Blog
Violating Consent
Author Lorelei
The Dread Passion of Cthulhu
Author Lorelei
Is it coincidence? Is it Fate? Is it my mermaid icon? Is it some nameless, hideous, wholly alien Being from beyond the stars, the mere contemplation of which drives the thinker into the squamous depths of madness?
Is it just that I got lost last summer in Providence, Rhode Island, home of H. P. Lovecraft? Or have the Great Old Ones noticed I play Arkham Horror?
Today we have multiple announcements that suggest the Elder Gods may be coming back, or at least getting more sex than they used to. Maybe it’s all the Viagra in the water.
1. Download a free ebook of all Lovecraft’s original stories. The blog post is fascinating, too. Not actually sex, although the name “Love” “Craft” has a certain resonance.
2. My good friend Molly Mounds at Scary Sextoy Friday features a matching butt-plug and ball-gag set so terrifying that I may never recover my reason. Yes, they’re shaped like offspring of the Elder Gods. Tentacles and all.
3. The estimable Cecilia Tan issued a call for submissions for an anthology titled Whispers in Darkness: Lovecraftian Erotica. I am so tempted by this; it’s a challenge to write something both Lovecraftian and consensually erotic, but I bet the stories that get in will be very hot indeed. (This is Circlet Press, after all. Their publications are always good.)
Mistress Lorelei is not an aficionado of tentacle porn, although she holds its originator in very high regard: Hokusai, the great Japanese artist whose iconic work may be The Great Wave. Certainly The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife is a fascinating image. But my sexual taste is, shall we say, fairly specialized, and the squid I like in bed with me is the kind that’s a small, stingy, rubbery flogger, ideal for use on nipples and balls.
As for the squid-like butt-plug and ball-gag set, that kink is OK. I’m sure the makers and users don’t grudge me my fish hooks, even if none of them actually want a barbed hook to pierce their glans. A siren has to have her fun, after all.
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The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife by Hokusai
Hokusai’s The Great Wave
TRUE POLYAMORY TALES: It’s Not Exactly Like “Big Love”
Author Lorelei
My femsub: Imagine a house full of women all on the same hormonal cycle.
Gay friend: Ah, I see.
My femsub: At least one is weepy, one is cranky, and one is exhausted. We take turns as to which is which, and sometimes we double up.
Gay friend: You only need four more dwarves?
My femsub: Weepy, Cranky, Exhausted, Ballistic, Neurotic, Dissociative, and Dangerous?
Me: I’ll take several with a side of fries. And chocolate.
Modern Sex Conference: Communication or Old-Fashioned Silencing?
Author Lorelei
Oregon State University is hosting a conference on Modern Sex: Privilege, Communication, and Culture. They invited the eminent Tristan Taormino to be keynote speaker. Great choice!
Then — after she had bought plane tickets, which they are now refusing to reimburse — they canceled her appearance. Why? Does it turn out she isn’t actually an internationally known and respected sex educator? No. Everybody acknowledges her impressive CV: the decade as a sex columnist for the Village Voice, her dozens of appearances at college campuses to lecture about sex, her many workshops and television appearances, her fine films, her well-crafted, thoughtful, intelligent writings.
In fact, all those things that make her an expert are the reason they’re canceling. Because she does know and write about sex, and makes films about sex, and gives advice about sex on her wonderful website, and probably even has sex herself. (OK, I’ll be honest. They didn’t actually say that it’s because she might not be a virgin, but I bet they’re thinking it.)
I realize this sounds insane. It is insane. It’s also incredibly stupid.
The problem is this:
On Tuesday, January 18, 2011, Steven Leider, Director of the Office of LGBT Outreach and Services contacted Colten Tognazzini, Tristan Taormino’s manager, to say that the conference had come up short on funding. Tognazzini told him that since the travel was booked and the time reserved, they could work with whatever budget they did have. Leider said that would not be possible: “We have to cancel Ms. Taormino’s appearance due to a lack of funding. It has been decided that OSU cannot pay Ms. Taormino with general fee dollars, because of the content of her resume and website.” At OSU, ‘general fee dollars’ include taxpayer dollars given to the University by the Oregon State Legislature to defray various costs. They differ from ‘student activity dollars,’ which are part of every student’s tuition and help fund student groups and activities.
Just let that soak in, friends. OSU refuses to pay an expert because the taxpayers might be bothered by her specialty. Yeah, I know: we’re living in an era that is positively psychotic about sexuality, when it’s fine to use the hint or promise or exploitation of a natural urge to sell everything but Bibles, but honest, open discussion about sex and its pleasures leads to screaming hysteria that we’ll all end up pregnant and syphilitic in hell.
Dear OSU: 99% of taxpayers have sex, had sex, will have sex, obsess about sex, and could use some education about sex. You had a chance to be a leader and stand for the university’s intellectual freedom. Now you look like timid fools. “Fools” because just paying Taormino out of the general fund would have been fine, and now you have a major scandal on your hands.
How You Can Help
Tristan Taormino says:
If you support free speech and my mission of sexual empowerment, here’s how you can help:
—Twitter: retweet my original post and make sure to include the hash tag #OSUantisex:
Keynote by @TristanTaormino canceled by OSU admin b/c of resume & website RT in protest http://tinyurl.com/4f4wmor #OSUantisex
—Twitter: reply to Dean of Student Life @deanmamta and @oregonstateuniv
—Email or call: voice your opinion about OSU’s decision to cancel my appearance at the last minute and not reimburse me for travel expenses to the following people (read press release below for details)
Larry Roper, Vice Provost for Student Affairs 632 Kerr Administration Building Corvallis, OR 97331-2154 541-737-3626 (phone) 541-737-3033 (fax) email: larry.roper@oregonstate.edu
Dr. Mamta Motwani Accapadi Dean of Student Life A200 Kerr Administration Building Corvallis, OR 97331-2133 541-737-8748 (phone) 541-737-9160 (fax) email: deanofstudents@oregonstate.edu twitter: @deanmamta
Dr. Edward J. Ray President 600 Kerr Administration Building Corvallis, OR 97331-2128 541-737-4133 (phone) 541-737-3033 (fax) email: pres.office@oregonstate.edu