Happy Wednesday, my loves! I’ve been crazy busy recently with many projects going on at once, and naturally they all seem to be overlapping so that my deadlines are clustering together in a distinctly unpleasant way. I apologize for my relative silence here on the blog, but I’ve been quite vocal elsewhere if you want to catch up on Lynsey G’s writing life! Links to my recent work below, and in the meantime, here are some fabulously sexy, smart, and kinky links to get you through this hump day in style!
- An excellent rebuttal to Time‘s recent cover story about the negative effects of pornography on young men’s sex lives appeared today at Salon, penned by the brilliant Rachel Kramer Bussel. Thank god. I’m going to share the crap out of this one.
Kramer asks, “Why are we singling out porn and only porn as a purveyor of sexism and dehumanization? Why are we discounting the millions of men and women who use porn and are still able to see people as people? Why aren’t we trying to backtrack and explore when porn went from being something used for recreational fun to being a problem in these men’s lives, rather than equating porn use, practically by definition, with addiction and harm?”
It’s a question I’ve tried to ask many times. When pornography itself gets blamed for the ills it wreaks on people’s lives, my response is always to look at the lives in question: What was so out of balance in the first place that this life was so wide open to being pushed in the wrong direction? Sure, porn can be misused, and sure, that might be happening more often now that it’s online in huge quantities for free. But that is neither the fault of the porn industry nor the fault of pornography as a medium–it’s a problem inherent in a system that refuses to look at porn as a legitimate business and entertainment entity that should have the right to be treated with respect. Ugh. Anyway, read the article. - Not sure how this slipped under my radar, but here are some really cool (NSFW!) art photos taken on the sets of porn films from around the world, largely in Europe, for a project called It’s Just Love by Sophie Ebrard of Amsterdam. The photos were taken over the course of four years and displayed in the artist’s home, and then on TheCreatorsProject.com. Super interesting look at what goes on behind the scenes, and while cameras are rolling, from an outsider’s perspective.
- There’s a dominatrix fitness coach in Australia! This woman is both a domme and a certified personal trainer, and she decided to combine her skill sets with forced fitness classes for her clients, who come to her for kinky training sessions where they get fit while being flogged or bound or humiliated or whatever works for them… at the same time! There’s a video on Facebook that you have got to see. It’s kind of adorable and funny and inspirational all at once!
- If you are in NYC, I strongly encourage you to head to the Grace Exhibition Space in Bushwick next Friday night to see the indomitable and inspiring Madison Young perform as part of their 21st Suffragettes: International Performance Art by Women festival. She is an absolutely jaw-dropping performer and I guarantee you’ll leave with your mind blown. More info, and tickets, here.
- A riveting interview with Shira Tarrant, the economist who recently released her huge and comprehensive economic assessment of porn in The Pornography Industry, over at the Atlantic. She’s insightful and full of info that will tantalize you. I’ve got my copy of her book all spooled up on my kindle to read just as soon as I have a chance, and you should get one too. Check out her interview here to browse her mind before you buy her book!
A lovely takeaway? “I think moving away from those mainstream tube sites and being adventurous is important. To think, if we look at mainstream porn, that we’re being wild or really sexy, we’re kind of eating at McDonald’s all the time. It’s the sex equivalent of eating all our meals at McDonald’s. Being more adventurous could really expand our definitions of sexuality, sexual pleasure, and sexual desire in ways that could be surprising.” Read the rest here!
Okay, now on to my little gloating area here at the bottom!
- Friends! I am currently swept up in the process of soft-launching the indie publishing company Oneshi Press! I’m so excited to get into all the details, but it’s not quite time yet. So in the meantime, check out the launch video that my co-founder and awesome-pants partner, Jayel Draco, made about our huge next step in life!
- My latest article, about what women really want in porn and how Angie Rowntree of Sssh.com might be closer to knowing than anyone else, is up at Refinery29!
- I would love it if you bought the April/May issue of BUST Magazine, which features an article by moi about the amazing life of the incredible Audrey Munson, the Perfect Woman. The piece isn’t available online, so if you want to find out about the woman who posed for the sculptures atop the NYC Municipal Building, the entrance to the Manhattan Bridge, the Pulitzer Fountain, and many many others… you should buy a copy. Just sayin.
- More goodies to come soon from Autostraddle and Luna Luna! Stay tuned!