Inside Gloria's Mind

Some facts about the UK sex industry

I blogged yesterday about how some journalists write about sex workers when there is no news to report. Refreshingly, this straightforward bit of reporting simply lists a bunch of intriguing facts and economic changes in the UK sex industry over the past 30 years -- without feeling the need to make any personal judgments. Nice. Helpful data for sex researchers, students, data-addicts and trivia buffs.

The UK's first mainstream lap-dancing club, For Your Eyes Only, opened 13 years ago. Today there are more than 300 such clubs in the country twice as many as four years ago.

A recent Mori poll on British adults' attitudes to paying for sex found the vast majority of men and women would find it "unacceptable" if their partner paid for sex, while around half would back a law to decrease the number of women trafficked into the UK.

A recent survey of the London off-street sex industry, Big Brothel, commissioned by the Poppy Project, was the most comprehensive study ever conducted into UK brothels. It gathered information from 921 brothels and found that prices for full sex range from 15 to 250, with more than a third of brothels offering unprotected sex. The brothels' combined earnings were estimated at between 86m and 209.5m....

Read the whole piece, with more such handy information:
The facts of life: the sex industry - The Sex Industry, Love & Sex

Sometimes you feel like a carnival

Shout out and THANKS to The Feminist Carnival of Sexual Freedom and Autonomy for including me in their current issue.

Sexual Slavery is not a good defense

Just saying.

If your partner ever "orders" you to do things that traumatize minors (or any non-consenting partners)....GET HELP.

Morris man who claimed he was sex slave gets 30 years in prison

A 65-year-old man who claimed a diabolical girlfriend forced him to walk naked and in chains in front of her three daughters was sentenced this afternoon to 30 years in state prison, with 15 years of parole ineligibility, for sexually abusing one of the girls in the 1980s.

A Morris County jury in April had quickly rejected William O’Brien’s defense of duress and coercion by the girl’s mother and found him guilty of six counts of sexual assault and one count of child endangerment.

O’Brien, who has been kept in the county jail since his conviction, appeared gaunt and declined to make a statement but co-counsel Marcy McMann asked Superior Court Judge Thomas V. Manahan to show leniency and recognize that O’Brien was controlled financially, emotionally and physically by the girl’s mother, who was never prosecuted and died in 2006.

Hooking Economics 101

I really need a category for Obvious Truths -- the kind that don't require reporters to tell us what has been self-evident throughout history. Like...Whenever there has been a shortage of money, people have gotten desperate to find ways to make a little more. I'll bet that more people (male and female) are selling drugs, bootleg dvd's, or resorting to harder crimes. I know thefts and burglaries are up in Athens, GA.

It's typical in every economically bad environment for black markets and crime in general to rise, and no surprise if women are willing to put out for money. I'm sure lots of men would be putting out for money now too if only they could find people to pay them. I might also suggest that a bit more leniency and destigmatization of sex-workers in America has made more people willing to admit to what they do to make money. Revealing your secret life as a sex-worker was enough to make you completely socially ostracized in the 1950s. These days, it almost guarantees you thousands of myspace friends and more than 15 minutes of Hollywood-style celebrity.

Prostitution: The recession-proof career

From young New York women seeking to sell themselves to wealthy businessmen, to people offering cheap rentals in return for "benefits," to rural Kentuckians trading sex for gas, the news over the last few months has been full of sordid tales of women deciding to turn to prostitution as a means of dealing with inflation.

OK. So now we've learned that "when money's in scarce supply, people will do anything to make some." Oooh.

Meanwhile, correction! Prostitution and sex-work are NOT recession proof. Pussy is treated as a commodity in the USA, but commodities are hardly recession-proof.

In simple economic terms, when pork bellies are down, peckers soon follow. Result: pussies get shorted.

I would be willing to bet that lots of sex-workers, and particularly the ones who've catered to wealthy clientele (whether it's a pro domme charging top dollar in NYC or LA, high-priced call girls, or strippers who work at elite clubs) are seeing their incomes drop right now. I'm figuring more than a few of the same men who're shitting bricks over Wall St. right now are probably NOT going to be dropping a grand or two on sex-workers tonight.

Anyone working in the adult industries care to opine? How's business for you right now?

Wall St. has big hormonal balls

In light of today's revelation that Lehman Bros.tried to do everything possible to ensure its execs looted the firm (ahem, received millions in compensation for their stellar management efforts), one might well say that Wall St. has some big brass ones, asking for the rest of us to bail them out.

And this article in Scientic American speculates that testosterone might be explain some of the problem...

Is testosterone to blame for the financial crisis?

If you've been blaming reckless men for the collapse of America's leading investment houses and the plunging markets, you may be on to something. High levels of testosterone are correlated with riskier financial behavior, new research suggests.

