Sex Workers Shake It Up in Mexico City at International AIDS Conference [Global Naked City]

Posted at 2:21 PM Aug 08, 2008

Photo of Mariko Passion's art installation about trafficking - see more pictures from the conference on Melissa Gira's Flickr stream

The International AIDS Conference is taking place right now in Mexico City, and there are a handful of American sex worker rights activists who are there - and they are documenting the goings on. Here are a few items worth checking out:

On Bound, Not Gagged, Melissa Gira published the text for the Sex Work Plenary, written by Elena Reynaga and Anna Louise Crago.

The Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers (APNSW) was honored at the conference, and they presented their video on the realities of sex work in Cambodia

Mariko Passion, a Los Angeles-based sex worker, is writing about her experiences in Mexico City on her blog.

--Audacia Ray

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Tags: apnsw, international AIDS conference, mariko passion, melissa gira, mexico city, sex work

It's National Orgasm Day: Here's Some British Stuff To Make You Come!

Posted at 11:29 AM Jul 31, 2008

Today is National Orgasm Day in England, which is basically a public relations holiday to get people excited about the short Orgasm Survey (results here) that is somehting of a warm up for a big ole orgasm survey by researchers at Birkbeck College in London. Which sounds pretty cool until you take a look at the website promoting the shorter survey - it basically ends up as an ad for pelvic floor exercises. If you really want to get your survey on, there's the Big Serious Study too. Ok, it's a major academic study about an important issue that is near and dear to my heart - but does it have to be so stuffy-looking? Jeez.

Out of the kindness of my heart, here are some British things that might actually inspire you to orgasm:

Big Omar - This guy was the first male porn performer whose scenes I actively sought out. And he's not so hard to find because he's got that cult of personality thing going on, with a line of DVDs that all bear his name. He's black, well-hung, sexy, has a British accent and is very enthusiastic about women's bodies of all shapes and sizes - well, as long as they're white. Oh, porno.

Anna Span - Her oeuvre is steadily growing and always highly acclaimed. Named at the Feminist Porn Awards in 2007 as Indie Porn Pioneer of the Year, Anna Span consistently lives up to this award.

Suzanne Portnoy If reading is more your thing than looking, head over to Suzanne Portnoy's blog, a hot and thoughtful chronicle of a single mother's escapades and resistance to monogamy. She's also got two books in print - and you can her Naked City interview here.

--Audacia Ray

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Tags: britain, england, orgasm, survey

Pleasure Island: Appropriating Sexy in Amsterdam [Global Naked City]

Posted at 1:43 PM Jul 28, 2008

The Pleasure Island Festival happened this past weekend in Amsterdam - its essentially a big crazy electronic music festival with sexual overtones - each stage has a sexy name, like the Ex Porn Star stage. It's a place, it's a state of mind. Or something. The promotional website is worth a look too - just prepare yourself for an auto-play video with no escape valve, and then have a look at the slightly over-produced madness. Foto Haarlem has an album of pictures from the festivities here, but its pretty overrun with drunken frat boy types with hopeful "we see boobz now?" looks on their faces. But if you click through long enough you'll find pictures of bored looking scantily clad ladies too.

--Audacia Ray

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Tags: amsterdam, boobs, festival, pleasure island

Ride that Peruvian Pony! Nudity and the Flag Isn't Patriotic [Global Naked City]

Posted at 11:24 AM Jul 28, 2008

Ah nationalism - such a touchy subject. Most countries seem to have pretty strong ideas about the right way and wrong way to do nationalism, and in Peru, naked ladies using the flag as a saddle on a horse - not good. The lovely Leysi Suárez, pictured above defacing the flag with her lovely parts, posed for this shot which has graced the cover of Peruvian magazine D´Farándula. It has been reprinted in the paper Las polemicas and legal action against the model is being considered.

--Audacia Ray

[Via The Weird Post]

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Tags: flag, nudity, patriotism, peru

Amsterdam Day 3: Intellectual Debate and Burlesque Zombies

Posted at 11:17 AM Jun 25, 2008

The whole reason I traveled to Amsterdam was to give a talk at the Pinched festival finale. Marije Janssen talked a bit about the festival's goals in my Four on the Floor interview with her last Friday, but essentially the goal of the festival was to bring together people who both make and think about sex media. The day part of the program involved two different panels of speakers discussing representation, sexuality, and porn, and then the evening gave way to a talk by Annie Sprinkle and Elizabeth Stephens, and an evening full of performances and dancing.

Pictured above is the panel after my talk on "Making Sex Media for a Radical Future." From left: moderator Jennifer Lyon Bell (moderator, American ex-apt living in Amsterdam), Gaia Novati (CUM2CUT, from Italy), Jurgen Bruning (Porn Film Festival Berlin, from Germany), Maria Llopis (Girlswholikeporno, from Spain), and Audacia Ray.

Next Monday's Naked City TV episode is about Pinched.

--Audacia Ray

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Tags: amsterdam, burlesque, conference, pinched

Amsterdam Day 2: Breakfast at Xaviera's

Posted at 1:59 PM Jun 24, 2008

clockwise from left: Annie Sprinkle, Xaviera Hollander, Phillip, Audacia Ray, Elizabeth Stephens

I felt nice and welcome on my first night in Amsterdam because I stayed at Xaviera Hollander's Bed and Breakfast. Yes, its true, the Happy Hooker now runs a B&B, and I can say from first hand experience that it's damn fantastic. The beds were comfortable, the staff was awesome, and the company couldn't be beat. It's definitely a good alternative to the more impersonal hotels and inns throughout the city.

I came to Amsterdam to speak at the Pinched festival on June 21st, along with Annie Sprinkle and Elizabeth Stephens, who also were staying with Xaviera. We all got to catch up, talk about what we're working on, and goof off at breakfast. Definitely a pretty awesome way to start off my second day in the city.

--Audacia Ray

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Tags: amsterdam, annie sprinkle, Audacia Ray, elizabeth stephens, happy hooker, xaviera hollander

Amsterdam Day 1: Changes in the Red Light District

Posted at 1:39 PM Jun 23, 2008

Upon my arrival in Amsterdam (and following a jet lag-induced nap), I took a walk to get my bearings and see how things have changed since I was here last spring. Of course this meant that I ventured to the Red Light District. Though prostitution is legal here, it isn't enthusiastically accepted by everyone, and the local politicians have a somewhat schizophrenic relationship to the sex industry. On the one hand, its a big part of the tourism industry, but on the other - the government seems to think that it makes the focus on Amsterdam kind of negative.

I discovered that there's a new initiative that I've got mixed feelings about. The tourism council that has developed the "I amsterdam" campaign (which even has commercials on American television) has been renting out windows in the Red Light District that previously would have been rented by prostitutes. In these windows, they are creating fashion displays, all the work of local designers. Seeing headless mannequins in windows dressed up in couture is a peculiar contrast to the living, lingerie-clad women in other windows - often the two are right next to each other.

--Audacia Ray

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Tags: amsterdam, prostitution, red light district, sex work