to note in this controversy that 1.) Stoya’s claims are as yet unproven 2.) BDSM, rape fantasy and the like are not the same as assault and 3.) Porn stars deserve to be as safe in their work environment as anyone else in any other workplace.

The second controversy of the week is over a Kylie Jenner photo spread in December’s double issue of Interview Magazine. In recreating the famous erotic triplet sculpture “Hatstand, Table and Chair” by Allen Jones, Kylie was posed by photographer Steven Klein wearing latex, and showing quite a bit of herself in lots of sexy pics. But in one, Kim K’s half-sister is sitting in a wheelchair. The P.C. police of course are all over how insensitive this picture is to those folks presently bound to a wheelchair (have you ever noticed that the folks who stamp their feet and yell about these kind of injustices most are hardly ever the actual afflicted, akin to white people bemoaning the use of certain racial epithets-you know the one I mean!-claiming they are offended when they certainly can’t be since they are not the race the word defames) while Interview and Kylie claim that it was never their intention to hurt anyone. In paying homage to Allen Jones it was simply thought sitting Kylie in a wheelchair was a good idea.

I’ll let Dawn Mostow, the lead designer and owner of Dawnamatrix, give us the last word on this controversy. Dawn supplied latex wardrobe pieces for the Kylie Interview shoot (collar, gloves, leggings and also a “cheeky” skirt that’s getting lots of ‘hits’ and even a mention on “The View” seeing how much of Kylie it exposes).

If such a polarizing concept wasn’t presented in Interview Magazine, we wouldn’t be talking about Kylie Jenner today. The media machine surrounding the Jenner-Kardashian family knew exactly what they were doing. The purpose of art is to pose challenging questions as much as to hold a mirror up to beauty. It was a pleasure to dress Kylie Jenner in this editorial homage to pop artist Allen Jones in Interview Magazine, whose sculptures challenged society 50 years ago. The fact that homage imagery provokes the same reaction today is a testament to the strength and timelessness of those concepts, and how far we still have to go.

Thank you Dawn, I couldn’t have said it as well.

Find Dawnamatrix latex clothing here.

Find Interview magazine here.