Gloria's Oversexed Mind

If you didn't get a chance to hear my interview by the delicious Gracie Passette a couple of weeks ago on "The Cult of Gracie," you can listen to us now by clicking on this pretty widget. The interview ran for a full hour so you may want to wait until you've got the time -- and possibly with headphones, in case little ears are listening. Nothing obscene, mind you, but lots of frank talk about my favorite subject in the world -- er, I mean, my second favorite *after* little furry animals.

Please please do feel free to offer feedback, whether you loved it or hated it.

July 24, 2008 in Autobiographical Urges, Sex and Culture, Sex and Relationships, Sex and Sadomasochism, Sex On-Line, Sexual Humor, Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (0)

Needless to say, the uproar over the Mosley case has -- depending on your point of view -- either opened a frank and exciting new public dialogue about sadomasochism or given vanilla people an opportunity to try and rut around in our psyches.

Some people, like the admirable British SM activist, Deborah Hyde (not to be confused with American SM erotica author, Debra Hyde), believe Mosley's case is positive for SMers.

This trial is a good thing,' said Deborah Hyde, spokeswoman for Backlash, which campaigns for BDSM rights. 'We're finally getting the chance to talk to the media, who have ignored us for years. In Max Mosley we've got a man who says: "This is who I am." He's got expensive lawyers who can fight his case, but many others end up being dragged through the family courts or in front of their employers. In Mosley, we have someone who is fighting our corner.'

Whatever turns them on? Inside the minds of the sadomasochists

I agree with her philosophically. But then when I think about people who don't even know that much about human sexuality in the first place trying to impress with titles like "Inside the Minds of Sadomasochists," I cringe. Talking to media is great, it's wonderful to know they are finally willing to listen. But what exactly are they hearing? More importantly, how much do they understand, how do they report SM, and what message are they ultimately spreading?

For example, the title of the above story suggests that there is some kind of monolithic SM mind that can be penetrated to reveal what makes us all tick. What?? You can't get "inside the mind" of all SMers anymore than you can get inside the mind of all Catholics or Jews. See (whispering a big secret): people are individuals. Even sadomasochistic people. SHHHH. Don't tell anyone. We wouldn't want to scare vanillas by making them actually consider SMers as diverse human beings instead of widgets whose specs can be published on the web.

Also, the reporter felt compelled to find clinicians to talk about how SM causes psychic stress and becomes an "addiction" for some. One small problem: "sexual addiction" is not a clinical diagnosis. It is not listed in the APA; it is a theory developed in large part by a shrink of dubious standing (Patrick Carnes). In fact, sex addiction is just a culturally popular theory which appeals to those who believe that "sex is bad so a lot of sex is even worse," i.e., most vanilla members of Judeo-Christian culture.

So why did the reporter feel the need to dredge up a negative angle on SM? I don't believe it was in the interest of journalistic fairness (giving all points of view) but rather because vanilla editors are so scared of appearing to endorse BDSM, they insisted on showing the "down side" of SM.

Ask yourself: if he was writing about the joys of married sex would he feel compelled to find a marriage counselor to tell him about all the husbands and wives who credit marriage with destroying their lives? Un-fucking-likely. Vanillas assume that married sex is a good thing and that sex problems in a marriage are unusual events and aberrations which do not define all married sex. But when it comes to BDSM, the stereotype still holds that BDSM is a questionable practice in the first place and that abuse, violence, psychic stress and worse naturally go with the BDSM territory.

Similarly, in this next article, the title lets readers know that BDSM is all about pain ( thus suggesting its opposite, that you're not an BDSMer if you don't like pain). Holy crap. Didn't we all cover this in BDSM workshops years ago? If not, well I KNOW I covered it in my books.

Adventures in the world of pain

The orgy at the heart of the Max Mosley case wasn't just any orgy. It was an S&M orgy. Are sadomasochistic activities an 'affront to civilisation'? Or just part of a wide spectrum of acceptable sexual activity?

I'll answer that question: It's door number two.

And so this is why I always prefer reading about SM *by* SMers. We own our sexuality in ways no vanillas can begin to comprehend. We live it. We get it. It should be our truths which tell the story of SM.

I'm not saying we should shut off this dialogue: I love the fact that people are now being forced to consider that even famous racing bosses from rich families shamelessly enjoy the slap-and-tickle, alongside rent-boys in leather chaps and the proper wives of British spies. I'm delighted Mosley's smashing stereotypes and demanding the right to do whatever-the-fuck-he-wants with consenting adults.

But unless and until we get media to quit promoting prejudice by writing from a base of ignorance about WIITWD, I suspect the vanilla dialogue about BDSM will stumble along, woefully short of cluefulness, for years to come.

July 23, 2008 in Science and Culture, Sex and History, Sex and Sadomasochism, Sex Laws and Crimes, Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (1)

I've been following the strange tale of Max Mosley, the F1 racing boss allegedly caught doing Nazi play in an SM dungeon. The alleged part refers to the Nazi play; Mosley himself has openly admitted he engages in SM. In fact, I blogged a while back about how I admired his courage in choosing to openly admit to being a sadomasochist, not apologizing for it or making the vaguest attempt to deny his proclivities, instead fighting to keep his job (successfully) and suing the paper which published the story.

Mosley is particularly piqued about the claim that Nazi play was involved. Mosley -- the son of a notorious Nazi sympathizer -- clearly has an emotional stake in all this and seems determined to prove several points. First, that the paper had no right to violate his privacy; that their story contained lies; that consensual SM is acceptable; and, perhaps, that as the child of a fascist, he is pretty damn pissed off about being tarred with his father's sins.

Meanwhile, as if all the above wasn't wild enough, the story is filled with more twists than a corkscrew.

For one, turns out, Mosley was set up. For another, he was set up by one of the professional dommes who was there. For yet another, that prodomme happens to be married to a British spy. Leading to a whole LOT gossip about conspiracies and why a spy's wife worked as a dominatrix....leading to statements from the spy about how this scandal has destroyed his career and his life.

The MI5 officer who quit after his wife was exposed as a prostitute in a sadomasochistic orgy with Max Mosley has told for the first time how the affair has ruined their lives.

The spy was forced to resign after confessing he was married to the ‘professional dominatrix’, who secretly videoed the sex session with the F1 motor racing boss and sold details to a newspaper.

The former £30,000-a-year mobile surveillance officer – who tracked terror suspects – said he quit to spare his bosses embarrassment.

He would not discuss how much he knew about his wife’s involvement in setting up the sting against Mosley, or if he played any part.

MI5 officer whose wife was exposed as a prostitute in Max Mosley orgy says the ordeal has devastated their lives

But wait! There's more! It now appears his wife has either gone mad, or was mad in the first place, because she's just been declared too mentally unstable to testify.

The Max Mosley privacy case took a dramatic turn yesterday as the star witness failed to appear.

Woman E, a dominatrix, took part in a sado-masochistic session with the motorsport boss and four other women and secretly filmed it for the News of the World.

But yesterday the paper's QC told the High Court her 'emotional and mental state is such that it would not be fair or reasonable to call her to give evidence'.

Dominatrix who secretly filmed Mosley sex party is declared 'unfit' to face court

July 23, 2008 in Post-Modern Pop Culture, Sex and Culture, Sex and History, Sex and Sadomasochism, Sex Laws and Crimes, Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (0)

The editor of SPANKED (and lots of other hot BDSM titles) tells reporter Eric Krangel about her recent experience with Internet censorship. While YouTube and Blip had no problems with her non-pornographic short, other sites considered them pornographic.

Nearly all online video sites (except those purpose-built for porn) have policies in place against uploading "adult" content. So what exactly qualifies as "adult"?

Based on Rachel Kramer Bussel's experiences, that depends on what site you're visiting....

"I wanted the video to appeal to as many people as possible, I wasn't making pornography."

Two of the sites disagreed. Within two hours, she got a note from Flickr:

As per our Community Guidelines, “restricted” video content is not allowed on Flickr . We’ve removed your video.

Vimeo followed a few hours later:

Your video 'Spanked: Red-Cheeked Erotica Book Trailer (1353209)' has been removed from Vimeo because it violates our policies. Vimeo does not allow porn....

.
read story

Check out Rachel's Books on Amazon

July 23, 2008 in Sex and Sadomasochism, Sex On-Line, Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (0)

Perhaps the most ridiculous and too-stupid-to-take-seriously lawsuit ever in recent news comes from Greece, where three people who live on the island of Lesbos tried to get local courts to make it illegal for lesbians to call themselves lesbians.

