“Of course it’s great when you can turn people onto some scientific information or break through a religious charade of sexual dishonesty. Very worth it. I’ll always be happy to share the basics. But so much of sexual life is determined by politics, which not enough people get involved with— or by hormones and electrical brain impulses, which, let’s face it, you can only say you’re along for the ride.” - Susie Bright, “When Sexual ‘Self-Help’ Is the Problem“
Now that we’ve got some analysis of the sex survey results from the men who click over at men.style.com (spoiler: methodology, what methodology?), what other beloved online publications would we like to see incredibly scientific sex polls from?
A rare little bright wet spot in media coverage of teen sexuality, sex ed, and the internet: Scarleteen and the Midwest Teen Sex Show get fair mentions in this ABC-Chicago “special report” (remember when those used to come on the late evening news and you just knew they were going to be about bad things?). Also awesomely rare: coverage of teens protesting abstinence-only sex “ed.”
Typical is a scene in which we see the young Mr. Zuckerberg, determined to swipe the member pages of a Harvard student house, sneak into the building intending to plug into its local network. But then he has to hide with his laptop behind a piece of furniture as an amorous couple begins cavorting nearby. “We almost hear the James Bond theme running through the kid’s head,” Mr. Mezrich writes, in what reads like an aside to a screenwriter.
- Paul Boutin, on the new barely-reported Facebook expose, The Accidental Billionaires, for the Wall Street Journal
From a 19 year old fan on her sex education before finding The Midwest Teen Sex Show (who are now off in Los Angeles shooting a pilot for Comedy Central): “[sex education in middle and high school] consisted of little more than being shown pictures of STI-infected genitals. It taught me that I really, really don’t want chlamydia, but not much else.” Bringing smart sex ed closer to the mainstream is a huge part of the show’s success — the moo-cows and all the writhing-in-a-cornfield in the opening are there to say “not just for indulgent coastals!” according to director Guy Clark. But series writer and star Nikol Hasler also notes, “Creating something that meant something to me was so much fun, so important. I want people to know, girls especially, that they can do something for themselves, no matter what avenue they come from.” Here’s hoping Comedy Central lets the stupendously popular web show lean more Colbert and less girls-on-trampolines.
On a little visit to LA morning tv, Dita deftly turns the conversation away from why she’s not “offended” at people thinking she’s a stripper and towards how much success she’s had taking inspiration from naked girls in history. Her new Cointreau-sponsored show debuts in Hollywood on Wednesday, July 22.
Sex Positive, a documentary on the life of safer sex educator and activist Richard Berkowitz in the early days of AIDS, is out now in Manhattan. The Times calls it a “sad, useful film,” with Berkowitz possessing “the aura of an army veteran who served on the front lines in a war that took the lives of countless comrades.” The San Francisco premiere is July 3.
Sexerati is written by Melissa Gira Grant (Dirty Girls, Best Sex Writing 2008, Valleywag, $pread, Make:, The Frisky, BoundNotGagged.com). It is mostly about sex and the internet.
