Ready, Set, Grow! A "What's Happening to My Body?" Book for Younger Girls by Lynda Madaras, the author of numerous sex education books for youth, and a puberty and health educator for more than twenty years, is aimed at girls ages eight to eleven who will appreciate the book's direct language, simple questions and answers, and cute illustrations. Madaras covers a wide range of topics, from breasts and bras to hair in new places, growth and weight spurts, sweat and pimples, changes in the external and internal sex organs, getting your period, and respecting and protecting your body.

Another music video for some more Friday fun sexiness.

TOOTHPASTE? Check. Tampons? Check. Vibrator? Check!

For years, vibrators were bought quietly in sex shops, and later online, arriving in discreet unmarked packages. They were rarely discussed, other than perhaps during a late-night girl-talk session fueled by many glasses of pinot grigio. But now you can find them advertised on MTV and boldly displayed at Duane Reade, Walgreens and other mainstream drugstores, mere steps from the Bengay and Dr. Scholl’s.

The newest model on the shelves is the Tri-Phoria ($39.99), created by the condom company Trojan after a study the company conducted in 2008 in partnership with the Center for Sexual Health Promotion at Indiana University revealed that over half of American women had used vibrators, and of that group, nearly 80 percent had shared them with their partners. James Daniels, vice president for marketing at Trojan, said: “The idea really came from consumers. They kept telling us vibrators, vibrators. And we just laughed. And then we realized they were serious.” Read More >>

(nsvrc.org/saam)

Sexual Assault Awareness Month is coming to an end. At the beginning of the month we included a "featured news" about SlutWalk Toronto, and later a "featured read" of an interview with the co-founders of SlutWalk. Reviewing our content, however, it seems we have done little else to promote awareness.

Since sexual assault does not end in the month of April, we have added our first "featured contributor" submission as a reminder that sexual assault continues. All around the world. Even in small towns. As the contributor writes:

I was a bit shocked at some of the responses I received by people who said things like, “Well, this sort of thing doesn’t happen in our town.” Unfortunately this belief gets in the way of a common understanding of the prevalence of, and need for services for survivors of sexual assault. [...] We can no longer say, “This doesn’t happen in my town.” But we can say, “We will not stand for this to happen in my town.” Because the overall health and vitality of [our] community depends upon everyone living without the fear of violence, we must raise public awareness about how sexual violence impacts our community and work to educate ourselves, our children and each other about how to prevent it.

Known for its original comedy content, CollegeHumor brings us this from "girls" on "girls watching porn." A humorous take on the question of women and porn, this sketch confronts prejudices about what women like or don't like about porn.

The progressive porn that we feature on our site is committed to re-visioning pornography, in the framework of a more gender democratic discourse. Check our Good Vibrations® Page and LSF Amazon Shop for titles that I personally recommend.

By Amanda Pettis/HOPE Center

(nsvrc.org/saam)

Two years ago, I shared my story of abduction and stranger rape in the Northfield News. While my assault did not occur in Northfield, I was a bit shocked at some of the responses I received by people who said things like, “Well, this sort of thing doesn’t happen in our town.” Unfortunately this belief gets in the way of a common understanding of the prevalence of, and need for services for survivors of sexual assault.

I believe there is still much denial about what goes on in our community, but I am here to tell you that it does happen here. I have heard these first-hand accounts:

A college professor who was slipped a drug and date-raped.
A college student who was sexually assaulted by her long-term boyfriend.
A mother who was sexually violated by an acquaintance and colleague in her own home.
A male who was sexually abused by clergy for several years.
A single, working professional who was the victim of stalking at her work place.

Julia Sweeney considered herself an enlightened, sex-is-no-big-deal kind of parent. But that was before an innocent question about tadpoles prompted The Conversation

One evening, on a school night, when my daughter Mulan was nine, we were eating dinner together at our favourite Thai restaurant. It was autumn, over two years ago, and writing about it now I see that Mulan and I interacted much like two roommates. We ate out a lot. We had a handful of favourite places. When you're a single mother who primarily takes her daughter to dinner at restaurants (my meagre defence: I was spending four days a week driving her to gymnastics after school – 45 minutes each way – so, who had time to cook?), it's easy to think of yourselves as a couple. You eat, you talk, and sometimes you just stare at each other in a stupor of familiarity.