Court rules lesbians are not just from Lesbos

A Greek court has dismissed a request by residents of the Aegean island of Lesbos to ban the use of the word lesbian to describe gay women, according to a court ruling made public on Tuesday.

Three residents of Lesbos, the birthplace of the ancient Greek poetess Sappho whose love poems inspired the term lesbian, brought a case last month arguing the use of the term in reference to gay women insulted their identity.

In a July 18 decision, the Athens court said the word did not define the identity of the residents of the island, and so it could be validly used by gay groups in Greece and abroad.

In other world news, three lesbians from the Isle of Man are petitioning the World Court to make it illegal for men to call themselves men.

July 23, 2008 in Sex and Culture, Sex and History, Sex Laws and Crimes, Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (0)

Priceless. Religious right groups will stand up to vehemently protest a plastic doll in fishnet stockings...but when it comes to children getting assaulted and harassed by bullies...ehhh...nahhhh.

And what is their reasoning for shooting down a law to protect children? Because some victims might be gay and these paragons of morality don't want THEIR rights protected. Nope, the Religious Right wants to preserve their kids' freedom to beat the shit out of anyone they don't like.

N. Carolina bullying ban dies in committee

North Carolina legislation protecting schoolchildren from bullying died Thursday in committee, Raleigh's News & Observer reported.

"The failure of this bill to pass . . . sends a bad message," state Sen. Doug Berger told the Observer.

Ya reckon? Give that man the Understatement of the Year Award.

The controversy that prevented the bill from passing surrounded the addition of "sexual orientation" as a reason a student may face discrimination or bullying, the Observer reported.

The Christian Action League and the North Carolina Family Policy Council objected, saying that LGBT groups would use the bill as leverage for other rights legislation.

These bastards have the hair to call themselves a "Family Policy Council." Talk about hypocrisy.

So let me ask: When hate is a family value, is that family Christian?

(I hope some of you progressive/liberal Christians who read here will opine.)

July 20, 2008 in Sex and Spirituality, Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (1)

On the off-chance you haven't yet seen this story (currently running all over the blogosphere....)

from Perez Hilton (who also added the "HO" to her jacket).

Introducing: Slutty Barbie

Looks like the people at Mattel are receiving some major backlash!

The toy makers have created a new Barbie doll which many are describing as the S&M Barbie.

The doll comes with black fishnet stockings, a black leotard, gloves, and boots.

S&M Barbie is being modeled after DC comic superhero Black Canary.

The Black Canary Barbie doll is scheduled to be released in September, but we'll see if that goes as planned.

Some are just outraged like the religious group Christian Voice, which said, “Barbie has always been on the tarty side and this is taking it too far. A children’s doll in sexually suggestive clothing is irresponsible – it’s filth.”

Love that quote from a group on the religious right...particularly in light of the next post I'm going to get up on the blog.

July 20, 2008 in Post-Modern Pop Culture, Sex and Culture, Sex and Sadomasochism, Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (5)

Oh, it may not be your favorite fast food joint, but even if you can't stomach a Big Mac, stop by Mickey D's and order a beverage. I'm planning to take a little detour to the golden arches myself today.

In case you haven't seen this news, the fast-food giant McDonald's has recently come under fire by the right-wing American Family Association (AFA) for being sympathetic to and supportive of equal rights for gays and lesbians. The AFA, which has aggressively lobbied to criminalize homosexuality, has called for a boycott of McDonald's. Happily, people of sounder minds and superior morals are turning the tables on this one by calling for a "Buycott," urging those of us who believe that all Americans are entitled to equal rights under law to eat at Mickey D's and show some support for one of the few corporations with balls enough to shrug off the AFA.

Yep, here's your once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to pig out on greasy delights and feel virtuous. If you always kinda sorta wished you could show some support for glbt rights, EAT DEM FRIES! BIG BONUS: you won't risk being stuck next to any anti-gay air-heads when you do!

Fresh from my mailbox, here is the Woodhull Foundation's call to action.

Washington, D.C. July 9, 2008 Woodhull Freedom Foundation calls for McDonald's BUYCOTT-that is buy more at McDonalds by making an extra purchase regularly at McDonalds in recognition of its action supporting Sexual Freedom as a Fundamental Human Right

The Woodhull Freedom Foundation (WFF) says that the McDonald's Corporation's role in joining the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, giving it a $20,000 donation and placing one of its executives on the Chamber's board of directors is a strong step toward reinforcing American values including affirming sexual freedom as a fundamental human right as recognized by the US Supreme Court in Lawrence v Texas.

WFF especially welcomes McDonald's action as further evidence that claims of a "culture war" in America are highly exaggerated and are, in fact, most often the last gasp cry of fading political leaders seeking to fool their followers. In fact, data suggest that wide majorities of Americans are openly tolerant, religiously diverse and positively supportive of the rights of their fellow citizens.

In recognition of McDonalds' strong support of individual rights and bolstering of the Supreme Court's affirmation of constitutionally protected sexual diversity WFF urges McDonalds' customer to regularly make an extra purchase (conduct a buycott) from the McDonald's chain.

These extra purchases also help Ronald McDonald House Charities, Inc. (RMHC®) support programs that directly improve the health and well being of children.

The Woodhull Freedom Foundation
Ricci Levy
Executive Director
email: rlevy@woodhullfoundation.org

Extra points if you tell the counter-person "God bless you for supporting equal rights for all." They probably won't know wtf you're talking about but who cares, it'll taste like special sauce for your soul.

July 9, 2008 in Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have to agree with commentators on a post about Google data being used in court -- in that case, the cause was good.

But what worries me is that so many lawyers are hauling Google into courts and forcing them to release data of all kinds. One day it seems harmless...and the next day it could translate into witch-hunts.

Judge Orders YouTube to Hand Over User Data

In a potentially huge blow to the fight for privacy on the Internet,a judge has ordered that Google must hand over data about every video viewed by YouTube users to Viacom, including usernames and IP addresses. Viacom is suing Google for allowing its copyrighted content to be posted to YouTube, and hopes to use this data to prove that copyrighted material is more popular than user-generated content on the site.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has already called the decision a violation of the Video Privacy Protection act, and you can bet Google will fight the ruling tooth and nail.

I think and hope that Google attorneys can figure out a way to protect the data. Sure, it's great when it can be used to help people for the right reasons. But the US Courts' belief that the data is a treasure-trove of American secrets scares me.

July 5, 2008 in Sex and Technology, Sex Laws and Crimes, Sex On-Line, Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you've been reading the news at all, you probably have been noticing that busts for child-sex criminals of all types have been on the rise. Yesterday, for example, a nation-wide operation arrested 345 alleged child predators, all accused of pimping/prostituting minors. As is always the case with these massive busts, the high number of arrests seldom leads to a similarly number of successful prosecutions. Sometimes it's because the law is blurry, or the kids involved won't cooperate, or the evidence was destroyed. Most times, though, it's because these large-scale operations tend to sweep up a lot of people who were either innocent, and more often, whose rights were violated (so the cases get kicked out before trial).

The fact is that child molestation and abuse of minors is and always has been a pervasive evil in the world. The concept of "age of consent" is actually something of a late-comer to human history. In former centuries, there were no laws to protect children and, in some cultures, tribes, and family groups, children were not only routinely sexually abused but, of course, were married or sold to the highest bidder. Many crimes we perceive to be examples of the evils of modern and progressive thinking are historic cultural institutions -- such as the child brothels that continue to operate in third world nations. Some -- such as arranged marriages for minors -- are religious ones. Western society has endorsed child-sex or at the very least closed a very blind eye to it, depending on period, place, and shifting morals. Only now are we finally beginning to seriously attempt to rule out sex with children, and we have been undertaking this effort by going after the worst of the worst, criminals who exploit children for financial gain.

Yet for all the commercial exploitation of children by predators and pimps, I think most therapists and doctors would have to agree that the single greatest risk for any child, and the single-most under-reported crime, is incest. The vast majority of abuses against children do not occur when they go into the world and encounter strangers: it's when they are in their own home, at the mercy of a relative or other trusted caretaker and authority figure.

I applaud everyone who is honestly trying to work to improve children's rights and to protect children from sex with adults, but writing a new law which makes child rape punishable by death is crazy.

Unbowed, politicians vow to execute child rapists

When Texas' leading politicians called loudly for the death penalty for repeat child rapists last year, they knew there was a good chance the U.S. Supreme Court might find the provision unconstitutional. Legal experts told them so – repeatedly.

