paris.

[photo of paris removed. now go away.]

ok, so paris hilton, great-granddaughter of hotel magnate conrad hilton, made a sex tape. i get it. now with roughly $20m in law suits filed, i've got to wonder, "what's the big deal?"

i've heard her described as a coke whore, slut, skanky - all of which might be true and after seeing some of her, er, less-than-traditional photos, could very well be, but, i'm still surprised that people are so shocked, so quick to judge a woman who acts on her sexuality. the puritanical belief that somehow a woman should never ever under no circumstances showcase her sexuality so blatantly is so ingrained in american culture that it scares me.

i also find it interesting that no one is criticizing her former boyfriend rick solomon, with whom she made said video. i don't hear anyone screaming "victimization" or trying to protect his reputation. heck, even dominick dunne got into the fray proclaiming it's her parents' fault! he said, "i think the parents should be thrashed. i mean, these girls have had pr reps since they were 12. what kind of a way is that to raise your child?" well, shucks, dominick, maybe you should take the same stance about rick's parents: "how could you raise someone that would bore someone during sex so much that their partner is forced to answer her cell phone? his parents must have been frigid, which is of course, completely unacceptable."

anyway, rick's just pissed at the hilton folks and suing for slander. i guess he's not really concerned about his sexuality being exploited or anything. we still live in a society, unfortunately, that objectifies women as playthings and little princesses then gets pissed when they have a good time and make a tape. then it's not so sexy. it's not ok. it's whorish. but geez, the guy gets some glory (at least from the non-paris camps). he had sex with a then 19-year-old heiress! hooray!

sure, making a sex tape is tacky and it's probably not the smartest thing to do - especially if you're a pseudoceleb - but it is what it is. can we just get on with life now?