All of the photographs in this NSFW Sunday come from Switch Leather and were taken by Beth Olson Creative. The inclusion of a photograph here should not be interpreted as an assertion of the model’s gender identity or sexual orientation. If you’re a photographer or model and think your work would be a good fit for NSFW Sunday, please email carolyn at autostraddle dot com.
Welcome to NSFW Sunday!
+ Coding Rights is a feminist hacker group that’s trying to approach nudes and digital privacy through a feminist lens:
“‘Society tells us to hide our bodies and our sexuality so we will be safer — not to mention trans, queer, bodies of color that are basically told to just disappear,’ says [Natasha] Felizi. ‘But that is not the kind of safety we are pursuing. When one advises a women or a QTIAPOC person to avoid showing images of themselves, to avoid showing their bodies in their sexual power, they are in a certain way telling them to refrain from producing self-representation or from being who they are.’”
Instead of saying “don’t send the nudes you’ve already sent and will send anyway,” Coding Rights is pressuring governments for better privacy laws, pressuring tech companies for better default settings, and recommending other ways to obscure your identity, like editing identifying features out of photos, using apps that don’t require personal information to sign up and deleting metadata before pressing send. Also maybe if someone sends you nudes don’t be an asshole, okay?
+ Pair with Tina Horn’s discussion of nude modelling and conversation with erotic photographer Ellen Stagg:
“I asked Ellen what she thinks her Stagg Street members love about her nude stills as opposed to, say, hardcore porn. We discussed curiosity about bodies, and the transgression of looking at something that’s supposed to be private. The voyeur can imagine being with the model, and they can imagine being the model. Photography will always have the allure of a window into another world, a tease at something to which you may be permitted access, or possibly just a peek into something that could never be yours.”
+ All about your ex: When your relationship starts to be a chore, maybe it’s over. Here’s how to have a better breakup. Here are some suggestions for how to forgive a terrible ex. Or here’s how a witch would bind a toxic ex if you can’t yet. Plus, eating alone is great.
+ BDSM can feel so good because of fun neurochemicals (even if research mostly points to the need for more research):
“‘Like many potentially stressful or extreme experiences (e.g., sky-diving, fire-walking), individuals’ bodies react to that stress when they engage in BDSM,’ Science of BDSM researcher Kathryn Klement told Broadly. ‘We interpret these cortisol results to mean that when people engage in BDSM play (as the receiver of sensations) or extreme rituals, their bodies release a hormone usually associated with stress. However, we’ve also found that people subjectively report their psychological stress decreasing, so there is a disconnect between what the body is experiencing, and what the individual is perceiving.’”
+ Wash your hands before fingering someone.
+ This is what you need to know about herpes.
+ “Clearly, the conversation about interracial relationships, like the conversation about the many complex layers of social oppression—including racism, ableism, sexism, heteronormativity, and cis sexism—needs to shift with the coming administration,” writes Morgann Freeman at the Establishment.
+ The thing about pick-up lines is that the only line that actually works is an expression of genuine curiosity or respect for the person you want to talk to with no expectation of anything more. Compliment her on her whiskey, ask them about their earrings, but approach people as people and not as objects onto whom to project a fantasy.
+ You also don’t actually care about a lot of your dating preferences.
+ Thongs! They are old.
+ If you have labia and a period, maybe don’t glue them together as a tampon alternative.
+ Straight women have the least satisfying sex.
+ We need intersectional sex ed.
+ This article starts with the headline “inside the sex party that lets straight women be gay for a night,” and, well:
“The invitation to Skirt Club, a women-only, bisexual and bi-curious sex party, tells you one thing, loud and clear: This may be a girls-only orgy, but it’s not lesbianism as you know it. This is Katy Perry singing ‘I kissed a girl and I liked it.’ This is an Agent Provocateur window display. This is the kind of awkward, lighthearted, lesbianism many women either had – or wished they’d had – in college. It’s ‘lesbianism’ that lesbians will recognize, but have a hard time endorsing without some irony. It’s lesbianism as a side piece. It’s lesbianism: our little secret, for women whose bi-curiosity has become too overwhelming to ignore.”
