Pleasure Trove Reading List! (Ep. 5) (Patreon)

Hi all, 

We hit the goal, so here it is! The first #PleasureTrove Reading List! As this is the first one the structure is a bit of an experiment and may change but let me know what you think. We have "further reading" first which is other bits from stuff talked about in the most recent episode of Pleasure Trove. And then everything else, which I split into sections. Most of the stuff in this one is news and videos. 

(I know most of you wanted the HanDan Podcast first but this one was easier for me to get off the ground quickest as I'm already consuming this stuff. Once we've done 2-3 months of this and got into a good rhythm with it - and we stay above 600 patrons - we shall embark on the HanDan Podcast!)

Episode 5 Further Reading:

The Controversy Around Jameela Jamil’s Ballroom Show Speaks to a Larger Issue in the LGBTQ+ Community - Great background in this piece on vogueing, ballroom and the show, Legendary. But the “larger issue” it speaks of is bi-erasure, biphobia, gatekeeping queerness and erasing Asians from the queer narrative too. Every marginalised community seems to have it’s in-fighting but that doesn’t make it okay. It’s completely counter-productive.

Jameela Jamil and Phillip Schofield: two tales of coming out - a more in depth look at the two experiences. 

Harvey Weinstein trial: Could written sexual consent stand up in court? - BBC article. In short, no. 

If you don’t understand this simple thing, don’t have sex - Girl On The Net. Referenced in the video. Definitely worth a read.

Why is Gwyneth Paltrow selling a candle that smells like her vagina? - this was before Goop Lab came out on Netflix but when this was released and just sighed so heavily. She really is juggling the perfect balancing act between monetising vagina-shame and monetising vagina-empowerment. How?! 

I actually talked about two other documentaries in the latest Pleasure Trove but then the video was too long so we cut them but I’ll add them here:

Panorama - Secrets of the Seduction Bootcamp - PUAs are gross but also taking financial advantage of often vulnerable and confused men. I don’t think the journalist/presenter in this doc is very good though, there’s one bit where he’s confronting one of the PUAs and the PUA is just clearly so much more funny and charismatic than the presenter, he makes him look like a idiot. Even I though, he seems like a really fun guy! WTF.

Inside The Secret World of Incels - BBC3 Doc. From PUAs to Incels. Yikes. I am scared of and yet also pity incels. This doc did a good job of showing a wide range of men who call themselves incels. From the misogynistic murderers to lonely men just looking for connection. One of the guys even talked about being in a part of the incel group that don’t hate women and he seemed to have a very active leisure and social life. 

Other Stuff:

NEWS

Sexually transmitted infections: UK’s sexual health ‘not in good shape’ - Terrance Higgins Trust and British Association for Sexual Health and HIV issued a new report which shows that the government cut sexual health spending by 25% in England since 2014. 25%! And gonorrhoea cases are up and nearly half of new STI cases are in people under 25. Makes me sad and I really doubt this current government is suddenly going to turn around and decide to put loads of money into sexual health services and re-open closed clinics but happy to be proved wrong. 

Labour leadership: Long-Bailey backs call to expel ‘transphobic’ members - the Labour Campaign for Trans Rights created 12 pledges to rid the party of transphobia and it named two transphobic organisations Woman’s Place UK and LGB Alliance. This basically caused an uproar on social media with people from those groups and TERFS using #ExpelMe (from the Labour Party). When you’re on the left, you’re held to a much higher standard (and that’s definitely a good thing) but sometimes it feels like members of the Conservative Party are just given free-passes in the racism and transphobia because their voters don’t care. 

COMINGS OUTS

Shame | ContraPoints - in a very moving video, Natalie came out as gay. 

I’m Gay - another coming out video from another YouTuber, Niki Albon. So happy for him! My slight crush on him now makes so much more sense (I tend to fancy gay men without knowing they’re gay). And I feel like I can say that to you because I told him and we had a nice giggle about it.

FTM - JAMIE

FTM Outro || Transition Start to Finish - JammiDodger (Jamie). This was such a gorgeous video to mark what Jamie sees as the beginning and end of his transition. 

FTM BOTTOM SURGERY || Your Questions Answered - Jamie again with a bottom surgery Q&A. I learned a lot from this video because I really didn’t know much about the technical side of bottom surgery or that there were different kinds. Thanks for sharing, Jamie!

OTHER GREAT VIDEOS

I’m Pregnant and on Antidepressants - Linda Barsi at it again with just such a great video about mental health. Love her pregnancy updates. She’s gonna pop any day now!

Sexual Negotiation featuring Midori - Lindsey Doe (Sexplanations). Oh boy this video was AMAZING! It made me want to do hypothetical sexual negotiations for EVERYONE. So cool to see how something that seems very clinical is actually very very sexy!