Cory Silverberg's Blog, page 17

Product Review: When Is a Sex Toy Not a Sex Toy?

What makes something a sex toy? Is it an object that you have to put inside or on your body? Is it a device designed specifically for sexual pleasure? If so, what about all those shower heads and washing machines out there (to say nothing of our own hands, arms, feet, and brains).

And if an device is designed to be good for us, to improve our health in some way, is it still a sex toy?

The words we use matter in all sorts of ways, and so I find myself unsure of whether or not to refer to thin...

How the Olympics Makes Me Think About Disability, Not Sex

I'm surprised by how much of the Olympics I've been watching (considering that I don't have cable, don't have enough free time, and have an aversion to competitive sports developed over years of being called names and being called last for anything involving physical movement and coordination). I don't get that excited about the competition, but I do like watching bodies do things.

I think it's interesting how different the bodies on the screen are appear to be from my body. I notice this par...

Sins in the Summer: A Pay Per View Like No Other

Next week (from August 5th - 11th) the performance project Sins Invalid is making their 2009 show available for viewing online. It's a pay per view like you've never experienced. A bit about Sins:

Our performance work explores the themes of sexuality, embodiment and the disabled body. Conceived and led by disabled people of color, we develop and present cutting-edge work where normative paradigms of "normal" and "sexy" are challenged, offering instead a vision of beauty and sexuality inclusi...

Centrefold: A Short Documentary on Labiaplasty

Centrefold is a 9 minute animated documentary about labiaplasty that was funded by the Wellcome Trust. It's a great teaching tool and starting point for a discussion of embodiment, shame, and difference. It's also presents a challenge for educators who believe that simply expanding definitions of what is normal isn't the only possibility in discussions of bodies and difference.

It's a challenge because there are no voices in the film that present the freedom and joy that can come from the lo...

Coming Back to Sex Toys

I've been unforgivably behind in my sex toy reviews. It's not that I don't love sex toys. I do. And it's not entirely hyperbolic to say I owe them my life. But when I stopped working in the sex toy world a few years back I guess I felt like we needed some time, and some space. It wasn't them, it was me.

And so the pile of products waiting to be reviewed grew, and grew, and grew. But recently I've begun to organize and sort and contemplate the wonderful world of sex toys again. I wasn't aware...

Transforming Family: Short Doc on Trans Parenting

Transforming Family is an excellent ten minute documentary that, in the words of the filmmakers, "jumps directly into an ongoing conversation among trans people about parenting." The film features about a half dozen parents, and parents-to-be, all of whom identify as trans or gender fluid in some way. If you aren't sure what the term trans refers to, this isn't a primer, but is a beautiful, important, and sometimes painful opening up of conversations that are happening in many small communit...

Too Hot for Sex

At the moment, it's way too hot for sex.  At least for me it is.  I live in the north east and we're experiencing a new round of punishing heat and humidity, and I can barely stand to be touched, never mind moving around and rubbing my body against someone else's (or even against myself).  I wish the heat didn't bother me as much as it does.  But it does.  When I consider my dilemma - I want sex, but I don't want it now or under these conditions - I can't help but be...

Will His Bisexuality Be Different From Mine?

I sometimes wonder if the benefits of labels and identities outweigh the drawbacks. Many of us take great strength and comfort from our various identities. Whether they are linked to gender, race, class, age, or a hobby or interest, being able to identify a community of people who have shared experience, and feeling like you are part of that community can make the difference between surviving and not.

But these same identities and labels are undeniably narrowing, and they often influence majo...

Soon 100% of Teens Will Be Sexting. Or Not.

In 2008 sexting was rampant (20% of teens are sexting!) The media had a field day, whipping up frenzy and running sexualized image after sexualized image to accompany stories warning about the oversexualization of teens. Then in 2009 it turned out the frenzy was for naught (4% of teens have sexted.). At first there wasn't much media attention. It took a couple years, but in 2011 the media felt like they could pull out the pubescent stock photo breast shots again, this time informing us that s...

YouTube Goes Blue

Have you ever been on one of those carnival rides (sometimes it's a haunted house, sometimes it's a tunnel of love) where you're in a car on a track attached to 4 or 5 other cars, and you're all slowly being taken from one room to another. Whether the goal is to scary you or turn you on, the promise is that if you keep moving forward, the next thing you see will be really EXCITING!

I have two main complaints with those kinds of rides. First, the build up is always bigger than the pay off. And...