agent provocateur

• Agent Provocateur has taken a refreshingly strong turn for its Spring campaign, tapping Ellen von Unwerth and featuring Naomi Campbell.
  Agent Provocateur Taps Ellen von Unwerth and Naomi Campbell (Women’s Wear Daily)

• With the snowy holiday season, it’s a perfect time to warn motorists not drive in a jerky manner in the snow. But apparently some people somehow made a giant associative leap and assumed a safety campaign ad was warning against the dangers of jerking off while driving.
  South Dakota cancels ‘Don’t Jerk and Drive’ campaign (Death and Taxes)

• A Los Angeles County ordinance requiring actors in pornographic films to use condoms does not violate the porn industry’s First Amendment rights of free expression, a federal appeals court ruled Monday.
  Appeals Court Upholds Condom Use in LA Porn Films (ABC News/AP)

• The one and only Madonna is looking gorgeous and wearing some hot couture, photographed by Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott in the December/January 2014.15 issue of Interview magazine.
  Madonna by Mert & Marcus (Fashiontography)

• “…the most egregious aspect of the recent amendments is the way in which the censors have specifically erased sex acts which are associated with domination and female sexual empowerment and yet they have maintained sex acts such as double penetration and bukkake – where several men ejaculate on one woman – which are synonymous with female sexual humiliation. This glaring inequity will do nothing to challenge prehistoric male attitudes to gender roles and objectification. It will, instead, confirm them.”
  Ten Things You Need to Know Before You Censor Porn (Huffington Post UK)

• Archer bills itself as “Australia’s first journal of sexual diversity.” After three issues they’re just starting to break even, but they’ve won several awards and don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.
  Archer takes aim: The bold new magazine targetting sex and gender in Australia (The Age AU)

• I’m trying not to flip out over this. “For months, the adult industry has been buzzing with conjecture that Twitter, which has previously adopted a laissez-faire approach to nudity and sexual content, is cracking down on porn, suspending or permanently banning users for posting adult content. What’s more, some speculate that Twitter isn’t just going after adult content—rather, they’re specifically going after sex workers and adult performers.”
  Is Twitter censoring sex workers? (Daily Dot)

• Though he has inarguably effected seismic changes in contemporary gay male culture, altering not only how men meet, but also how they portray and even see themselves, Grindr’s Joel Simkhai thinks of himself, he said, primarily as a service provider.
  The Sex Education of Grindr’s Joel Simkhai (NYT)

• This article is fantastic: “The running theme through World War II sexual education films is that female sexuality is a serious threat to men’s dominance. In Eberwein’s book, he explains how the films gave servicemen—whose numbers reached 12 million in 1945—visions of emasculation and manhood diminished by openly sexual or promiscuous women.”
  Slut-Shaming, Eugenics, and Donald Duck: The Scandalous History of Sex-Ed Movies (Collectors Weekly)

• New porn laws banning spanking and caning go too far and Government should not be “sticking their nose into people’s bedrooms”, Nick Clegg has said. The Deputy Prime Minister backed Liberal Democrat MPs who are opposing a ban on a list of erotic acts being shown in porn because they have been judged “harmful”.
  Porn ban goes too far, Nick Clegg says, as he backs ‘face-sitting’ protesters (Telegraph UK)

• Warning for survivors of sexual abuse and trauma. Run by the UK Network of Sex Work Projects, Ugly Mugs is a national scheme where sex workers can make anonymous online reports about an incident or the “ugly mug” who attacks them. With the input of sex workers of all genders, they’re about to release an app called Safety Nets.
  TITLE (Vice)

• Pornhub’s always wonderful statistical analysis team looked at their glorious search data to answer one of life’s greatest questions: are the d00ds who visit their site a boobs or a butt person?
  Maps show which body parts in porn are the most popular across the world (Gizmodo)

• Not all is sunny and chipper in the world of professional cheerleading this year. NFL cheerleaders from five squads sued their teams last spring, alleging sub-minimum-wage pay, mandatory “jiggle tests,” and other craptastic working conditions.
  A Not-So-Brief and Extremely Sordid History of Cheerleading (Mother Jones)

