November 2014

• Four designers in California have come up with dirty emoji, and they’re calling it “Flirtmoji” that you can paste into messaging apps as needed. The project launched on Tuesday.
  These are NSFW emoji for sexting (The Verge)

• One of the detrimental truths about Silicon Valley is that while the sex industry is enormously lucrative, it’s ghettoized to the point where it’s totally separate from the tech world at large. But the gap is being gently bridged thanks to Snapchat’s launch of Snapcash, its new money-sending service.
  Why Snapcash is the new currency for Snapchat porn (Daily Dot)

• On Wednesday morning, just before sunrise, something wonderful happened on Twitter: A trio of bots teamed up to turn actor Taye Diggs into a space dinosaur. They then proceeded to write erotic fanfiction about him.
  Robots are writing erotic fanfiction about Taye Diggs as a space dinosaur (Daily Dot)

• Nearly every two days, a person is killed somewhere in the world for expressing gender nonconformity. As the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance approaches each November 20, the list of the dead who vigilgoers will memorialize steadily grows, filled especially with the names of trans women of color. (My sister and auntie are trans women of color.)
  Transgender Day of Remembrance: Those We’ve Lost in 2014 (Advocate)

• Learn the Secret Language of Brazilian Transwomen (Medium; image above via)

• This Change.org petition calls out matriarch Michelle Duggar for participating in a robocall campaign against a bill that combats discrimination against LGBT residents in her home state of Arkansas. In the robocall, Duggar specifically attacks transgender individuals, saying the bill “would allow men — yes, I said men — to use women’s and girls’ restrooms, locker rooms, showers, sleeping areas and other areas that are designated for females only,” and that some of them would be “males with past child predator convictions that claim they are female.”
  Thousands of People are Calling for TLC to Cancel “19 Kids and Counting” (Cosmopolitan)

• Hustler Lingerie announced plans for upcoming plus-size options for its brand of erotic lingerie. “We’re pleased that more women are embracing their curves and stepping outside of their comfort zone with more revealing choices in lingerie,” a Hustler Lingerie representative said.
  Hustler Lingerie Announces Upcoming Plus-Size Collection (XBIZ)

• Scientific discovery mingles with stimulation in Britain’s first exhibition about the study of sex, with pioneering sex aids, ancient phallic charms and even a chair credited with inducing orgasms. “The Institute of Sexology — Undress Your Mind” exhibition is named in honour of Magnus Hirschfeld’s research centre of the same name, whose immense archive of sexual research flourished in Berlin during the Weimar Republic.
  Erotica galore at London’s first study of sex show (AFP/Tahoo News)

• A chart from Max Einstein’s Data Looks Dope reveals the top 500 video tags in porn. The data comes from Xvideos’ 500 most used tags. The idea is simple, if there are a lot of tags, it’s assumed there’s a lot of demand. (However, that assumption relies on whether or not they are user-created tags, or distributor-assigned tags. A longstanding failing of the porn industry understanding its own viewers is deciding, rather than crowdsourcing, demand.)
  The 500 most popular types of porn in one chart (Sploid)

• Would it surprise you to learn that most bros’ awful Tinder pick-up lines aren’t exactly original? On forums across the Web devoted to guns, shoes, pick-up artistry, and bodybuilding, Tinder bros are crowdsourcing the most dumbfounding opening lines they can Google.
  Here’s where Tinder bros crowdsource their ridiculous pick-up lines (Daily Dot)

• Sex doesn’t sell, so forget the boudoir shot. Blondes don’t work. Props distract. Couches are fine. Playing with hair is ideal. Those are some of the insights the lingerie company Adore Me has learned from testing the photos of models wearing its sexy products online.
  This Lingerie Company A/B Tests The World’s Hottest Women To See Who Makes You Click “Buy” (FastCompany)

• ‘War Machine’ has pled “not guilty” in Nevada to charges that he tried to kill his ex-girlfriend Christy Mack and her friend in an assault in August. Mack suffered 18 broken bones, including a broken nose, missing teeth, a fractured rib and a ruptured liver in the assault.
  War Machine Pleads ‘Not Guilty’ (XBIZ)

• Warning for survivors of sexual assault and trauma. A jury this week awarded a Connecticut mother more than $630,000, after she said a man abused her mentally ill daughter in a sadomasochistic sexual relationship to which her daughter was unable to consent.
  Mother awarded $630,000 after judge finds man abused her mentally ill daughter (Guardian)

• Some pornographers have realized the teledildonics on the market just aren’t good enough yet, as is the case with Oculus game Wicked Paradise, which closed up shop despite heaps of fanfare last year.
  When Porn and Virtual Reality Collide (Gizmodo)

• Vice.com has posted a (Timely? Contrived.) in-depth video (loud autoplay warning) feature about the intersection of sex and technology and the emerging virtual reality sector titled “The Digital Love Industry.”
  Video: Vice.com Explores Virtual Reality in ‘The Digital Love Industry’ Feature (XBIZ; loud autoplay warning, Vice doesn’t let you turn autoplay it off in its embed code)

• This is GOLD. “Dear Straight People (…) You know that sense of discomfort and alienation that you sometimes feel in our bars? That’s how we feel in virtually every social space we go to, so please do not begrudge us this one public place on Earth where we can pay for the “privilege” to hit on, dance with, and make out with people we actually find attractive without watching our backs.”
  Dear straight people, this is how you should act in gay bars (GayStarNews)