Men with more of the sex hormone made riskier investments than guys with lower levels, according to a study published online yesterday in Evolution and Human Behavior. Just how much riskier? Those with 33 percent more testosterone than average men invested 10 percent more of their dough.

Preview: McCain's Lies

A publishing insider friend of mine just sent me the URL to an upcoming profile (in Rolling Stone's new issue) of John McCain. A must-read for all voters.

Make-Believe Maverick : Rolling Stone.

This is the story of the real John McCain, the one who has been hiding in plain sight. It is the story of a man who has consistently put his own advancement above all else, a man willing to say and do anything to achieve his ultimate ambition: to become commander in chief, ascending to the one position that would finally enable him to outrank his four-star father and grandfather.

Sex, cybersex, and joysticks

Interestingly (and erroneously), according to the Salon reviewer (clip below), the author of this book, dates cybersex texting back to AOL. Huh? I believe that credit should go to Compuserve or Prodigy (or possibly as far back as the BBS systems and the Source, where much of the conferencing/networking/chatting madness began). Nor is there mention of UseNet's important role (at least not in this review). But Compuserve and Prodigy for sure pre-dated AOL when it comes to cybersex chat rooms. (Bonus points for those of you who remember the CB area on CIS in the 1980s.) Hope the author's history of gaming software is more accurate.

Interview with Damon Brown, author of "Porn & Pong".

In 1972, our sexual landscape was forever changed by the release of two pop-culture legends: the skin flick "Deep Throat" and, months later, the arcade game "Pong." Since then, pornography has greatly influenced how sex and sexuality are explored in gaming, which in just three decades has ballooned into a $9.5 billion industry. From early '80s sleaze fests like "Leisure Suit Larry" to the porny moans of pneumatic "Tomb Raider" heroine Lara Croft to the teledildonics that are changing the way we have -- and think of -- sex, video games have evolved with an understanding that humans crave sexual interaction, whether with a virtual character or a fellow human with high-speed Internet....

Brown explores how virtual sex has gone from the crude, joystick-controlled adult games on the Atari 2600 and text-only cybering in early-'90s AOL chat rooms to bumping uglies (fully customizable, by the way) in the virtual world "Second Life" and banging prostitutes in "Grand Theft Auto." He also examines how video vixens went from having bodies practically built out of Lego blocks to becoming ever more realistic -- at least, as much as porn-industry bodies can be called "realistic."

Furry rampage

She's an old cowhand....but I don't think she's from the Rio Grande....

This undated mug shot released by the Middletown, Ohio, police department shows Michelle Allen, 32. Allen was arrested Sept. 27, 2008 after she allegedly impeded traffic, urinated on a neighbor's porch and chased children while wearing a cow suit, according to a Middletown police report.

link

Quiet Saturday at Home

Hello. Babaloo the Betta here. King Babaloo to you: proud royalist, legal immigrant, and member of the Blue Party. I will be your aquatic guide to a quiet Saturday at Mommy's house or, as the humans like to call it, Castle Bramenstein.

First, a little background on where we live. Though I only got a quick glimpse of it through my temporary transportation module (aka the plastic bag mom carried me home in), I can verify that we live in a lush and flowery place. I still remember when we came up the driveway and I looked out to see the eight foot tall brugmansia with its long, graceful trumpet-like flowers. A fish could get lost in a flower like that.

I also saw many lovely shady spots, filled with ferns. I recall flagging my fins approvingly. Shade is good.

Even now, in early October, our Southern garden continues to bloom.

While certain physical limitations prevent me from personally exploring the garden's delights, some of my siblings are a bit more podal and oxygen-friendly. Take my royal sister Jasmine, for example. Here she is, making sure none of the wild birds can get to any of the food or drink Mommy gives them. Good kitty! Your mindless dedication to protecting resources is applauded by your king.

And then there's Leaf aka Leaflet, the baby of the family and bane of my fishly existence. I'm not saying I dislike the brat, I'm just saying I'd rather she did not keep trying to climb into my tank.

She looks so winsome at a distance

But when you see her close up, well, I think you can tell what a hell-raiser she is. (Don't be fooled by that whole "aren't I the cutest cuddliest thing you ever saw" act.)

By now you may be thirsting to see the peasants in the 20 gallon community tank below mine. Here they are all romping together, swimming in each other's pee.

Cory cats and danios, otos and shrimp all together. It's like a damn anarchist commune!

Several fathoms below, Aunt Ketzl keeps guard over my guppies. I call them MY guppies because I eat some of their young. Ahahahahaha. SLURP! YUM! Guppy fry! Fine fine food for a king. Aunt Ketzl decided this was the optimum solution to the guppy overpopulation problem and I couldn't agree more. A day without guppy fry is a day of dry flakes. Feh!