...on Wednesday the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision in a Louisiana case, did just that, ruling that "the death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child."

Had the law gone through, it would have, in my opinion, harmed far more children then it helped. I agree with a statement issued by the the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault:

"We join sexual assault coalitions across the country in applauding the Supreme Court's step toward ensuring that prosecutions of child sexual assault across our nation remain victim-centered and child-friendly in their approach," said a prepared statement released by the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault.

Some organizations had warned legislators the law could result in victims being unwilling to prosecute or perpetrators less likely to leave their victims alive.

"Most child sexual abuse victims are abused by a family member or close family friend," the statement from the Texas association said. "The reality is that child victims and their families don't want to be responsible for sending a grandparent, cousin or long time family friend to death row."

Exactly.

I can hear all the depraved relatives telling their victims, "If you tell anyone, they'll kill me." How likely is it that any normal child would want that responsibility? Children who are molested by the people close to them would be less likely than ever to step forward, much less to testify in court. Even if the children wanted to, how much do you want to bet that other adults in the family would now make SURE that secret was safe?

We all want to protect children. But we can't protect them by creating an environment in which they're even more frightened to speak up when they're being hurt.

(BTW -- both John McCain and Barack Obama expressed disappointment that the legislation failed. IOW, both presidential candidates continue to prove they don't really believe in the Constitution. Lovely.)

June 26, 2008 in Sex Laws and Crimes, Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (3)

So I heard that Heinz created a sexually suggestive ad for their new "Deli Mayo." Ooh. Sexually suggestive. *perk* I thought perhaps the mayo would be spurting or oozing from a frankfurter or something equally gross-yet-funny. But no. Here it is.

And now...Heinz has pulled this cute ad because of 202 complaints from viewers that it is "offensive."

Offensive to whom? Ketchup lovers?

Homophobia is sick--and sickening. As far as I'm concerned, homophobia should be listed in the DSM as a pathology, particularly since it leads to violence.

And 202 is such a tiny number. Can't people who have a clue start organizing to praise corporations which attempt to live in the 21st century by playfully acknowledging diversity?? I'm guessing there have to be many thousands of us who would be willing to write Heinz to support their use of progressive themes to sell products. Why does the nut-wing always win these ridiculous battles. GRRRRR.

June 26, 2008 in Post-Modern Pop Culture, Sex and Culture, Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (1)

Oh dear God. You've probably seen this already.

Flowers and Jones Target Clinton on Site

Gennifer Flowers and Paula Jones are offering Internet viewers the lurid details of encounters they claim they had with former President Bill Clinton - for $1.99 a pop.

Yeah. Encounters they claim they had. Not encounters they can prove they've had, just ones they claim to have had. Judging by the classiness these two have demonstrated, though, I'm sure we can all relax and count on them to tell the unvarnished truth. Uh-huh. And for a mere $1.99 you can purchase segments of their versions of the truth on-line. Now, why anyone should do that, rather than going down to the local karaoke bar to find a drunk pony-queen who will tell you similar stories for free, I'm not sure but evidently CNN, FOX and other national news departments were more than happy to give this gruesome twosome all the free PR anyone could ever want.

Laughably, none of them dared list the web address of the service they are pimping, but if a little googling around got me to http://genniferandpaula.com. WOW. It's *just* as classy as the women! Here are the photos they posted of themselves.

I kind of like that whole dominatrix-sex-in-the-city thing that Gennifer put together -- works for her. But Paula, sheesh, is she trying to jump-start a career as an Internet MILF?

Meanwhile, I checked out Michael Benedetti, the PR mastermind behind this site -- and checked out his site, http://executiveprandtalent.com, which tells me that "Executive PR and Talent is the leading talent agency." The leading agency in...the world? The country? Benedetti's imagination? Hm. Funny. He doesn't list any clients, any contact info, or anything else. Every page is "under construction."

A reverse look-up on his phone number led me to Benedetti's address in New Orleans (926 Bourbon Street), which as best I can tell is a tiny condo complex with a couple of vacant apartments. No businesses associated with that address so I'm guessing he works from home. He does, however, have a myspace page, with a picture of a very attractive, openly gay fellow, with lots and lots of pix of his fabulous vacations and fabulous friends.

So now I have to wonder how these two women got hooked up with the fabulous Benedetti. Did they meet him at a bar? A strip-club? A Log Cabin Republicans BBQ? WTF?

They say politics make strange bedfellows...but, seriously, it doesn't get much stranger than this.

June 10, 2008 in Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (0)

In a week of blogging about strange fetishes, this has to be the strangest.

There's a radical right wing Christian group out there whose members apparently look at the cartoon mermaid in Starbuck's famous logo and think it's flirty. Dirty. Salacious. Pornographic even. They look at the Starbuck's mermaid and they see the Whore of Babylon.

So naturally, they're calling for a boycott lest they or their progeny should be accidentally aroused by Starbuck's corporate logo.

Starbucks goes slutty and wakes up the fringe

I almost can't believe that I'm writing about this, but I guess some prudes will get up in arms about anything.

BBC News reports that a U.S. based Christian group known as The Resistance is calling for a nationwide boycott of the coffee selling giant, Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX). The group's complaint against the company stems from the commemorative use of a toned-down version of the company's original logo. Starbucks states that the logo, which features a dual-tailed mermaid sporting cleavage, is not inappropriate. The fringe Christian group refers to the logo as a naked woman with legs "spread like a prostitute."

June 1, 2008 in Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (6)

I kind of expect most readers already know, but I figure it doesn't hurt to remind folks that a vote for McCain this fall could mean an end to a couple's right to choose whether or not to terminate a pregnancy.

And, yep, I said a couple instead of "a woman's right to choose," because while there are plenty of women who make the choice on their own, I think there are even more women who make this decision with the support and consent of the men who impregnated them. In fact, I wish we'd get away from constantly seeing abortion as a woman-only feminist issue. It is not: it is a social issue. And on this social issue, as on oh so many others, it's Obama who genuinely supports freedom of choice for Americans while McCain just sounds like an old recording of George Bush, still stuck at the part about how planning how many kids you want to have is evil."

Here's a link to their respective voting records on family planning and reproductive freedom.

Where do Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain stand on reproductive-rights issues?

Sen. Obama said, "I have consistently advocated for reproductive choice and will make preserving women's rights under Roe v. Wade a priority as President."

Sen. McCain said that Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that recognized a woman's right to choose, should be overturned.

May 28, 2008 in Sexual Health, Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (2)

This story about killed me.

Philippine cleric objects to gays playing female saints

Philippine churches that allow cross-dressing homosexuals to play female saints in religious festivals are insulting the Virgin Mary and must be punished, the nation's top cleric warned Monday.

Yeah! Make those homosexuals wear leather chaps! What kind of a party is this, anyway?

"We should keep sacred what is sacred," Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales said as he attacked parishes for allowing male homosexuals to play Saint Helena and other female roles traditionally acted out by local beauty queens.

Yes, by all means: Rosales is definitely on solid ground when he insists on upholding the sacred tradition of...of...recruiting beauty queens to play the female roles in Church pageants? WHAT?? Is that how they do it at the Vatican? I don't THINK so.

How long has this sacred tradition existed in Manila anyway -- 40 years? 20? Or perhaps only since that other Manila Bishop was caught molesting his secretary? (And I'm sure many a Catholic breathed a sigh of relief to learn that the secretary was an adult female for a change.)

How about some REAL Catholic traditions? You know, like that one where they castrated young boys so they could sing sweetly to Catholic audiences? Or the one in which women were never permitted to participate directly in sacred acts/rituals or feasts and were routinely supplanted by effeminate young men of ambiguous sexuality? Or even the established tradition of closet cases running things as long as they don't publicly admit they're gay. Oh yeah. Give me some of that (oddly homoerotic) old time religion.

But I guess when you're an Archbishop, you get to invent your own traditions. Besides, it's more politic than admitting you are a homophobe who believes in a hateful God.

May 7, 2008 in Sex and Culture, Sex and Spirituality, Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (1)

I wonder sometimes if the world will EVER evolve to a point where people don't feel the need to apologize for being kinky. This story about a Brazilian athlete really got my hackles up.

'I'm Sorry and Ashamed'

Brazil striker Ronaldo says he's sorry, embarrassed and ashamed about his highly publicized encounter a week ago with three cross-dressing prostitutes, calling it the biggest mistake of his life....

