Gloria's Oversexed Mind

Historic first study of gay marriage

First of its kind: a demographic analysis, based on new Census Bureau data, comparing statistics on married same-sex couples, unmarried same-sex couples, and married different-sex couples.

The Williams Institute for Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy at UCLA Law issued a report today analyzing newly released data from the US Census Bureau. The study examines data from the 2008 American Community Survey (ACS).

For the first time, the Census Bureau has released data in which same-sex couples who refer to one another as "husband" or "wife" are differentiated from those who refer to one another as "unmarried partners." This study is the first to examine the difference and similarities among same-sex couples and married different-sex couples in the ACS.

read the press release

read the full report

Drag memorabilia: vintage Finocchio's postcard

Sweet! Wonder how many of these ladies are still around.

The card is selling for a song on ebay.com

(Offer: if any non-profit group would like this for their historical collections, drop me a line and I'll gift it to you.)

Smut seller, ca. 1930s

A rare and naughty bit of sex industry memorabilia. It appears to be a fold-out brochure for a 1930s "novelty" shop -- i.e., an early version of today's adult store. Love the cut out.

Rubberpalooza, 1900-1920

The only people more excited about rubber than rubberists were the early rubber barons and manufacturers who introduced rubber products to the public around the turn of the 20th century. Consumers were bombarded with ads proving that rubber was not just practical but incredibly comfortable (subtext: sensual) too.

From 1905.

From 1905.

From 1913.

From 1916.

Generation Sex and Student Sex Columns

Thoughtful piece in the Nation about what they call the "Student Sex Column Movement" which explores reaction and backlash to the phenomenon and a forthcoming book on the subject.

..."during any given semester more than 200 sex and dating columns are being published in U.S. student newspapers, magazines, and online outlets.... What's most important here is perspective. In the mid-nineties, the number of student sex columns: zero."

"We're not Generation X--we're Generation Sex," one student columnist quipped....

Despite the constitutional right to freedom of the press, occasionally state universities and even state legislators have attempted to put a stop to sexual content they've found inappropriate. Reacting to cover art depicting a woman's breast and a column on oral sex in publications on two state-funded campuses, in 2005, Republican Arizona state legislator Russell Pearce, added a provision to the state budget that would deny funding to student newspapers. Mark Goodman of the SPLC told a local paper that, in twenty years of work on student press issues, this case about sex in the student press was the first time he had ever seen a state legislature attempt to bar student newspaper funding.

In the most recent incident, this spring University of Montana law professor Kristen Juras attempted to get the Montana Kaimin"Bess Sex" column censored, even contacting state legislators in her efforts to get the paper's funding pulled.

via www.thenation.com

Leap Year Rituals: an ethnographic footnote to sexual history

About a century ago, there was a society with very strict taboos on sex and sexuality.   Women were expected to be subservient to men in all respects, except for one day which only came once every four years.   On that day, the women in this otherwise patriarchal society, were allowed to use every ploy, including outright bribery, trickery, and physical force, to coerce a man into marriage. The people were Americans, and the period was 1908-1912.

Very strange.

Obviously, they didn't have stalker laws back then.

Nor qualms about buying a man's affections.

This next one would make for an interesting SM parlor game. I've been to dungeon parties where they played  cock ring toss (I know, I know, hasn't everyone?), but actually stuffing men into stocks and treating them like animals....?  Why...why....that's....Say, that's pretty cool!

Meditations Upon Finding Electrema

My body lives on the East Coast but my spiritual clock is set to Pacific Time. It's only after midnight that the poetry comes out.  Very late at night I'm inclined to ponder all the imponderables, to fill my brain to overflowing with new ideas and epiphanies, to get so lost in a historical detail it comes to life for me. 

Found this very late the other night and want to ask Electrema a thousand things.

 

How did you pick your name, Electrema?  Are you singing the body electric? Or perhaps you see yourself as  Electra with an even more extreme Daddy fetish? Or did you see the word in an appliance ad, and adapt it to your use?

That hair. That profile.  Before you were Electrema dancing in the spotlight were you Bessie Schwartzman slicing cheese in the deli? Or perhaps you were a rich girl going through her Paris Hilton phase and doing whatever she can to make Daddy mad.

What is your art, Electrema? Interpretative modern dancing, a la Isadora Duncan, performed in the voluptuous salons of wealthy patrons of the arts? Or did that leotard get stripped off backstage at a 2nd Avenue burlesque hall for a few extra bucks?

Who are you, Electrema? What are your dreams?  Have you ever suspected that one day people will find you quaint and sweet in your leotard, and not the sexual radical you are to your contemporaries?

The Other 300: gay military history

If you ever run into anyone who gives you a mouthful of right-wing nonsense about how gays shouldn't serve in the military, or protests that gays have never been allowed to openly serve in the military, tell them about the OTHER 300. Not the soldiers at Thermopylae, celebrated in the movie "The 300," but another group equally deserving of attention. Known as "The Sacred Band of Thebes," these 300 gay men (150 couples) were recruited to form a elite band of soldiers, known for their bravery and devotion. It's a fascinating and often-overlooked morsel of history.

From Wiki:

Plutarch records that the Sacred Band was made up of male couples, the rationale being that lovers could fight more fiercely and cohesively than strangers with no ardent bonds. According to Plutarch's Life of Pelopidas, the inspiration for the Band's formation came from Plato's Symposium, wherein the character Phaedrus remarks,

And if there were only some way of contriving that a state or an army should be made up of lovers and their loves, they would be the very best governors of their own city, abstaining from all dishonour, and emulating one another in honour; and when fighting at each other's side, although a mere handful, they would overcome the world. For what lover would not choose rather to be seen by all mankind than by his beloved, either when abandoning his post or throwing away his arms? He would be ready to die a thousand deaths rather than endure this. Or who would desert his beloved or fail him in the hour of danger?

Read more about the Sacred Band of Thebes.

Pulp Up the Volume: Vegas exhibit

Thanks to Sam K for pointing me to this newsy bit about a pulp movie poster exhibit, featuring the originals plus information on the artists, that will be held at the Erotic Heritage Museum in Las Vegas next month. Click the link to see some thumbnails from the collection and to get info on the show.

On September 12, 2009, the Erotic Heritage Museum in Las Vegas will celebrate its 1st Anniversary with an "XXXtravagasmic Night of Celebration and Appreciation."

Sexy Art: The Erotic Heritage Museum's collection of original poster art from classic adult films

(Of course, you could stay home and read this blog, where I periodically publish similar stuff. Check my "Found" archives for pulpy goodness.)

Saudi who discussed sex on television may face death penalty

Horrifying story from the Middle East. Will anyone there come to this poor fellow's defense? Surely he must have known the risk he was taking. So why did he take it?

Saudi Arabia has closed the Jeddah office of a Lebanon-based television network after it aired an interview with a Saudi man speaking about his sexual escapades...

Mazen Abdul-Jawad, 32, was arrested last month in the Red Sea city of Jeddah after shocking Saudi Arabia, one of the most conservative countries in the world, by recounting details of his sexual exploits on Lebanese channel LBC.

"Everything happens in this room," he said on an episode of the salacious show "Ahmar Bilkhat al-Areed" (Wide Red Lines), before launching into descriptions of foreplay techniques and tricks for cruising women on the streets of Jeddah...

Abdul-Jawad has been charged with publicizing vice and lawyers say he may face the death penalty.

Saudi closes broadcaster after sex confession