While I can't say my dog relatives are more dignified than my cat relatives, they do not harass me or get too close for comfort. I appreciate their discretion. Or, more accurately, their fundamental laziness. We had to wake them up just to get a picture.

They always look so reproachful when we snap them out of dreams of chasing bunnies.

For some reason, they are granted special privileges, like sleeping in Mommy's arms every night. Maybe it's because they make such charming bed cushions.

Finally, I know you've been dying to see me in my royal majesty. You'd never know that earlier this week I had a bad case of Ick and was close to death. But Mommy and Dad caught it quickly and did all the right things and now I am long and strong again!

So behold King Babaloo and tremble! I who have walked through the Valley of Death and eat guppies for breakfast! GROWWWWL!

Honi soit qui mal y pense

Interesting bit of weirdness from Dan Savage's advice column about a father who decided to snoop into his married daughter's sex life and was then unhappy about what he found.

I preferred Savage's short answer ("Apologize") to the longer one (you'll need to click the link to read it). Though, frankly, "grovel!" might have been more to the point.

Dear Dan:

I accidentally discovered that my son-in-law is into BDSM sex as a "dominant." A few weeks ago, he was holding one of my dog's leashes and tried to stop my dog (a 13-year-old, docile golden retriever) from running up to another dog by violently yanking on the leash. My 65-pound dog was violently spun around with a loud snap.

I reacted in a very hostile manner. He defended his actions, and I started swearing at him. My daughter told me I was overreacting, and they both left in a huff. Thinking about this, I realized that I was thinking about my son-in-law inflicting pain on my daughter in the same way he did to my dog. I can't stomach the thought of seeing him again and decided that I had to explain my reasons to my daughter. I said that I could not accept her husband getting pleasure from causing her pain. She reacted with hostility, first telling me it was none of my business and then denying he behaved in that manner. She said I was crazy.

I didn't tell my daughter that I had snooped in their home and found his ligatures and spanking porn. I told her that she should talk to someone about it and said that I would not tell her mother. She eventually told her mother, and I was forced to explain my reasoning and the source of my knowledge to my wife. I feel that getting pleasure out of causing another person pain and humiliation is not an acceptable form of behavior. Now my daughter and son-in-law are not speaking to me. I don't ever want to see him again but would like to salvage my relationship with my daughter. Any advice?

Distressed and Depressed

Apologize.

read full advice

First the dad should apologize for being such a Nosy Peterson that he went digging in his adult, married daughter's bedroom for some kind of dirt about their sex life. Talk about inappropriate.

Next, he should apologize for being the kind of moron who doesn't realize that if you spy on someone for the truth, and find out the truth, it behooves you to STFU unless there is reason to believe they're doing something dangerous or illegal (like killing retirees and stealing their checks). Seriously: snooping on your kids is only border-line permissible even when they live at home (unless you have good reason to believe they are engaged in dangerous activity), and completely beyond the pale when they are adults living in their own home. And if you do find out your adult child is doing stuff you don't like, for God's sake, keep your mouth shut. You shouldn't have been spying in the first place and they have every right to take out a complaint (if not a restraining order) against you for violation of privacy.

Next, he should apologize for dwelling on his grown daughter's sex life, much less forcing her talk to her about it when she clearly did NOT want him to discuss her sexual kinks with him. Kids, no matter their age, do not want parents (no matter their age) poking nonconsensually into their sex lives. Most people find that completely squicksome.

After that, he should apologize for being so dumb that he can't tell the difference between inexperienced dog-handling and being a sexual dominant. If he wanted to learn about BDSM there are lots of books you can read to understand SSC relationships before you start confronting people with your ignorance.

Finally, he should confess that he himself is so obsessed with BDSM that, clearly, he can't stop thinking about it. He comes across as the poster child for sexual frustration, with a tinge of incest thrown in. Creeeeeepy.

(And maybe after that, he could perhaps start dealing with the fact that his own sexually repressive and inappropriately controlling behavior might have possibly influenced his kid's sexual interests....?)

If you won't fuck me... Help!

I'm assuming this is more about the guy being drunk out of his mind than him actually intended to shoot himself in the arm. But who knows.... Sexual frustration can unhinge some people. Still...I'm starting to wonder if I should start an archive category named "sexual stupidity."

Sure hope the girlfriend broke it off with this trigger-happy drunk.

Man shoots himself in arm after being denied sex

Authorities say a Fort Myers man shot himself in the arm after his girlfriend refused to have sex with him. The Lee County Sheriff's Office reported that a 29-year-old man and his girlfriend returned home from a bar early Wednesday morning.

The girlfriend told deputies that her boyfriend wanted to get intimate, but she just wanted to go to sleep. When she refused, he became irate.

