Thursday mail - summer edition (ongoing).

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I won't be updating the blog with content for the rest of the summer - I need a break. But, as requested, I'll leave this Thursday Mail up as the final post until the fall. Feel free to use it like all the other Thursday Mails (i.e., to ask questions, to comment, to share stuff, etc.). I'll be checking in regularly to approve comments (i.e., so they'll be posted) and answer questions. Hopefully others will join the conversations.

Ciao!

One feminist porn producer's perspective on 'extreme porn.'

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The following excerpt is from the Ms. Naughty Porn for Women Blog. From what I can tell, Ms. Naughty is one of the two women who run For the Girls.

Please make sure to read the rest of Ms. Naughty's post to contextualize the following excerpt (link at the bottom). Also, some of the comments in response to her post (at the bottom) are very interesting - particularly those from women who like rough sex, BDSM, etc. Ms. Naughty is challenged by some of the commenters who practice BDSM on her use of the label "extreme porn."

Ms Naughty's post perfectly exemplifies the difficultly new-school feminists are having when it comes to balancing their own sexual preferences with the recognition that not all women feel the same way. It also brings up the issue of when porn crosses a line from something that's easily supported to something more insidious.

Let’s Talk About Extreme Porn

The other day I saw an ad for a porn site that I found rather disturbing. It was a looped flash video ad that featured a couple having very rough sex. The woman was “fish hooked” (had a finger in her mouth, dragging her head back at a painful angle), a penis was rubbed roughly on her face, she was choked and slapped. She also didn’t seem to be enjoying herself much; her face was red and she was crying.

I didn’t want to see that. Firstly, I’m not into rough sex. Also I also had no idea of the context of that sex scene. Was it consensual? Did she sign up for that? Did she enjoy it?

The porn company that made the ad obviously thinks this will entice viewers to sign up, either out of curiosity or genuine desire. I’ve seen other rough ones like it, including one where it was a woman administering the rough sex to another women. I don’t promote that company, by the way, or any porn site that includes that kind of content.

This is the exactly the kind of extreme porn that Gail Dines discusses in her book Pornland. She says that almost all porn is like this and that it is having a negative effect on men’s sexuality.

The thing is, while there are plenty of problems with Dines’ generalisations and theory, I don’t want to dismiss her concerns with this kind of content. It seems reasonable to be asking questions about bad porn and extreme porn. We should be talking about what it means and how it effects us. I know that my initial reaction to that ad was pretty visceral. I can imagine that a lot of people might find it very disturbing or problematic.

I’ve seen my fair share of what I consider to be bad porn. Stuff that is overtly sexist and cruel, porn that appeals more to negative emotions and hatred than actual sexual desire (take for example the “ex-girlfriend” style sites. Or the ones where the scenarios are primarily about tricking someone into sex and not paying them). There’s porn out there that doesn’t look like it was consensual or ethically created. My stance has always been that I don’t like it and I won’t promote it – but I would never agree with it being censored. I’ve also had numerous online discussions with other adult webmasters about whether sites stepped over the line or not.

Read the read of the post here.

Tristan Taormino, the ethical pornographer.

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From Xtra!:

Ten years after falling into the adult film business, Taormino has carved a successful career producing what she calls “organic, fair-trade porn” through her company, Smart Ass Productions.

Her movies have earned critical acclaim for challenging contrived stereotypes in what is admittedly a boys’ club, putting women in charge of their sexual encounters both on- and off-camera.

“For me, feminist porn is all about having a filmmaking process that is intentional, ethical and responsible and creates a really good work environment,” says Taormino, who is nominated in four categories at this year’s Feminist Porn Awards.

“It’s about respect and choice.”

Much more, including discussion of her various hardcore films and her sex education work, here.

Photography and words: Behind the Whip.

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Click to make larger:

DomBook2011_Page_00

DomBook2011_Page_00

From Bree last term (thanks!):

Today's class reminded me about this woman named Maria Coletsis. She's actually a coworker of my mum's (they're flight attendants) but also happens to be a photographer, and did a great project on female dominatrixes!

Here's a Georgia Straight interview with her:

Maria Coletsis discusses why she likes photographing dominatrixes. For more interviews and videos visit http://www.straight.com

And this is the link to her website for her book: link.

