Trolling the Net #17

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Despite vowing to make Trolling the Net a weekly feature I have sadly missed a couple out but I am back on the job now so lets not focus on my mishaps but instead on what I have for you this week

1. If you are a parent you should read this post about teenagers and ‘sexting’; DON’T CRIMINALISE THE SELFIE-GENERATION by Myles Jackman. I know this is from a UK perspective when it comes to the law but I think the general premise of the post is one that applies to many countries. By not acknowledging that our teenagers are sexual beings we are actually putting them at risk because it is ignorance and lack of knowledge that results in them making mistakes not the other way round and this applies to not only sexting but all areas of sex and relationships.

2. This one is for all you self published (or aspiring self published) erotic writers: Terms of Use: self-publishing, sex and eBook covers by Jane Gilbert. It would seem that many stock photograph sites have terms and conditions that restrict the images being used on material that is ‘pornographic or obscene’. Unwittingly it would appear that erotic authors maybe breaching these T & C’s when they ‘buy’ an image from one of these sites to use for their book cover. So where do you get your book cover images from and if you use stock images on your website, are you absolutely sure that the website you source them from is OK with them being used in association with adult content?

3. For those of you who have been reading my blog for any length of time you will be aware that I have posted about sex during menstruation and also challenged myself and you by posting images featuring menstrual blood. (Some examples are Challenging Sexy, Seeing Red and Bloodbath) Clearly @carasutra knew of my interest because she bought my attention to this next link. Artist Turns Her Own Menstrual Blood Into Surprisingly Beautiful Art is about artist Jen Lewis who used her own menstrual blood to create stunningly beautiful images in the hope of challenging the culturally inspired response that menstruation is inherently gross or taboo. “We live in a world where we are completely desensitized to blood shed in violence but are squeamish at the mere mention or suggestion of women’s menstruation, something every woman has for about 35-40 years of her life. I challenge the notion that menstruation is “gross”, “vulgar”, or “unrefined”;” You can find out lots more about her and this project on her site Beauty in Blood

4. While we are on the subject of interesting art projects check out the Life Once Removed Project by Suzanne Hein. She started the project in response to mounting pressure from friends and particularly family about her ‘single status and her lack of a husband and child.

““Mom, it’s not like I can go out and BUY an family! I can’t just MAKE it happen!”
Ultimately, I that’s exactly what I did. I purchased some second hand mannequins and began a whole photo series documenting my life with a manufactured Family, as if to say, “if the image of a family life is so important to uphold, then here, here is the image.” If they were real, would it be any less about the Image”

She has even gone as far as having a fake wedding, taking her ‘husband on holiday to Paris and having a renewal of their vows after she left him behind in Paris. Her images are amazing, true portrait of the perfect American family and yet none of it is real. Just brilliant.

5.This interview with #FreeTheNipple activist Lina Esco has some fascinating facts about the history of men going topless in the USA as well as a truly fabulous moment where the interviewer asks a topless man on the street if he worried that people will assume they can touch him and ‘do anything to him’ because he is topless. He seems utterly bemused by her question.