- This was the year of Caitlyn Jenner and Bill Cosby, of the Ashley Madison hacking scandal and the movie of “Fifty Shades of Grey.” In some ways, American culture loosened up sexually, but it wasn’t all good news.
2015’s biggest moments in sex and gender, from Caitlyn Jenner to Ashley Madison and “50 Shades” on screen (Salon)
- Dominic Ford, Huccio, Kink, Marc Dorcel, Naughty America and Utherverse’s new HoloFilm Productions, all jumped into the VR production scene in 2015 — while websites such as MetaverseXXX.com, ViRP.io, VirtualRealPorn.com and VRSexperience.com, started showcasing this new form of adult video. Other VR porn highlights from 2015 include the integration of VR with haptic devices and teledildonics, plus live cams, bringing sex toys into the digital age — or perhaps that should now be “the virtual age.”
2015: A VR Porn Snapshot (XBIZ)
- For someone new to porn, this makes a lot of sense. The truth is, the types were already there. What happened in 2015, finally, was visibility. “This year brought more types of porn, more feminist options, and more ways to watch it. We basically started looking into the porn of the future, and it looked pretty awesome. So here are six ways porn changed in 2015 …”
Here’s How Porn Changed In 2015 (Bustle)
- In 2015, these best-selling sex toys were welcomed into bedrooms far and wide, bringing a bounty of pleasure one OH MY GAWD orgasm at a time. Whether you’re a sex-toy virgin (no shame in that) or have a nightstand full of handcuffs and erotica, here are 18 goodies to get you hot and bothered.
The Sexiest Sex Toys of 2015 (Thrillist)
- Yay! This article features Sex is a Funny Word by Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth: “The year’s best kids book has a surprising amount to teach adults too, as Silverberg tours through all the questions about sex and gender kids could have, while Smyth’s bright and funky illustrations give it all vibrant life. After a year of vicious debates about sex-ed in schools, here’s the book that definitively proves its worth in belonging on every school library shelf.”
The year’s best non-fiction queer books (Daily Xtra)
- “Each year I spend time collecting names and stories of people who passed away whose lives were spent, in part, trying to make the world a slighlty better place. Because those of us whose work focuses on sexuality and gender rarely get the kind of public attention that other kinds of education, art, and activism get, I focus my attention on this area.”
Sexual Losses 2015 (About: Sex)
- “As long as Samantha had been in the business, it had been structured in a way that was disadvantageous to dancers. The girls were the main draw; this was as plain as the neon lights outside every strip club in America. Yet traditionally, instead of the clubs paying the dancers, the dancers pay the clubs for the privilege of working there. Not only that, they’re expected to tip out the bartender, the hosts, the DJ, and the house mom, as well as pay assorted other fees …”
The Hustlers at Scores: The Ex-Strippers Who Stole From (Mostly) Rich Men and Gave to, Well, Themselves (NY Mag)
- “A man is pumping into the woman wrapped around his waist as he effortlessly hovers across the room, like a god. She bounces up and down, moaning, while he glides in circles. This is one of the recent hoverboard sex videos that emerged across the web this winter. In another, a woman squats on a hoverboard, floating in slow motion towards an erect penis that eventually glides easily into her mouth.”
People Are Having Sex On Hoverboards (Broadly/Vice)
- I LOVE THIS! Champions of the Year: The people who make violence possible, created collaboratively by local animator Sakyru and Project X, caricaturizes the diverse individuals – from entitled clients to abusive cops to sensationalizing journalists – who perpetrate and enable violence against Singapore sex workers.
Singapore Sex Workers Take on “Champions” of Violence With Humor (HuffPo)
- The splendid Sugarbutch writes, “When I was traveling around to toy stores and bookstores across North America for the release of Say Please, I started keeping a list of the best of the best. And eventually, I made a map of as many as I could find. …”
On the Importance of Queer, Women Centered, & Feminist Sex Toy Shops (Map) (Sugarbutch)
- A petition started by a porn star to push for sex education in schools has received almost 30,000 signatures online. The campaign, being headed up by ‘Italian stallion’ Rocco Siffredi, is attempting to bring the lessons into schools in Italy where very few teach the subject. In a petition addressed to Italian Education Minister, Stefania Giannini, the 51-year-old adult film star who has appeared in almost 2,000 porn films and has also enjoyed a career in mainstream media, wrote: “I wanted to launch this appeal because sex is a magnificent thing.
