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Hot Topic: What about the children!? (200-300 words)
What about your kids in relation to the work you do? Ever worked while pregnant? Did you enter the biz to support your kids, or leave it when they were born? Please include your location (city and state) and whatever name you’d like us to print.

Consumer Report: Stripper heels (100 words per)
We’re looking for pointed, possibly humorous, product reviews of stripper footwear. Please provide one-to-two sentences per product and be specific about its usefulness, or its incompatibility, in relation to your line of work. Items should be identified by brand and style name.

Positions: Coming out (400 words)
Is coming out to friends, family, or the public worth it?

Reviews (400-600 words)
Like to review a recent piece of sex-work related culture? Please let us know. Reviews should be between 400 and 600 words, but inquire before writing to make sure we haven’t already covered your particular selection.

News Reports (500-1,000 words):
Reports should cover current sex worker-related news and events from across the globe. If possible, please include photos with your report.

Scene Report (500 words)
Where do you work? Send us a description of your local workplace (e.g., brothel, club, parlor, dungeon, or street corner) and tell us about the venue where you work and how it compares to other locales. Past scene reports covered the New York street scene in the Village and escorting in Orange County, CA. Please include both personal and more industry-wide perspectives of your region.

 

A sticky mess: HIV cases in the porn industry

I started to write a post about the recent HIV+ diagnosis in the porn industry… I looked up points and counterpoints of people who say condoms should be mandated and others who say porn actors know their risks when they get into the industry and should be allowed to choose their risk (which, incidentally, is incredibly low, considering that the last “outbreak” of HIV+ diagnoses was in 2004. Compare that with the consequences of risk-taking activities of, you know, the rest of us). I saw porn actors being demonized and porn actor-detractors being demonized. And unfortunately, as with every conversation I’ve ever had or seen that revolves around pornography, this conversation  has degraded into two opposing, hyper-simplified poles, the undercurrent of which was “porn is bad and evil vs. porn is good and right”.

I’m too ambivalent and irritated to have this conversation again, which, yes, is a total cop-out, but I’m interested in what you young whipper-snappers have to say.  Should condoms be mandated in hetero porn (as they currently are in gay male porn?)? Or is this too “hands-on” a role for the government to play? Should porn actors be able to choose their risk? What of their non-industry partners? Is the fact that the risk is truly so low among actors enough to ward off regulation? What of other STIs? Should, perhaps, the standard 30-days-between-HIV-tests rule be made more stringent instead? Would consumers watch porn in such quantities if condoms were universal, when there’s already a dent in sales due to the ubiquity of free online amateur porn? Can we have a nuanced discussion of pornography, like ever?

The list goes on and on. My thoughts on this are complicated, and I can see the merits of all of these arguments. Anyone have anything particularly new or enlightening to add to the discussion?

-Eden

 

From Feministing: A really good question about orgasm

Hi Friends,

I just wanted to share this great question & following discussion about Orgasm on one of my favorite sites feministing.com. If you are a woman who has had trouble “achieving” orgasm, you might want to read this. No simple solution, but some good advice.

xoxo,

searah

 

The Chinese sex amusement park that almost was.

The world is now bereft of a theme park depicting larger-than-life genitals and the bottom half of a woman wearing a questionable g-string. Talk about a roadside attraction. Ba dum bum.

I, for one, am heartbroken, but some claim Love Land would have been “an evil influence on society.”

Photos from the Times Online and guardian.co.uk

 

You can have an orgasm when you’re dead.

This is just one of the 10 strange things about orgasm you’ll learn from this video. Also, watch a farmer in Denmark sexually stimulate his pig, learn about the best cure for hiccups and hear of a woman who has orgasms every time she brushes her teeth.

16 minutes of well-spent time, I assure you.

more about “You can have an orgasm when you’re dead.“, posted with vodpod

 

Party Hats. For your cock.

People are always concerned about whether working in a sex shop has made me jaded about sex. Whether it’s all ho-hum, boring now that all the deep dark secrets of sexuality have been laid bare at my feet.

What a ridiculous notion. I won’t go into it  here, because yet again, Greta Christina has beat me to it, and in an elegant and brilliant way. Read it.

Nevertheless, it is fair to say that it takes a lot to surprise me. Customers are always concerned that their proclivities and needs are the weirdest thing I will ever come across… that is just untrue. It is a rare and special day when something makes me titter with surprise and glee.

That day, my friends, is today. Check out, if you will the chocolate cock hats on this site.

I’m a fan of the Viking helmet, myself.

I see several problems with this line of products, some logistical, some health-related, others may just be my own personal preference. But really. How is it enjoyable to sit around eating a candy bar off someone’s cock without actually getting to the cock? Suddenly sucking dick is like one of those old Tootsie Pop commercials?

Yowza. These things should come with a warning.

Anyone have any good segue lines to bring the chocolate hat into the bedroom?

-Eden

 

Armpit psychology

Wow. This article about human body odor – really a compendium of theories and studies – is just fucking fascinating. I couldn’t possibly summarize it here, but really, it’s well worth the read.

Find out about what role body odor plays in women’s attraction (this article talks about it specifically as it relates to men, but I would be interested in how this translates into other sexualities), why we’re attracted to people who smell differently than us, how good or bad odors influence a person’s attractiveness, and the answer to the age-old question:

Do vegetarians really smell better than carnivores?

This is science, people.

Read the whole article here.

-Eden

 

Gentlemen! Got any burning questions you want answered?

One of our expert dude advice columnists can answer them for you! Leave questions in the comments or, if you prefer, email them to eden(at)early2bed(dot)com

Remember, there are no stupid questions!

-Eden

 

Douching with Coca-Cola

Ah. Nothing says “safe sex” quite like a refreshing Diet Coke douche. You know what else I like to use to prevent pregnancy? Rodent balls.

Apparently so do some other people. Check out History’s 10 Most Terrifying Contraceptives. But do not try these at home. Because as the article’s authors say: “you have to remember that ancient civilizations existed mainly to disgust the future.”

Good stuff.

 

Take a masturbation quiz!

Think you’ve got the chops to answer the “expert” questions? I double dog dare you! And if you’re up for it, post your results in the comments!

Take the quiz here.

And Happy Masturbation May!