I had the pleasure of attending Richard Sprott’s lecture on the medicalization of BDSM at last year’s Shibaricon, which is why I’m passing along this request:

There have lately been extremely active discussions taking place within the leather/BDSM/fetish/kink community  advocating for more fundraising for organizations, projects and causes specific to that community.

The Community-Academic Consortium for Research on Alternative Sexualities (CARAS) promotes serious academic research and professional education about alternative sexualities and polyamory. This work ultimately improves the
lives of everyone in the leather, kink, BDSM and polyamory communities.Money is desperately needed to continue this important work.

Please consider donating to CARAS, either individually or through fundraising efforts. You’ll find the CARAS donation page here:

https://carasresearch.org/index.php/donate/

Thank you for supporting CARAS!

Two studies about the safety of lubricant use during anal intercourse were presented last week at the 2010 International Microbicides Conference in Pittsburgh. The data from the studies has yet to be published, but there have already been several write-ups about the research , which at first blush seem to suggest that using lubricant might be found to be associated with an increased risk of STDs. As Jim Pickett, the chair of the International Rectal Microbicide Advocates (IRMA) one of the organizations involved in putting on the conference, said to me in an email, what is key is that this research be discussed and interpreted without hyperbole. If you're confused by what you've read so far, you're not alone. Let's start with the research itself.

One was a laboratory study of six popular lubricants used during anal intercourse. Actually only five of them are popular for anal intercourse (Astroglide, Elbow Grease, ID Glide, KY Jelly and Wet Platinum), the sixth (Pre) was used because it is isotonic (more on that below). The popular lubricants were chosen based on a large global survey which asked over 9,000 people about lubricant use during anal sex. Researchers did not report on which specific style of each product was used in the research, but in one write up I read that the “basic formulation” was used from each brand. (Interesting side note from my years in sex shops: the lubricant Pre is a lubricant made specifically for women trying to conceive. In addition to being isotonic, it is the only lubricant on the market that is specifically designed not to harm sperm).

The overall purpose of the study was to see if lubricant might play a role in increasing risk of STD transmission during anal intercourse. To this end, the researchers wanted to understand what, if any, direct damage lubricants might have on rectal and cervical tissue. They also wanted to see how the lubricants might impact healthy bacteria that are present in the rectum. There are, of course, many ways to damage rectal tissue. In this study the researchers focused on one particular effect which can damage the tissue in the rectum essentially by drying up cells, causing them to die and slough off. This can happen if the lubricant being used has higher concentrations of salts and sugars than are found in the skin cells it comes in contact with. The lubricant can draw water out of the cells, resulting in damage that can increase risk of infection (the science minded among you can find more detailed explanations here, here, or here).

. . .

A second study looked at the use of lubricants during anal intercourse outside the laboratory. This study included 229 men who had reported having receptive anal intercourse in the past month, and 192 women who reported having receptive anal intercourse in the past year. Participants completed a computer assisted self-interview about sexual behavior. Among other things, participants were asked about use (or non-use) of lubricants and the particular brands they used during anal sex. From that group, 302 participants also had rectal tests for chlamydia and gonorrhea. Most of the participants reported using lubricant the last time they had receptive anal intercourse. Of the 302 participants, 25 tested positive for an anal STD. More than two-thirds of the people diagnosed with an STD reported using lube the last time they had receptive anal intercourse, compared with one third of people who had not used a lube. Read another way, people who reported using lubricants the last time they had anal sex were about twice as likely to have chlamydia or gonorrhea as those who did not use lubricants.

More. . .

What are some of the issues that affect sexuality during menopause? African American and Caucasian women are needed for a study addressing questions about menopause. Participants must be women between the ages of 40 and 60, experiencing menopause, English speaking, currently not taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or on hormonal birth control, in a relationship with a sexual partner, and without major medical or mental health problems.

Participation requires completing an online or paper survey. Some volunteers  who live in the Washington, DC metropolitan area may also be eligible to participate in a substudy that involves a small blood draw. Participants in the blood draw substudy may be compensated. For more information, please contact Robert Clark, MS, at 301-295-9666 or at menopausestudy1@gmail.com.

This research study is sponsored by the Uniformed Services University, Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, in Bethesda, Maryland. You can access the on-line survey here:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=VcP8PJrCyVoqmjAp9o3BJw_3d_3d

This study was endorsed as a meritorious research project on January 30, 2009 by the CARAS Research Advisory Committee, a community advisory board hosted by the Community-Academic Consortium for Research on Alternative Sexualities (CARAS).

For more information on CARAS, please visit the CARAS website at https://www.caras.ws . Download the current CARAS Calendar athttps://www.caras.ws/downloads/CARAS_Calendar.pdf

My friend, Larry Iannotti, is writing an academic paper justifying the reasons for the recent Survey of Violence and Discrimination against Sexual Minorities and he is seeking stories:

Do you identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, bi-curious, queer, questioning, or otherwise same-sex attracted? Are you of African American or Latina descent? Are you age 18 and older? Even if you prefer not to label yourself, we are interested in your experience!