• In her series of controversial videos critiquing sexism in video games, Anita Sarkeesian often focuses on the way games treat sex workers. She doesn’t call sex workers “sex workers.” Instead she refers to them throughout her video series as “prostituted women.” This is rubbing many sex workers the wrong way, to say the least. (…) Another sex worker who questions Sarkeesian’s position, at least indirectly, is Mia Isabella, a transgender porn star who was hired to voice “Prostitute #1″ in Grand Theft Auto V. Isabella saw her work as providing a “fantasy” for teenage boys, and she didn’t see it as necessarily exploitive. Instead, she said she was “honored” to be asked, in part because few, if any, transsexual women have been included in video games.
  Pixelated Prostitution: Feminist Debate Over Sex Work Bleeds Into Video Games (Reason Magazine)

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• Longread: Pygmalion’s true modern heir might be Davecat, a man who lives in southeastern Michigan with three high-end sex dolls. His first purchase, which he named Sidore Kuroneko, he considers his wife; the other two—named Elena and Muriel—are just intimate friends. (VB note: I consider Sidore and Dave my friends. I profiled Davecat and iDollators in this two-part series in 2007.)
  A (Straight, Male) History of Sex Dolls (The Atlantic)

• Single elderly men may be the most immature population on the planet. I’ve heard them say the kinds of things that in a football locker room might be considered “going too far.” I’ve been to a strip club with old men. Strippers always think it’s great when a cute old man comes to a strip club. But that’s only until the cute old man begins to flagrantly ignore the club’s “no hands” policy.
  The Twilight Zone: The Sexual Politics of a Retirement Community (Nerve)

• Two deaths from coffee enemas prompted this study. You’ve been warned!
  Deaths Related to Coffee Enemas (JAMA, via @iamcuriousblue)

• In Jedediah Johnson’s photo series The Makeout Project, he deconstructs the kiss into the essentials of the act itself — adding, of course, red lipstick, willing participants, and a camera.
  Kissing for Art’s Sake (Hyperallergic)

• The number of permits issued for X-rated productions in Los Angeles plummeted about 90% to just 40 permits last year compared with 2012, according to data from FilmL.A. Inc., the nonprofit group that handles film permits for the city and county. Only 20 permits have been issued so far this year. (VB note: Meaning, they’re just filming without permits, which was a troubling predicted outcome from the condom legislation campaign.)
  On Location Porn production plummets in Los Angeles (LA Times)

• Incredible post. Peter Acworth writes, “A year ago, I was charged for possession of a gram of cocaine, which was found when police responded to reports of alleged gun use at the San Francisco Armory, home of the adult production studio, Kink.com. I had a great lawyer and the charges were eventually dropped. But how would I have fared if I had not had the money, or a different skin color? Unfortunately, I think I know the answer because I witnessed it.”
  A Strike for Justice (Peter Acworth, also: Kink.com CEO Peter Acworth Admits He Skirted Cocaine Charge Because He’s Rich and White)

• The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (owners of Out of The Closet) has filed its first shot in Nevada against an adult entertainment company. Wednesday the organization said it filed a complaint last week with Nevada OSHA against Kink.com over a recent filming claiming it may have exposed performers to infectious disease by exposure to blood and other potentially infectious materials.
  AHF Complains to Nevada Officials Over Kink.com Shoot (XBIZ, see also: Kink.com’s Nevada Shoot Only Involved Oral Sex, Acworth Says)

• VICE op-ed: “While I have no special love for the LA economy, the troubling manner of Measure B’s passage and impact is something I hope to not see repeated. The public’s misguided concerns about safety won the day, while the performers’ own expressed concerns were ignored.”
  Mandating Condom Use in Porn Is Wrongheaded and Stupid (VICE)

• Sex worker Lily tells The Economist why criminalising prostitution is bad for her and her industry.
  A job like any other (Economist)