At the restaurant, we know the owner and chef, who this night recommended the frogs' legs in hot peppers. We politely declined. Mulan told me her class had begun studying frogs. In fact, she revealed she had a report to do, and began to explain the basic parameters: "So, Mum. First, the frogs lay eggs, in a pond, and then the eggs turn into tadpoles and the tadpoles turn into more frogs." Read More >>

Or you can watch Sweeney's talk from which the above article has been transcribed.

Read more about the film in my post online at Good Vibrations Magazine, or on my blog NEW PORN BY WOMEN.

Double Entendre, n. ~ A word or phrase open to two interpretations, one of which is usually risqué and indecent. Humor using such words or phrases. (Source: Oxford English Dictionary)

Breaking down sexual euphemisms is yet another way to introduce the topic of sex and sexuality to your children in a way that may be more comfortable for you. It can be used as a good starting point for those who are not as comfortable talking about the physical aspects of sex.

Marcia and Cindy and I had a conversation this weekend about words that have two meanings. Some of these words also have a sexual meaning but they didn’t always. These are the words that are the “bad” words that they know they would not be allowed to say. It all started with the word bitch. We talked about how that word wasn’t always a bad word to call another woman but that originally it meant the term for a female dog. This launched into a conversation about all the different words that have now adapted a second, more sexual connotation. Besides the word bitch here is a list of the words we discussed: Read More >>

LABIAPLASTY HUNGRY BEAST: EP 14 from HUNGRY BEAST on Vimeo.

What does it say about our culture's approach to the female body and sexuality when portraying her naturally protruding inner lips is judged offensive while featuring the labia as if still prepubescent is okay?

As the above video from Australian ABC's news show Hungry Beast documents, women's labia minora are today perceived too offensive to be seen even in soft porn. Therefore they are censored; photoshopped out by graphic designers to show only "discreet genital detail." At the same time, a growing number of women are requesting labiaplasty to have their labia minora trimmed down.

Now this took chutzpah!

High school senior, Gaby Rodriguez, faked being pregnant in order to document the impact of the gossip and reactions that pregnant teens receive. The only people who knew were her parents, her boyfriend, and the principal. She kept the experiment going for 6 1/2 months and revealed it in an assembly. Apparently, part of why she chose to end the project at this time was to be able to go to prom without looking pregnant, but it was also to be able to talk about the project with the other students.

Plenty of rumors flew around during the experiment, like people saying that she was irresponsible, or that she was bound to get pregnant, or that she ruined her life. Some of the other students shamed her and she was socially isolated. I doubt she learned much that plenty of other pregnant teens haven’t also learned. Nevertheless, she’ll be using her experiences to create a presentation about teen pregnancy. Good for her! Read More >>

To empower and inspire your sexuality, Candida Royalle, a sex positive feminist and the most experienced producer of adult sex films catering to women and couples, shares ideas based on her personal life lessons and professional career skills in How to Tell a Naked Man What to Do.

When it comes to creating or watching sexual material, we are still debating what is acceptable to view, create or to enjoy. The porn wars rage on while most guys secretly masturbate to what turns them on while too many women want to censor pornography. Most people will agree that sex is a very personal matter, but now that sexual imagery has become so prevalent with internet porn available on our computers 24/7, I’d say like it or not, porn is here to stay.

The fact that pornography is a multi-billion dollar industry and it was the engine that first drove the internet, that alone proves most people want to see images of sex whether they admit it or not. It wasn’t long after women’s sexual liberation got underway in the 1970’s that women turned against each other to argue whether an image was erotic or pornographic. Unfortunately this useless debate goes on to this day in spite of the fact that we cannot define or control personal taste. Read More >>

Bull and Williams (Photo: Alastair Grant/AP)

In Soho, London last week, James Bull (23) and Jonathan Williams (26) were asked to leave a pub after kissing each other. First by a man claiming to be the landlord, who said their display of affection was "bothering" him; later by a woman in staff uniform, who said she was the landlady and found their kissing "obscene." Williams turned to Twitter to register his discontent.

The Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) is the largest clearinghouse on sexuality information and a recognized leader in the field of sexuality and sexuality education. SIECUS was founded in 1964 by Dr. Mary S. Calderone, who during her previous tenure as the Medical Director for the Planned Parenthood Federation became concerned with the lack of accurate information about sexuality for both young people and adults in the United States.

BBC News

Psychology Today posted a piece by someone with a PhD in computational neuroscience and someone with a PhD in biologically inspired models of machine learning, which apparently qualifies them to make some remarkable statements about gender, sexuality, and relationships. They seem to prefer making some remarkably reductionist and essentialist claims about how sex works, along with the usual sweeping statements. That might work well in the computer lab, but that’s hardly how people work in the real world.

So I suppose it shouldn’t be a surprise that their recent piece Why Feminism is the Anti-Viagra is more of the same. Their thesis centers on the idea that “gender equality inhibits arousal“. To support this, they offer a few bits of evidence:

1. many women have fantasies of submission
2. female rats, among other mammals, adopt a position of lordosis (raising the hips and arching the back to facilitate penetration), which they call submissive
3. heroes in romance novels “are almost always high status alpha males–billionaires, barons, surgeons, sheriffs.”
4. an author of erotic romance says that women like “bad boys”
5. most men are aroused by being dominant

Let’s take a look at some of these. (Note- since their article leaves out diversity of sexual orientation and gender expression, so will I. But take it as a given that I know that this is a serious problem with their article and I consider it to be a sign that they don’t really know what they’re talking about.) Read More >>

Skin. Like. Sun. (Des Jours Plus Belles Que La Nuit) - trailer from Jennifer Lyon Bell on Vimeo.

The third film by Amsterdam-based Blue Artichoke Films, directed by Jennifer Lyon Bell ("Headshot" & "Matinée") and Murielle Scherre ("j'fais du porno et j'aime ca"). Read More >>

Sonya Barnett and Heather Jarvis are the co-founders of SlutWalk, an incredibly badass protest organized against victim-blaming that was spurred by comments made by a Toronto law enforcement officer who said that women who don’t want to be assaulted, raped or otherwise “victimized” should avoid dressing “like sluts.”

It has also been the subject of much discussion over the past few weeks, inspiring awesome and necessary conversations about violence, assault, and victim-blaming in forums both new and old.

On their website, they proclaim that they are “tired of being oppressed by slut-shaming; of being judged by our sexuality and feeling unsafe as a result. Being in charge of our sexual lives should not mean that we are opening ourselves to an expectation of violence, regardless if we participate in sex for pleasure or work. No one should equate enjoying sex with attracting sexual assault.”

The event in Toronto was so successful that at least 24 more SlutWalks are now in the process of being planned all over the world. I was completely honored to speak with Sonya and Heather about their reasons for starting SlutWalk, their plans for the future, and of course, that whole desert island thing. Read More >>

After seeing Nelson Mandela give a speech in front of his former prison cell on Robben Island, addressing the world press to send the message that the HIV/AIDS pandemic of in Africa is in fact genocide, musician and activist Annie Lennox has committed herself to this cause.

Watch this heartbreaking first-part to a four part documentary, from Lennox' SING campaign in support of women and children orphaned by the pandemic, or watch the whole story here; in additon to the above inspiring video of four-year old featured Vilele dancing, defying his pessimistic circumstances.

April is STI Awareness Month and an opportune time to add your support to the SING campaign.

Say a deranged woman attacked the Mona Lisa as it hung in the Louvre last week. It would be big news worldwide, including in the U.S.. Your favorite TV station would of course show the painting and discuss its historical and economic value.

