JULY READING LIST (Patreon)

Articles

I Give Disabled People Orgasms for a Living - about sex surrogacy/medically assisted sex, specifically in Canada, I’m not sure what the law is in the UK but I imagine it’s similar to laws around sex work. Read this whilst researching for my Buffer Festival video. 

‘I felt colossally naive’: the backlash against the birth control app - a few people sent me links to this article asking me to comment because I did a sponsored video with this app last year (Natural Cycles). Okay, I ended up writing about 500 words with my thoughts on this so perhaps I’ll save that for a blog post. But thanks to the people who brought this to my attention!

Ban on heterosexual civil partnerships in UK rules discriminatory - just a quick news story but thought I’d share because if civil partnerships are made legal for heterosexual couples in the UK it’s something I would seriously consider. I have a lot of issues with the institution of marriage with its roots in religion and patriarchy. 

An author broke down “thin privilege” on Twitter - something I’ve seen a lot of in the body positivity movement recently. No matter what your inner demons are if you are perceived as thin then you are thin and that means your life isn’t made more difficult because of your weight. 

Stoya: I thought female sexuality was an OK thing? - really interesting interview with porn performer and writer, Stoya.

Kink and Trust: How Some Trauma Survivors Find Healing Through BDSM - the bit where they compare a the stages of a BDSM scene to the stages of trauma therapy was interesting.

Book Excerpt: How Music Fans Built the Internet - the excerpt is about music but can be very easily applied to other communities on the internet i.e. YouTube. I liked the bit in this about the history of “fans”/”fandom”. 

‘Sex Positivity’ and Why It’s Not What We Do - I mentioned Meg-John and Justin before, I absolutely love their podcast. This is the accompanying blog they wrote to their episode on sex positivity. It’s really interesting and their podcast was actually the first place I came across the term ‘sex critical’. 

Videos

Cinderella: Stop Blaming the Victim -  I love a good video essay, I especially love a good video essay about Disney films. This is by Screen Prism a YouTube channel that came up in my recommended and I’ve since subscribed and watched loads of their videos. If you’re sick of the male-dominated movie/TV video essay genre then definitely check out these ladies!

Game of Thrones - What do the White Walkers Want? - do you know what else I love? Game of Thrones theory videos. If you’re into Game of Thrones this is a good one to watch. Basically, asks the question - in a show that so clearly questions the very notions of good vs evil, should we readily accept that the White Walkers are “evil” or is it more complicated than that?

Undressing Disability - this is my friend Emily’s TEDx Talk about disability and sex. I recently filmed with Emily and some others for a very special video for Buffer Festival and this was part of my research. 

The Evolution of YA: Young Adult Fiction, Explained - this one is for my fellow book nerds. Just super interesting.