I am a doctoral student at Emory University conducting research on attitudes about sexual identity and community held by same-sex attracted women of African American or Latina descent

Participation involves the completion of an online questionnaire and will take approximately 30 minutes of your time.

Your participation is voluntary and anonymous.

If you are interested in participating in this study please follow the link provided below or cut and paste the link into your web browser:

http://emory.qualtrics.com/SE?SID=SV_bskzTz0WmmBpzA8&SVID=Prod

You may also assist with this project by forwarding this e-mail request to LGBT-themed organizations and listservs, and/or to same-sex attracted individuals.

To request additional information or questions about this study, or to request a hard copy of the questionnaire in English or Spanish please contact Monique Carry at ccarry@emory.edu.

Thank you,

Monique Carry
Doctoral Candidate, Department of Sociology
Emory University, Atlanta GA
ccarry AT emory DOT edu

We won’t find out by trying to separate biology from culture.

The cover asks “What is Female Desire?” and the story title, “What do Women Want?” seems to promise that scientists are getting closer to figuring out one of life’s great mysteries. Daniel Bergner, in fact, does not attempt to answer those two questions (and the small subtitles make it clear that he isn’t going to try) but rather he profiles the work of several scientists who are researching women’s sexual response, their subjective sense of arousal, and the ways those do or don’t line up.

It is a well-written article and a very interesting read. It takes on complex questions and, within its scope, attempts to address them without oversimplifying or sensationalizing (except for the first sentence of the article, in extra large and colorful print that reads “Meredith Chivers is a creator of bonobo pornography.”). I would encourage anybody to take a look. But prepare to be frustrated as well as intrigued. Some readers will be frustrated, as was Meredith Chivers (a psychology professor at Queens University, and one of the scientists whose work is the focus of the article) because the answers are not clear and meticulous research takes so long and is so difficult to do, and because, as she is quoted as saying early in the piece, “The horrible reality of psychological research is that you can’t pull apart the cultural from the biological.”

More. . ..

. . .So you could be forgiven if everything you know about medication research you learned from the news. And yet, if you care about your health and about truth in advertising, a study published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association reminds us why relying on the print or online media alone isn’t a safe bet.

The authors of the study looked at how often news articles about medication research reported whether or not the research was funded by a pharmaceutical company. They found that 42% of all news articles failed to report that research had received company funding. They also surveyed editors to ask about editorial policy (both written and unwritten) regarding citation of funding sources. Of the 104 articles taken from publications where editors reported always citing funding sources, 45% failed to do so. Three percent of the editors surveyed said their paper had a written policy about naming company funding sources. Far more (62%) said there was an unwritten policy. According to the data neither is working out very well.

Link

. . .The question is not whether porn is dying or not — while piracy may be killing the big industries, I am sure that people will still be looking at online porn for a long time. The question is why are people so attracted to other things that are not porn at all? This is not meant to be an ironic comment — when you think about it, unless you’re serious about using them as a professional networking tool, social networking sites and MMOs barely have more productive things to generate than online porn. So why go for social networks at all?

The typical answer is of course that we wil always still need social connections. But is not the opposite rather true — we are getting more and more tired of real social connections, and we leave it up to the web to do it for us? The logic of the Žižekian interpassive subject applies all too well — with Facebook, we can just add a friend and forget about making a real connection with her/him without feeling guilty about it! Is this not why we love the social Web in first place — because talking and connecting in real life needs too much effort?

Pornography, I would claim, has the same logic. Recall the standard implicit moral disclaimer that real-life sex will never be as good as pornography (it is much more awkward, has so much more bad sounds and smells and unpleasant tactile sensations, we have to constantly negotiate our partner(s)’s bad taste remarks, etc…). Is this not why we can enjoy watching pornography without feeling jealous to the people behind the screen — because we know perfectly well that, if we are in their place, having the real experience, things may not turn out as good as our fantasies? Cybersex is much less tiring than real sex, but nevertheless fantasy can be sustained just as well. The computer already reach orgasms for us.

Link

An unusual sex survey has found that Australians who enjoy bondage and discipline are not damaged or dangerous, and might even be happier than those who practise “normal” sex.

The research showed two per cent of adult Australians regularly partake in sadomasochism and dominance and submission-type sexual role play.

And contrary to commonly-held stereotypes, they are not doing so in reaction to sexual abuse or because they are “sexually deficient” in some way, according the study of 20,000 Australians by public health researchers at the University of NSW.

Link

. . .The quick and dirty? Biracial kids are sexy, fashionable, mediocre students who grow up with absentee fathers and incomes similar to black kids.’ Oh, and, did I mention they’re really sexy?

“There are some bad adolescent behaviors that whites do more than blacks (like drinking and smoking), and there are other bad adolescent behaviors that blacks do more than whites (watching TV, fighting, getting sexually transmitted diseases),” Steven and the others write. I’m a sex, dating and relationships writer who developed a fetish for facts while studying multivariate regression analysis in my graduate sociology courses in Florida. I wanted hard numbers. So, I did what Steven probably hoped all of us who read his blog post would do. I read his research.