I think we all know what he's he really sorry and embarrassed and ashamed about: getting caught.

Isn't that always the case? Whether it's Ted Haggard with his male escorts, Elliot Spitzer with his high-priced hookers, or this guy, it's blindingly obvious they needed, wanted and enjoyed what they were doing when they were doing it. They would've kept right on doing it too, if they hadn't gotten caught.

How many BDSMers, cross-dressers and fetishists do you know who feel the same way: happy to do their thing in private but utterly humiliated if/when other people find out. It isn't that they think what they're doing is horrible. I've talked to plenty of people who lead secret sex lives and enjoy the hell out of what they do--that is, as long as no one vanilla finds out. Exposure changes everything. They cave like wet cardboard: the pressure of knowing that straights disapprove completely unhinges them. Before you know it, people who, only last night, were happily writhing in bonds and slurping peepee from the source, start kowtowing to public opinions, even when they know full well that those opinions are ignorant and prudish and wrong....that those opinions are, indeed, what limits their options, chokes their happiness, smothers their potential for sexual fulfillment, and drives them to secrecy in the first place.

Making his apology even more laughable was this feeble explanation,

In a halting voice, Ronaldo said he wasn't aware the prostitutes were cross-dressers until he got to a motel with them, discovered they were men and decided not to have sex with them because he is heterosexual....

I can see how one cross-dresser might fool you. There are some superhot m-t-f's out there who can totally pass even under bright lights. But THREE? What's the likelihood of three cross-dressers being able to totally bamboozle you into believing all three are gender-girls? As someone who's spent a fair amount of time around tv's, I will boldly say -- what a total crock of poopoo-berries. Of course he knew. If he didn't know for sure, he had to suspect. If he didn't suspect, he was raised and is still residing in a convent. Internationally famous athletes are not naive about sex and sexuality. Internationally famous athletes who pay for THREE hookers to come up to a hotel room are not choir boys. Unless, of course, he was paying them to play Old Maid and drink weak tea with him.

Which brings me to the bit about "decided not to have sex...because he is heterosexual." That's like getting caught with your hand in a cookie jar, chocolate crumbs all over your mouth, and saying, "MOI? Why, I would not eat cookies because I'm diabetic."

In my not inconsiderable experience in this matter, clinically and otherwise, I've often noted that heterosexuality has never really prevented anyone from having bisexual and homosexual encounters.

Except for his girlfriend (to whom he may or may not have promised fidelity), his sleeping with a gang of TV's is his own business. If he can't deal with the consequences of his sexual needs and choices, then he shouldn't take the risk of fulfilling them. Or in simple American terms: if you can't do the time, don't do the crime.

But if you're going to take the chance of being true to your sexuality, please do not crawl and beg for forgiveness from your oppressors. You hurt yourself; you hurt other kinky people; and, worst of all, you uphold the Big Lie about sexual diversity being unnatural or immoral. How about saying, "I'm sorry if people are disappointed in me because I'm more sexually complicated than they expected, but that's their problem. I myself enjoy a gay old time now and again."

Will that day ever come, when people don't feel they have to cringe, grovel and humiliate themselves further by acting as if they did something wrong because they enjoy a little wholesome kinky sex?

Which reminds me of Walter Mosely, who got caught doing Nazi play? One thing I admire about him is that, to my knowledge, he NEVER apologized for his sexual fetishes. I give him major props for his courage in shrugging off the criticism about being kinky and identifying the real villains of that story: people who use sexuality as a weapon to break someone down.

May 7, 2008 in Sex and Sadomasochism, Sex Laws and Crimes, Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (3)

Thailand has recently decided to outlaw "cosmetic castration" (meaning elective castration), making it more difficult for ladyboys to transition.

story link

Thailand's health chiefs barred hospitals and clinics from castrating would-be "ladyboys" amid growing concern about the operation being seen as a cheap and quick alternative to a full sex-change.

In a letter to 16,000 private health units, the Public Health Ministry said doctors performing the operation outside formal sex-change therapy -- which requires rigorous physical and mental evaluation of the patient -- faced up to six months in jail....

Thailand is home to a large number of "ladyboys," or "katoey" in Thai, a term that covers anything from a transvestite to a man who has undergone a full sex change.

The tolerance shown towards the "third sex," as it is often referred to, has led to the country becoming a world leader in sex-change surgery.

However, at the lower end of the market, clinics have responded to demand from teenage boys to look more like girls by posting Internet advertisements offering castration for as little as 4,000 baht ($125).

Not sure what to think about this. On one hand, I don't see why -- in a world where people are getting bizarre cosmetic surgeries of every possible kind without governments seeming to care -- the Thai would suddenly target castration. Surgically speaking, it's far less risky than a boob job or face-lift.

On the other hand, I share their concern about teenagers getting the surgery and thus making a decision in adolescence that they might profoundly regret later in life. But then couldn't they just set an age limit on this and not target the surgery itself?

It has been a standard of professional care that a transitioning TS has to go through a 1-2 year long process of counseling and "real life experience" (in the sex one is transitioning to) before a complete surgical sex change is okayed by medical authorities. I'm not sure, however, whether this necessarily means we should institute laws to govern this.

I suppose a therapist shouldn't throw this out there, but then, I'm not your typical therapist. So here's my question: should adults have a right to fuck up their lives or is it up to the government to see that we don't?

April 24, 2008 in Sex and Culture, Sexual Health, Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, this is pretty darn ugly. If he's apt to say things like this in front of a group of colleagues and reporters, one wonders what a fight at their house sounds like. Is Cindy McCain abused? Are their children hearing this crap? Do his daughters get to hear mom described as a cunt by dad on a regular basis?

Ah, yes: the candidate with the strong moral agenda. Tough on abortion -- but not on mental cruelty!

Author: McCain Called Wife Cunt, Trollop

In his book, The Real McCain, author Cliff Schecter claims that John McCain made extremely ugly remarks about his wife Cindy McCain during a tirade witnessed by three reporters and two aides. "At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain's hair and said, 'You're getting a little thin up there,'" Schechter writes. "McCain's face reddened, and he responded, 'At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt.' McCain's excuse was that it had been a long day.

But hopefully not as long as the day he loses the election.

April 16, 2008 in Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (1)

If you missed this story, well....in my heart, I feel this explains a lot about Bill Clinton somehow....you know, like....the lights are on but no one's home?

Toddlers can no longer marry in Ark.

Arkansas' marriage-age crisis is over. A law that mistakenly allowed anyone — even toddlers — to marry with parental permission was repealed by a measure signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Mike Beebe, ending months of embarrassment for the state and confusion for county clerks.

Lawmakers didn't realize until after the end of last year's regular session that a law they approved, intended to establish 18 as the minimum age for marriage, instead removed the minimum age to marry entirely.

April 10, 2008 in Sex Laws and Crimes, Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wow, this should be a fascinating case. I congratulate Hayes for his chutzpah in single-handedly forcing a Canadian court to establish whether or not BDSMers deserve equal protection under BC's human rights code. Fantastic courage and if the courts decide in his favor, a victory for BDSMers everywhere.

Panel may rule if sex practices protected

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - A Canadian man who claims he was discriminated against as a pagan who practices a form of sadomasochism will get to take his complaint to a human rights tribunal.

An appeals court rejected a bid by Vancouver police on Tuesday to block a hearing on whether Peter Hayes' rights were violated when an officer refused to grant him the permit he needed to get a chauffeur's job.

Hayes complained to British Columbia's Human Rights Tribunal that he was discriminated against because he is a pagan who practices a "BDSM lifestyle" and deserves protection under the human rights code, based on sexual orientation.

BDSM refers to bondage, discipline and submission and sadism and masochism, according to the court documents.

Police went to the courts, arguing the tribunal and a lower court judge erred in agreeing to hear Hayes' complaint because the laws designed to protect the sexual orientation of gays and lesbians did not extend to protecting types of sexual practices.

A B.C. Court of Appeal panel ruled unanimously that the police motion was premature since the tribunal's hearing was to decide what, if any, sexual practices deserved legal protection, and even the tribunal's chairwoman was unsure if the human rights code did that.

"How can the tribunal determine if BDSM falls within the meaning of 'sexual orientation' if it does not have a full understanding of what BDSM means?" Justice Anne Rowles wrote for the three-judge panel.

