Vibrators For Me And We {featured video}

vibrators for me and we from lovesexfamily on vimeo.

Originally conceived as a short video promoting our product give-away, we wanted to capture the fun and intimate integration of vibrators into sex play for partners. It features the co-founders of Love, Sex, and Family – and a Passion Flower Mini Vibrator complements of Good Vibrations. Produced by Leighton Hambrick and Anne G. Sabo. Created in collaboration with five Cinema and Media Studies students at Carleton College: Joey Fishman, Hannah Jensen, Sam Scherf, Jameson Siegert, Matt Spevack.

‘Bikini-Ready’? Who’s Judging? | The New York Times {featured read}

EVERY spring, as sure as cherry blossoms bloom, so does the notion that women should diet, exercise and even liposuction their way to bikini-ready bodies. Magazines like Shape and Self reinforce the idea that preparation is essential, with months-long bikini body countdowns (100-calorie snack tips included) and workout DVDs like “Bikini Ready Fast!” as if the beach reveal were a test on par with the MCAT and only a slacker would settle for a one-piece.

“It really sends the message that you’re not worthy right now to put on a suit,” said Malia Mills, a swimsuit designer whose brand’s motto is “Love Thy Differences.” Ms. Mills, 44, said shoppers often declare in one of her 10 stores: “I just wanted to see what you had. I’m coming back when I lose five pounds.”

As our culture increasingly enshrines physical perfection, the bikini has come to inspire dread and awe. It wasn’t always so. In the 1960s, when bellybutton-baring suits first became popular in America, “it was a youthful phenomenon definitely,” said Sarah Kennedy, the author of “The Swimsuit: A History of Twentieth-Century Fashions.” Then the high-fashion set and movie stars began to put on bikinis, and by the ’70s, she said, the bikini was “worn by all ages.” Read More >>

Betty Dodson with Carlin Ross {featured resource}

Known for her work to empower women sexually, Betty Dodson (b. 1929) today runs Betty Dodson with Carlin Ross: Sex Information Online with the thirty-something Carlin Ross who left her career in law to devote herself to sex information. In addition to their own texts and podcasts, their website also includes the posts of several sex informed guest bloggers, each with their own specific profile and expertise; a sex column featuring Dodson's practical advice to readers; a reader forum; a book and video shop; galleries and more.

The Healing Power of Sex Work {featured contributor}

By Wrenna Roberston/Show Off Books

Wrenna Robertson

There’s a story not often told about sex work. It’s a story that most of society would scoff at if they did hear it; write it off as pure, deluded fantasy. Many of us won’t allow it to be true. I am a sex worker, and even I immediately felt that it was too-tall-a-tale-to-tell. It’s the story of the empowered sex worker who finds healing through their work. The sex worker who has become more whole a person because of what they do. But it is a story which rings true for many of the incredible women and men I have had the pleasure of knowing, who work as strippers, escorts, tantric practitioners, porn actors and erotic masseurs.

I have been stripping for half of my life - since just days after my 18th birthday. Almost immediately I became aware of the judgment that would come my way until the present day – from friends, partners, parents, sisters and strangers. They all expressed their disappointment in me for having chosen to make money by taking my clothes off for strangers. When I explained to people that I was doing it to save money for university, they eased off a bit, conceding that it was indeed a good way to put oneself through school.