Authorities said the girlfriend went to a spare bedroom, and several minutes later she heard two gunshots. She told deputies her boyfriend came into her room and threatened her. He then stumbled into the kitchen before falling into the oven, knocking himself unconscious.

19 years of masturbatory thrills over for landlord voyeur

A few strange stories from this week's news. File these in the category of "and you thought you were sexually fucked up? ha!"

Starting with this fellow who apparently came up with the bright idea, when he was in his 20s, to rig his rental units with cameras so he could watch female tenants in their most private moments.

Man Allegedly Spied on Female Tenants

A suburban Philadelphia landlord secretly videotaped 34 female tenants over two decades after hiding cameras in their apartments, authorities said Friday.

Thomas Daley, 45, will face additional charges stemming from the new victims identified and his alleged efforts to remove some cameras during the investigation....

Daley had installed the cameras — typically one in the bedroom and one in the bathroom — in at least 7 apartments he rented to women in Norristown over the last 19 years, Reynolds said.

Daley's sophisticated set-up fed the camera images to a recording system in the basement, and enabling him to view the tapes from his home via the Internet, authorities have said.

He hid the tiny cameras behind mirrors and in cabinets and ceiling fans, and some turned on with the flip of a light switch, they said.

I'm guessing that when he was in his immature early 20s, this must've seemed like a genius idea, and would give him all the free porn he wanted on the sly. Over the top but not outside the realm of stupid juvenile pranks.

But what was he thinking by the time he hit his 30s and 40s? Was he, by then, so addicted to watching the tapes that what started out as a crazy whim turned into a lifelong obsession? Did he lose all perspective, or was he always crazy?

I'm curious to know whether he ever married or had kids, or whether his entire sex life these past 20 years or so has revolved around collecting and watching forbidden tapes of unsuspecting victims of his voyeuristic fetish.

Calling all erotic artists

An open call for submissions to Erotic Signature's annual competition. Excerpted:

CALL FOR ENTRIES

Miami --- Erotic Signature announces its 2008-09 International search for the World’s Best Erotic Artworks. This marks the third year that Erotic Signature has launched what has now become one of the world’s largest and highest prized competitions for erotic art. Dedicated to both artists and art enthusiasts alike, Erotic Signature has put together a distinguished panel of judges consisting of museum curators, academics, collectors, editors and established masters in the field of erotic art to narrow down all submitted entries to a mere 200 winners. Submissions will be accepted under the umbrella of fine art, digital art, photography, sculpture, and mixed media. The Deadline for all entries is set for January 15th, 2009. ....

Of the 200 winners, seven (7) cash prizes including one (1) $5,000 master winner, five (5) category winners of $1000 each, and one (1) "Viewer's Choice" winner of $1000 will be awarded their accolades following the announcement of winners on January 22nd, 2009. In addition, all winners will be invited to feature their winning artworks during the book release event in June 2009, which will be a special ceremony aimed at celebrating the artists and raising charitable funds for a global AIDS organization. Following the book release will be a six (6) month long traveling exhibition starting in the United States (Miami, LA, San Francisco and tentatively Chicago); continue to Russia (city TBA); and closing in the UK (city TBA); offering the winning artists another opportunity to share their work around the world....

All those interested in participating in this year’s competition may obtain further information, entry details, and apply online by visiting www.eroticsignature.com. Artists can also submit their entries via mail. A ‘mail-in application’ can be downloaded and printed from the Erotic Signature website. We look forward to exposing your masterpieces.

Depraved Legos

Thanks to Tim for sending this wondrously silly bit of perversion.

ECTOPLASMOSIS! » The Midnight LOL Society: LEGO S & M.

Temple of Pussy

from our Ketzl's blog. Not that she's a sex-crazed perv or anything.... :)

my name is so not going to be written in the Book of Life this year

This is the sanctuary at the synagogue where I attended Rosh HaShanah services last night:

Now MAYBE the sermon was incredibly boring and the only way I could stay awake was to fall into a sexual reverie. But tell me-- the holy of holies there IS a giant vulva, right?

I mean, the inside of the ark is even lined with red velvet.

Found: Male Shibari

Of course, I couldn't forget how beautiful men look in bondage....

This is a particularly tasty image of artistic bondage by Chris Jay on photo.net.

FOUND: Beautiful female bondage

Sometimes the simplest positions are the most intense.

Just found this photographer, Igor Amelkovich. He's captured some beautiful, raw, austere bondage moments with his camera.

Check out Amelkovich's free galleries for more intensely sensual photography. I love this nude:

FOUND: Erotic Mugs

I've blogged some ghastly ones, but these are beautifully done.

FOUND: Love, 1920s-style

Still beautiful, after all these years....