April 10, 2008 in Sex Laws and Crimes, Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (2)

So imagine if one day you open the news to read that a cult of wealthy gay men have built an isolated compound in some rural area somewhere, and that in this cult, they took all their sons and sons of friends, and essentially groomed them to be sex partners, starting when they were around 10 or 12?

Or, perhaps slightly more analogously, that a group of swingers had done this: built their own private community, cut off from the rest of the world, and recruited all the children, from age 12 on, into a swing lifestyle where they were forced to provide sex to adults, whether they liked the adults or not?

How many FOX news reporters and talking heads, how many politicians, how many preachers would be commandeering mass media to issue screamingly vicious denunciations of the corruption and depravity of people who would do something so horrible to children as to subject them to lives of brainwashing, abuse, and sexual slavery? How many Christian leaders would step forward to say that this depravity is why God punished us with 9/11 and Katrina?

Well maybe I'm missing something but I have not heard one fracking WORD of invective launched at the fracking dangerous, criminal Mormon sect which has been subjecting girls and women to their psychopathic belief system. Crazier still, no one is coming out to say what is so blindingly obvious: this is a pedophilic cult! They are PEDOPHILES. They like YOUNG girls. They think they OWN young girls. More specifically, they think they own the vaginas of children. Children!

Say all you want about these people who claim this is what God wants -- seems to me awfully convenient when God tells you to rape and molest children in His name. Using that kind of logic, any crack whore can (and perhaps should) form her own religion so she can claim that God wants her to turn tricks so she can smoke more crack.

Documents: Sect married girls at puberty

"Investigators determined that there is a widespread pattern and practice of the (Yearn for Zion) Ranch in which young, minor female residents are conditioned to expect and accept sexual activity with adult men at the ranch upon being spiritually married to them," read the affidavit signed by Lynn McFadden, a Department of Family and Protective Services investigative supervisor.

McFadden said the girls were spiritually married to the men as soon as they reached puberty and were required to produce children.

I hope prosecutors charge them all as child-rapists and sentence them to hard time. And charge the mothers as accomplices too. It's one thing for adults to agree to polygamy. I have no problem with that. Mormons want to return to the old belief of marrying four wives, who cares: as long as the wives are OLD ENOUGH TO GIVE LEGAL CONSENT.

This story outrages me because I don't believe that anyone will treat them for what and who they are -- moral carbuncles on God's ass. Any and all cults which exploit children should be taken down and taken down hard. There is no excuse for pedophilia, and hiding it behind the veil of "spiritual purpose," is a sham, a perversity, and a lie.

April 9, 2008 in Sex and Spirituality, Sex Laws and Crimes, Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (3)

Wrote about this ridiculous scandal a few days ago. Very glad to see him fighting back and to hear him defend the right to sexual privacy.

"In short, I think I have done nothing wrong and that the wrong was done by the newspaper. That is why I am suing them," Mosley was quoted as saying in the letter. "Many people do things in their bedrooms or have personal habits which others find repugnant. But as long as they keep them private, nobody objects."

link

Mosley also claims there was no Nazi role-play involved (just SM, I guess). Should be interesting to see this play out. What would be especially interesting is if this led to some public dialogue about the right to do SM in private.

April 5, 2008 in Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oh dear me. Or as my Jewish forebears killed in the Nazi Holocaust would say, OY GEVALT.

Formula One's governing body is keeping its distance from sexual allegations in a British tabloid newspaper about its president, Max Mosley....

The News of the World reported in a front page story that FIA president Mosley, 67, had taken part in a "sadomasochistic orgy" with five prostitutes that reportedly involved Nazi role-playing.

According to a story posted by the London-based Times Online on Monday, Mosley and others "re-enacted a concentration camp scene in which he played the role of both guard and inmate."

A video was also reportedly posted on the News of the World Web site. A check of the site Monday didn't find the video in question.

The News of the World printed pictures of a man who appeared to be Mosley, chained over a "torture" bench while being caned by a woman, and said that the acts took place in an apartment near Mosley's London home on Friday.

Link

Right. Because we all know how Nazis gave their victims consensual canings to get them aroused. Jeez. If the guy was being murdered in a gas chamber, I might raise an eyebrow (okay, both eyebrows), but he was doing consensual SM -- maybe with some uniforms and fake Nazi nonsense thrown in to get everyone off.

But then there's another detail which complicates things even further, Mr. Mosley's parentage is an issue. A very BIG issue.

Mosley is the son of the late Oswald Mosley, founder of the pre-war British Union of Fascists.

Oh dear God, or rather, oy vey iz tsu mir.

So the son of a Nazi sympathizer is caught doing Nazi role-play with a bunch of sadomasochists. Is this supposed to be a big surprise? My guess is that the people most likely to do Nazi role-play are people who have a morbid fascination with Nazi war crimes and/or uniforms -- and that those people are most likely to be people who were affected, in one way or another, by Nazi ideology. A child of someone who aligned with fascists would seem to be the number one candidate for precisely this kind of fetish.

The reaction from many quarters now is "how dare he! the bastard!" While from certain elements of the Holocaust education community the cry rings out that he should immediately be dismissed on account o' he's depraved.

"This is sick and depraved," Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said, according to Times Online. " ... I am absolutely appalled."

Stephen Smith, director of the Holocaust Centre, said: "As Mr. Mosley has condemned the racism in motorsport he should live up to the standards he sets. This is an insult to millions of victims, survivors and their families. He should apologize. He should resign from the sport."

I have news for this Mr. Smith (and what kind of a Jewish name is Smith anyway? that's about as Jewish as Brame. Only I'm a Mrs. with the excuse that I married a Brame. Is Smith's maiden name as distinctly Jewish as my humble Yiddishe Glickstein? Hm).... Anyway...I have news for Smith, whatever his religion.

I AM NOT INSULTED! I am the child of Survivors, and I am totally NOT insulted that someone had a Nazi sex fantasy and chose to enact it (one hopes safely) with other consenting adults. So please do NOT speak for me. That is just presumptuous.

I realize that there are indeed many who object to Nazi play. It is always a hot topic among SMers, raising a lot of violent emotions among Jewish SMers who react much as Ms. Pollack, feeling appalled and horrified that people could find it erotic.

To them I must say: nu, so get over it already. We can't help what turns us on. And coming from a world where "Master/Mistress/slave relations," "dungeons," "torture" and so on are commonplace -- essentially playing with themes of medieval abominations and American pre-Civil War slavery - how exactly (and why) do you draw the line at Nazi fantasies? Is a medieval dungeon really a happier, safer, saner place than a concentration camp? Have you ever VISITED one (a real one, in Europe) to see the unrelenting horror of those places?

What one man, raised with conflicting emotions (clearly) about fascism does with his penis and other body parts on his own time, and in private, does not in the least bit bother me. Why the fuck should it? To anyone who understands anything about sexuality, the fact that someone has a far-flung or bizarre fetish based, possibly, on the mixed messages (or even thrilling jack-off fantasies) about Nazis, means ab-so-fucking-lutely nothing about the choices they make in their social, religious, or political lives.

You don't choose a fetish. You can't cure a fetish. A fetish just IS. It isn't an indictment of your moral character, no matter how weird or morally unappealing to other people. It isn't a reason for you to lose your career. What counts in life is what a person does in the WORLD, not what he or she -- through a series of forces that no one can explain - gets off on in bed.

To me, the most depraved aspect of this story is that reporters or photogs actually followed this man around to snoop on his private sex life.

(Thanks to Will and to Todd for the link)

March 31, 2008 in Sex and Sadomasochism, Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (4)

Another victory in our war against terror. Make the nice lady remove the ring in her tit before allowing her to board a plane. WTF?

I don't understand why the TSA felt the ring needed to be removed in the first place. Surely it wasn't the first time they had a passenger come through with a body piercing -- and it's difficult to believe they make everyone who has them remove them before boarding. Have any of you pierced frequent fliers ever encountered such bs? It reads like some kind of a sick prank. And to think our tax dollars are paying for it.

Flier Blasts TSA Over Piercings Removal

A Texas woman who said she was forced to remove a nipple ring with pliers in order to board an airplane called Thursday for an apology by federal security agents and a civil rights investigation.

March 30, 2008 in Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (1)

(thanks to Mitch for sending this in!)

March 30, 2008 in Sexual Humor, Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lo, thanks for reminding me...the story about Sebastian Horsley being tossed out of this county for "moral turpitude" when we let real moral dirtbags like Dick Cheney travel freely makes a person wonder if the US is turning into the former USSR!

