Haha! I bet you thought I was going to miss another month of links, didn’t you? Well guess what, bro! I’m not going to! Because at the very last possible moment, I’m putting this together. Yes! I’m giving myself a high five over here, because this month has been cuh-ray-zee. And the fact that I’m getting this blog post done makes me feel very accomplished, thankyouverymuch. So, without further ado, my curated list of links from the pleasure-positive and adult-entertainment sides of the internet for the month of April, 2021.
Mastercard Tightens the Screws
This month, Mastercard announced new restrictions for adult content on any platform or website for which its cards can be used. In so doing, it sent the already bruised and battered online adult entertainment industry into a tailspin. According to the new regulations, “Banks that connect merchants to our network will need to certify that the seller of adult content has effective controls in place to monitor, block and, where necessary, take down all illegal content.” They also must have evidence of “clear, unambiguous and documented consent” from anyone appearing in said content.
But what exactly does that mean? Nobody’s entirely sure yet, but it’s pretty certain that Visa will follow suit shortly, and then it’s just a waiting game to see which banks, payment processors, and online platforms will do the work to allow adult content of any kind. Here are a few takes from around the world of online adult content:
- Xbiz’s Gustavo Turner talked to a number of industry payment processors, attorneys and advocates for their thoughts on the new restrictions. The takeaway? These changes will “impact the entire adult industry.”
- YNOT’s Michael McGrady described the new regulations as “turning the screw” on the adult industry.
- Longtime industry spokesperson Mike Stabile wrote his thoughts in a Twitter thread that said what many were thinking—namely that “It’s hard to see this as anything as a disaster for sex workers.”
People Who Use More Emojis Have More Sex and Get More Dates
File this under “headlines that genuinely surprised me.” Not just because it reveals that people who use more emojis get laid more. (?!?!) But also because in order to reach this conclusion, researchers had to agree to seek, then secure, funding to do the work. Mind-blowing. From Justin Lehmiller’s article: “the frequent use of emojis with potential dates is linked to not only having sex more often but also to a more active and successful dating life.” Read more here!
Submission Possible: A Queer Feminist Docu-Series
Madison Young is an awesome person. And I mean that in the truest sense of the word: she inspires awe. A long-time performance artist, queer community organizer, and adult actor, she’s now working on a television series called Submission Possible. And she’s raising funds to make it happen. From the IndieGoGo: “Submission Possible explores the queer sexual underground worlds of kink, fetish, and BDSM…The series stars Young hosting travel adventures with a mission – sharing stories of who we are as sexual beings. ‘Submission Possible is a dare,’ says Young. ‘A challenge for us to shift the narrative. For us to celebrate our differences and our sameness, our connections.'” Help it come to life at IndieGoGo!
Patrick A. Trueman: The “Public Health Crisis” Starts Here
“Patrick A. Trueman is both a true believer in the crusade against porn and a powerful force in government, private practice, and non-profit activism. His credentials are impressive, but his dogged focus on the evils of adult entertainment made by and for consenting adults is…odd, to say the least.” Read it all at YNOT.com!
Canadian SWers Are Taking It to Court
“Groups representing sex-trade workers launch legal challenge of Canada’s prostitution laws. The Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform, which represents 25 groups that work with members of the sex trade, filed legal paperwork Tuesday in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. Groups in Yukon, Vancouver and London, Ont., along with six current or former sex-trade workers, are among those involved in the legal fight. They argue the laws violate provisions of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”
Shelley Lubben: Ex-Porn Star, Anti-Porn Crusader, Evangelist
“No series profiling anti-porn fanatics would be complete without the troubled and troublesome Shelley Lubben, a retired porn performer who devoted many of the latter years of her life to agitating against the adult entertainment industry.” Read the rest at YNOT.com!
‘Bizarre’: Government’s ‘milkshake’ sex consent video slammed
The Australian government put out a series of videos on consent. The idea was to educate young people about how consent works. But instead, they…well…they borked it. Bad. From The New Daily: “
In one video about consent, a man with a spear gun tries to convince a woman scared of sharks that she should swim at a beach. In another, a woman smears milkshake on a man’s face in a lesson about respectful relationships.…Rape prevention advocates have slammed the government’s new school resources platform, titled ‘The Good Society’, as basic, confusing and even inaccurate.” Read more over here!
Michael Weinstein: The Condom King of the AHF
“Most people who have kept up with adult entertainment industry news over the past fifteen years have found themselves asking, at least once: “Why would a wildly successful non-profit HIV/AIDS healthcare organization be so hell-bent on making porn actors use condoms?” If you haven’t asked yourself this question, you must be unfamiliar with Michael Weinstein, the founder and president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF).” Read the article at YNOT.com!
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