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• Vocativ.com posted a highly unique photo essay titled, “I’m in Love With a Sex Doll.” While the mainstream media has become increasingly wont to cover the popularity of realistic sex dolls for their sexual purposes, Vocativ’s photos highlight men — and women — who feel a deeper bond with their silicone mates.
  Photo Essay Depicts Men Who Are in Love With Sex Dolls (XBIZ)

• Leslie Feinberg was a pioneer in trans and lesbian issues, workers rights, and intersectionality long before anyone could define the phrase. Feinberg’s partner, Minnie Bruce Pratt, and family offered The Advocate this obituary. As Mistress Morgana so perfectly put it, Rest in Power.
  Transgender Pioneer and Stone Butch Blues Author Leslie Feinberg Has Died (Advocate)

• While the “fuck-a-fan” trend isn’t a new one, the concept of bidding to be a porn star for a day is. “Now that porn is pushing more mainstream and the taboos are washing off of it, more people are anxious to try,” says Adult Verified Video Chat company spokesman Randy. “It’s like bragging rights.”
  Sotheby’s for Sex: The Problem with Auctioning Off Sex with A Porn Star (Daily Beast)

• “Prostitution opponents love to promote images of abused hookers and human traffickers to trump up hostility towards sex work. While it’s true ill-intentioned criminals do exist and should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, these conditions do not apply to the vast majority of sex workers. We should especially not conflate the sex industry with the abuses of human trafficking because it delegitimizes the workers and creates a moral panic that manifests itself in harmful legislation. The fact of the matter is that most sex workers enter the industry via their own consent and genuinely enjoy their work.”
  Opinion: ‘Prostitutes Are People, Not Criminals’ by Belle Knox (Rolling Stone)

• Fur seals have been caught engaging in an extreme form of sexual behaviour. Specifically, trying to have sex with penguins. BBC warns, “You may find the videos in this story disturbing.”
  Seals discovered having sex with penguins (BBC)

• The newest ebook from Digita Publications went on sale this weekend: Filthy Housewives (order direct) is an explicit erotic 80-page ebook that features sexually frustrated (modern) housewives figuring out what it takes to push their husbands over the line — and the book splits all sales with the authors evenly. Also released this weekend in the must-have erotic book sphere include Rachel Kramer Bussel’s Sex and Cupcakes.
  Filthy Housewives (Digita Publications, Amazon)

• Is female Viagra a scam? The International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health, which is largely funded by the pharmaceutical industry, had joined with Sprout Pharmaceuticals and other companies with skin in the game to develop two slick campaigns, “eventhescore.org” and “womendeserve.org,” which argued that the FDA’s failure to approve a drug to treat women’s sexual problems was “sexist.”
  ‘Pink Viagra’: The sham drug idea of the year (LA Times)

• Cindy Gallop considers Bitcoin: she finds that necessities like VC funding, bank accounts and video streaming platforms usually read “no adult content” in the small print. As many business owners do, Gallop is cautiously and slowly approaching the Bitcoin space. We thought we’d reach out to her and give her a warm crypto welcome.
  Decentralizing Sex: Cindy Gallop Makes Love Not Porn (Cointelegraph)

• Over the past few years sex clubs have become increasingly common. You can find them in almost any major city and many suburban areas throughout the US. There are definite dos and don’ts that Popsugar apparently learned the hard way.
  Sex Club Etiquette (Popsugar)

• In the UK last week, Luke King, a 21-year-old man from Nottingham, England, became the first man in Britain to be jailed for posting revenge porn. A 12-week sentence was handed down on Nov. 14, after King pleaded guilty to harassment, after posting revenge porn of his ex to WhatsApp. The woman had sent King the photo while they were dating. After the break-up, King threatened to upload the photo, which is when his ex reported him to police. Although he was warned by police that posting the image online would be a crime, King followed through with his threat in August.
  Revenge Porn: Man Jailed In Britain As US Lawmakers Prepare New Legislation (TIME)

• Have you ever dreamed of having a bra that could change colors when you bumped boobs with a girlfriend? Yeah, we haven’t either.
  Frozen Bra That Changes Color (Popsugar)

• Parents at an elite magnet school in Chicago are up in arms over a sex education program for fifth graders that talks frankly about female condoms and lube.
  Parents Freak Out Because Chicago School’s Sex Ed Talks About Female Condoms (Think Progress)

• Online distributors of adult content in the U.K. will be forced to block R18 video-on-demand adult content before users are able to reach age-verified pay walls, according to a new law that goes into effect Dec. 1. What people will be prosecuted for is terrifying.
  U.K. Imposes New Age-Verification Law Going Into Effect on Dec. 1 (XBIZ)

• Warning for survivors of sexual abuse and trauma: A woman named Joan Tarshis has come forward to describe how Bill Cosby drugged and assaulted her twice after she met him when she was 19 years old in 1969, describing his actions as rape. Tarshis appears to be the fifth woman to publicly accuse the comedian of sexual assault. Drugging women for sex was a repeat theme in his comedy routines.
  Another Woman Accuses Bill Cosby of Rape (Slate)

• Warning for survivors of sexual abuse and trauma: Federal prosecutors say a Utah truck driver had four other victims in addition to the two women he is accused of keeping as sex slaves in his semi-trailer as he drove across the country.
  Prosecutors: Utah trucker had 4 more sex slave victims (Fox News)

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