Really admire Sebastian still making us laugh in the face of this outrageous censorship. Or maybe he's just been thrown out of better clubs before. ;)

U.S. denies entry to British sex, drugs memoir writer

"I was wearing my dandy uniform, but the customs officials were wearing uniforms too and I didn't object to them," he said.

"They said I was suffering from moral turpitude," Horsley said. "I was very surprised. I'm feeling quite well. I've never drunk turpentine in my life."

Horsley claims to have slept with more than 1,000 prostitutes, worked as a male escort, been in and out of rehab to treat drug addiction and staged a self-crucifixion in the Philippines in 2000.

Horsley said that after several hours of questioning in which customs officials asked him whether he used drugs, had solicited prostitutes or been convicted of any crimes, he was put on a plane back to London.

"God bless America, land of the free, but sadly not the home of the depraved," he said.

March 22, 2008 in Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (1)

In an opinion piece about his friend and protege, Eliot Spitzer, lawyer Alan Dershowitz argues for the decriminalization of prostitution, and offers a very forgiving perspective on Spitzer's sins.

I disagree with Dershowitz's views on any number of things but think he nailed this one. Below, my favorite clips from the article.

• The laws criminalizing adult consensual prostitution — especially with $5,000-an-hour call girls — are as anachronistic as the old laws that used to criminalize adultery, fornication, homosexuality and even masturbation. These may be sins, but there are no real victims, except for family members.

• The trade can be tawdry and sometimes exploitive, as when young girls are enslaved and prostituted against their will. But adult women who make the choice to sell their bodies for sex for $5,000 an hour are not victims, and if the trade is tawdry, it certainly doesn’t warrant 5,000 overheard phone calls, 6,000 intercepted emails and the use of surveillance and undercover agents.

• We are a nation of hypocrites who publicly proclaim against acts that so many of the proclaimers perform in private.

Read Dershowitz's piece:
Spitzer Has Sinned, But It’s Our Sex Obsession That’s Criminal

March 15, 2008 in Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (5)

Reading Chris Kelly on the HuffPo today, revealed some delightfully tacky details on (of all people) Neil Bush, President GW's brother.

Here's Neil being deposed during his divorce. His then-wife's lawyer is asking him about getting lucky on an Asian business trip and coming home with a case of Herpes ...

Marshall Davis Brown: "Mr. Bush, you have to admit that it's a pretty remarkable thing for a man just to go to a hotel room door and open it and have a woman standing there and have sex with her."

Neil Bush: "It was very unusual."

Brown: "Were they prostitutes?"

Bush: "I don't -- I don't know...."

Brown: "Did you pay them for that sex?"

Bush: "No, I did not."

Brown: "Pick them up in a sushi house?"

Bush: "No. ... My recollection is, where I can recall, they came to my room."

OK, Neil! Just as honest as ever! Girls mysteriously show up in your room to have sex with you. But they aren't hookers. No, they are little angels on fairy wings who fluttered into your life. And gave you an STD. Huh. Well, still a better explanation than the one you offered for destroying the S&L industry.

But what really caught my eye was Kelly's observation that Vicki Iseman has vanished from view. Oh yeah! Her! What happened to her? One minute that glazed deer-in-headlights photo on every Internet news site, the next, a non-person in the news. WTF?

It's been 22 days, and completely legitimate businesswoman Vicki Iseman -- who did absolutely nothing wrong with John McCain -- is still missing.

Hm. That's right. Haven't seen or heard a word about her since McCain and wife got up to declare there was nothing going on. So why is a lobbyist with nothing to hide in hiding?

The more she stays hidden, the more it suggests (to this sex therapist, anyway), that she's hiding because she was having an affair with McCain after all.

Chris Kelly: McCain Sex Scandal Blonde Missing

It's not just that she's vanished, although that should be enough, considering her hair color. And it's not just that she's been tied to a U.S. senator with a very real chance of achieving America's highest office and then dying in it. It's that there are still only three pictures of her on Google.

She's been a lobbyist for eighteen years, but she's only been photographed three times. And one of those times was with President Bush. Unless she folds up neatly and fits inside Jack Abramoff's hat, it doesn't make sense.

Where's Vicki Iseman and where's the cable news coverage of her disappearance?

Yeah, where? And who's paying for her silence -- or scaring her so much she's laying low all by her lonesome?

March 13, 2008 in Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (4)

Hot off the wires,


New York Gov. Spitzer to resign Wednesday

I wonder what kind of a deal he's trying to make to stay out of jail.

March 12, 2008 in Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the comments about the Spitzer Scandal, velvetpuppet wished that political wives would show a little more gumption and display their disgust with their husbands.

Since Hillary Clinton set the standard on "stand-by-your-cheating-politically-powerful-man," it's now become the political wife's duty to over-act the Saint Role and demonstrate -- live on camera, with pursed lips and glazed eyes -- that she has reached a place of peace with her husband's misbehaviors. The message: the American public should now do the same. After all, as the spin goes, "if his wife can forgive him, shouldn't we?"

It's political manipulation of the first water. With the specter of the wife's forgiveness shining down like a newly resurrected halo over his head, the politician is granted the grace to "begin the process of healing" (which we all know is politician-talk for burning evidence and getting a new hotmail account). So we know what the politicians get out of it. But what do the wives get?

In no particular order, a list of reasons I think politicians' wives stand behind their philandering men (some of which are no different from the reasons most spouses will remain in a marriage after they catch a partner in an affair).

• They're as hypocritical as their husbands. They have deluded themselves into believing that the ordinary rules of life do not apply to them, so as long as they give lip service to morality, they don't have to practice it at home.

• They knew all along and didn't care. They reached an agreement long ago, they just pretend to look aggrieved in public so the right political message comes across.

• They both have something to hide. It's as much in her interest as his to maintain the public lie.

• They are ambitious. They don't love their husband: they've made an investment in him. They're determined to make that investment pay off because they have ambitions of their own. You know, like maybe they're hoping to become president themselves some day and know that a divorce from Mr. Famous could nip that opportunity in the bud.

• They're star-fuckers. Lights! Cameras! Celebrity action! Not to mention the best tables at fine restaurants and first-class flights courtesy of lobbyists. Whether or not their spouse is a lying dirt-bag they'll kill anyone who steps between them and Mr. Gravy Train. His money and fame smell better than pheromones.

• They love him codependently. They tell themselves they're doing it for the children, or their families, but they're really doing it because they are afraid to be alone. They wouldn't know who they were if they weren't Mrs. So-and-So.

• They believe in their marriage vows to a point of self-negation. In other words, they believe that even though their spouse broke his/her vows, they will stick to their vows no matter what. Kind of like a slave who keeps honoring a slave contract long after the dominant broke all his/her promises.

• They are financially dependent. They can't give up their standard of living. The fear of being a struggling single mother is worse than putting up with a skunk.

• They are abused. They've been quietly putting up with more shit than you could ever possibly imagine because their self-esteem is in the gutter. His philandering is just another humiliating betrayal in a long history of humiliating betrayals. And probably not the worst betrayal either.

  Finally, and perhaps the rarest breed of all:

• They love him unconditionally. It's a true love. As long as he admits his mistakes and shows true repentance, they can forgive him almost anything.

March 11, 2008 in Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (8)

U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, stands with his wife, Elizabeth

March 5, 2008 in Sexual Beauty, Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (5)

Reading Boston's Edge about an anti-gay spokesperson's hysterical rant against a new bill to grant rights to TGs, it occurred to me that it might actually be a better world if Contrada's worst fears were realities.

via EdgeBoston.com:

"This bill is about a woman who decides to have her breasts removed and parade as a ’male’ in the street, with her scarred chest bared. Now, such things happen only in ’gay’ neighborhoods or ’pride’ events. Soon, you could see a de-breasted woman walking around a suburban neighborhood or family beach, just as men now do, without a shirt - and you will not be able to complain because it’s ’gender expression.’ Since she identifies as a male, she is a male, and she’s no longer a female bearing her breasts - which are no longer there in any case. And you will have to ’celebrate diversity’ and tell your little daughter that she, too, might grow up some day and not have breasts."

"A hotel or convention site will not be allowed to turn down a transgender/cross-dresser or BDSM (whips & chains, sadomasochism) convention. A restaurant will not be able to turn away a special party for she-male prostitutes and their clients, or cross-dressers. A museum or library will not be allowed to turn away a GLBT activist seminar promoting BDSM, public nudity, public sex, or legalized prostitution. A function facility will not be allowed to refuse a seminar on breast removal and hormone treatments for women ’transitioning’ to men. A Catholic church could even be forced to hold a forum on homosexual or transsexual ’marriage’ or polygamy. These behaviors and activities could all be considered ’gender expression’ and these venues are could all be considered ’public accommodations.’"

