Friday December 18, 2009
Yesterday Dr. Carolyn Bennett a Liberal Minister of Parliament in the Canadian government sent a letter to the Federal Minister of Health, Leona Aglukkaq, asking the health minister to look into developing regulations for the adult toy industry in Canada.
Bennett, who has a long history of advocating for women's health issues and generally talking about public health issues most politicians wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole, was inspired to write the letter after visiting Red Tent Sisters, a sex shop in her riding.
The letter (which you can download here) calls out phthalates and BPA in particular, pointing to what little research has been done on sex toys, and suggesting that there is an "urgent need for responsible regulation in the adult toy industry." The minister wants products to be safety tested before they can be sold, and the chemical composition of all sex toys to be made publicly available.
I think it's great that these entrepreneurs sought out a politician willing to speak out on a subject that intersects sexual health and pleasure and that she followed through in this public way. Most good sex shops already offer a wide range of products that are phthalate and BPA-free. But better quality sex toys are always a good thing.
At the same time, as someone who cares about the sexual rights, health, and freedom of all people, and not just middle-class women, I have to admit to having an uneasy feeling about this letter and the assertion that sex toys pose a significant risk to public health.
To the extent that the trend to "eco sex toys" is producing thoughtful public discussion and encouraging everyone who wants to buy sex toy to educate themselves, I think it's great. But if you read what's written on this topic much of it lacks any critical analysis. Sex toys were once emancipatory tools of empowerment and I fear they're becoming luxury accessories with little more meaning than deodorant or mouthwash.
I wish it didn't have to be an either-or situation, but the fact is that the public, the media, and certainly the government don't have a history of managing more than one public discussion about sexual health and pleasure at a time. The minister is absolutely right when she writes that the government shouldn't "shy away from legislation that protects us" because the topic of sex may make us uncomfortable.
But given the disparities in access to sexual health and experience of sexual pleasure among Canadians, I just can't help but feel like this is a much easier topic to deal with than the known threats to public sexual health, which are routinely ignored, by most politicians and citizens every day.
Read more - Globe and Mail: 'Urgent need' to regulate sex toys, MP says
Friday December 18, 2009
About.com's Top Sex Questions from 2009
When you write for the web you begin to appreciate the extent to which search engines, and the experience of "search" as a concept and an activity, is changing more than how we find information. Search is changing how we think about and how we use language to construct our experience.
Every year, for example, I take a look at the sex questions that were most often searched for and read by About.com users. It's tempting (and editorially desirable) to frame this list as a kind of window into the sex lives of the hundreds of millions of people who come to About.com every year looking for information. Everyone wants the "real" story, what people "really" want to do in bed. But how much do the words people time into a search field reflect either how they feel, think, or have sex? At best I'd say the relationship is suspect.
After all, we search so often that we end up learning how to search, and we learn from the search engine results. You type in "edging" hoping for some gardening tips and instead come up with my how to edge article. Next time, you try something else. Or you type in "lubricant" because you want to find one that won't give you another yeast infection, and you end up on an automotive site. What we search for may begin with an interest, need, or desire from within, but how we search, and the words we use, become as conditioned as any other response.
And of course anyone offering to tell you what people are really into is only answering that question based on what they talk or write about. People aren't searching my site asking questions about sex with chickens, because I don't have any content on sex with chickens. So if you were to ask me I'd say there aren't many people interested in having sex with chickens (actually if you asked me I'd direct you to some other sexologists who could answer that...but you get the idea).
It's complicated but I still love digging through my statistics and theorizing about what they mean (it's like doing a crossword puzzle without any clues, or any boxes, or even a grid). So in the spirit of educated guesses and sharing data over the holiday season, below you'll find the ten most popular sex questions of 2009.
How Do I Find My PC Muscles?
Does Penis Size Matter?
How Much Masturbation Is Too Much Masturbation?
Can You Alter Vaginal Taste?
Do Penis Pumps Permanently Enlarge Your Penis?
How Long Does Sex Usually Last?
Can You Tell When a Man Is Going to Ejaculate?
How Can I Tell If I've Had an Orgasm?
How Do I Measure Up?
Is It Okay to Watch Porn?
Wednesday December 16, 2009
From the Sex Workers Outreach Project website:
December 17th is International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. This event was created to call attention to hate crimes committed against sex workers all over the globe. Originally thought of by Dr. Annie Sprinkle and started by the Sex Workers Outreach Project USA as a memorial and vigil for the victims of the Green River Killer in Seattle Washington. International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers has empowered workers from over cities around the world to come together and organize against discrimination and remember victims of violence.
During the week of December 17th, sex worker rights organizations will be staging actions and vigils to raise awareness about violence that is commonly committed against sex workers. The assault, battery, rape and murder of sex workers must end. Existing laws prevent sex workers from reporting violence. The stigma and discrimination that is perpetuated by the prohibitionist laws has made violence against us acceptable. Please join with sex workers around the world and stand against criminalization and violence committed against prostitutes.
If you're wondering what this has to do with you make no mistake that your life has been touched by sex work in some way. People who do sex work aren't nameless, faceless others who you only hear about in grizzly news reports or see on 20/20. They are our lovers and spouses, our family members and co-workers, our teachers and students, our service providers and waiters. So too for the people who pay for sex. Yes, you may have never had a conversation with someone in your life about the time they paid for sex, but that doesn't mean they didn't. Or you didn't.
You can check out SWOPUSA's site for a list of events around the world. If there's one in your city or town, check it out. If you go with an open mind and open heart I promise it will make you a more thoughtful person by the end of the day (which is not to say it will make you happier or less confused or anything like that).
If your not the marching type, Annie Sprinkle offers this advice on how you can participate.
Annie Sprinkle's Ten Things You Can Do to Participate
Absolutely EVERYONE is invited to participate. Here's how.
1. Organize (or attend) a memorial in your town. Simply choose a place and time to gather. Invite people to bring their stories, writings, thoughts, related news items, poems, lists of victims, performances, and memories. Take turns sharing.
2. Hold (or attend) a candlelight vigil in a public place.
3. Do something at home alone, which has personal meaning, such as a ritual memorial bath, or light a candle.
4. Call a friend and discuss the topic.
5. Send a donation to a group that helps sex workers stay safer. For example, some teach self-defense or host web sites that caution workers about bad Johns.
6. Go to the Sex Worker Outreach Project's, www.swop-usa.org, read it, and add something to the site. Do let others know about any planned Dec. 17 events by listing them on the SWOP web site.
7. Spread the word about the Day to End Violence Towards Sex Workers and the issues it raises; or blog, email, call, send a press release, or forward this text to others.
8. Go to Washington DC. This December 17, 2008 there will be a National March for Sex Worker Rights. People will converge from all over to take a stand for justice and safety. Info at www.swop-usa.org
9. Organize a panel discussion about violence towards sex workers. Procure a community space and invite speakers like sex workers, police, and families of victims.
10. Create your own way to participate.
Tuesday December 15, 2009
If you're traveling by plane to be with family over the holidays you have at least two kinds of baggage to contend with. There's the emotional baggage, which is old and worn and won't hurt your shoulders but is may wrench your heart. And then there's your physical baggage, in all it's over-stuffed-telescopic-handled glory.
This doesn't feel like a good place for me to properly address the emotional baggage, but I do have four simple tips to hopefully prevent one of the lesser joys of airline travel, the sex toy security scare.
If maintaining your cool over the holidays means travelling with your favorite sex toy, this may be the best ten minutes of research you've even done.
Read More - Vibrators on an Airplane (and Other Sex Toy Travel Tips)
