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‘sexual censorship’

Ending the Scourge of Strip Clubs

by on ·Sex & Politics, Sexual Intelligence Blog

Sarasota County, Florida is the latest community to realize that destroying the U.S. Constitution is a small price to pay for protection from the scourge of strip clubs. The County—inundated with exactly one club—has decided that adults watching other adults take off their clothes is bad for people. Not just bad for the strippers (who are otherwise considered Trash); not just bad for those watching them (otherwise known as Perverts); but for every one of the 379,000 residents (better known as Good People Who Deserve Protection). The County is attempting to pass an ordinance that restricts what dancers can do,…

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Genarlow Wilson Freed; Time to Decriminalize Teen Sexuality

by on ·Sex & Politics, Sexual Intelligence Blog

Georgia’s Supreme Court today ordered Genarlow Wilson released from prison, where he has already served 2 years of a 10-year sentence. Wilson, 17 in 2003, was convicted of having consensual oral sex with a then-15-year-old. The release is great news for Wilson, tragically held hostage to adult fears of teen hormones. The larger American tragedy continues, however, in inconsistent age-of-consent laws, statutory rape convictions, and the new crusade against teens circulating erotic photos of themselves on the internet. In 2002, for example, Todd Senters had consensual sex with his 17-year-old girlfriend, which the romantic couple videotaped. Because the age of…

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Supreme Court Sez: Alabama Can Silence The Buzz of Vibrators

by on ·Sex & Politics, Sexual Intelligence Blog

This week, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the Alabama law criminalizing the sale of sex toys. For nine years, the law has been in and out of District, Appeals, and Federal courts. The ACLU had asked the Supreme Court to review Alabama’s right to control products perceived to threaten the moral health of their users and the public. Six states currently have various restrictions on sex toys. Alabama controls the sale of sex toys because the legislature believes they promote a “prurient interest in autonomous sex” through “the pursuit of orgasms by artificial means.” Actually, I totally agree…

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Is “Cum” Vulgar? (Is Lenny Bruce Still Dead?)

by on ·Making Sex Better, Sexual Intelligence Blog

Few legal specialties are as boring as trademark law—unless, of course, someone wants to trademark a sexually-oriented device, phrase, or logo. The U.S. trademark office is supposed to be a dull bureaucracy that simply protects Americans’ intellectual property, thereby encouraging innovation. First you invent a clever logo or slogan. You register it with the government, spending way too much on a lawyer whose overworked paralegal fills out a bunch of forms. Then you promote it, the public loves it, and you make money and get laid. Since you registered it nobody can copy it, so you can continue reaping the…

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Memo to Southwest Air: Women’s Bodies Are OK

by on ·Sex & Culture, Sexual Intelligence Blog

If you fly, of course you hate to fly. As if air travel isn’t repulsive enough these days, Southwest Airlines has found a new way to make passengers angry. Southwest tried to boot a shapely 23-year-old college student off a flight recently because one person complained about the way she was dressed. A customer “service” (there’s an oxymoron) supervisor named Keith told San Diego passenger Kyla Ebbert that her miniskirt, high-heel sandals, and sweater-over-tank top (over a bra) was “inappropriate” for a family airline. After berating the woman and telling her to go home, change, and catch a later flight,…

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When Language Is More Important Than War

by on ·Sex & Culture, Sexual Intelligence Blog

Sixteen million Americans fought in WWII. A half-million of them died in it. That’s equal to the entire population of Washington, DC. Or of Wyoming. Very few of those 16,000,000 are still alive, and a dwindling number of Americans actually knows one of them. To create and preserve a record of what actually happened, Ken Burns has made a 14-hour documentary for PBS. It has exactly four instances of words you might hear—or say—if someone were trying to kill you. The Parents Television Council plans to scour those fourteen hours for the four words they don’t want anyone to say…

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