Susie Bright's Journal

Elizabeth Pisani on Sex, Drugs, and AIDS

Today, on my In Bed podcast, we look into the politics of AIDS, and why "telling the big lies" is endemic to every funding and policy opportunity.

I interview author and epidemiologist Elizabeth Pisani about her new book The Wisdom of Whores: Bureaucrats, Brothels and the Business of AIDS— a bracing look at how AIDS is perceived, sexually and politically, around the world.

I asked Elizabeth, if "number of partners" really does count, in certain situations, how do you do prevention education that isn't religious, moralistic, or hypocritical?

Listen to an excerpt

Listen to the whole show: LINK

$2 a show, for a year; why not? LINK

Finally, in my Try This at Home mailbag: What do you say to a listener who asks; help, my new husband is forty years old and he's completely in the dark about sex!

Don't forget, you can send your confidential questions and feedback about the show to susie@audible.com. (Episode 350, July 25, 2008)

Abortion, Robots, and The Labia Majora

A few stories to lubricate the mind, if not the machine:

Debbie Nathan on the the ambivalence of how abortion is discussed in the New York Times:

"What is the New York Times' problem with abortion? The editorial page consistently supports sex education, birth control, and the right to legally end unwanted pregnancy.

"The rest of the Times, however, often seems uncomfortable with concrete applications of these principles. Not a season goes by that a news item or magazine feature doesn't imply that women who get abortions are acting with egotism, unhealthiness, and cruelty.

"The most recent instance of this is Annie Murphy Paul's "The First Ache," in last Sunday's Magazine. "When does the experience of pain begin?" the subtitle asks. "Anti-abortion activists aren't the only ones to argue that it may be in the womb."

More...

Debbie's essay is best followed up by a visit, (and perhaps your own entry), to the I'm Not Sorry web site, where women tell, simply and plainly, the story of their abortions— legal and illegal— all ages, all kinds. It's without frills, sunny rhetoric, or apologies.

I am a fan of Circlet Press, the kinky sci-fi and fantasy publisher, who have published Kal Cobalt's essential: 10 Things You Always Wanted to Know About Robot Sex on their blog:

“I write robot erotica” is a great conversation starter. Often, the questions people ask me are things I never considered at the keyboard. Other times, something I consider a basic tenet of robotica startles even the most shrewd of discussion partners. So here they are: the top ten things people either want to know about robotica or are most surprised to discover.

"1. Robots Need Lubricant.
When bringing one’s first piece of robotica to a prestigious workshop, the last thing you want to hear is the chairman saying, “Maybe you know more about this than I do, but if the metal robot is giving a human a handjob…wouldn’t that hurt without lube?”

More...

I don't know why I didn't think of this pairing before, but it's a perfect match: Heidegger Meets Vulva Portraiture:

"The German philosopher Martin Heidegger tells us that when an object or desire passes from concealment to revelation, truth appears..."

These are beautiful and vivid photographs, that remind me a lot of Joani Blank's book, but  Femalia, but with a totally different style of photography. I wish I could go to Norway and see the originals!

I'm on a 10-book tour, with Best American Erotica authors meeting me in a few different cities. It's quite, uh, challenging, to figure out how to blog regularly. I've had a few "where's the wi-fi?" meltdowns already, and it's only Day 3! Or sometimes I have the connection, but I'm so  bleary I have nothing to say. Do you know any great bloggers who write regularly on the road? Send me their links for inspiration!

Photo Credit: Robot Goddess movie still, by Michael Sullivan.

The Abyss

 

Who needs sex toys for a desert island when apparently you just have to dive a little deeper for this sweet number?

This photograph is from the new book, The Deep: The Extraordinary Creatures of the Abyss, which is reviewed in the NYT today. The photographs have me agog. These are truly the most beautiful, and also the most fearsome, creatures I have ever seen.

The Fat Vagina Monologues

I read a midwife's blog the other day, about a topic you don't hear much about: How being obese changes a woman's vagina, her sexual response— and her pap smear exam!

In Bed with Susie Bright 291: The Fat Vagina Monologues

The "navel-gazing midwife," as she calls herself, speaks both from her personal experience— before and after gastric-bypass surgery— and from the vantage point of her patient care.

Navelgazer isn't talking about a vag that's large or small or loose or tight— rather, the nature of the fat and cushy kind.

Her post generated many interesting comments, from women with "fat" vaginas, their partners, health workers, and people like me who'd never thought about it before.

It definitely reinforced my belief that the average "modern" doctor pool knows nothing about female sexuality.  You read about this, and you think, "What else does no one have a clue about?"

And here's a thread from readers who are outraged at Navelgazer's conclusions: Link.

Listen to the whole show: Link

In the second part of our show, we critique the recent Times "Science of Desire" special section... And, in the Try This at Home mailbag, I answer a letter from a woman who married an old flame only to find out he has some strange ways of expressing his needs.

Thanks to Janet from Greenery Press for turning me onto the Navelgazer...

Photo from the magnifico VaginaLady.

Don't forget, you can send your confidential questions, feedback about the show, and requests for free-show girly cards to susie@audible.com. (Episode 291, April 27, 2007)