LINK

March 4, 2008 in Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (0)

After posting the story last night - hot off the wires and racing through the blogosphere faster than a greased pig - about how the Times published a story alleging that McCain had an affair...I went and read the Times story.

Gee, what a difference the truth makes.

See, as I read it, the story is REALLY about McCain's life-long pattern of being a slippery, conniving, flippity-flopping big fat fibber who claims to be a man of integrity, and to support a morality he has never adhered to in private. Someone who will stand up to lobbyists, buck the system, be a model for morality, and never get caught with his hands in shitty pockets like all those other bad politicians who are sliding through the political arena on pork fat.

Shocker: his relationship with Ms. Iseman was NOT the point of the story. You might not know this by all of the headlines and all of the denials and claims that the Times was trying to smear him with the affair.

The relationship with Iseman was just one example of McCain's duplicity. It showed that for a guy who claims he can't be bought by a lobbyist he was awfully damn friendly with a lobbyist, so friendly his own people were mortified. If it had been a male lobbyist, and his honchos had been equally freaked out at appearances of impropriety (all the elbow rubbing, free corporate flights, private parties, etc.) it would have been reported in the piece, alongside other and more important reasons to question McCain's integrity -- such his relationship with Charles Keating and the S&L disaster in the 1990s.

And that's the story. Boom. McCain is duplicitous. Hypocritical. His hands ARE dirty. With all kinds of shit that no one's really talking about in print media.

Of course that has all been lost now because everyone has jumped on the pretty blonde lobbyist angle. It's S-E-X, baby. Sex changes everything.

Night commented on my "patriarchal tools" post that, gee, what's wrong with play, fun cheesecake shots of girls acting like drinks men swallow.

Here's my two-word answer: Vicki Iseman.

No one is paying attention to the real story because all eyes are fixed on the pretty blonde. Ooooh, everyone's thinking, pretty blonde and dirty old man, oooooh.

Fuck the pretty blonde part - that lady's been working McCain like a horse to win favors for Christian television (PAX) and other special interest groups that have fed and flown that old fucker all over the place. But nobody can stop staring at the pretty blonde like a bunch of drooling cretins who never saw any cootchie.

OOOOH. PRETTY! OOOOH! She must be easy! The slut!

Which, conveniently, has given McCain and his now "brave wife at his side" to say it's all a bunch of hooey, the old guy never did her.

It gives McCain supporters a tiny little chicken leg to stand on: He never fucked her, therefore the whole article can be ignored!

It gives media a chance to publish pictures of not one but TWO blondes.

Which means that McCain will never be held accountable for the REAL STORY, which is that he's a damn hypocrite.

But who cares, right? There are pretty blondes involved, and since women are playful cheesecake, good eye candy, flibberty-gibberty fuck dolls, once McCain can prove he didn't pound the babe with his geriatric love-hammer, we can all go back to politics as usual and pretend that the Times didn't get it right when they questioned whether we can trust anything McCain says.

February 21, 2008 in Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (7)

Oh. My. God. What a shock! A Conservative Republican politician caught having an affair...with a woman!

McCain/Lobbyist Story In The New York Times Finally Drops

....Mr. McCain, 71, and the lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, 40, both say they never had a romantic relationship. But to his advisers, even the appearance of a close bond with a lobbyist whose clients often had business before the Senate committee Mr. McCain led threatened the story of redemption and rectitude that defined his political identity.

That February, Mr. McCain and Ms. Iseman attended a small fund-raising dinner with several clients at the Miami-area home of a cruise-line executive and then flew back to Washington along with a campaign aide on the corporate jet of one of her clients, Paxson Communications. By then, according to two former McCain associates, some of the senator’s advisers had grown so concerned that the relationship had become romantic that they took steps to intervene.

A former campaign adviser described being instructed to keep Ms. Iseman away from the senator at public events, while a Senate aide recalled plans to limit Ms. Iseman’s access to his offices.

In interviews, the two former associates said they joined in a series of confrontations with Mr. McCain, warning him that he was risking his campaign and career. Both said Mr. McCain acknowledged behaving inappropriately and pledged to keep his distance from Ms. Iseman. The two associates, who said they had become disillusioned with the senator, spoke independently of each other and provided details that were corroborated by others.

Separately, a top McCain aide met with Ms. Iseman at Union Station in Washington to ask her to stay away from the senator. John Weaver, a former top strategist and now an informal campaign adviser, said in an e-mail message that he arranged the meeting after “a discussion among the campaign leadership” about her....

February 21, 2008 in Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (0)

via Digital Lifestyles

Internet Porn Addicts Targeted By US Presidential Hopefuls

The ever-irreverent News Biscuit has hit upon a story that could well be a traffic monster for them - combining Internet porn and the current presidential race.

Those tricky laugh generators have penned a piece which tells us that some of the presidential hopefuls have realised that, as there are soooo many Internet porn addicts, it’s worthwhile them sacrificing the female liberal vote - would would be outraged at such an idea - to get hold of the porn maniacs....

Naturally, my favorite part of the News Biscuit piece was this delightful morsel of photoshop artistry:

February 18, 2008 in Sexual Humor, Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (0)

For a change it's a liberal being charged with loathsome stupidity. Talk-radio show host Bernie Ward was just arrest ed for suspected child sex and is under indictment for being, well, a SKANK.

Curiously, his arrest has somehow made him the liberal poster boy for depravity -- which has made a bunch of political progressive verrrry defensive. For example, in the commentary section of the above piece, someone thought to enumerate all the Republicans who've been charged with or convicted of child sex.

- Republican't executive Randall Casseday of the conservative Washington Times newspaper was arrested for soliciting sex from a 13-year old girl on the internet.
- Republican't chairman of the Oregon Christian Coalition Lou Beres confessed to molesting a 13-year old girl.
- Republican't County Constable Larry Dale Floyd was arrested on suspicion of soliciting sex with an 8-year old girl. Floyd has repeatedly won elections for Denton County, Texas, constable.
- Republican't judge Mark Pazuhanich pleaded no contest to fondling a 10-year old girl and was sentenced to 10 years probation.
- Republican't Party leader Bobby Stumbo was arrested for having sex with a 5-year old boy.
- Republican't petition drive manager Tom Randall pleaded guilty to molesting two girls under the age of 14, one of them the daughter of an associate in the petition business.
- Republican't County Chairman Armando Tebano was arrested for sexually molesting a 14-year-old girl....

and the list goes ON and ON. (I put the whole thing behind the cut.) I don't know if it's accurate - anyone remember all these guys (and the dozens more listed)? Wish he'd included a time-line, because I have no idea how old some of those charges are and whether they all stuck (since being charged with or arrested for something is not anything like being convicted).

For a more germane angle on the story, though, read the coverage in Gawker which notes that it was an on-line dominatrix who dropped the dime on Ward after he blithely typed to her about how he'd had sex with children. GEEZ. Why not just go down to the corner bar, ring a bell, and when you have everyone's attention, announce that you're a child molester?

To read the complete list of Republicans that allegedly have been involved in child sex scandals, go behind the cut.

via Drudge Retort:

- Republican't executive Randall Casseday of the conservative Washington Times newspaper was arrested for soliciting sex from a 13-year old girl on the internet.
- Republican't chairman of the Oregon Christian Coalition Lou Beres confessed to molesting a 13-year old girl.
- Republican't County Constable Larry Dale Floyd was arrested on suspicion of soliciting sex with an 8-year old girl. Floyd has repeatedly won elections for Denton County, Texas, constable.
- Republican't judge Mark Pazuhanich pleaded no contest to fondling a 10-year old girl and was sentenced to 10 years probation.
- Republican't Party leader Bobby Stumbo was arrested for having sex with a 5-year old boy.
- Republican't petition drive manager Tom Randall pleaded guilty to molesting two girls under the age of 14, one of them the daughter of an associate in the petition business.
- Republican't County Chairman Armando Tebano was arrested for sexually molesting a 14-year-old girl.

