Monday, January 7,
filed under: Erotic Elite by Melissa Gira | 4 Comments
Year Three of Sexerati begins now, and I’m taking it elsewhere.
To pull the sheets back for a moment, Sexerati has produced sex in what we would once have called my future (the present) in forms that still feel novel. The Pink Ghetto has jumped to the printed page, in this year’s volume of Best Sex Writing. The first bit of sex gossip I manhandled from a rising star blogger put us in bed together (and love, which is even filthier). Queen of all glories, though, is having the sex smart writers who inspired me way before day one take notice, and for the encouragement of the internet generation of sex media makers to provoke the whole thing on (Susannah and Viviane and Dacia especially).
Susannah beat me to a
forecast and did it even better than I could have, and in part using my own words which read:
So, in this context, I could say I’m only doing this–this sex thing on the Internet–to get somewhere else in my career, as a stepping stone to some supposedly elevated ground as real writer, a real journalist, a real contributor to society. Sex is a commodity, that’s for sure, but it’s only really socially acceptable to traffic in temporarily. Where once upon a time, the story of sex for women was from virgin to whore, in the story of the business of sex writing, there’s the chance for all us soiled doves to reclaim our purity by renouncing sex, relegating sex to “that crazy thing” we wrote about to get our start, revising not just our resumes but our passions.
What if sex is where you want to go, not just your rent as you get there? (Hey, it’s been my rent, too, Not knocking that for a millisecond.) What if sex is your work, not limited to prostitution or porn or what we think of as sex work, but as your medium? What is so less noble about thinking sex rather than money, rather than politics, religion, or art? Sex being so fully embedded in the human experience, I want to put out there that there really is no way to engage the culture on “what really matters” without looking at sexuality.
Producing sexual media, theorizing and studying sex, and educating about sex are not some marginal activity, or at least, they should be thought of as such no longer. For us working sex, refusing to be ghettoized for our labors and loves doesn’t mean “rising up” from the gutter, but resisting the idea that sex is in some gutter at all.
Though I’m not one for themes all the time, I do get it up for a good, long theoretical wrestle with a question. Which as of today is, “How can I explain how the internet isn’t ruining sex?”
Until we’re bent into the floor, wet with pride and choice words, and this time even a few live shots of the action as it unfolds, I’ll be tackling it hard now and right here.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
filed under: Erotic Elite by Melissa Gira | 6 Comments
Join me live in a streaming video special to the Club of Amsterdam’s conference on The Future of Sexuality, on Thursday, November 29th, at 9:30 am Pacific (18:30 CET). I’ll be discussing & taking questions on sexuality in the information age, from my new flat in San Francisco via Skype to wherever you may be. That means you can stay in bed and watch, and that I may do my lecture from my very own, as well.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
filed under: HOW TO:, Sexerati Hearts by Melissa Gira | 2 Comments
One from the vaults, to keep you warm while Sexerati HQ moves. Bless you all, and thanks for a year of smart sex.
Taking for granted that you’ve got a computer, an Internet connection, and a desire to be a (little) sexy in (sort of) public (hey, you’re reading this), here’s my quickest, dirtiest tutorial on how to be a camgirl or cam boy (how in need the world is!), camwhore, or what have you…
Read more
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
filed under: Unpersonals, Web Sex Index by Melissa Gira | 2 Comments
That? That was the shiver of agreeing with Valleywag for this tip: 2007’s standout flirting-for-nerds site iminlikewithyou, in trying to adopt web video’s hotness, has jumped its own rainbow-striped shark. Where the limited interface and smarts required to seduce well with it once drew out the best in commitment-free wit, the rapid-fire comments users can now leave in exchange for dropping some points are needlessly lowering the bar — unsolicited suggestion: find some way to integrate a CrazyBlindDate-esque feature, and fast.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
filed under: Do It for Science, Strange Bedfellows by Melissa Gira | 1 Comment
He was approved to use human subjects in his research, which is precisely what UMass Medical School’s Dr. Peter A. Rice claims to have been doing when he was arrested for soliciting an undercover police officer in Worcester, MA:
The author of more than 145 professional publications in the area of infectious and sexually transmitted diseases, Dr. Rice said he was “gathering information” at the time of his arrest and was not guilty of offering to engage in sex for a fee, the offense with which he was charged. He has been placed on leave since his arrest, according to a UMass spokesman.
Judge Paul F. LoConto entered a not-guilty plea on Dr. Rice’s behalf, released him on personal recognizance and continued his case to Dec. 17.
According to a written statement filed by police in support of their application for a criminal complaint, a female police officer was working undercover in the area of Main and Grand streets shortly before 12:20 p.m. Saturday when a man later identified as Dr. Rice pulled up next to her in a black BMW.
The officer, who was posing as a prostitute, approached Dr. Rice, who had his driver’s side window down, according to the statement.
“They engaged in conversation and he requested that she provide him with sex, according to the police account. The undercover officer signaled fellow officers in the area and Dr. Rice was stopped and arrested.
UMass administrators now claim they knew nothing about this aspect of his project. You can read between the lines yourself — Dr. Rice’s abstract from a 2005 study is similar if not a continuation of his current study, which is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Extramural Activities.
Only $40, professor? I know sex researchers have trouble getting government funding. What do we do now?
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