Porn star’s petition for sex education in schools could spark government rethink (Mirror UK)
- Leave it to the Guardian to give a decent article on sex work an intentionally disrespectful, asshole headline. “At Sheri’s, the madam asks one of her courtesans to give a skill-sharing seminar every two weeks. More than 75 women tour through the bordello’s 25 slots – some commuting from as far away as Florida, Hawaii, Germany, South Africa, Thailand – even Fiji. It’s a diverse and worldly group, which allows for some interesting cross-pollination – it’s akin to a conference of carnal knowledge, 60 miles outside Sin City.”
Survival of the freakiest: how some of Nevada’s brothels are staying afloat (Guardian)
- Cosmopolitan interviewed adult star Daisy Ducati about ‘fin domming’ as a financial dominatrix, wherein she satisfies the fantasies of clients with a money-spending fetish. While some fin dom fetishists enjoy being ignored and outright used, Ducati also offers “more of a gentle relationship” with public displays of gratitude.
Cosmopolitan: Daisy Ducati Fulfills ‘Financial Dominatrix’ Fantasy (XBIZ)
- OpenMinded.com, which launched in May, seeks to bring “the ease and flexibility of online dating to the currently underserved world of open relationships,” according to its website. Now that sites like OpenMinded and 3nder — a poly alternative to Tinder — are beginning to emerge, poly folks have the option to use dating sites specifically designed for them.
OpenMinded is the online dating site to find a partner—or three (Daily Dot)
- Police in Germany say a man has died after he and two others blew up a condom machine and he was hit in the head by a flying piece of metal. Officers were alerted to the explosion Friday in Schoeppingen, near the Dutch border, and found cash and condom packets lying on the ground apparently untouched. A local hospital informed police that a 29-year-old had died after being brought in by two other men. They initially said he had fallen down stairs, but police said Monday one of them later admitted the victim’s injuries were related to the explosion.
Man dies after blowing up condom machine (WTNH/Associated Press)
- Warning for survivors of sexual assault and trauma. The landmark accord announced Monday between Japan and South Korea over the use of sex slaves by Japan’s army before and during World War II is unlikely to end all debate over Japan’s horrific behavior at the time.
Coming to Terms on Japan’s Wartime Sex Slaves (NYT)
- Warning for survivors of sexual assault and trauma. Islamic State theologians have issued an extremely detailed ruling on when “owners” of women enslaved by the extremist group can have sex with them, in an apparent bid to curb what they called violations in the treatment of captured females.
Repellent ISIS now has official rules on who can have sex with female slaves (NY Post)
- Warning for survivors of sexual assault and trauma. “A disturbing article crossed my Facebook feed in multiple places, as multiple friends sent it to me as soon as they saw it, about the arrest of self-proclaimed BDSM “expert” and author Michael Makai (real name Charles Michael Segaloff). … Listen, what we do in this BDSM lifestyle, regardless of the trappings and the slashy-speak and everything else around it, is CONSENSUAL when you boil it down to its basic elements. Slavery in the United States is ILLEGAL.”
Why you trust your gut: #BDSM and predators in the lifestyle (tymberdalton.com; thank you for sending this, V)
- India’s 2016 film calendar will begin on a controversial note. Two Bollywood adult comedies starring the same actor are releasing within a week of each other in January. Both Maastizaade and Kya Kool Hain Hum 3 are releasing after facing considerable objections from India’s censor board.
Amidst censorship row, two ‘porn-coms’ are releasing in India in January (Mashable)
Thank you to wonderful, longtime reader D for sending me the trailer for Handjob Cabin.
