This week we are talking about Mutual Masturbation written by Molly Moore. But before we go into that we just need to say how sad we are for the attack that happend in London this week and our sympathies are with the families.
This is actually a topic I wrote an article for EAN magazine on months ago. It turned out the WeVibe which is controlled by a mobile phone app actually logs all sorts of information about the user every time it is used. Including when it was used, settings, and even temperature. There was no mention of this on their website of in their terms an conditions. So it has ended up in court and they have lost badly.
We have talked about Uber in the past and their shameful business practices that seem to be going inside the company. As part of that the COO has stepped down saying "It is now clear, however, that the beliefs and approach to leadership that have guided my career are inconsistent with what I saw and experienced at Uber". So it seems the problems run deep at the company and it is now starting to affect their management.
YouTube has been caught hiding videos put out by LGBT creators when restricted mode was turned on. This meant content that was perfectly safe was not appearing for users of the system.
It was really interesting reading this weeks article and explore some of the ideas around it. There is a lot to discuss and there is a surprising depth to the topic. From a couple doing it part of their play to teaching someone else what you like. It can be used in so many ways.
Because we covered Eroticon last week we are covering two topics this week. First isPiecing together peace by Emmeline Peaches. The second is Erotic Massage byVictoria Blisse.
Both great topics and we have a lot to say on them, but before that it was a great week for rants.
Kink.com are one of the major producers of porn in the US. They produce all sorts of weird and wonderful types of porn and employ a large number of people to produce it on a regular basis.
They have famously owned the The Armory in San Francisco. Previous a home for the national guard, it is an easily recognisable building.
This is an interesting article because it shows there isn't the money in making porn there once was. Kink.com is a large company that makes a lot of content, and has done for a long time. If anyone knows what they are doing it is them. But (and I am seeing this more and more) there is now such easy access to free porn sites like Kink.com are struggling to make it work for them.
But there does also seem to be an growing emergence of small independent producers like Pandora Blake who can make a great living catering to a very specific niche (Spanking in Pandora's case).
It is going to be interesting to see where this goes.
Being a white male is a privileged position, it doesn't always feel that way but I am becoming more and more away of how much better I have it than a lot of people.Cara Sutra wrote a great post on Admitting my privilege and realising I'm a feminist after all.
John Allen (Chairman of Tesco) told a group of aspiring non-executive directors that white men have become an "endangered species". Where experts say the numbers do not match Mr Allen's assessment in the least. Women accounted for only 29% of appointments to board last year, the lowest proportion since 2012.
It is unfortunate that the chair of one of the largest companies in the UK doesn't understand the privileged position he is in by being white and male. His inability to see the gifts he has been given speak a lot about his views on women.
Original article in the Financial Times
A father who raped his gay daughter to prove “sex was better with men” has been jailed for 21 years.
This one just totally boggles my mind. What is wrong with someone to think that the right thing to do when their own daughter comes out to them as being gay is to rape her to prove sex with men in better?
There are literally no words that really cover how we feel about this.
Original article in the Independent
A catholic high school in Illinois put out a lengthily prom dress code handbook that commented on which dresses certain body shapes could wear and what they couldn't. There were 21 slides in total with 15 of them being aimed only a the girls.
In the same article Ed Sheeran signs the best sick note ever.
Emmeline writes a great article on why crafting can be an incredibly calming experience. The act of making something with your hands, the repetitive nature of doing the same task again and again, thinking only about what you are working on now.
All these things have a wonderfully calming effect on the brain, and provide a wonderful distraction from the every day stresses we all have.
It is something we have seen again and again at events when we are crafting with people. After a little while when they have got the hang of what they are doing they go very quiet and simply focus on getting their job done. After they have finished, besides feeling very proud of themselves for making something, they will say they found it a very therapeutic experience.
Do you put enough time into looking after your partner? Perhaps a good massage is something you need to try? It doesn't have to lead to sex, it can be simply a pleasurable and relaxing experience for the both of you to enjoy each others company and let off a little of the everyday strains.
