Aug 282009
 

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Vote for my PanelPicker Idea!

We recently submitted a couple of proposals on topics we’d like to present at the next SXSW festival–and we’d love your thumbs-up support on either or both if you’re so inclined.

Both proposals have been included in the SXSW 2010 PanelPicker, the rather sadomasochistic tool that the event uses to help determine which topics will ultimately be included… your “yes” votes and comments can definitely make a difference!

#1 – The Porn Police Are STILL at the Door
Not just for pornographers, the notion for this panel grew out of our work curating CineKink, as we noticed that entries submitted by filmmakers from the adult sphere typically included notice that federal record-keeping requirements for sexually explicit material had been properly met, while those coming from the independent film world did not. (If you’re thinking “2257, huh?” that could probably be you!) Making matters worse, the regulations have recently been expanded to cover not just actual or documentary depictions of sex, but simulated situations—ie fiction—as well.

Yikes, you say? Pick this panel!

#2 – Was It Something I Said? TOS And Content
Meanwhile, this panel was inspired by the frustrations we’ve experienced over the years trying to position and promote a sex-related endeavor on the internet–from finding a web host and sending email blasts, to processing ticket sales and donations, to creating an identity in social marketing and getting our videos placed on popular sites. Seemingly the old adage–“I’ll know it when I see it”–flourishes online, where murky definitions of what content is and is not allowed abound. One gatekeeper’s “inappropriate” is another’s “adult” is another’s “offensive, obscene and/or pornographic.” How are we affected as users and creators–and is there any recourse?

Wanna find out? Pick this panel!

May 172008
 

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The best of this week’s blogs by the bloggers who blog them. Highlighting the top 3 posts as chosen by Sugasm participants. Want in Sugasm #132? Submit a link to your best post of the week using this form. Participants, repost the link list within a week and you’re all set.

This Week’s Picks
Kink
“A bill outlawing the possession of “extreme pornography” is set to become law next week.”

M is for Mine
“You comment on my wetness.”

The Story Behind the Waxing
“I tend to go to people that I trust really know what they are doing when it comes to my pussy.”

Mr. Sugasm Himself
Keeley Hazell Regrets

Editor’s Choice
The sadistic impulse

More Sugasm Join the Sugasm
See also: Fleshbot’s Sex Blog Roundup each Tuesday and Friday.
(Sugasm participants should re-post all the links above within a week. The following links may be excluded as long as you include all the above links.)

Thoughts on Sex and Relationships
Being the Receiver…
Desperate boy.
A Parity of Madams and Whores
Trapped
You say trannyboifag, I say trannyboifag

Sex Work
At Least My Vibrators Don’t Judge Me
Sex Worker Solidarity: Gracie

Erotic Writing and Experiences
Blowjob in the showers
Clarity
Drunk and horny
Flash #1 – Greedy
Two Minutes and 52 Seconds
Unicorn Sighting

Sex & Politics
Um. Pornography is in focus?

NSFW Pics, Videos & Audio
Another Gratuitous Picture Post
Back with HNT!
Half-Nekkid at the Beach
Lilaceous
Mirror Mirror
Monica – Drop On Jacuzzy
Pornsaint Kylie Ireland
Strange Sex Fantasies
Teen bobs on Ron Jeremy’s cock
Video: Long Distance Lovemaking

Sex News, Reviews & Interviews
Catalina loves Melvin Moten, Jr. (An interview with the fetish photographer behind Erocrush.com)
If You Were a Sex Toy, What Would You Be?
My IMsL 2008 Trip – Part 4
The Sexiest Form You Might Ever Fill Out
Shall We Play A Game?

BDSM & Fetish
Cerebral Trainee Subject: Susan
A day of torment (pt 2)
Dining Table Punishment Spanking
Dionysian Tales
Harmony Rose Is Dominated On The Training Of O
Other World Kingdom visit – Part 4
Submissive Little Darling
The Submissive Male Construct and Nice Guys
Weighty Matters

Sex Advice
A Little Lesson on Figging…
Sex Dates for Parents
Vaginal Fisting: What It Is and How to Do It

May 022008
 

>A twist on an old joke has cropped up around CineKink, surfacing more frequently around festival submission time:

“What’s the difference between art and pornography?”

“Pornography arrives with its 2257 compliance properly identified.”

Bah dump bump.

Anyway…an expansion on some of the topics we discussed during our recent SXSW panel, The Porn Police: Know the Rules, an article by attorney Alan Levy has just been published in The Yale Law Journal.

First tracing the history of federal 2257 record-keeping regulations and its recent judicial back-and-forths, the article then goes into the implications that they present to all filmmakers, including those working with actual and with simulated depictions of sexual conduct.

