Sex in the News
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
And They Think We’re Kinky
Author Lorelei
This year’s Bad Sex in Fiction Prize winner is Rowan Somerville (or possibly Summerville) for The Shape of Her. This novel sounds like the premise for a soft-porn film: two passionate young lovers vacationing on a Greek island. But the taut nubile bodies romping in an idyllic setting don’t seem to be having much fun, at least not from the excerpts I’ve read. (The book isn’t available in the US yet.) At one point their lovemaking is described in this anti-erotic fashion:“a lepidopterist mounting a tough-skinned insect with a too blunt pin he screwed himself into her.”
I’ll keep the insects out of my bed, thanks. I prefer to be responsible for performing any biting or stinging activities, not to mention piercing anything with a needle.
Oakland Cross-Dressers Will Soon Be Safer
Author Lorelei
San Francisco preceded Oakland with a similar law in 1866. By 1930, most cities in California had dress code laws. From the mid-19th century, the state enacted all kinds of legislation against LGBT behavior; convictions led to forced sterilization, castration, indefinite hospitalization and life imprisonment. The law lumped child molesters and homosexuals together as “perverts.” Women suffragists wore pants in protest. German theorist Karoly Maria Kertbeny disputed the criminalization of “homosexuality” (a term he coined). Racist medical texts linked the idea of “degenerate” races with “degenerate” sexualities. [emphasis added]Hmm, does any of this rhetoric sound familiar? Especially conflating consensual same-sex relationships with child rape. So repealing this law is another way the good city of Oakland can affirm its support of LGBTQ and genderqueer people.
Y2Gay
Author Lorelei
Y2Gay: the database engineering perspective on same-sex and polyamorous marriage.
Yes, it’s funny. But it’s also a fascinating practical issue, and the solutions presented seem eminently doable to me.The Horror, The Horror
Author Lorelei
The whole ad, for when it goes away and stops searing my brain with its vision of despair:
Seeking Erotic Novel Writter (Long Island) Date: 2009-10-12, 10:37AM EDT Reply to: gigs-u3twa-1417627906@craigslist.org
Do you like Care-Bears and Unicorns? Seeking erotic novel writer to write a novel where carebears have loving sexual relations with unicorns. This isn’t a joke, I’m going to use this novel to teach her about sex. Topics include, safety, love, and threesomes.
* Location: Long Island * it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests * Compensation: 300.00 Per Book
Don’t blame me, blame Mollena. She tweeted it. And I had to look.
Toy Fail!
Author Lorelei
Mom, that’s not the kind of toy you think it is.
see more Epic Fails
Thanks to Good Vibrations magazine for the laugh.
The Court Passes
Author Lorelei
According to Xbiz, the Supreme Court has refused to hear the case against 18 U.S.C. § 2257, the federal law that mandates recordkeeping and labeling for anyone producing, publishing, or hosting adult images.
I understand why they didn’t want to touch the case. I believe that the law is unconstitutional, and I bet that even the conservative court secretly agrees with me. It’s much safer not to come out in favor of porn.
Ever wonder why this site has no visual porn? Because I hate 2257. What is 2257
Be Healthy. Be Happy. Use a Vibrator.
Author Lorelei
People who do are more health-conscious.
I have a confession to make. I am not that crazy about vibrators. A little buzz from a vibrator can be a fun variation on my basic routine, but all the batteries in the world could go dead and I’d still be able to jill off undisturbed.
I learned to masturbate using fingers and imagination, and those are enough for me.
Well, nipple clamps can be a pleasant addition. And sometimes I’m just desperate to be fucked, deep, slow, hard, so a nice big dildo can help, too. And lube! Gotta have that lube. It feels sooooo good.
Ain’t technology grand?
Cautiously Optimistic
Author Lorelei
A Psychology Today blogger doesn’t actually condemn BDSM.
Maybe that’s not quite the breakthrough you were hoping for. But the piece identifies some of the issues with mainstream media’s coverage of kinky practices. The blogger, identified only by initials, also offers links to kink-positive sites, and explicitly tells her readers to make up their own minds — a stark contrast to the heavy anti-BDSM slanting of many news stories.
In a mainstream site like Psychology Today, just suggesting that we might not be dangerous lunatics counts as a win.