We are just back from Eroticon and it was a lot of fun, but a lot of work. But it was great to catch up with so many of the bloggers and authors we talk to on a regular basis. A huge hand needs to go to Molly, Michael, and Girl on the Net for all the work they put into making Eroticon happen.
Drive in theatre in Alabama will NOT be showing the new Disney film "Beauty and the Beast" because the director has said one of the characters (not a main one) is gay.
If I can’t sit through a movie with God or Jesus sitting by me then we have no business showing it. I know there will be some that do not agree with this decision. That’s fine. We are first and foremost Christians. We will not compromise on what the Bible teaches. We will continue to show family oriented films so you can feel free to come watch wholesome movies without worrying about sex, nudity, homosexuality and foul language.
They make a great point in the article that the theatre is happy to show a film about a Polynesian Demi-God (Moana) and a film glamorising the suicide bombings of government installations (Rogue One). But a film with a gay character... no thank you.
There is so much to talk about it is hard to know where to start. The best part of being at the event was getting to meet all the amazing writers and bloggers we work with.
We work with so many talented people but a lot of them are either at the other end of the country, or in another country all together. Finally getting meet them face to face makes it so much better.
There were so many great people, and I know there are a ton here we have missed off. But do check out Formidable Femme, @MarvyDarling (Sorry I cocked up your name, totally dropped the r), Emmeline Peaches, The Pageist, Scandarella, Gryphon,Candy Snatch, Violet Fenn, Sub bee, Tabatha Rayne....
and so many many more.
If you have never been to event like this you need to go to experience it. Eroticon especially is excellent, and well worth going to. Once you have been you will be count down the days to the next one.
Sorry about the bad audio quality at the start of the audio. I was messing around with the settings and didn't notice the audio was clipping out. I got it under control a little way into the recording. So please bare with it.
This week we are talking about our blog article "Why you need a fetish trainer" written by Jetsetting Jasmine. We talk about what it is, who Jetsetting Jasmine is, and why you might want to consider it.
We do know That's the spot who does do some couples work but this is very different.
What would be a week with some good rants?
The report in Archives of Sexual Behaviour revealed a "variety of behaviors couples can try to increase orgasm frequency". The report talked to a lot of people from all different walks to determine who was getting the best and most varied sex.
The proportion of people who usually orgasmed was:
This week a former Uber employee called Susan Fowler write an article on what it was like to work for the tech giant. It turns out the company is awash with rampant sexism and disgraceful behaviour.
From being propositioned for sex on the first day... by her boss. To being told the women of the company wouldn't get jackets like the men because there weren't enough of them to make it worthwhile.
Uber is taking steps to look at what has been said to try and chance the culture. Only time will tell if they can fix the problems.
Originally spotted in The Verge
From the Daily Mail a video shows a woman being catcalled from a van as she waits on her bike at traffic lights. After the van moves away she races after them, and when she catches them she breaks a wing mirror off the vehicle.
Fake News - It turns out this isn't actually real, the Huffington Post has revealed this was actually setup by a company in Shoreditch.
Written by Jetsetting Jasmine who is actually going to be at Eroticon, so we are really looking forward to saying hello.
We asked her to write this article because she is a trained therapist and runs her own fetish training companies. They work with a lot of people on this exact subject to help them understand more about their own desires.
What we liked the most was their approach to someone who finds they don't enjoy a fetish. That isn't a negative outcome, that is exactly what they want because it shows someone has realised what THEY want, and is now able to talk about it. that isn't a failure, it is a success.
Knowing where to start with fetishes is hard. If it is something you have never done before where can you start? There is information out there on the Internet, but that doesn't work for everyone. Especially if they find the things they like hard to deal with.
This is where a fetish trainer can come in and really help someone understand not just how a fetish works, but if it is something they want to explore, and how.