Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
In which the author manages a brothel in the nation's capital for a few weeks until fired for alcoholism. The money isn't much good. But the work is varied, the people interesting and the fund of filthy stories incomparable
Review of "Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History", a "surprisingly emotional book" by Florence Williams. A mother's breasts supply a baby in the first year of life with enough energy to move 100 trucks at 100 miles per hour
Former lap dancer speaks out against the industry she left. "Lap dancing is just an effect of a society that does not truly value women and, as hard as it may be to accept, a society in which women do not value themselves"
In the Islamic Republic of Iran, sex is not confined to the bedroom, it's deeply political. And the country's fundamentalist clerics aren't above considering juridical aspects of the most bizarre sexual imaginings
"Before they went off to fight in Afghanistan, the guys of 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines talked quietly about their deepest fear. Not dying. Not losing a leg or an arm. It was having their genitals ripped off, burned away or crushed"
"Discomfort around women and sex permeates our culture, and the act itself has become a darkly comic battleground." Reflecting on Limbaugh's attack on Sandra Fluke prompts wider discussion of society's attitude to female sexuality
Anyone can walk into a pharmacy and buy condoms. Why not allow anyone to walk in and buy contraceptive pills? Health risks no greater than for aspirin. Prescription requirement serves only to raise costs, restrict access
"When our friends first broke the news about their accidental pregnancy, we told them, 'Congratulations,' but our smiles trembled. That same week my wife got on the phone and scheduled my vasectomy." A knee-clenching account
One percent of people are asexual. What is life like for them? "Ours is a media which suggests hypersexuality is the norm. Asexuality has become a 'problem' as it became more visible, and in a sense it's become the new stigma"
Will no one speak up for pleasure? "We tiptoe around the heterosexual woman’s unsightly libido, and end up with a strangely euphemistic rhetoric, a defence of birth control that seems to involve no sex, desire, sperm, or men"
Occupy Valentine's Day. Drive out the commerce and cupidity. Make it a National Love Day for everyone. "Children need so much love. And then there are friends. Parents. Strangers even. The love-life of a community"
Trent Arsenault has never had sex, but he's the father of 15 children – and counting. He's a well-paid tech worker, uses diet and exercise to maximise his sperm count, and he gives away his semen for free. The FDA doesn't like it
William Hogarth. A Rake's Progress, Plate 3
Felisa Rogers, on aphrodisiacs
"Humans tend to get turned on by three categories of food: extremely expensive food, food that is risky to acquire, and food that resembles genitalia"
