March 2019 Media Recommendations

March 29th, 2019

Just when I thought things were finally returning to normal, they.. have not. This month threw me for a loop with my main client taking some time off and some unexpected chest pains. My kitty also has lost more weight than I anticipated since his health issues, and our most recent vet visit was frustrating. The good news? The pain is just a muscle strain… probably from masturbating. I’ve been able to pick up enough work to cover me, too; although, the different payment schedules has thrown me for a loop. And my cat is eating quite well and I think gaining some weight, slowly but surely.

While I am looking forward to April, I enjoyed some quality media in March. The prevailing theme seems to be sex work. I am still reading Revolting Prostitutes, which I hope to finish up soon, and I’ve stumbled across a few more pieces that I found interesting.

Listen

A recent episode of The Science of Sex introduced listeners to Christina Parreira, a graduate student who worked at a brothel to gain information about sex work in America. Looking at the business elements, the characteristics of sex workers, and how safety play into sex work in brothels is super interesting.

Tristan interviews Lora Haddock and Sarah Brown, the women behind Lora Dicarlo, the company that was the CES 2019 Innovation Awards Honoree in the Robotics category only to have the award revoked and be banned from the show in a recent episode of Sex Out Loud Radio. You’ve probably heard about this, and the interview allows the creators to discuss why, yes, their upcoming product actually is a robot and different from traditional vibrators, and why CES was in the wrong but got away with it because the victims were women (and female sexuality).

Sex Out Loud Radio, American Sex, and a few other podcasts are now part of the Pleasure Podcasts collective. I decided to check it out, and it introduced me to Sluts & Scholars podcast. I’ve only listened to a few episodes, but I’ll probably tune in for more. The episode featuring Shira Myrow focuses on emotional intelligence, attachment, and mindfulness while I also enjoyed their discussion with suprihmbé about sex work, people of color, and more. It’s always a good thing to check my white privilege.

Watch

Dr. Doe spent some time in a brothel for a recent episode of Sexplanations. She didn’t spend nearly as much time with the sex workers as Parreira did, so it’s not quite in depth, but it adds a visual to the information that can be helpful.

Journalist Sarah Barmak discusses female sexuality in this Ted Talk. It’s not quite as science-based as some talks, but her points about the orgasm gap, ignorance about anatomy, arousal models, and other often ignored or unknown factors of female sexuality. There’s not much that I considered new or contentious, but the comments show that this information is still controversial and outside the mainstream for many people. I love that she acknowledges asexuals in a way, too.

I’ll hopefully have a few reading recommendations next month after I finish my current book. I honestly need to catch up on what’s been published over the last 6 or so months, so I’ll take any recommendations in the comments! Of course, let me know about any media related to sexuality that’s worth a gander. Thanks!

Comment

Categories: media recommendations

November 2018 Media Recommendations

November 28th, 2018

The last month has really flown by. I feel like I was just writing last month’s media recommendations. Yet, I’m unsure exactly what I’ve done since then. It hasn’t been writing reviews.

Nor did I watch anything to include in this month’s recommendations. I’ve been reading — but no books I haven’t already mentioned. I did listen to some fantastic podcasts this month, however.

I’ll hopefully return next month with a few more book recommendations and the list won’t be quite so short. This also means a couple of upcoming book reviews!

In the meantime, I put out a call on Twitter for more podcast recommendations. I’m familiar with about a dozen, several of which I regularly listen to, but I’d love to know what my readers are listening to and why they think I might enjoy it.

 

Comment

Categories: media recommendations

October 2018 Media Recommendations

October 26th, 2018

October has flown by, and part of what has occupied my time is a lot of media consumption, so I have some recommendations if you want to do some learning about sex.

Reading

I just started reading Why Is the Penis Shaped Like That?: And Other Reflections on Being Human because I figured I might as well take advantage of the Scribd membership that I pay for. I, and I suspect many of my readers, know why the penis is shaped why it is (or, at the very least, the current scientific theory). But the book tackles other subjects about human sexuality and is rather entertaining. I’m not very far, but I’ve learned some interesting about (cis) male bodies that sex education/health classes failed to teach. Surprise!