Now what if instead of the Louvre it was America’s National Gallery in Washington, and instead of DaVinci’s Mona Lisa it was Gaugin’s Two Tahitian Women. Same deal, right? Some perky anchorwoman would read the teleprompter: “…masterpiece done for the upcoming Exposition Universelle of 1900, similar to Gaugin’s famous works now hanging in London’s Tate and Moscow’s Pushkin. It’s worth eighty million dollars, John, not exactly a picture of dogs sitting around playing poker, huh?”

That would be the grownup way, but this is America—and if a painting involves Tahitian Women, the fear of sex can’t be far behind. So depending on what station you watch, you saw half the painting (duh, the upper half); all of the painting, but with a banner “Gaugin Painting Attacked” modestly covering the models’ breasts; and on fair-and-balanced Fox stations, the entire painting with the nipples blurred out. And yes, some stations showed the masterpiece as it is. Read More >>

In a review of HBO’s new TV series Game of Thrones, the New York Times states that lurid sex is thrown in throughout the show to attract female viewers, who would otherwise not watch the show – because, they claim, women universally hate fantasy fiction like “The Hobbit,” which they say is the sole interest of men.

I thought the New York Times was *already* lost at sea, upon observing its recent decisions around paywalls and attempts at bartering readership retention through cheap social media gimmicks. Like many seasoned bloggers, and like in regard to HuffPo, I had simply planned to avoid linking to the insult and idiocy at every opportunity to do so.

Now with the NYT’s recent review of HBO’s Game of Thrones (A Fantasy World of Strange Feuding Kingdoms by Ginia Bellafante), I realize that the idiocy and insult – and ignorance about media and its consumers – is in the very least shockingly naive, and at a glance, totally has its head up its ass. In other words, we have another big reason to shun the NYT, besides shallow trickery and shortsighted money-grubbing. Read More >>

Today is the last day of the Sixth Annual Feminist Porn Awards (FPA). Founded by the Toronto based woman oriented sex shop Good For Her to support new progressive porn by women, feminist porn makers I personally recommend have received FPA awards for their work. Check out our Good Vibrations® Shop for some of these films.

If a “John” is a guy who buys sex, is a woman who buys sex a “Jane”? The last installment of “The Secret Life of Johns” asked: Who are these men that buy sex and why do they do it? But now I propose the question: Does “Jane” exist?

Joan Nestle describes female-buyers and Harlem brothels for women in Sex Work — which includes an account of one madam keeping a shotgun by the door to deter unwelcome men.

According to Dr. Melissa Ditmore of the Sex Workers Project: “Women clients seem to be prevalent in places where women have more earning power than the sellers. Consider the female clients of local men in the Caribbean and parts of Africa today.” Read More >>

Up to 89% of women do not think their genitals are attractive, sexy or beautiful, and more than half (57%) of women think their genitals are of improper size (Education | Show Off Books). As a reaction to the widespread increase in cosmetic genital surgery, I’ll Show You Mine, edited by Show Off Books founder Wrenna Robertson, is a photo study of sixty women’s genitals embracing the diversity of the vulvae. The photos—unaltered, life size and life color—capture a stunning diversity and beauty of the female vulva that does not abide by the unrealistic ideal of a neat pink clamshell vulva propelled by mass media and mainstream pornography. But as Robertson writes in her preface, “as imagery has the power to define reality, so too does language.” And truly, the accompanying personal stories of the photographed women, who range in age from nineteen into their sixties, are stunningly powerful too.

Many of the stories reveal heartbreaking memories of shame and embarrassment instilled in childhood through parents and peers, causing not only women conflicted relationship to her body, but denying her ownership of it. As Jeanette writes in her story, the shame that was instilled in her by her mother prevented her from claiming her own sexual voice when she started dating in high school. – She recalls one boyfriend, tired of asking if he could have sex with her, in the end didn’t ask; “He by no means forced me, he simply didn’t ask, and I was not equipped to express my opinion … I had never practiced having a sexual opinion.” As a result, Jeanette became a teenage mom.

