Filament Editor Interview

The New Zealand Herald has an extensive profile of Filament creator Suraya Singh, who grew up in New Zealand but now lives in London. The article traces the origins of Suraya’s idea for an erotic magazine and her struggle to get it up and running last year. There was also the belief that all women are the same. “We had one distributor who said he’d shown a copy to a Read More …

New Magazine Candy Rain “Likes The D.”

New York Press reports on the launch of another indie erotic magazine aimed at straight women. Candy Rain (previously “Ligerbeat“) is the project of three New York women, Callie Watts, “Mama D” and “Yung Ho”. It seems that Callie is the main driving force as she has previously worked for Playgirl before it folded and also helps with Bust magazine. The mag came about because the three joked that they Read More …

A Limp Response To Women’s Erotica

Erotica authors (and book cover crusaders) Kristina Lloyd and Mathilde Madden have written a great piece in the Guardian discussing the difficulties Filament has had in printing erect dicks. I liked this bit: When set against the plethora of men’s lifestyle and top-shelf magazines featuring scantily clad and open-legged women, the struggles faced by Filament highlight a deeply entrenched sexism: men can look at women but women cannot look at Read More …

Filament Goes On An “Erection Drive”

New magazine Filament wants to put hard cocks in their next issue. Unfortunately the printers are refusing to come to the party, saying that “printing these images may offend women’s groups.” They’re now looking for another printer but need more cash so they’ve launched an “erection drive” in the hope of selling more issues. We’re talking about fighting the system here girls! I can only applaud Suraya’s effort to get Read More …

HBO Series About Women’s Porn Mag

Reuters reports that HBO are creating a half-hour television series about an old-school feminist who starts a porn magazine for women. The concept will examine all the feminism versus “raunch culture” ideas and will star Diane Keaton in the lead role (and as executive producer). “We’ve came a long way since the Kinsey report; women are more sexual now,” said Noxon, referring to Alfred Kinsey’s controversial 1953 report “Sexual Behavior Read More …

Interview With Suraya From Filament Magazine

Over the past few weeks I’ve been in contact with Suraya Singh who is the editor of the newly launched Filament magazine for women. She’s been on a PR blitz that’s seen her receive excellent coverage in mainstream media and across the web. When I first found out about the magazine I must admit to being a little skeptical about its chances, mainly because it’s a print magazine. Already it Read More …

An Interview With Emily Dubberley

Emily Dubberley is the editor of Scarlet Magazine and she used to run Cliterati which was a great female-friendly erotica site ages ago. Now she’s got a book out about kinky sex. I found this great interview with her so thought I’d throw up a quick link to it. I tend to sympathise with this comment: Occasionally I’ll get turned on writing about sex, but 99 per cent of the Read More …

Filament Hits The Press: Cue The Predictable Response

A couple of days ago I wrote about Filament, a new erotica magazine for women. Over the last few days the mag has received several mentions in mainstream media. Great PR for Filament but, unfortunately, the same old tired assumtions and discussions are being rehashed. The Daily Mail doesn’t hesitate to come blaring in with assumptions at full mast: Women just don’t respond to visual stimuli in the same way Read More …

Filament: New Women’s Erotica Magazine

The Independent has a piece about a new women’s erotica magazine being launched in the UK. It’s called Filament and it’s tagline is “the thinking woman’s crumpet.” Suraya Singh is yet another woman who felt that porn wasn’t offering her what she needed so she’s made her own. She’s got fairly negative things to say about existing women’s erotica, so she’s put me offside somewhat, but all power to her Read More …

Playgirl’s Uphill Battle

The New York Times has a two-page feature article about the demise of Playgirl magazine. It features interviews with the three women who edited the mag and gives fairly frank details about what went wrong: So she and her fellow editors, all women in their 20s and all relative neophytes to the world of magazines — and pornography — resolved to fill Playgirl with something different. They aspired to bring Read More …

Playgirl Magazine Folds

Well, Playgirl Magazine is finished. Writer Jamye Waxman confirmed the rumours in this blog post. She says it’s a shame because Playgirl could never quite be the intelligent sex magazine for women it wanted to be. The staff at Playgirl does get it, but what they were allowed to do with that knowledge never completely translated… both because their hands were always tied and because, well, the people who approve Read More …