Instagram has been “securing” (suspending) accounts, giving users a deadline to upload a form of valid identification. Many initially suspected this was a phishing scam, but a Facebook spokesperson told CNET, “Instagram occasionally removes accounts due to violation of terms and, depending on the violation, may ask people to upload IDs for verification purposes.” … Continue Reading
For Scott La Force, what began as an examination of restive sexual dysfunction centered on the suburban complacency of 21st century America has become a moment of truth. And now, those of us who happen to be in Portland, Oregon before the end of August can share that moment at the Cock Gallery, where La Force is exhibiting his vision as a photo essay. … Continue Reading
Terry Richardson. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because he’s a famous photographer. A famous photographer who a year ago was dubbed by the press as a complete and utter creep. Of course, there are creeps and then there are creeps. Those artsy types, they can be pretty damn creepy and stay harmless. … Continue Reading
Medical books are fun, especially the really dusty ones no one reads anymore with information no one believes anymore, like this 1845 tome describing mental illness, the main cause of which, of course, was widely believed to be masturbation — or should we say, self-pollution?
This is an engraving from The Secret Companion, a medical work on onanism or self-pollution, with the best mode of treatment in all cases of nervous and sexual debility, impotency, etc., by R. J. Brodie, 1845, Plate 2.
What a long way we’ve come — well, all of us except maybe for Christine O’Donnell.
Why would someone attack a painting? Last week in Washington DC, a visitor to the National Gallery’s “Gauguin: Maker of Myth” exhibition took hold of the frame of the post impressionist’s artist’s Two Tahitian Women, then began to pound her fist against the plexiglas protecting the painting.
A by-stander tackled the woman, enabling museum officers to step in. The woman, later identified as Susan Burns, a 53-year-old from Arlington, VA, was told her rights, then asked by an investigator why she had attacked the painting. She responded:
I feel that Gauguin is evil. He has nudity and is bad for the children. He has two women in the painting and it’s very homosexual. I am trying to remove it. I think it should be burned. I am from the American CIA and I have a radio in my head. I am going to kill you.
Meet Jack Davis. In the sixties, while in grad school, Davis was coming out. Asked how he came to the idea of penises, he recalls how many of his classmates in his weaving and textile classes were making wall hangings reminiscent of vulvae.
The imagery inspired him to focus on making something that would feel men feel empowered as well. Thus, he crocheted his first penis. In 1975, his graduate show included these penises, and he’s continued making and exhibiting them since. … Continue Reading
Meet Matt McMullen, the creator of the Real Doll, those wondrous masterpieces of workmanship that are part sex toy, part work of art. In this video from California is a Place, McMullen describes how the first doll came to be. … Continue Reading
Meet Kira Ayn Varszegi, a bodacious blonde who’s uses her DDs to paint abstracts.
That got your attention. Good. We here at Sex and the 405 are lovers of fine art and we’ll do whatever it takes to get you to pause long enough to consider the work of artists worth their salt. … Continue Reading
Devon Savage isn’t just in porn, he also enjoys being on the other side of the camera lens. He’s been in the business for six years, and now runs several of his own sites with his partner Ariella, herself an adult star. We asked him to give us some background and share some eye candy with us.
“I was just kinda a hack at it, never thinking it would one day lead to running three websites and doing it for a living,” Savage told us laughing when we asked about how he got started. “I got into the porn business as talent and one thing led to another.” … Continue Reading
Yeo shot to the spotlight in 2007 after the White House reneged on a commissioned piece for George W. Bush, prompting the artist to go ahead with the piece in the form of a collage using pornographic images. The piece revolutionized the artist’s style and his Porn in the USA show showcases this growth.
We hit the exhibit over the weekend, taking in the figure studies, portraits and a gorgeous wall paper design that turns vulvas into leaves, completely changing the way that we view pornography. … Continue Reading
That Steam allows the objectification and sexualization of female characters in a variety of its games but refuses to accept a game about actually engaging with women in a more interactive fashion is astonishingly backward.
That the site doesn’t take measures to protect user content and has shown incompetence or negligence in regard to user privacy, all the while prohibiting victims from warning others about predatory behavior creates an environment where it is nearly impossible for members of the community to take care of themselves and one another. By enabling FetLife to continue espousing a code of silence, allowing the spinning self-created security issues as “attacks,” and not pointing out how disingenuous FetLife statements about safety are, we are allowing our community to become a breeding ground for exploitation.
Should people who benefit (parents, siblings, children, roommates!) from the earnings of “commercial sex acts” (any sexual conduct connected to the giving or receiving of something of value) be charged with human trafficking? Should someone who creates obscene material that is deemed “deviant” be charged as with human trafficking? Should someone who profits from obscene materials be charged with human trafficking? Should people transporting obscene materials be charged with human trafficking? Should a person who engages in sex with someone claiming to be above the age of consent or furnishing a fake ID to this effect be charged with human trafficking? What if I told you the sentences for that kind of conviction were eight, 14 or 20 years in prison, a fine not to exceed $500,000, and life as a registered sex offender?
If you are a woman, you might be given a chance to prove yourself in this community. Since there is no standard definition of what a “geek” is and it will vary from one judge to the next anyway, chances of failing are high (cake and grief counseling will be available after the conclusion of the test!). If you somehow manage to succeed, you’ll be tested again and again by anyone who encounters you until you manage to establish yourself like, say, Felicia Day. But even then, you’ll be questioned. As a woman, your whole existence within the geek community will be nothing but a series of tests — if you’re lucky. If you aren’t lucky, you’ll be harassed and threatened and those within the culture will tacitly agree that you deserve it.
Zak’s original field, it turns out, is economics, a far cry from the hearts and teddy bears we imagine when we consider his nickname. But after performing experiments on generosity, Zak stumbled on the importance of trust in interactions, which led him, rather inevitably, to research about oxytocin. Oxytocin, you might remember, is a hormone that has been linked previously to bonding — between mothers and children primarily, but also between partners. What Zak has done is take the research a step further, arguing in his recent book, The Moral Molecule, that oxytocin plays a role in determining whether we are good or evil.
Let’s talk about the strippers. Whether they like to be half-naked or not, whether they enjoy turning you on or not, there’s one thing they all have in common: they’re working. Whether you think that taking one’s clothes off for money is a great choice of career is really beside the point (is it a possibility for you to make $500 per hour at your job without a law degree? Just asking). These women are providing fantasy, yes, but that is their job. And as a patron of the establishment where they work, you need to treat them like you would anyone else who provides a service to you.
Sex and the 405 is what your newspaper would look like if it had a sex section.
Here you’ll find news about the latest research being conducted to figure out what drives desire, passion, and other sex habits; reviews of sex toys, porn and other sexy things; coverage of the latest sex-related news that have our mainstream media's panties up in a bunch; human interest pieces about sex and desire; interviews with people who love sex, or hate sex, or work in sex, or work to enable you to have better sex; opinion pieces that relate to sex and society; and the sex-related side of celebrity gossip. More...