Listening

  • As soon as I heard the broadcast of “No” by Kaitlin Prest as part of Radiolab’s 3-part series called In the No, I knew I would at it to this list. Last year, Kaitlin produced this powerful show about rape culture, consent, and coercion. The first part is incredibly provocative, nearly leaving me breathless. I would listen with caution if you are a survivor of sexual assault. It was hard to listen to even though I have not had those experiences, and part of the show contains actual recordings. If you’re not willing to wait for the rest of the episodes on Radiolab, you can listen to them on Kaitlin’s podcast Heart. The followup episode focuses on educating offenders while the last episode analyzes why people may not be able to say “No” when they want sex as well as issues with consent within the BDSM community, which is often lauded for its consent-driven model.
  • I’ve also been listening to a lot of American Sex Podcast. The episodes on sociology, communication, and melanistic kink were all home runs for me.

Watching

This month’s visual recommendations are both on Netflix.

  • The first recommendation is Adam Ruins Everything’s sex episode, which tackles the hymen, herpes, and more. The hymen episode may be the first Adam Ruins Everything show I ran into, and Netflix has curated it along with some episodes. I’ve always found the series and host engaging, but I don’t do a lot of Youtube, so I haven’t watched much of it.
  • My second recommendation is a series called Christiane Amanpour: Sex & Love Around the World. I was not previously familiar with Christiane Amanpour, who apparently works for CNN. In this series, she travels to different countries around the world and talks to citizens about their opinions on love and sex. It starts in Japan, which I found particularly interesting because of the cultural emphasis on community. This is something a bit foreign to me as an American. I am not very far into the series but definitely find it interesting. My biggest critique is that because each location is only covered in a single episode and the topics of sex and love are so broad that it barely scratches the surface.

I’ve just finished two books that were dominating my time, so I’ll be able to catch up on the two books I started last month and finally get the reviews written (along with a few others!).

Got any recommendations? Leave ’em in the commentd!

Comment

Categories: media recommendations

September 2018 Media Recommendations

September 30th, 2018

I suppose I better post this while it’s still September, huh?

Even though I tried to be more conscientious about the media  I was consuming this month so I could include it in this post, I’m having a difficult time remembering just what that was. I suppose this means I need to make more memos to myself!

Watching

One of the things that did leave an impression was a video I saw shared on BuzzFeed’s Facebook page about a black domme who teaches black feminist theory as part of her domination style.  I shared it on social media, but it’s worth another mention. I just love the way she’s subverting power for her means. Unfortunately, it won’t let me display it directly, so you’ll need to click over to Facebook.

Reading

This month, I started two books about sex.

I’m not very far into either of them because of personal reading, but I enjoy them both. It’s interesting that they’re both about history — a bit of a departure for me.

They’re both less than a year old, so you may not be familiar with them. Fortunately, I will be reviewing both books here.. eventually.

This is also an unusual recommendation, but I highly enjoyed reading all of the social posts about Sex Out Loud, a sex conference that recently took place in Atlanta. The conference is especially supportive of southern people of color, but it seems welcoming to all. You can check out posts, including panel live tweets, at #SDSCon18. You can also follow the official Sex Down South Twitter account.

On a less positive note, recent CDC reports show that STIs are on the rise.

Listening

I really enjoyed a recent episode of Sex Out Loud where Tristan interviewed Andre Shakti about Sex Down South. Not only did I enjoy hearing about the conference as I did reading it, but it gave me food for thought as Andre reiterated that we cannot just promote voices in academia because of the barriers to academia. I have been thinking a lot about this (and my own contribution to the issue) since the post-Woodhull uproar).

As always, feel free to leave your own recommendations in the comments!