Link.

My friend, novelist and recent Tiptree award winner Catherynne Valente is looking for men that like men. She’s writing a story which necessarily features a lot of man-on-man sex scenes, and she’s having a bit of a problem:

I have no trouble talking about sex between men and women, or women and women. I know all about both, having, you know, done it once or twice. But I am minus the necessary experience to write authoritatively about love between men.

Now, I’ve read and watched porn and I’ve read a great deal of books which have m/m sex in them–largely written by women, actually. (Is spit-lube really that common? I highly doubt it.) And I’ve heard the mockery of such scenes as unrealistic, and while I have a good idea of everything physical that goes on, I don’t know anything about the intimate experience of being a man making love to other men.

And I want to do it well, I want to do it right. This is extremely important to me.

So I’m asking my gay or bisexual male friends … if you would be kind enough to help a girl out–what bothers you about the sex scenes you’ve read, if anything? What do you want to see? And most important and most strange for me to ask–what does it feel like? What, if you’ve had sex with women, is different beyond the obvious? (I could go on for hours about what’s different with a woman as opposed to men, if reciprocation is desired by any other authors out there.) I’m looking for the specific, the peculiar, things not obvious to your local bisexual author girl, both receptive and penetrative experiences.

You can email her or comment on this blog post if you can help her out.

Science Daily — Contrary to popular opinion, feminism and romance are not incompatible and feminism may actually improvethe quality of heterosexual relationships, according to Laurie Rudman and Julie Phelan, from Rutgers University in the US. Their study* also shows that unflattering feminist stereotypes, that tend to stigmatize feminists as unattractive and sexually unappealing, are unsupported.

It is generally perceived that feminism and romance are in direct conflict. Rudman and Phelan’s work challenges this perception. They carried out both a laboratory survey of 242 American undergraduates and an online survey including 289 older adults, more likely to have had longer relationships and greater life experience. They looked at men’s and women’s perception of their own feminism and its link to relationship health, measured by a combination of overall relationship quality, agreement about gender equality, relationship stability and sexual satisfaction.

(more . . .)

by Regina Lynn

The internet has become a proving ground for trying out relationship styles, and anyone who’s ever done so knows just how serious online relating can become — even if all you intended was a quick look to see what all the fuss was about.

These relationships can and do become the catalyst for drastic and painful transitions in your life. They can help you “get it out of your system” and confirm your relationship choices, or they can open your eyes to Your True Path. Whether your partner wants to walk that road with you is a whole ‘nother thing.

Given the impulse to interact and connect with other humans once we’re online, you might think that a virtual relationship — a relationship with a fictional partner — would be an even better way to learn about how we relate to one another, without risk of heartbreak or life-changing decisions.

That’s one of the questions behind a recent University of Illinois study that took three groups of subjects through three variations of a virtual relationship to see how attachment styles — how secure or insecure one is about intimacy — correspond to actions in a relationship. (more. . . )

A sex lubricant developed by an Australian company promises to block both HIV and the HSV-2 genital herpes virus, Sydney’s Daily Telegraph reported.

Tests on lab animals have shown Starpharma’s SPL7013 microbicide gel between 85 and 100 percent effective at deactivating both viruses, lead researcher Dr. Jeremy Paull of Melbourne-based Starpharma told last week’s International AIDS Society conference in Sydney.

Human clinical trials are now under way in Australia, Kenya and the United States. Early results of the second small-scale trial, presented at the Sydney congress, show it to be safe and well tolerated in healthy men, Paull said. (more…)

By JOHN TIERNEY

Scholars in antiquity began counting the ways that humans have sex, but they weren’t so diligent in cataloging the reasons humans wanted to get into all those positions. Darwin and his successors offered a few explanations of mating strategies — to find better genes, to gain status and resources — but they neglected to produce a Kama Sutra of sexual motivations.

Perhaps you didn’t lament this omission. Perhaps you thought that the motivations for sex were pretty obvious. Or maybe you never really wanted to know what was going on inside other people’s minds, in which case you should stop reading immediately.

For now, thanks to psychologists at the University of Texas at Austin, we can at last count the whys. After asking nearly 2,000 people why they’d had sex, the researchers have assembled and categorized a total of 237 reasons — everything from “I wanted to feel closer to God” to “I was drunk.” They even found a few people who claimed to have been motivated by the desire to have a child.

The researchers, Cindy M. Meston and David M. Buss, believe their list, published in the August issue of Archives of Sexual Behavior, is the most thorough taxonomy of sexual motivation ever compiled. This seems entirely plausible.

Who knew, for instance, that a headache had any erotic significance except as an excuse for saying no? But some respondents of both sexes explained that they’d had sex “to get rid of a headache.” It’s No. 173 on the list. (more . . . )

Study: Meston, C., & Buss, D.M. (2007). Why humans have sex. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 36, 477-507.