Mainstream filmmakers should be especially concerned with the language of the most recent published § 2257 regulations, in which Attorney General Alberto Gonzales wrote, “Section 2257A requires that producers of visual depictions of simulated sexually explicit conduct maintain records documenting that performers in those depictions not be minors.” Does this mean that a noted film such as Taxi Driver, in which a twelve-year-old Jodi Foster portrays a thirteen-year-old prostitute, is unlawful? What about the more recent controversial film Hounddog, which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and portrayed twelve-year-old Dakota Fanning as a rape victim? Even a film nominated for Best Picture at the 2008 Academy Awards may be affected by § 2257A. Atonement has one scene of explicit simulated sexual conduct involving actress Juno Temple, who was seventeen years of age at the time of filming.

While filmmakers working in the adult arena are, for the most part, all too aware of the regulations, their existence seems to escape notice of documentarians who occasionally stumble into the realm of actual sexual conduct. (And again, we ask, what the hell does that mean?) And with the expansions presented by 2257A, a huge new class of fiction filmmakers is folded into the mix.

For all, it is critical to know both the rules and the risks – and to work together in protesting their chilling presence.

To read more of Alan’s article: How “Swingers” Might Save Hollywood from a Federal Pornography Statute

Mar 262008
 

>Going from CineKink to SXSW to Dark Odyssey has been a bit of a gauntlet – a gauntlet of pleasure, to be sure, but now that we’re at the end of it, our body, sensing a respite, seems to be flirting heavily with what is generally known as the common cold. But, dammit, not before we get out this too-long-delayed SXSW recap, even through a Nyquil haze…

You can take a listen to the podcast here, but our panel, The Porn Police: Know The Rules, went off well and we managed to cram a ridiculous amount of somewhat tedious 2257 detail into our alloted hour. In addition toyours truly, the speakers included Violet Blue, deftly illustrating how the regulations play out in the real world and the problems they present for artists on both sides of the camera, attorney Alan Levy, keeping us on track with which part of the law stipulates what – and what that might actually mean in the day-to-day – and director Joe Swanberg seeming to grow increasingly consternated with the realization of how the rules could well apply to his own, er, body of work. (Lascivious display of nudity, anyone?!)

Bottom line – for all media makers working with depictions of sexual conduct, both actual and simulated (what’s that?), it represents another area of calculated risk – one that will warrant further discussion in the months ahead. While the danger is probably slim for most, it’s still critical to know the rules rather than blithely plowing ahead and hoping for the best.

And in other sex matters at SXSW:

Violet Blue also tackled and spurred further online discussion of a tricky subject with her lively panel, Sexual Privacy Online.

Cory Silverberg facilitated a discussion on Sexual Ethics, Interactivity and Virtual Worlds

Twanna a. Hines took on Adult Conversations: Sex, Intimacy & Online Relationships.

Elizabeth Wood and Lux Alptraum led the core conversation Pink Ghetto Blasters: Destigmatizing Sex, then Lux gave us a 20×2 rumination on the differences between porn and erotica:

Film offerings we managed to catch included Bi The Way, a look at the sexual inclinations of the so-called “whatever generation,” Obscene, a documentary profile of the colorful Grove Press publisher, Barney Rosset, and the superb Sex Positive, exploring the life of activist Richard Berkowitz and his critical role in the now taken-for-granted concept of safe sex.

And, not quite sex, but about as close as you can get armed only with a Handywipe, we enjoyed reprised BBQ revelations at Iron Works and – well worth the trek out to Driftwood – Salt Lick!

Once again, we’d like to thank SXSW for their sex-positive inclusivity – along with Matt Dentler, Hugh Forrest and their respective crews for making it all happen.

Mar 082008
 

>As part of SXSW, CineKink’s co-founder and director, Lisa Vandever, will moderate a panel about the various regulations on sexually explicit content and how they may apply to all types of media producers.

THE PORN POLICE: KNOW THE RULES
Saturday, March 8 – 5-6 pm

It may seem like sex is everywhere in film, television and online, but sexual portrayals are surprisingly restricted – and getting more so everyday. Already draconian federal regulations on the depiction of sexually explicit conduct were recently expanded and signed into law by President Bush, and now apply to an even wider class of media makers. Not just pornographers, but anyone creating and working with explicit imagery of even simulated sexual conduct – bloggers, webmasters, narrative filmmakers, documentarians – needs to know the rules and the risks.
This session will touch upon:
* Overview of 18 U.S.C. 2257 & 2257A record-keeping requirements for actual and simulated sexually explicit material
* New wrinkles introduced by online access/distribution of materials
* Resources for additional information and advocacy support

Panelists:
Violet Blue
Tony Comstock
Alan Levy, Esq.
Joe Swanberg

If you’re around, come on by!