“To consume online porn often entails playing a rough and reductive language game. We navigate a discomforting gauntlet of search terms: a jumble of body parts (pussy, cock, ass, tits), body types (tiny, huge, skinny, curvy), sexual and gender identities (gay, bi, lesbian, trans), sex acts (anal, squirting, pissing, gang bang, bukkake, bondage) … But with the racist, sexist, ageist, ableist tropes thrown out, the question of how best to name and tag porn scenes is a wide-open and ethically taxing one, posing manifold challenges. Can a new taxonomy of porn be established and spread? If so, what might this mean for the porn industry, and the landscape of human sexual desire?”
* Can Changing Our Porn Vocabulary Change Porn Itself? (The Nation)
“It has come to our attention that the group called “Fight the New Drug” is being allowed to present its material in public school districts within the state of Utah without soliciting approval of the school board or parents. As certified sex therapists, it is concerning that sex education that is neither comprehensive nor accurate is taking place in such settings.”
* Op-ed: Utah students need real sex ed, not ‘Fight the New Drug’ (Salt Lake Tribune)
“Across more than a dozen websites, men with varying skill levels edit women’s faces onto explicit photos and gifs. … We’ve heard all about the humiliation that [revenge porn] victims experience when the most private of moments are made public, and seen several attempts to legislate against such trespasses. But fake revenge porn exists in a much trickier, much grayer area — both legally and morally.”
* A Naked Body & An Ex’s Face: The Disturbing World Of ‘Fake’ Porn (Voactiv)
“This month, Sex returns to the city: an infamous play written by and starring the budding starlet Mae West in the 1920s. After a 10-month run on Broadway in 1927, the play was deemed by a grand jury to be such “obscene, indecent, immoral, and impure drama” that it might corrupt “the morals of youth”. West was sentenced to 10 days in jail for obscenity, and travelled there in style – garlanded in roses, wearing silk underwear and riding in a limousine.”
* Sex: the play that put Mae West in prison returns to New York (Guardian)
“Treating trans women as sexual deviants has done them real, concrete harm. As activist Julia Serano writes, “Reducing a person to their sexual bodies or behaviors sexualizes them. And in our culture, sexualizing someone (i.e., reducing them to their sexuality, rather than seeing them as a whole person) is one of the most effective ways of invalidating a person.””
* Why Are Trans Women Penalized For Body Fantasies Everyone Has? (The Establishment)
“Other requests are far more involved. Night reminisces about a customer in the medical profession who had her procure a stethoscope so she could attach the headset to her computer’s microphone and the chest piece to her heart, allowing him to listen to Night’s heart race as she reached orgasm.”
* Camming Together: The Virtues of the Virtual Girlfriend (Observer)
“Chest binding is a fact of life for many people, including trans men, some gay women, intersex people, and gender non-conforming individuals like Naomhan. Flattening the appearance of one’s breasts—whether that’s through Ace bandages, compression undergarments, layered T-shirts, sports bras, or commercial binders—doesn’t just make it easier to pass in public as the correct gender or wear masculine clothes. For many, it’s a matter of psychological well-being.”
* Inside the Landmark, Long Overdue Study on Chest Binding (Broadly/Vice)
“In its way, the pizza delivery guy has become a cultural shorthand for the lazy plot devices of the adult movie industry. When pressed, most porn directors will admit that the scenario is exactly that: simply a matter of convenience, an easy way to get two people together for some good old-fashioned doin’ it.”
* Did Someone Order a Pizza? (Eater)
” Launch gala attendees were treated to live demonstrations of the condoms features- including “revolutionary” patterning and a base emblazoned with the word “RESPECT” meaning “respect the man who wears it” according to what Gizmodo writer Bryan Menegus was told. This was also when we learned that Charlie Sheen had been selected as the spokesman for the new prophylactic. …”
* A Pox On Your Box: The Problem of LELO Hex (Lorax Of Sex)
“With this exclusive interview, riding proudly under our Queer Visibility banner, Greg Rucka chats about the vision he and his collaborators have for their Wonder Woman series, the act of balancing representation with the craft of storytelling, and the question of what it even means to be queer in a culture absent of heteronormativity.”
* Exclusive Interview: Greg Rucka on Queer Narrative and WONDER WOMAN (Comicosity)
“[There is not] a lot of debate on is why men orgasm. They do it because it feels good, thus motivating them to spread more of their sticky little seeds out into willing and welcoming wombs. Many people use this as further evidence of how “simple” men are; implying women are somehow more complicated. Well… turns out that’s not necessarily the case.”
* Let’s Stop Acting Like Women’s Orgasms Are So Complicated (Thrillist)
“As a trans woman who has had surgery I don’t want to buy into the ‘please let my vagina pass the pussy test.’ My vagina is different, it has limitations and its own wonderful sculptural qualities. I want to celebrate those rather than hoping that ‘wham bam thank you mam’ takes place without acknowledging its inherent beauty and narrative. ”
* The Dating Game… As A 50-Year-Old Trans Woman (Refinery 29)
Main post image by Sad Amish Tattooer, via illusion.