A wonderful video from BelongTo.org in Ireland. Stand Up! against Homophobic Bullying.

It was a lazy morning in bed, during the time Ned and I were first dating. “I think this would fit you” he said–and with a slide of the hand produced a red satin dress from his closet. In the mirror, I admired the low back, it was fitted exactly to my body. But where did this magic gift come from?

“It was mine” he said.

When Ned was coming out as bisexual, he was going to Rocky Horror midnight shows and (apparently) wearing backless red dresses to parties at Northwestern. Downtown, I was in tight jeans and Nikes. I stood in front of my bathroom mirror and cut my hair short, long strands falling into the sink. I saved tiny clippings, to later make a myself mustache and beard with spirit gum–for fun. Read More >>

“I’d like to see more couples making pornography together,” I found myself declaring on television. The show was The Agenda and its host, Steve Paikin, replied, “Sociologically, you mean. Right?” I laughed. “Well.…”

The topic was modern masculinity and I was responding to a couple of the panelists’ concerns that easy access to orgasm via online smut was making men less interested in making it with a real woman.

The deleterious effect of porn on relationships is something of a hot topic these days, although it’s certainly one that gets a new ride every once in a while. Notably, New York magazine recently ran a first person account – “He’s Just Not That Into Anyone” – from a man who felt he’d lost the ability to “finish” with a woman because of his daily porn consumption. Other men he’d talked to spoke of a decreased amount of sex with their partners after they’d become closer with this virtual “other woman” – or other women, I should say. Read More >>

From the Freedom to Marry website: "This movement will only succeed if our supporters take ownership of it. Watch our Roadmap to Victory video and complete the short survey below about what you are willing to do to help in the fight to win marriage nationwide."

You can also read more about this on our Featured Resources page.

My toddler son has a thing for all things wheeled.  He can easily distinguish a skip loader from a backhoe and a semi-truck from a dump truck. He’s also intrigued by my jewelery box, stacking bracelets high up his pudgy arms. After watching Mommy’s daily morning ritual of applying some eyeshadow and liquid liner on countless occasions, it’s none too surprising that he’s fascinated by my make-up box, eager to smear eyeshadow across his eyelids (forehead, nose and cheeks). My friend’s little boy loved sparkly ballet flats and dollhouses while another’s had a penchant for his sister’s pink tutu and glittered angel wings.

These boys are commonplace-and not represented in mainstream pop culture. There’s no room for these normal explorations in our hyper-segmented world of marketing. And, as a tragic example further down in this post will show, these normal, healthy childhood curiosities and small pleasures are usually quickly beaten out of boys, figuratively and literally. Read More >>

For some Friday fun nostalgia (and retro sexiness)!

For an idea of how the male view of vibrators has changed, look no further than the first episode of MTV's insolent high school dramedy "Skins." Talking on his cellphone, Tony boldly directs his girlfriend, "Ditch after Trig and I'll do you with the 'magic rabbit.'" He pauses, grinning naughtily. "Yeah. I know you like it. Bring batteries."

It's only recently that sex toys became an accepted symbol of a man's sexual prowess. Once upon a time, vibrators were seen as posing a threat to masculinity -- something that might outperform, maybe even replace, men in the bedroom. But now they're seen as a useful item in a guy's toolbox, and many see them as no more emasculating than a power drill. It's not like 20-somethings are carrying around pocket vibes like condoms, but men are increasingly open to sharing the bed with them. Read More >>

CafeGlow - The Trailer from CafeGlow on Vimeo.

CafeGlow, "a cinematic journey that travels between fashion and erotica ... a stylized mix of beauty created by one artist," Chai, who tries "to walk the line between what I think is sexy and what I think is stylish," leaving on her site "the result of moments where women let down their guard and allow me to see their wings," presents us with this "CafeGlow - The Trailer."

What do you think a woman should do to protect herself from sexual assault? Dress less provocatively? And if so, how short can the skirt be, how low cut the blouse, how high the heals, and what amount of make-up? I'm asking, because as you may have read elsewhere, in January, a Toronto police officer suggested at a law school campus safety and security forum, that "women can avoid sexual assault by not dressing like a 'slut.'"

