Ms Naughty looks at porn for women, feminism and sex in general
I can’t believe I haven’t read this before. I discovered it via a short story by Cory Doctorow and found myself nodding along as I read. This Declaration was written 13 years ago but it still resonates now, especially as Australia, China, Germany, the UK and US continue to plan ways to censor the internet. I think we Netizens need to reaffirm the ideas behind this: that the internet is Read More …
Once again I’ve got a bunch of things to write about and I’m just going to be lazy and bung them all into one post with a nice sexy pic to make it a bit more fun. First – they’re about to release the rejiggered Joy Of Sex. The New York Times has a great article about how the book has aged and it goes into some interesting detail about Read More …
So… what would the magistrate make of this cartoon, I wonder? Child-like people – with no genitals – obviously engaging in foreplay. These drawings are officially “people” in Australia now and I’ve technically just posted an example of CP. The Love Is… cartoons first appeared in the 1970s when we weren’t so prudish. Wikipedia has a nice rundown of their history. If you think this is a one-off, check out Read More …
Next weekend I’ll be attending a protest rally to speak out against the Australian government’s ludicrous ISP filtering plan. Meanwhile, today has seen several news stories that just make me shake my head in disgust. What’s happening to this fucking country? How did the sex panics get this hysterical? First: Man charged over viral baby-swinging video. A guy who shared a video of a child being swung in the air Read More …
Thanks to Ell I’ve been reading an amazing article at Libertus called Statistics Laundering: False and Fantastic Figures. It carefully and comprehensively dismantles the myth of an “explosion” of child porn on the internet. Essentially, it’s saying that the vast majority of child porn statistics quoted in the media and elsewhere are either inaccurate, wildly exaggerated or simply made up. The author has taken the standard figures quoted by politicians Read More …
Today I’m feeling optimistic about the future of the internet in Australia. Grassroots group GetUp has finally launched a campaign against the clean feed. They’ve already collected 32,000 signatures in a little over 24 hours and the comments are running hot on their site. Apparently they’ve had more emails requesting a campaign on this issue than anything else. There are now protests planned on December 14 in a number of Read More …
This is not my topic but I thought I’d blog about it because it’s caused a stir. Tony Comstock’s distressed crusade against the insanity of Google’s “safe” filters continues. He’s found that, with SafeSearch turned on, Google delivers NO results for the word “clitoris” but 33 million results for the word “penis”. The sexism and stupidity of this speaks for itself, so I won’t write too much as other people Read More …
Good news: the folks at the Eros Association have decided to get serious and form a political party. They’re launching the Australian Sex Party at Sexpo in Melbourne on Thursday and are hoping to round up the 500 members required to make it officially recognised by the legal system. They’re aiming to put censorship onto the agenda, but they also want to talk about sex education, abortion, contraception, gender issues Read More …
I just want to draw your attention to an issue that I hope will snowball: what’s being called the “Google No Fly List”. Numerous bloggers have found that the Google Suggest function – which auto-fills your searches with a number of possible phrases – excludes search terms relating to sex. Even if you’ve set your preferences to “do not filter results.” The tool doesn’t have a problem with suggesting white Read More …
Well folks, I’m back from my excellent adventure in Europe, both exhausted and inspired by the things I’ve seen and the people I’ve met. I hardly know where to begin with this first post, especially considering I’ve returned to numerous interesting issues, both here and abroad. On Saturday morning, when I was still jetlagged and addled, my cousin rang to ask me to be a bridesmaid at her same-sex union Read More …
I’m busy busy busy today editing dirty movies so here’s a couple of quick links of interest. * Vice Tries To Bust Me On The Porn Set – Feminist adult filmmaker Tristan Taormino reveals her run-in with an LA Vice squad while filming her latest movie (something BDSM themed, can’t wait). This story provides a disappointing reminder that it doesn’t matter how ethical or feminist or progressive the porn may Read More …
Today’s depressing censorship/thought crime news is that a woman has been sentenced to five years of probation for writing sex stories. Yes folks, for writing fiction. I’ve already posted about this case. It’s difficult to speak out in defense of the author because the stories depicted child abuse, violence and rape – that’s why the government went after Karen Fletcher and her site Red Rose Stories. But this case sets Read More …
Since I’ve turned Francophile I went to the video shop and hired out a number of French-related films. On a whim I decided to watch Last Tango In Paris, partly to see if it had any good Parisian scenery. Yes, I am that jaded. I also got it because I wanted to watch the famed anal sex scene again, see if it was as shocking as I remembered. Bertolucci’s 1972 Read More …
I’ve accumulated a number of interesting links regarding Australian censorship, statistics and hot websites so I thought I’d cheat and just whack them all in one post. Firstly, Catharine Lumby, one of the authors of The Porn Report, has given a fascinating talk about the history of censorship and porn to the Sydney Institute. You can find a video of the event here. While despairingly contemplating the state of Australia Read More …
A man in Western Australia has been arrested for receiving porn movies through the mail from overseas. His house was raided by customs officials who seized more than 100 DVDs and he is expected to be charged with breaching importation regulations for “pornography and objectionable material”, listed thus: Includes computer games, computer generated images, films, interactive games and publications that describe, depict, express or otherwise deal with matters of sex, Read More …