“Proposition 60 looks great at first glance. I wouldn’t fault anyone who doesn’t know anything about it for voting “yes” if that’s all they knew about it. I can easily imagine myself getting suckered into voting for it if I didn’t have such strong connections to the sex worker communities. But the fact is, it’s a lousy law, the latest in a long string of attempts by the AIDS Health Foundation to profiteer off the fear of sex and the stigmatizing of sex work.”
* The “Condoms in Porn” Initiative Shows Why We Need to Listen Closely to Sex Workers (The Orbit)
Hello, the non-boy market for that doll is sitting RIGHT HERE. “Speaking to the Daily Star, Matt McMullen, the CEO of RealDoll—a high-end sex doll manufacturer—said something that has clearly piqued the interest of gamers as well as sexbot enthusiasts. When asked about the idea of someday creating a RealDoll version of the heroic Lara Croft, McMullen was profuse in his excitement for the idea: “A lot of prepubescent boys grew up playing Tomb Raider and were probably thinking ‘wow I’d really like to meet the real Lara Croft and get to know her,’” he said.”
* Would You Buy a Lara Croft Sex Robot? It May One Day Be Possible (Future of Sex)
“Since the advent of the World Wide Web, our world has become much smaller, and much more connected. Porn professionals are no different. When polled, the one thing they all had in common was the need, and want, to be connected – with their fans, their family, and other professionals. For porn-star-turned-radio-host Lisa Ann, being connected has saved her from some would-be awkward moments …”
* How adult entertainment professionals use technology (The Next Web)
“In the typically staid classical music section of The New York Times, readers this past February were treated to an article about kinky sex as a conduit to a more creative life. Georg Friedrich Haas, widely seen one of the world’s leading composers, came out in the newspaper of record as a BDSM master to his wife Mollena, and credited their dynamic with helping him write his most recent, and well-reviewed, new works.”
* How Kinky Sex Might Make You More Creative (Mel Magazine)
“The Pentagon has a group of people who, quite literally, review pornography for the US military. It’s not a review that gives a play-by-play of the action. Instead, a board of military and civilian officials has to review material and determine whether it’s “sexually explicit,” as it’s against the law for hardcore porn to be sold or rented on military bases.”
* The Pentagon pays a group of people to review porn — here’s what they banned from military bases (Business Insider)
“At the very end of the Malay peninsula sits the city state of Singapore, which was once plagued with retracting penises. In 1967, in one of the best-documented epidemics of koro, (or genital retraction syndrome) ever, hundreds of people rushed to hospitals, deathly afraid that if they loosened their grip they would die.”
* In the Late 1960s, Singapore was Gripped By a Genital Panic (Atlas Obscura)
“Orgy chitchat is rare in Healdsburg, a drowsy hamlet in California’s wine country, about 70 miles north of San Francisco. But for Tynan it’s an occupational hazard. Since 2009, she has been porn’s go-to labor lawyer, defending studios against regulatory complaints and investigations from Cal/OSHA, the state’s workplace safety watchdog. Now, she’s leading the industry’s fight against Prop. 60, the hotly debated ballot measure known for requiring performers to wear condoms during filming.”
* The California Porn Industry Is Calling on Its Bareback Defender (Esquire)
“Welcome to Bonoboville, where Susan Block (and her flock) lead a lifestyle inspired by our sex-loving cousin, the bonobo…”
* My 24-Hour Sleepover With a Sex Therapist at Her Ape-Inspired Commune (Mel Magazine)
“Legislators have approved a bill that would block all porn in Israel unless people ask to view it. The Israeli Ministerial Committee for Legislation unanimously approved the bill, which forces internet companies in the country censor adult websites by default. Backers of the new legislation claim that it is a way of stopping young people getting online.”
* All porn sites to be banned in Israel. And it’s worse than it sounds (Independent UK)
“Currently under review in Parliament is a law that would compel British porn sites to solicit age-verification data from people wanting to view their content. Issuing these viewers a unique porn identification number, the government would effectively commission a database of the nation’s porn consumption habits. What could go wrong?!”
* Welcome to the UK, Here’s Your Porn ID Viewer Number (Inverse)
“It’s called virtual reality, or VR, and it’s this technology that game developer Jonathan Schenker has a passion for. Schenker and his colleague Aaron Stanton created the VR game QuiVr — and, as he tells NPR’s Rachel Martin, he was alarmed to discover a female user had been harassed while playing it.”
* Even In A Virtual World, The Harsh Reality Of Sexual Harassment Persists (NPR)
“When Alexandra Fine was gearing up to launch her company’s second gadget, a handheld vibrator engineered to mimic human touch, she knew Kickstarter wasn’t likely to accept her application. The crowdfunding website does not support sex toys and rejected Fine once before.”
* The first sex toy on Kickstarter has landed (Business Insider)
Warning for survivors of sexual assault, abuse, and trauma. “For months, people have wondered why this case isn’t getting more ― or, really, any ― attention in the press, even now that Trump faces an actual court date: a Dec. 16 status conference with the judge. The allegations aren’t entirely implausible on their face. The accuser says Trump raped her repeatedly at parties thrown by since-convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, who was widely known to throw wild parties with young women and girls. Epstein was convicted in 2008 of soliciting an underage girl for prostitution and served a small portion of an 18-year sentence.”
* Donald Trump Is Accused Of Raping A 13-Year-Old. Why Haven’t The Media Covered It? (Huffington Post)
Main post image via 5 minutes with Tiffany photographed by Don Mupasi (C-Heads Magazine)
