Essays

• Banning Pornography Endangers Women, by Wendy McElroy.

  "Since the mid 1980s, a strange sight has been on the political horizon. Feminists are standing alongside their arch-enemies, conservatives and religious fundamentalists, to call for anti-pornography laws.

  "This phenomenon threatens the well-being of women in at least three important ways:

  1. Feminism is no longer a stronghold of freedom of speech;
  2. Women's unacceptable sexual choices are now under new attack;
  3. It involves rejecting the principle 'a woman's body, a woman's right.'"

• Bisexuality, BDSM and the Myth of 'Violent' Pornography, by FCK.

  "Media professional FCK gives an insider's account of a BDSM lifestyle, and explores in detail the unintended consequences of criminalizing an arbitrary category of 'violent' images."

• The Case for Kink, by Charlie Glickman.

  "One of the criticisms that gets leveled at BDSM players is the claim that BDSM is violence and that it reinforces social oppressions such as sexism, racism, homophobia, etc. There’s even a Facebook group called the Sex-Positive Leftists Critical of BDSM. In my experience, these sorts of arguments often have just enough accuracy in some of their claims that it’s hard to tease out the distortions, misunderstandings, and plain old lies."

• Concerns About Porn

  "If you don’t know anything about modern pornography, are feeling unsure, or are feeling morally at odds with an aspect of sex, pornography can bring up powerful feelings. Pornography is about something very personal and intimate to the viewer, so it can touch on issues that can be intense. Especially for us women. Unfortunately, our ability to understand our feelings and understanding of pornography is often clouded by misinformation from pundits who suggest that academic research is being cited — where instead it is anecdotal “research” (not peer-reviewed), and from questionably funded sources."

• The Ethical Hedonism manifesto, by Dr. Susan Block.

  "Brothers and Sisters, Lovers and Sinners, we are gathered here in my little corner of the World Wide Web to entertain the remote but inspiring possibility of peace on earth, good sex for all."

• The Health Benefits of Sexual Expression [PDF]

  "[P]ioneering researchers have demonstrated many of the various health benefits of sexual expression, including its positive physical, intellectual, emotional, and social dimensions (Ogden, 2001). Although this body of research is limited and often only suggestive when compared with the vast sexological literature on dysfunction, disease, and unwanted pregnancy, we are accumulating data to begin to answer many questions about the potential benefits of sexual expression"

• A History of Porn for Women

  "This article aims to give a history of porn for women, covering the major developments, producers, participants and associated philosophies behind it."

• How Our Fear of Sex is Destroying the Planet

  "In fact, our fear of sex is at the root of many if not most of our problems as a species, as a nation, as families and as individuals. In a nutshell, it comes down to this - as long as we can't talk about sex as pleasure and spiritual connection, as long as we are afraid of sex, it will continue to be our biggest problem. And out of that avoidance and fear grow all kinds of global repercussions, such as a population which has doubled since the year I was born (1960), an AIDS epidemic, food shortages, the daily burning of the Amazon forest, dwindling resources, increasing societal violence and never-ending wars."

• It's not about sex. It's about Self, by Eric Francis.

  "Our relationship to sex and sexuality is our relationship to existence. If we feel good about our erotic experiences, needs and feelings, we tend to feel good about life. If we are bitter, if we don't get what we need, if we feel guilty or ashamed of our sexual feelings and experiences, that is most likely how we're going to feel about life. This can manifest some strange ways, such as violence and manipulation, just like feeling good about sex can manifest as a passionate, creative person who creates their existence consciously every day."

• The Language of Sex Positivity, by Charlie Glickman.

  "Just as developing a new set of words and theories to describe and then change the world is an integral part of any social movement, creating a new language to discuss sex is a necessary part of changing our attitudes towards sex."

• Path of the Sexual Healer, by NightOwl.

  "Sexual healing, in my definition, aims to achieve a relaxed and balanced eroticism that nurtures one's life and well-being. It is being able to choose - to be "at choice" - in the presence of erotic energy. It is neither being obsessed with or repelled by sexual expression or activity."

• Sex is Good, by David Chart

  "I'm not going to argue that sex is fun, pleasurable, and desired by many people. That's obvious; no-one denies it. Rather, I'm going to argue that sex is morally good, that it is a morally desirable activity, like getting exercise, studying, or helping those in need. Also like them, I will argue that it is not a moral obligation; it is permissible not to have sex, but it is, all else being equal, better if you do than if you don't."

• This Alien Legacy: The Origins of "Sodomy" Laws in British Colonialism

  "More than 80 countries around the world still criminalize consensual homosexual conduct between adult men, and often between adult women. . . . More than half those countries have these laws because they once were British colonies."

• Wilhelm Reich

  "Wilhelm Reich is the kind of person whose name a lot of people, while knowing very little about him. Some might be aware of his crazy reputation as the "sex box" guy who built a strange devices to give people better orgasms (immortalised in the Hawkwind song Orgone Accumulator). Those of you who know a little more may be aware that he was a radical psychotherapist who was imprisoned in the US in the 1950s, died in prison and had his books burnt by the US govt. There was a resurgence of interest in his work in the sixties and seventies, but he pretty much seems to have disappeared off the cultural map in the UK This talk will attempt to re-present some of his ideas and explain my interest."