Figured this went along quite well with our current section! = )

Cheers!

Bring on the apocalypse: Tampon survival uses.

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From the Art of Manliness:

TAMPON Survival Use #4: Crude Survival Straw Filter

Yes, I have a tampon in my mouth — don’t laugh! As a last ditch water filter, you can make an improvised Survival Straw from the plastic housing and cotton from a tampon. As you can see in the photos below, just tear off a bit of the cotton and stuff it into the plastic housing. I find it better to leave a little bit sticking out to make the housing pieces wedge tightly together.

Again, this filter will not PURIFY your water by removing biological, chemical, or heavy metal threats, but it will filter out sediments and particulates. This would be a last ditch effort if no methods of water purification were available.

See the other 9 uses here: link.

Woman busted for masturbating on highway.

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From the Huffington Post, passed along by Laura (thanks!):

Drivers pulled illegal U-turns just to catch a glimpse of Ashley Holton, witnesses said.

The 35-year-old woman was arrested on May 26 for masturbating on Highway 484 in Ocala, Fla.

A witness told authorities that Holton had slowed traffic for more than 30 minutes before deputies arrived, the report said. The witness also said that honking car horns only seemed to encourage her.

When a Marion County Sheriff's Deputy approached her, Holton pulled up her shirt and bra, "exposing her breasts and bra," according to the report.

Holton was arrested and taken to the Marion County Jail. When an officer attempted to put pants on her, the report said Holton kicked and bit her. Holton described her chomping as "a love tap," the report stated.

Holton's alleged antics didn't stop once she had entered the jail, where she "continued to resist the officers by spreading her legs, exposing her vagina and telling the officers to kiss her there and refusing verbal commands to cooperate," according to the report.

Holton, who the report said may have been under the influence of alcohol, was charged with exposure of sexual organs, battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer and disorderly conduct.

Gay myth busting.

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Courtesy of Davey Wavey (check out his YouTube channel for way more awesome and hilarious videos - and lots of hot shirtless dudes): 

With North Carolina's recent ban on gay marriage and President Obama's support of marriage equality, a lot has been said about gay people lately. And it's time to set the record straight. Like Davey Wavey on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DaveyWaveyOfficial Follow Davey Wavey on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TheDaveyWavey A huge thank you to everyone who participated in this project!

Marvel comic book superhero marries boyfriend.

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This is somewhat old news (from a few weeks ago) but worth posting.

From The Mary Sue:

Marvel Comics has decided to take their characters in a new direction, one that hasn’t been explored in their pages before. Today, the publisher announced that their character Northstar would be proposing to his long-time boyfriend Kyle in the pages of Astonishing X-Men #50. And ABC’s The View had the exclusive.

Behar’s lame attempt at a joke aside, I wish the ladies had gotten more time to talk about this momentous move. Northstar, aka Jean-Paul Beaubier, was the first Marvel character to be revealed as gay but not the first in comics altogether. The first is most often credited to Extrano from DC Comics back in the 80s. Coincidentally enough, DC is planning to reveal one of their previously existing male, iconic characters as gay in a story this June. You may also remember Archie Comics getting the jump on this particular issue with the marriage of their gay character Kevin Keller to his significant other last year.

In a press release Axel Alonso, Marvel Editor in Chief, said, “The Marvel Universe has always reflected the world outside your window, so we strive to make sure our characters, relationships and stories are grounded in that reality. We’ve been working on this story for over a year to ensure Northstar and Kyle’s wedding reflects Marvel’s ‘world outside your window’ tradition.”

Read the rest here: link.

Newly discovered gene may lead to male contraceptive.

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From Medicine Net:

The discovery of a key gene involved in sperm development could eventually lead to the creation of a new type of non-hormonal birth control for men, a study involving mice suggests.

Researchers found that a gene called Katnal1 is critical to enable sperm to mature in the testes. Finding a way to regulate this gene could prevent sperm from maturing, making them incapable of fertilizing eggs.

This finding also could lead to new treatments for cases of male infertility in which the Katnal1 gene malfunctions and hampers sperm development, according to the study, from researchers at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

The researchers found that male mice modified to lack the Katnal1 gene were infertile. Further investigation revealed that the gene was essential for sperm development and maturation.

Successful trials in mice do not necessarily mean the success will translate to humans, however.

