- VB note: Tweet or share the team’s open letter to CES to add your voice to their fight for gender equality at CES. “The team at Lora DiCarlo was overjoyed when it received a letter from the Consumer Technology Association saying its Osé “sex positive” micro-robotic sex toy had won a CES Innovation Award, giving the company a chance to showcase itself at CES 2019 … the mostly female team was crushed when the CTA rescinded the award for the device … DiCarlo’s legal team followed up with a letter saying that CES ‘has had no problem allowing explicitly pornographic products for men.'”
* Lora DiCarlo says CES wrongly rescinded award for micro-robotic sex toy (VentureBeat)
See also: CES revokes award from female-founded sex tech company (TechCrunch)
- “An image that’s being passed off as a nude of congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was debunked as being fake by a foot fetishist on Reddit … The photo, as well as the feet, actually belong to Sydney Leathers, a political activist and cam model who you might recall from Anthony Weiner’s sexting investigation in 2016.”
* A Fake Nude of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Was Debunked By Foot Fetishists (Motherboard)
- “The City of Bryan [Texas] took a step Tuesday to make sure it would have the ability to regulate the use of sex robots, should that industry ever make its way to the area. The clarification puts the definition of a sex robot into the city ordinance.”
* City of Bryan adjusts ordinance related to sex robots (KBTX)
See also, background: Bryan P&Z seeks to include ‘adult robots’ in city’s definition of a sexual encounter center (The Eagle)
- “An Ontario court will begin hearing a challenge to the provincial government’s repeal of the modernized 2015 sex-ed curriculum on Wednesday. The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association are set to argue the Progressive Conservative government’s reversion to an older curriculum is unconstitutional because it puts students at risk.”
* Court battle over repeal of modernized sex-ed curriculum kicks off today (CBC)
- ““Now, nine years later, people search out our booth,” she says. In recent years, specifically in the particularly male-dominated field of tech), Dunham has noticed a shift in the average CES participants’ interest in items like but plugs or interactive male masturbators (pair it with your partner’s vibrator, whose movements trigger the suction patterns in the male counterpart toy).”
* Meet the Women Who Design Sex Toys for Men (Playboy)
- “Anyone, of any age, who has AirDrop turned on at its most unrestricted setting is at risk of picking up their phone to see a graphic image that was sent anonymously by someone in the same restaurant, cinema or train carriage. The problem has become widespread enough that MPs and campaigners are now calling for a law targeting “cyberflashers”.”
* What makes men send dick pics? (Guardian)
- “You may think you’re going to be examining a mysterious blotch on Peter’s torso, or checking out his new watchband. The reality is a good deal more shocking, but as actress Cameron Diaz puts it, ‘When a director shows you his penis the first time you meet him, you’ve got to recognize the creative genius.'”
* Green Book Director Used to Flash His Penis As a Joke (The Cut)
- “Two North Carolina women have been charged with sexual battery and second-degree kidnapping of a transgender woman in the bathroom of a North Carolina bar, Raleigh police said … In 2016, the North Carolina legislature passed H.B. 2, more commonly known as the “bathroom bill,” which required people to use public restrooms that matched the sex on their birth certificate, instead of the gender they identify with — particularly affecting the transgender community.”
* Two North Carolinians charged with sexually assaulting a transgender woman in a bar bathroom (Washington Post)
This happened today and I'm having trouble finding a current news story on it. (They signed it, you know, the same time as the Violence Against Women Act expired…) If anyone comes across a link, please share it with me. pic.twitter.com/EXIPw8sLA0
— Violet Blue® (@violetblue) January 9, 2019
- “After 25 years’ worth of accusations of sexual misconduct against R. Kelly, the R&B legend may be about to face legal consequences again. Following the airing of Lifetime’s Surviving R. Kelly, a six-part docuseries about the singer and the persistent allegations that he has abused young women and girls, the district attorney in Fulton County, Georgia, has reportedly opened a new investigation into Kelly’s alleged abuse.”
* R. Kelly reportedly faces a new criminal investigation after Lifetime’s docuseries (Vox)
- “Calls to Women Organized Against Rape are up. Social media is buzzing with the hashtag #MuteRKelly. “My phone has been ringing off the hook since this whole thing started,” said Movita Johnson‐Harrell, head of the Victim Witness Service Unit of the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.”
* Sex-abuse survivors triggered by R. Kelly’s explosive new docuseries gathered together to heal (Philly)