• Mischa Badasyan plans to have sex with a new person every single day for one year. It’s a plan he will begin on the first of September, and it’s one of his most ambitious artistic undertakings yet.
  This Performance Artist Plans to Sleep with Someone New Every Day for One Year (Nerve)

• Beginning as a scientific discipline in the classical Greek period, there are currently over 20 schools and institutes that provide higher education for those wishing to start a career doing clinical, survey, observational, or experimental sex research. (VB note: wait — people make money doing this now?!)
  Meet the Modern-Day Masters of Sex (Nerve)

• Now specialist websites and apps are allowing information to flow between buyer and seller, making it easier to strike mutually satisfactory deals. The sex trade is becoming easier to enter and safer to work in.
  More bang for your buck (Economist)

• When a 3D printer begins making an object, it does so layer by layer. Over time, the layers build up to make the proper form of whatever it is you’re printing. But 3D-printed sex toys are particularly dangerous for two reasons: The surface is too rough for immediate use, and microscopic gaps in the toy that are almost impossible to disinfect can store bodily fluid and bacteria.
  Your 3D-Printed Sex Toy Is Growing Bacteria (Mashable)

• Three months ago, they left the Everglades and their extended family because they have a 10-year-old daughter who was born a boy. And they were convinced that Portland was the best place to raise her.
  Transgender At 10 (Willamette Week)

• Wannabe male adult stars can get a crash course on breaking into the business thanks to a new course being offered by a Canadian porn production company. For $149, would-be studs can enroll in Pegas Productions’ intensive one-day training course that’s being billed as the first of its kind in the industry.
  Canadian Studio Offering Course for Wannabe Porn Studs (XBIZ)

• A health textbook that talks about masturbation, foreplay and erotic touch, among other sexual education topics, will stay even though some parents are objecting to it on the grounds it’s inappropriate for their ninth grade children.
  Too much sex in sex education book, Fremont parents say (San Jose Mercury News, thanks everyone who sent this in!)

• For those who think that trans-hurting jerks who use “family values” to discount transgender children only exist in the US… A recent New Zealand study revealed trans kid statistics and offered positive advice for schools, only to be met by repulsive articles (filed under ‘national news’) such as this.
  Transgender changes in schools would increase confusion – Family First
  (TVNZ)

Trigger warning section below

• It is my understanding that the perpetrator is still at large with a reward on his head. Christy Mack, model, pornstar and sweetheart, loved by many, was viciously and brutally attacked and beaten by ex-boyfriend Jon Koppenhaver (aka MMA fighter “War Machine”) in Las Vegas on Friday August 8. It’s a miracle she was able to escape with her life.
  Christy Mack’s Medical Expense Fund (Give Forward)

• Massive trigger warning. There’s no helpline for pedophiles who want treatment before they act. So a teen with a terrible secret had to find his own way to save himself and others like him.
  You’re 16. You’re a Pedophile. You Don’t Want to Hurt Anyone. What Do You Do Now? (Medium)

• “Before we can hope to understand the curious connection between the hellish expunging of our intestinal contents and the type of person that we’re in turn most likely to marry—or simply to screw—it’s necessary to first step back to look at the wider framework in which the study’s main hypothesis was based.”
  This Queasy Love: How Having Frequent Diarrhea as a Child Shapes Your Adult Mate Choice (Scientific American)

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VB note: My sweetie is running the SF Marathon this Sunday to raise money for The Trevor Project, an LGBT youth suicide prevention organization. Help us meet (or beat!) our goal!

• While American generals have been criticized for their handling of an epidemic of sexual assaults, Australia’s army chief, David Morrison, is getting rave reviews for a blistering video he released this week demanding, through clenched teeth, that sexists in his country’s military mend their ways or find another place to work.
  WATCH: Australia’s army chief demonstrates how you address sex abuse (The Week, thank you, Eric!)

