It’s high summer up here in Montana, which means thunderstorms, sweltering days followed by cool nights, and floating the Clark Fork River with beers in tow. But even as the long summer days stretch idyllically before me, there’s a lot of wildness going on in the world. Since the focus of this blog is on sexuality and adult entertainment, I’ll stick to talking about those issues. I hope you enjoy these links, folks!
It’s Tough Out There for Adult Content Creators in July
- Twitter has updated its TOS, and the adult industry is not pleased. Gustavo Turner at Xbiz wrote a long article about how Twitter—until recently the last stronghold for adult content on social media—has definitively turned its back on the sex industry. And not just that—it started the process way back in March, and nobody seemed to notice! “This edited version of the Twitter TOS highlights what appears to be the real goal of the new policy, unveiled without much fanfare four months ago,” he writes, “laying the groundwork to entirely banish the vast majority of sexual content and expression from the platform.” Yikes. Read it all here.
- Speaking of crappy situations for adult content makers, Paper Magazine recently ran a feature on how bisexual male p*rn performers are getting shafted (sorry, I just had to) by agents, managers, directors, and producers. And how they have been for quite a while. The story features interviews with Lance Hart, Charlotte Sartre, and Christopher Zeischegg, and it’s worth a read for those who aren’t familiar with the difficulties faced by “crossover” male talent.
- One of my personal heroes, sex-tech innovator Cindy Gallop has faced the same major advertising discrimination against her social-sex startup, MakeLoveNotPorn.tv. After years of being denied advertising opportunities, Ms. Gallop finally had had enough…so she took to guerilla advertising her company on the sides of buildings around New York City. Badass!
- Meanwhile, Mickey Mod dishes about what it’s like to be a dad…and a successful, long-standing porn star. “I mean, it’s scary. I know people who have sent their children to private schools and the staff found out what they did for a living and asked them not to bring their children back there. The bias in some people is really, really strong,” he tells Carrie Weisman at Fatherly.
But, in July, It’s Also Cool as Hell
- Here’s a look at the history of p0rno soundtracks from Esra Soraya Padgett at Cultured. “Perhaps music is what we need to release us from the acts of pornographic perusal we are locked in today. If so, it would be worth asking: to what sounds of ecstasy might we hover over longer? How could pleasure be composed to reverberate in us today?” Fascinating!
- Oh, and remember how adult companies have a hard time advertising? Well, sex-positive pleasure-product company Dame has had enough of it. While erectile dysfunction medications can advertise nearly anywhere and Ashley Madison runs commercials on cable, Dame has been unable to place ads in most places, including the New York subway system. They’re trying to change that by suing the MTA. Read all about it in Vice.
- And, at Allure, QPOC filmmaker and frickin genius Shine Louise Houston gets the spotlight in a great interview about how her productions are changing perceptions of smut. “I wish that people would just consider p0rn just another film genre, because that’s what it is,” she says, “But there’s this weird thing that happens with p0rn that somehow people can’t totally switch off their suspension of disbelief, and I think that’s partly marketing is that, ‘Ooh, it’s real,’ but it’s not! It’s film.” Read it all at Allure.com.
- Meanwhile, Suzannah Weiss writes about how a pop star named Von turned her orgasm into music using the Lioness smart vibrator. WHAT?! “Orgasm contraction data was directly mapped onto instrument sounds, with the amplitude of the sound wave reflecting the strength of contractions, and the wavelength of the sound wave reflecting the rhythm of the contractions.” Wild! Check it out at Vice.
- Oh hey! Now that we’re talking about the Lioness, here’s a small but super-fascinating study that Lioness teamed up with luxury vape brand Bae to conduct. They found that people had longer orgasms, longer masturbation sessions generally, and way more orgasms than they did while sober. Interesting stuff, n’est ce pas? Read it all right here.
Lynsey G.-Adjacent Links (Because What’s a Blog without Self-Promotion?)
- I offer writing coaching and workshops! I’m especially interested in working with folks who are writing memoirs about sex and sexuality. So, hey, you! This July, let’s work through the process of turning your inspiration into a gorgeous, professional, world-changing book together! There’s more info my services over at my coaching page.
- I’ve got some books out there in the world!
- Watching P()rn is my memoir about being an adult entertainment journalist…but really it’s an informative text about the adult entertainment industry and how it works.
- And Tracy Queen Volume 1 is the first issue of my epic, sex-positive, sci-fi graphic novel about a socially awkward indie camgirl with a cyborg-clone army to protect her from the clutches of the p*rn industrial complex.
- And PACK #1: Humility is the first of a comic book series about vigilante dogs who fight crime, corruption, and gentrification!
- Interested in my graphic novels and comics but more into digital reading? You can get access to all of it at SpinWhiz Comics!
- Did you know I’ve been reading chapters from my book live on Facebook every other weekend? And did you know you can watch ALL of the videos so far on YouTube and Facebook? Well. You can.
- Or that you can support my work comics creation and publishing company, Oneshi Press, on Patreon? Guess what? You can do that, too! If you sign up in July, you’ll get our next comics anthology when it comes out!
That’s it for now, folks! Happy July, and happy link-clicking fun!
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