Blame It On the Red Light District (Because That Helps Everyone)

We’ve expressed our concern in the past about the inability of activists to see the difference between sex trafficking victims and those who engage in prostitution by choice and how failing to make that distinction hurts everyone involved. Yet the more we point that out, the more organizations spring from the woodwork, clamoring to stop the sale of human beings without regard for how their campaigns may conflate the two distinct situations, like in this video from Stop the Traffik:

Knee-jerk reactions to campaigns like these lead to the criminalization of prostitution, creating environments where exploitation, abuse, coercion and trafficking are made easier, not harder. … Continue Reading

Three Paragraphs Every Woman Needs to Know by Heart

The following words were written by Soraya L. Chemaly, a feminist, writer and media critic. While we’d find it difficult to select only one of her columns as a must read, this is a passage that needs to be read by women the world over. … Continue Reading

If You Want Your Insurance to Cover Birth Control, You’re A Slut and A Prostitute

Rush Limbaugh has betrayed his audience. I won’t pretend that I write without an angle, but I know that it is possible to do so without lying and distorting the facts. This is not the case for Limbaugh, as it became clear on his show on Wednesday night, during which he again lashed out against student and contraception coverage mandate supporter Sandra Fluke. … Continue Reading

40 Days of Choice

Hoping to provide pro-choice supporters a space to counter anti-abortion rhetoric and activity surrounding the “40 Days for Life” Lent campaign, a Tumblr has been erected to cheer on those who believe that a woman’s body doesn’t belong to society. … Continue Reading

International AIDS Conference Returns to the US

The International AIDS Conference — a gathering of all those involved in working for the eradication and treatment of HIV, as well as policymakers and activists — is returning to the United States after 22 years this July to assess the scientific progress that has been made and lobby for improvements in policy regarding the populations most affected by HIV and AIDS. … Continue Reading

The False Victory over Craigslist, the Great “Sex Trafficker”

I browse Craigslist personals on a regular basis, as a way to check the pulse of sex here in Los Angeles. Over the past few days, I have noticed an increase in the number of ads that suggest a monetary exchange for sex. This shouldn’t be surprising, as two weekends ago Craigslist self-censored the adult services section of the site after a long and drawn out battle with government and law enforcement officials, and activist groups, which culminated in 17 attorneys general writing an open letter to Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster and founder Craig Newmark:

The increasingly sharp public criticism of craigslist’s Adult Services section reflects a growing recognition that ads for prostitution — including ads trafficking children — are rampant on it. In our view, the company should take immediate action to end the misery for the women and children who may be exploited and victimized by these ads. Because craigslist cannot, or will not, adequately screen these ads, it should stop accepting them altogether and shut down the Adult Services section. Read the entire letter…

The shutting down of this section, in my opinion, and the shift in focus to other sites to achieve similar results is a huge error that will not only not help the dire situation faced by sex trafficking victims, but endanger men and women who are involved in sex work by choice or non-coerced necessity. … Continue Reading

Call To Action: Support Porn!

On June 12, 2010, a bunch of people are going to gather in Boston to discuss how pornography exploits women, breeds hatred, turns men into monsters and generally destroys lives and civilizations.

We here at Sex and the 405 think this is outrageous, of course. We are taking a stance for our freedom to look at whatever we want.

Porn valley will not take this one lying down like a pillow queen. And neither will those of us who support our freedom to make porn and watch it, male or female. … Continue Reading

Dance, Love, Drink Like You’re Dying Tomorrow

Los Angeles. City of Angeles, high hopes and broken dreams. Bastion of pollution and filth. Your mortality has never felt more real than it does as your eyes run down the numbers.

Total Population: 17,786,419
Pediatric Asthma: 442,040
Adult Asthma: 1,094,827
Chronic Bronchitis: 556,68
Emphysema: 200,338

More from Forbes:

Sunny areas like Los Angeles face the harmful effects of ozone year-round. In fact, the Los Angeles metro area is named the country’s worst for ozone by the American Lung Association’s State of the Air 2010 report, released Wednesday. The ranking is worrisome for the city’s residents because inhaling ozone is akin to “getting a sunburn on your airways,” says Dr. Norman H. Edelman, the ALA’s chief medical officer.

In short, we’re going to die. So have fun! Carpe diem! You know the deal.

Header image and information from Forbes.

May is for Masturbation

We here at Sex and the 405 get so much sex, we made it halfway through May without knowing that apparently, May is National Masturbation Month. Actually, we get so much sex, we made it 15 years without knowing.

OK, that’s a lame excuse. We failed you and we’re sorry. So get this, National Masturbation Month began in San Francisco in 1995 after U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders was forced to resign for saying that she thought masturbation is “part of human sexuality and a part of something that perhaps should be taught.”

Furious over how the comment led to her resignation and the obvious implications for their business, the San Francisco sex toy and education company Good Vibrations took a stance and declared May National Masturbation Month.

Why do we need a month to celebrate something that most of us do? Because a lot of us apparently don’t. And those of us who do can all use a little encouragement to try something new. Shake it up, find a new toy or open and up and try mutual masturbation with a partner instead of sex. Get to know your body better and expand your pleasure horizons!

To make up for the oversight, our editrix is taking requests for toys to try out:

Got any ideas? Leave them in the comments. And if you say “me!” we’ll roll our eyes, laugh at you and then post your IP address on a very special new post about the most boring come-ons we’ve ever seen directed at our editrix. Thanks!

Image from Good Vibrations. Information from the Examiner.

Nothing Says I Love You Like A Clean Bill of Health

All right, this isn’t sexy. But we here at Sex and the 405 think it’s paramount that everyone maintains their bodies in top shape so they can enjoy the pleasures that sex can bring.

With this in mind, we bring you an offer from You Never Really Know, a site dedicated to safe sex. This Valentine’s Day they’re offering a $70 discount for couples who go in together (for a total of $328). They test for gonorrhea, chlamydia, herpes I and II and HIV.

Their site even includes tips on how to bring up the subject. Even if you don’t end up going together, do consider going in for yourself. Your body is your pleasure instrument: take care of it.