2 Comments

Categories: media recommendations

August 2018 Sex Media Recommendations

August 25th, 2018

I’ve been excited to post this ever since I posted the first one. The blog format works a little better than social media since posts stay on the front page where you can see them longer. Plus, I often come across great content but am not able to immediately share it, so my readers and followers never get that recommendation. I find that knowing I want to recommend media makes me think more critically about what I am watching or reading and how it might apply to my followers, too. Finally, there’s a bit of accountability. If I want to have things to include, I need to make sure I am keeping myself educated.

Reading

I am currently reading The Loving Dominant by John Warren. I’ve had it long enough that I don’t even recall when I bought it. Although, my Amazon history surely knows. I know there’s a more recent edition than mine (second, revised in 2000), and I would recommend that to anyone who might want to check out this book, which tackles both the physical and psychological responsibilities of being dominant. Mine seems a bit dated in ways that I assume the 2008 version wouldn’t.

I don’t normally read as many books about sex as I did last month, but I already have another one to review sitting in front of me, and I am excited about it. Here’s hoping it winds up on next month’s list.

Watching

This month, I finally decided to use my new rope, which means tutorials. Although I didn’t buy Twisted Monk rope (soon!), I headed to their tutorials on Youtube. I especially enjoy how the tutorials show a few modifications for different body types and abilities.

Naomi Wolf and Jim Pfaus talk sex in this Youtube video from a conference at Concordia University. They touch on desire, how the brain responds to sexual cues, the interplay between chemicals and culture, and more. The video was posted in 2013, but it still has useful information if you have time to watch it.

Listening

While last month’s list included a bunch of sex-specific podcasts, I switched things up a bit this month by listening to podcasts that happened to do some amazing episodes about sex, even though the podcast theme isn’t necessarily human sexuality.

First, we have the Gonad series from RadioLab, which includes some episodes that delve into the science of gender and just how complicated it really is. The episodes go far deeper than chromosomes, and I learned a few things that I could not help but share.

Secondly, I started and proceeded to listen to every episode of Science Vs, a podcast hosted by an adorable Australian woman that takes an unbiased look at a variety of topics. I really enjoy the show and am so sad it’s in between seasons. There are episodes about circumcision, the G-spot, birth control, sex addiction, and more. But they’re all worth listening to.

Another podcast by the same company is Reply All, which focuses on Internet-related topics. The podcast episode about the consequences of the FBI’s seizure of Backpage.com is incredibly revealing.

Do you read, watch or listen to anything related to sex this month that you want to share? Sound off in the comments!

Comment

Categories: media recommendations

Adriana Currently Enjoys [July 2018 Sex Media Recommendations]

July 13th, 2018

My media consumption has been pretty sex-heavy lately.

Reading

The three books that I am reading, at least two of which will show up in the near future as reviews, about. The first two have been released in the past month or so while the third is a little older. Thus far, I am loving Lehmiller’s tone in Tell Me What You Want.

Watching

Hulu just released the second season of Harlots, a period drama about an English brothel and the sex workers who are attempting to survive, avoid run-ins with the law, and win a rivalry with another brothel. It’s nice to see a show that stars so many women, and it’s not just the cast that dominated by women: the staff is, too. You might enjoy Harlots for the drama and costumes. The seasons are only a few episodes long, so you can catch up by the time the third episode of season 2 is released next week.

Harlots

Listening

I am more than a little sad that the Science of Sex podcast is over for the season, so I’ve been trying to fill the hole in my heart with other sex-related podcasts. So far this week I’ve listened to Sex Out loud, American Sex, and Sex with Emily. I’d listened to a few episodes of the first two before, and they tend to focus on sex culture. American Sex is hosted by Sunny Megatron and her husband, so if you’re familiar with Sunny, then you won’t be surprised at her upfront tone and commitment to sex education. The most recent episode was about sex after trauma, and it was full of resources

Of course, this is just what I am into this week. I’ll finish books and catch up on podcasts and have a little time to enjoy more. I want to hear your recommendations in this comments, and it doesn’t have to be limited to books, podcasts, and TV. If it’s about sex and it’s worth paying attention to, I want to know!

1 Comment

Categories: media recommendations

Image © MisterUnlucky; used with permission.