- Republican't teacher and former city councilman John Collins pleaded guilty to sexually molesting 13 and 14 year old girls.
- Republican't campaign worker Mark Seidensticker is a convicted child molester.
- Republican't Mayor Philip Giordano is serving a 37-year sentence in federal prison for sexually abusing 8- and 10-year old girls.
- Republican't Mayor Tom Adams was arrested for distributing child pornography over the internet.
- Republican't Mayor John Gosek was arrested on charges of soliciting sex from two 15-year old girls.
- Republican't County Commissioner David Swartz pleaded guilty to molesting two girls under the age of 11 and was sentenced to 8 years in prison.
- Republican't legislator Edison Misla Aldarondo was sentenced to 10 years in prison for raping his daughter between the ages of 9 and 17.
- Republican't Committeeman John R. Curtain was charged with molesting a teenage boy and unlawful sexual contact with a minor.
- Republican't anti-abortion activist Howard Scott Heldreth is a convicted child rapist in Florida.
- Republican't zoning supervisor, Boy Scout leader and Lutheran church president Dennis L. Rader pleaded guilty to performing a sexual act on an 11-year old girl he murdered.

- Republican't anti-abortion activist Nicholas Morency pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography on his computer and offering a bounty to anybody who murders an abortion doctor.
- Republican't campaign consultant Tom Shortridge was sentenced to three years probation for taking nude photographs of a 15-year old girl.
- Republican't racist pedophile and United States Senator Strom Thurmond had sex with a 15-year old black girl which produced a child.
- Republican't pastor Mike Hintz, whom George W. Bush commended during the 2004 presidential campaign, surrendered to police after admitting to a sexual affair with a female juvenile.
- Republican't legislator Peter Dibble pleaded no contest to having an inappropriate relationship with a 13-year-old girl.
- Republican't advertising consultant Carey Lee Cramer was sentenced to six years in prison for molesting two 8-year old girls, one of whom appeared in an anti-Gore television commercial.
- Republican't activist Lawrence E. King, Jr. organized child sex parties at the White House during the 1980s.

- Republican't lobbyist Craig J. Spence organized child sex parties at the White House during the 1980s.
- Republican't Congressman Donald "Buz" Lukens was found guilty of having sex with a female minor and sentenced to one month in jail.
- Republican't fundraiser Richard A. Delgaudio was found guilty of child porn charges and paying two teenage girls to pose for sexual photos.
- Republican't activist Mark A. Grethen convicted on six counts of sex crimes involving children.
- Republican't campaign chairman Randal David Ankeney pleaded guilty to attempted sexual assault on a child and was arrested again five years later on the same charge.
- Republican't Congressman Dan Crane had sex with a female minor working as a congressional page.
- Republican't activist and Christian Coalition leader Beverly Russell admitted to an incestuous relationship with his step daughter.
- Republican't Judge Ronald C. Kline was placed under house arrest for child molestation and possession of child pornography.
- Republican't congressman and anti-gay activist Robert Bauman was charged with having sex with a 16-year-old boy he picked up at a gay bar.
- Republican't Committee Chairman Jeffrey Patti was arrested for distributing a video clip of a 5-year-old girl being raped.
- Republican't activist Marty Glickman (a.k.a. "Republican't Marty"), was taken into custody by Florida police on four counts of unlawful sexual activity with an underage girl and one count of delivering the drug LSD.

- Republican't Judge Ronald C. Kline was placed under house arrest for child molestation and possession of child pornography.
- Republican't congressman and anti-gay activist Robert Bauman was charged with having sex with a 16-year-old boy he picked up at a gay bar.
- Republican't Committee Chairman Jeffrey Patti was arrested for distributing a video clip of a 5-year-old girl being raped.
- Republican't activist Marty Glickman (a.k.a. "Republican't Marty"), was taken into custody by Florida police on four counts of unlawful sexual activity with an underage girl and one count of delivering the drug LSD.
- Republican't legislative aide Howard L. Brooks was charged with molesting a 12-year old boy and possession of child pornography.
- Republican't Senate candidate John Hathaway was accused of having sex with his 12-year old baby sitter and withdrew his candidacy after the allegations were reported in the media.
- Republican't preacher Stephen White, who demanded a return to traditional values, was sentenced to jail after offering $20 to a 14-year-old boy for permission to perform oral sex on him.
- Republican't talk show host Jon Matthews pleaded guilty to exposing his genitals to an 11 year old girl.
- Republican't anti-gay activist Earl "Butch" Kimmerling was sentenced to 40 years in prison for molesting an 8-year old girl after he attempted to stop a gay couple from adopting her.

- Republican't Party leader Paul Ingram pleaded guilty to six counts of raping his daughters and served 14 years in federal prison.
- Republican't election board official Kevin Coan was sentenced to two years probation for soliciting sex over the internet from a 14-year old girl.
- Republican't politician Andrew Buhr was charged with two counts of first degree sodomy with a 13-year old boy.
- Republican't legislator Keith Westmoreland was arrested on seven felony counts of lewd and lascivious exhibition to girls under the age of 16 (i.e. exposing himself to children).
- Republican't anti-abortion activist John Allen Burt was found guilty of molesting a 15-year old girl.
- Republican't County Councilman Keola Childs pleaded guilty to molesting a male child.
- Republican't activist John Butler was charged with criminal sexual assault on a teenage girl.
- Republican't candidate Richard Gardner admitted to molesting his two daughters.
- Republican't Councilman and former Marine Jack W. Gardner was convicted of molesting a 13-year old girl.

- Republican't County Commissioner Merrill Robert Barter pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual contact and assault on a teenage boy.
- Republican't City Councilman Fred C. Smeltzer, Jr. pleaded no contest to raping a 15 year-old girl and served 6-months in prison.
- Republican't activist Parker J. Bena pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography on his home computer and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison and fined $18,000.
- Republican't parole board officer and former Colorado state representative, Larry Jack Schwarz, was fired after child pornography was found in his possession.
- Republican't strategist and Citadel Military College graduate Robin Vanderwall was convicted in Virginia on five counts of soliciting sex from boys and girls over the internet.
- Republican't city councilman Mark Harris, who is described as a "good military man" and "church goer," was convicted of repeatedly having sex with an 11-year-old girl and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
- Republican't businessman Jon Grunseth withdrew his candidacy for Minnesota governor after allegations surfaced that he went swimming in the nude with four underage girls, including his daughter.
- Republican't campaign worker, police officer and self-proclaimed reverend Steve Aiken was convicted of having sex with two underage girls.
- Republican't director of the "Young Republican't Federation" Nicholas Elizondo molested his 6-year old daughter and was sentenced to six years in prison.
- Republican't president of the New York City Housing Development Corp. Russell Harding pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography on his computer.
- Republican't benefactor of conservative Christian groups, Richard A. Dasen Sr., was found guilty of raping a 15-year old girl. Dasen, 62, who is married with grown children and several grandchildren, has allegedly told police that over the past decade he paid more than $1 million to have sex with a large number of young women.
- Republican't Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld authorized the rape of children in Iraqi prisons in order to humiliate their parents into providing information about the anti-American insurgency.

February 18, 2008 in Sex Laws and Crimes, Sex On-Line, Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (2)

Are we really to believe he had no idea that fetishism is kinky? Or did one of his hacks whisper in his ear that he might lose the prude vote? Woooooooooops.

North MP hot under collar at fetish mistake

A NORTH MP was left red-faced last night after accidentally giving his support to National Fetish Day.

Organisers revealed Ronnie Campbell had promised to wear purple to support a day of awareness tomorrow.

But the MP for Blyth Valley, Northumberland, withdrew his backing after the Sunday Sun explained the kinky connotations of the word “fetish” which he was not aware of.

(Thanks to Mimi for this.)

February 17, 2008 in Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (2)

Took a while, but a Senate Ethic committee finally slapped Larry Craig's wrist for behavior unbecoming. Actually not even a wrist slap - more like a little hankie waved in his face. It isn't that he illegally cruised, or that he then lied about it; it's that he so obviously tried to intimidate the cop -- and then used campaign funds to defend his lies! WTF. We impeached Clinton for a lot less than that.

February 13, 2008 in Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (0)

Although I hope that Peter Tupper's prediction is correct, and that Amsterdam never changes, it seems likely to me that real estate profiteers and politicians will continue to fight this battle until they win because of the BIG BUCKS involved. So for you armchair travelers who may never get there, I searched Flickr for the best shots of the district I could find (not easy, as it's against local law to shoot pics there at all). Go behind the cut for the complete set.

February 13, 2008 in Post-Modern Pop Culture, Sex and Culture, Sex and History, Sexual Politics | Permalink | Comments (10)

From today's email, an action alert f