Category Archives: ARCHIVE BLOGGERY

Goods Undamaged

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Another Angry Woman (aka Stavvers) has written yet another brilliant and well-researched blog entry on women and sexuality. This one addresses a recent Journal of Sex Research study of porn performers, self-esteem and an “assessment of the damaged goods hypothesis”. Here’s a bit of it:

“…The paper aimed to test the veracity of a set of beliefs surrounding women in porn. These attitudes were gleaned from a studies into attitudes towards porngraphy, finding that those with a negative attitude towards porn tended to believe that porn performers had low self-esteem, were drug addicts and had experienced sexual abuse in childhood. These attitudes, the authors point out, are also apparent in anti-porn feminist writing, which is backed up with little evidence. The authors also point out the distinct lack of quantitative research into the women in porn themselves, drawing attention to the fact that while there’s a couple of qualitative studies about why women get into acting in porn, there’s nothing quantitative.

So they decided to examine quality of life, self-esteem, attitudes towards sex, sexual behaviour and drug use in a sample of porn actresses. The headline findings were rather interesting: it turns out that the stereotypes aren’t true. Comparing porn actresses to a sample of women matched by age, marital status and ethnicity, they found that the porn actresses actually had higher self-esteem than comparable women, were more likely to feel positive, felt they had better social support and were more spiritual. There was no difference in current drug use, apart from marijuana (porn actresses were more likely to get high), although the porn actresses reported more drug use in the past. There was also no difference in incidence of sexual abuse in childhood. And finally, the porn actresses reported greater levels of sexual satisfaction, were more likely to identify as bisexual, enjoyed sex more, were having more sex than the women who weren’t in porn (sex as part of their work was not counted: this was entirely extracurricular sex), were more likely to be concerned about catching an STI, and had started having sex a little earlier.

Does this mean that the stereotypes about women in porn coming from some feminists and the general population can finally be put to bed? I’ll get back to that after we’ve had a little look through a few criticisms of the paper…”

Read the whole post here.

Marital Pegging

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Here’s part of a heartwarming, sensitive and honest article from Alternet about a chap’s first experience letting his wife shag him up the bum with a strap-on:

“…We said nothing for a while, just holding each other tightly. Kathi hadn’t removed the harness, so the dildo was still on her, pressed up against my stomach, a silent reminder of all that had just happened. And what had just happened? The physical act had been one thing, and a weird one at that. But the psychological effects were just beginning to waft in.

All my life I had been the penetrator and even when the woman was aggressive, there was no doubt as to who was doing what to whom. But now, as the one being penetrated, I was on the other side. She’d gotten me to give it up. She’d probed, thrusted, and done any manner of other things, all of her own urging and without much regard as to what I wanted. She had been cool, under control, self-assured, while I’d been emotional, afraid, out of control. And yet, I’d experienced a great orgasm. That was a real trip. My mind had reeled at the experience; and my body had enjoyed almost every second of it. Even the pain (and there was pain) was rewarded in the end by pleasure.

I told her all these things. She told me how she loved being in charge for a change and how great it felt to be able to control me, as opposed to usually being under my control. She said that what really surprised her was how protective she became of me when she realized that I was now vulnerable to her. (Yeah, I thought sarcastically, you really acted protectively.) She said that she felt like she’d conquered me but at the same time wanted to make sure that I was OK. She also said, mimicking a cornerstone on which patriarchy is based, that she felt surprised at how easily I’d let her do what she was doing. I nodded. I was surprised by that too, but a little angry that that was how she felt. After all, I’d just done what she wanted me to…”

Read the full article here.

Science Burlesque

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I desperately want to go to this event, but can’t make it tonight. It’s the most intriguing thing I’ve seen in ages though. Here’s the description from The Cockpit website:

“The innocent joy of discovery at the heart of science, plied with absinthe till it wakes in a stranger’s bed.

You’d be surprised how many scientists secretly want to dress up in a corset and swap the bright, shiny lab for the dark, seedy cabaret.
Tonight, some of them will get the chance. 

Acts include: 
Morgan & West – Victorian magic
Ella Murray – sexy science comedy
Simon Watt – live psychological experimentation
Nicole Slavin – consumptive opera
Simon Hardeman – stand up & songs
Dr. Suze Kundu – dance
Oliver Meech – science/comedy/magic
Carmen Ali – comedy & song
Louise Crane – more dance
Dr. Andrew Pontzen – disturbing songs

MC Timandra Harkness

You may be entertained, thrilled, amused, excited and disturbed, but you won’t be educated…
Not about science.
Chemistry & conjuring, Mathematics and music, and of course Biology and burlesque.
Definitely NOT for children.”

Click here for more.