There are no big or little lies here.
Shailene Woodley recently spoke openly about her dislike of the way sex is portrayed in porn in the United States, describing it as “bacon hung in front of a dog.”
“The way sex is presented on the surface in this country is very fabricated,” the 32-year-old said during an appearance on “The Guardian” on Tuesday.He is an MD” podcast with Mary Alice Haney and Dr. Thais Aliabadi, “and it’s a performance rather than true intimacy, vulnerability, and connection.”
Despite describing herself as a “very sensual person,” Woodley still stands by her opinion that most people don't realize they're consuming the fast food version of pleasure.
The “Divergent” alum explained, “I was talking to someone else about this yesterday, that if people knew what was possible with sex, they'd look at porn and be like, 'Oh my god, this is like junk food. Really? This is what we're being sold, when all these other things are possible with my body because I'm like a magical machine?'
“Pleasure is so important, and we deprive each other of that because I feel like we don't even know what's possible,” Woodley added. “And my biggest complaint with porn is that I'm like, 'You're selling McDonald's to everybody when you could be doing this, wow.'”
The “Big Little Lies” star came to this realization early in her life after having a positive experience with her ex-boyfriend.
“I was very lucky in my life, at a time when I was discovering myself and my body, that I found a partner who loved to dance,” Woodley recalled. “I always call (sex) a dance because it is a dance. We're exchanging energy.”
“Sometimes the dance is a very fast tango and sometimes the dance is very slow and sometimes it's loud and sometimes it's very soft. And I had someone who helped me find myself because there was a sense of ease with both of us,” she shared. And I think I probably did the same for him.”
The “Three Women” star, who split from Aaron Rodgers in 2022, a year after the two announced their engagement, said she hopes to pass on what she’s learned to others.
“I wish I could do sex ed in some way,” Woodley admitted. “Personally I don't — but going into a sex ed curriculum and thinking, 'How can we fix this? How can we change this a little bit?'”
The actress also opened up on the podcast about a mysterious health issue she experienced while working on the “Divergent” films.
“I was losing my hearing. I couldn't walk for more than five minutes at a time and I had to lay down and sleep for hours. Anything I ate would upset my stomach,” Woodley said, adding that she didn't want to reveal what was causing her symptoms because it “feels like a private thing.”
“I've always eaten very healthy and I'm very athletic. And so, for me, it was a confusing process of, 'Well, what am I doing wrong? Why do I faint every month during my period? Why am I hypothyroid? Why am I having all of this?' And one doctor said, 'It's probably endometriosis.' And another doctor said, 'It's probably this.' And another one said, 'It's probably that.' 'Your uterus is tilted. Your uterus is heart-shaped.' Everybody I went to gave me mixed information, and that set me on my journey,” she told the hosts.
Woodley took her health “into her own hands,” devoting time to educating herself and “facing it from an internal holistic place,” and the health issue “eventually physically resolved itself.”
And it worked, as the star no longer has to take thyroid medication.
In fact, she is “not on any medications anymore. My hormones are very balanced. Everything is working the way it should be,” she expressed, adding that she is “much healthier now.”