The study was published in the journal PLoS Genetics.

"If we can find a way to target this gene in the testes, we could potentially develop a non-hormonal contraceptive," study author Lee Smith, of the University of Edinburgh's Center for Reproductive Health, said in a journal news release.

"The important thing is that the effects of such a drug would be reversible because Katnal1 only affects sperm cells in the later stages of development, so it would not hinder the early stages of sperm production and the overall ability to produce sperm," Smith said.

"Although other research is being carried out into non-hormonal male contraceptives, identification of a gene that controls sperm production in the way Katnal1 does is a unique and significant step forward in our understanding of testis biology," Smith concluded.

The Science of Attraction.

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I wasn't able to find out a whole lot about this project, but from what I can tell, it seems pretty legit. There are three presenters, one of whom has proper actual academic credentials (Kat Akingbade). They've recreated several experiments on attraction and have produced a series of pop-psych videos for general public consumption. I love the idea - too often, science operates strictly within the confines of academia. It's nice to see it shared in a way that makes it interesting to non-academics.

Here's one of their videos:

As this Channel 4 Science of Attraction video (introduced by Derren Brown and presented by Kat Akingbade and Charlie McDonnell) will reveal, when it comes to your face, you and your partner have very different perspectives ... Also Charlie gets a very special make over!

You can check out the rest of their videos and their website here: link.

Man cooks and serves his own genitals at public banquet.

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From the Huffington Post:

This chef's got balls.

Mao Sugiyama, a self-described "asexual" from Tokyo, cooked up, seasoned and served his own genitalia to five diners at a swanky banquet in Japan last month, Calorie Lab reported.

In most cases, "asexual" is a word used to describe a person who is non-sexual. Sugiyama, however, embraces it as a way to show that he does not affiliate with either gender.

Sugiyama sparked a firestorm of interest on April 8 with one tweet:

"[Please retweet] I am offering my male genitals (full penis, testes, scrotum) as a meal for 100,000 yen …Will prepare and cook as the buyer requests, at his chosen location."

Just days after Sugiyama's 22nd birthday, the artist underwent elective genital-removal surgery, divvied up the severed penis shaft, testicles, and scrotal skin between five people, and garnished it with button mushrooms and Italian parsley.

On April 13, five of six diners who signed up for the $250-a-plate feast, sat down to dinner. The sixth person was a no-show.

The next day, an organizer posted a blog -- subsequently deleted -- containing pictures of the event. Images showed dozens of people who attended the event just to catch a glimpse of the rare treat.

The extra diners were served crocodile-based dishes while Sugiyama cooked up the exclusive meal.

The story went viral in Japan. Some showed even more interest, while others complained. But Calorie Lab called Japanese authorities, who deemed the banquet legal because there is no law against cannibalism in the country.

To see more photos, click here.

 

Documentary: Good Hair.

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Description:

When Chris Rocks daughter, Lola, came up to him crying and asked, Daddy, how come I don't have good hair? the bewildered comic committed himself to search the ends of the earth and the depths of black culture to find out who had put that question into his little girl's head! Director Jeff Stilsons camera followed the funnyman, and the result is Good Hair, a wonderfully insightful and entertaining, yet remarkably serious, documentary about African American hair culture.An exposé of comic proportions that only Chris Rock could pull off, Good Hair visits hair salons and styling battles, scientific laboratories, and Indian temples to explore the way black hairstyles impact the activities, pocketbooks, sexual relationships, and self-esteem of black people. Celebrities such as Ice-T, Kerry Washington, Nia Long, Paul Mooney, Raven Symoné, Maya Angelou, and Reverend Al Sharpton all candidly offer their stories and observations to Rock while he struggles with the task of figuring out how to respond to his daughters question. What he discovers is that black hair is a big business that doesnt always benefit the black community and little Lolas question might well be bigger than his ability to convince her that the stuff on top of her head is nowhere near as important as what is inside.

The trailer: 

http://www.goodhairmovie.net In Theaters This OCTOBER!!! Check out our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Good-Hair/111122928748?ref=ts When Chris Rocks daughter, Lola, came up to him crying and asked, Daddy, how come I don't have good hair? the bewildered comic committed himself to search the ends of the earth and the depths of black culture to find out who had put that question into his little girl's head!