• In a survey of scientists engaged in field research, the majority — 64 percent — said they had personally experienced sexual harassment while at a field site, and 22 percent reported being the victim of sexual assault.
  Young Scientists Say They’re Sexually Abused In The Field (NPR)

• At a luxury sex camp in the English countryside for women, hedonism and hard work go hand in hand. The brainchild of London-based best friends Lucy Arrowsmith and Vikki Van Someren, the four- to seven-day retreat aims to combat stress, exhaustion, trauma, and the loss of female identity and sexual energy.
  More Sex, Please (W Magazine)

• Men write most of the commentary about the disastrous effects of romance novels on women and the public despite the fact that women from all regions and educational backgrounds compose the vast majority of the genre’s writers and readers.
  Why Do Men Dislike Erotica for Women So Much? (Pacific Standard)

• Ye Haiyan, who goes by the online alias Hooligan Sparrow, is known for her outspoken, pioneering outreach work on sex work and HIV/AIDS. She was denied permission to attend the AIDS Conference in Melbourne when the Chinese government blacklisted her from traveling abroad, continuing a growing pattern of suppressing dissidents.
  China Bars Sex Worker Rights Activist From Traveling to International AIDS Conference (The Nation)

• Over the weekend, under the hashtag #twitterpurge, users took to Twitter to post nonconsensual nudes and porn in a riff off the release of film The Purge: Anarchy, in which there’s one night where nothing is illegal. The so-called purge primarily targeted girls and women. In other words, it was revenge porn.
  The Revenge Porn of #Twitterpurge (Slate, Guardian UK)

• A prestigious group of HIV researchers made a loud and scientifically supported plea for the decriminalization of sex work at the 20th Annual International AIDS Conference yesterday, during a presentation of a series of seven studies published in The Lancet.
  Scientists call for the decriminalization of sex work (Verge)

• Pleasure products giant Lovehoney takes center stage in the new reality series, “Frisky Business,” now available to U.S. viewers on Netflix. The six-part series offers insight into all aspects of the company – from the customer care team fielding intimate questions from shoppers to the returns department dealing with unwanted sex dolls.
  Lovehoney Documentary Streaming on Netflix (XBIZ)

• In light of the Malaysian Airlines tragedy, this Vogue Ukraine death-eros fashion photo shoot is more than a little unsettling. August issue.
  Marina Abramović and Crystal Renn in Vogue Ukraine August 2014 (25th Century, image above via)

• A new study looks at the evolutionary psychology behind our ideas of sexual morality, that is, why we slut-shame and moralize about things like promiscuity. The connection between sexual behavior and morality, the researches say, may have come about as a way of keeping a gender-based social order intact.
  Why We Care About Other People’s Sex Lives (The Atlantic)

• Terri Conley, a professor of psychology and women’s studies at the University of Michigan who studies polyamory, has analyzed a sample of 1,700 monogamous individuals, 150 swingers, 170 people in open relationships, and 300 polyamorous individuals for a forthcoming study. The Atlantic says, “polyamorous people don’t seem to be plagued by monogamous-style romantic envy.”
  Multiple Lovers, Without Jealousy (The Atlantic)

• This year’s Comic Con is holding the first ever trans specific panel, Breaking Barriers: Transgender Trends in Popular Culture, marks a positive step forward in comics, film, TV, and pop culture.
  Comic Con to Hold First-Ever Trans Panel This Year (SheWired)

• TimeGlider took data from Green’s Dictionary of Slang to create two charts of (often hilarious) historical genitalia slang, one for penis and one for vagina. Now they’ve done the same with three interactive charts showing the first appearance of English-language slang terms for sexual intercourse generally, oral sex and anal intercourse, and orgasms, bodily fluids, and contraception.
  Historical Slang Terms For Having Sex, From 1351 Through Today (io9)

• Dita Von Teese launched her signature lingerie collection this week, and to the surprise of many, and in contrast to Agent Provocateur, Dita’s lingerie is available in “full figure” sizes.
  Dita Von Teese Lingerie Collection (Bare Necessities, above image via)

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