Sex Positive

Jack’s Blowjob Lessons by Jack Hutson, with Tanya J, boasts of being “The Worlds #1 Blowjob Guide.” No one knows what that means, exactly; or if it’s even true. The truth is, what is most known about this book is its sexist nature.

...Smarmy as it is, Jack’s clearly aiming his book at insecure women, using threats to strike fear into their hearts. For Jack tells you, no matter how much you and your man may love one another, your relationship is at risk if you can’t give him good head. Your man will leave you. Or (presumably worse?) he may seek the services of a sex worker (in the book, he calls them “professionals”; on his website, he refers to them as “street hookers”). While I do wish women were more confident in themselves and their relationships than to fall for this sort of “man capturing” or “relationship saving” sort of thing ~ or just let the loser walk ~ there, sadly, is a hungry market for this. “Sex may sell” ~ but fear motivates actual purchases.

This is why I am trying to look past the sexism and other problems, and review the book’s contents to see if there’s anything worthy here… Just because Jack’s never had the pleasure of a feminist’s fantastic bj, it doesn’t mean you & your lover should miss such things...

I met Antonia Crane when I was putting together an anthology I did about sex work & sex workers. From our first correspondence it was clear she was smart, articulate, funny, talented, ballsy and didn't take herself too seriously. I knew she had a...

You could say they laid bare their concerns.

“Monster porn”, otherwise known as “monster erotica”, “cryptozoological erotica”, and “erotic horror”, should be well-known to fans of this site. These sexy stories employ mythical creatures — everything from vampires, demons, zombies, and other monsters to centaurs, mermaids, leprechauns, and aliens — as sex partners. And apparently this upsets people enough for them to censor such stories. But why?

Sexualities: Identities, Behaviors, and Society focuses on gender, using multiple disciplines, international populations, and theories to explore sexualities. The readings-including several written specifically for this volume-will grab students' attention. Topics range from the motivations of X-rated movie stars to vibrator use to gendered sexual fantasies. Same-sex orientation, people of color, and global populations are considered throughout. Sexualities: Identities, Behaviors, and Society opens with classical and contemporary theories about sexualities, including selections by Freud, Kinsey, and Fausto-Sterling. Subsequent chapters explore the ways in which we learn about sexual activities and develop sexual identities, both heterosexual and same-sex. The discussion expands to include sexual adaptations, sexual media, intersections with violence, and sexual education. The text ends with a key question: How will the next generation be taught about sex?

I know many of you who read here are, or have been, sex workers. Myself included, of course. We consider ourselves to be sex positive feminists who want sex work to be recognized and respected as work. Most of us believe it should be decriminalized, if not completely legal, even if  we often disagree about how best to achieve those things. But often in our conversions on the subject of (and issues surrounding) sex work, it is clear that many hold onto their own experiences at the expense of seeing the larger picture. Just like those who were harmed come out swinging “against” sex work, we let our feelings color and even cloud our willingness to hear from others.

"For too long these burlesque girls have been held down on the low rung of the entertainment ladder . . . but no more" declared Dixie Evans, the former Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque.

Emer O'Toole: Instead of banning the diary from schools, as Gail Horalek would like, we should teach girls not to be ashamed of their bodies

In “Sex and the Citadel,” Shereen El Feki asks an array of highly personal questions about present-day sexual relations in Muslim societies.

“Men in Egypt, in the gulf, they always want to have sex in the wrong place,” one Egyptian woman whispered to the writer Shereen El Feki, while she conducted her research into sexual proclivities in a rapidly changing Arab world.

The comment was about anatomy, not geography. And it’s indicative of the frankness Ms. El Feki’s “Sex and the Citadel” sometimes achieves. Though she warns her readers that she is not writing an encyclopedia or staging a peep show, Ms. El Feki does ask an array of highly personal questions about present-day sexual relations in Muslim societies, with particular emphasis on Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco. A number of people tell her that anal sex gains appeal when a culture places a high premium on virgin brides.