Reading a post about a European Breast Milk Baby toy coming to the U.S. had me thinking about the unfortunate hysteria that lingers around breasts in this culture that apparently obsesses about the female sex while bemoaning it. Think for instance of the public outrage Janet Jackson’s now historic naked breast during the Super Bowl halftime show caused, which had Europeans shrugging their shoulders incredulously. Or nursing tents used to cover up the boob (and pretty much all of baby) while mama nurses.

I am a huge advocate of breastfeeding, and my toddler daughter (whom I still nurse) will often pull up her shirt to "nurse" her baby dolls. I would not invest in $89 to purchase a specific doll for her to pretend nurse, but I think the concept is interesting. The (small Spanish family owned and Christian) manufacturer of this novelty toy claims that “little girls need to learn to breastfeed.” While this may sound preposterous, I actually agree that this is the case for American girls where breastfeeding is not sufficiently supported.

(LiveScience)

My friend Monica sent me a link to this MSNBC story: Post-coital blues plague a third of young women. Based on a very small sample of 200 young Australians, researchers at the Queensland Institute of Technology found that 1 in 3 women had felt post-intercourse melancholy at least once, and 1 in 10 experienced it regularly.

It’s easy to point out the obvious problem with the study: the sample is very small, for instance, and the focus on intercourse to the exclusion of other forms of sexual activity is problematic. But the real impact of these studies is in how the mainstream media report them, and the danger here is that a small and relatively inconclusive project can get framed as “sex makes women sad.” Read More >>

Scarleteen.com is a widely recognized independent, grassroots sexuality education and support organization founded in 1998 by Heather Corinna (author of the highly praised S.E.X.) after expressed need in response to abstinence-only mandates.

Aimed at adolescents and young adults ages 16-22, S.E.X. is also for parents, teachers, and all others, young or old, interested in the physical health and well-being of youth today. S.E.X. is sex-positive and inclusive, encouraging young adults of any and all body type and gender orientation to take ownership of and enjoy their bodies and sexuality in a manner responsible and respectful of others. Its author Heather Corinna is founder of the widely recognized grassroots sexuality education and support organization and website Scarleteen.com.

"'I Have Sex' - students speak out against ideological attack on Planned Parenthood" is a powerful message from a group of students at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. For more, check their Facebook page:

HERE'S THE REALITY: Many young people have sex, and need to know how to stay safe and healthy. Those who have chosen to wait need to know how to be safe and smart when they become sexually active. THERE'S NO WAY AROUND THIS TRUTH!

In many parts of America, Planned Parenthood is the ONLY place young people can go to learn about safe sex, access contraceptives, or have a simple question about "down there" answered.

We are starting a student movement to make sure elected leaders know --> Americans have sex, and we stand with Planned Parenthood.

This past week, New Scientist reported that Restless Legs Syndrome may be improved by masturbation. But the science NS reports on is neither science nor new. That puts me in the truly bizarre position of having to hold down the anti-masturbation side of this debate — which, if you know me, is pretty freakin’ weird.

In case you’ve never heard of it, Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS), in its most common manifestation, is a jerky motion of the legs while one is in bed. In case you’ve never heard of it, masturbation, also known as wanking, self-abuse, self-help, relaxing with one’s thoughts, visiting with Rosy Palm and her five sisters, plus perhaps their friends the Tit Clamp Twins and Bucky Vibrator — well, you get the idea. If you’re reading Tiny Nibbles, I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of masturbation. Read More >>

The Star Tribune featured an article today on the work done by Vanessa Sheridan to end discrimination in the workplace against transgenders. A transgender woman herself, Sheridan is a leading authority on the topic. Two of her three books have been nominated for Lambda literary awards, including her most recent, The Complete Guide to Transgender in the Workplace(2009). Sheridan leads workshops and provides talks to help employers update their nondiscrimination policies and create welcoming environments for their transgender workers.