All of the photographs in this NSFW Sunday are courtesy of photographer Maggie West, from her forthcoming book 23, and have been used with permission. (Read more about Maggie West below.) 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!
Photography by Maggie West from 23.
+ Having sex can make you feel smug for up to two days, according to a new study:
“You probably don’t need science to tell you that sex can make you feel happy. A new study, however, suggests that the good vibes that hit you in the moment may continue long after you’ve caught your breath. Researchers at Florida State University found that a single romp can keep couples feeling sexually satisfied for up to 48 hours […]
Over the two-week period, subjects reported doing the deed an average of four days. Interestingly, Meltzer and her team found that having sex wasn’t only linked with sexual satisfaction on the day it went down, but that people felt gratified for a full 48 hours post-coitus. The effect was consistent even after accounting for age, gender, relationship length, sex frequency, and personality traits.”
Photography by Maggie West from 23.
+ How will you sext with the new emojis?
+ At Oh Joy Sex Toy, Erika Moen reviewed the Tiger.
Photography by Maggie West from 23.
+ Sometimes you end up with a relationship capsule wardrobe.
+ NPR says polyamory is having a cultural moment.
Photography by Maggie West from 23.
+ “It’s on all of us to intentionally create a healthy culture around sexuality and relationships,” writes Katie Klabusich in a review of American Hookup (also reviewed at Autostraddle) at the Establishment:
“Can sex — even casual sex — actually be devoid of meaning? And more importantly, should it be?
Wade invokes the feelings of hearing your morning alarm, having your first sips of coffee, and other moments categorized as mundane; if we can feel something smelling a flower or indulging in comfort food, why would a sexual encounter be immune to emotion? I have realized over time that I wasn’t defective for wanting even casual sexual encounters to have meaning — even if that meaning was “just” fun, release, and temporary connection.”
Pair with Alana Massey’s “Against Chill.”
Photography by Maggie West from 23.
+ The photos in this week’s NSFW Sunday are by Maggie West, a Los Angeles-based photographer who specializes in experimental lighting technique. All are from 23, West’s second photo book coming April 26, which features 23 cis and trans women and men, essays about contemporary sexulity from Gaby Dunn, Arisce Wanzer, Christopher Zeischegg and Darcie Wilder, and is an exploration of gender and sexuality. “I wanted to do a nude book that explored gender and sexuality in less binary way. While looking at a lot of existing nude books, I felt that many of the subjects in were being depicted in very stereotypical ways (very feminine women, extremely masculine men, etc.). With 23, I wanted to create a nude book that felt more contemporary and was inclusive to all gender and sexual identities,” she told Autostraddle. “I believe that sexuality exists on a spectrum and if you are making a book or photo series about sexuality, it seems kind of absurd not to include members of the LGBTQ community.”
And on what she hopes for the future of queer representation, West says:
“I hope in the future we see more representation of queer people in the media. So often when we see love or sex depicted in advertising or on television, it is done in such a heteronormative way. Going forward, I hope we see a more diverse portrayals of love, sex and gender.”
West’s first book, KISS, featured beautiful technicolor photos of queer and straight couples kissing. You might also recognize her portraits of LA-based artists, models, and musicians from Stand: A Benefit for Planned Parenthood. 23 launches April 26.
Find West on instagram, twitter, or at her website.
Photography by Maggie West from 23.
Those photographs are AMAZING. Like, hang them up on my living room wall amazing.
Well, that just sold me a copy of her book.
These photos are gorgeous.
Ugh, Idk, I always find articles about “hook-up culture” kind of condescending and far removed from the hook-up experiences I had both in and after college.
I also felt like that review (and maybe the book it was reviewing), both assumed that people are out to have actual relationships (casual sex as a phase before settling into “adult” long term arrangements) and basically ignored relationships that aren’t heterosexual.
Also, I’ve read several articles in the last year or two claiming that millenials are having way less sex than previous generations. I’ve been out of college for about six years, so I think my cohort might have been Peak Hook-Up Culture and the trend is potentially shifting.
(this was about the Establishment piece, the AS piece made me feel less cranky, although I feel skeptical about linking rape and rape culture to hook-up culture. It feels kind of like victim blaming.)
If the photographs in this post are of women, they’re pretty stereotypical. And they’re all of people who conform very well with mainstream beauty standards. But I love the lighting!
My thoughts exactly.
Right. Autostraddle is usually super inclusive with NSFW Sunday, so this project must not be body diverse at all.
Ugh that first joke on the emoji article. The only ‘punchline’ I can get is either a rape one or maybe ‘just’ a violence one. I might be getting wrong end of stick though so if there’s a non-offensive joke there can someone explain it.
I don’t know man, maybe I’m just an angry queer but I don’t really know why AS keeps promoting Erika Moen. I know she’s queer and she writes about sex but the fetishistic way she talks about trans men and pretty much everything she writes about her and her husband’s interactions with queer women feels a bit ick, to say the least.
I have to agree, plus I’m told she and her cis husband(who maybe straight) tried to get a woman at pride to have a threeway. Not sure if the story is true or not, but yes she is awful.
Her husband is straight and there’s a story I’ve seen that he flashed his dick at a group of lesbians at a Pride event.
Also, she made a comic about being scared of black men then later tried to scrub it from the internet like her own personal Song of the South.
I can’t be the only one that wants to put the unicorn dildo on my forehead….. I don’t want to fuck myself with it, I just want to be one with my spirit animal and fuck other people over. It will awaken my inner unicorn goddess. Or it will give me a bad head ache. Who knows? Not this gal!
I looked at Maggie’s website and she has some great celebrity images, like Stephanie Beatriz, Gabby Dun, and Alia Shawkat.
I like
https://thebodyisnotanapology.com/magazine/sex-with-the-non-binary-person-even-when-that-person-is-you-maya/