Betty Dodson with Carlin Ross

Diva antics aside, Naomi Campbell is redeeming herself by picking up the feminist banner.

First, she took on maternal mortality becoming a global ambassador for the White Ribbon Alliance, an international coalition for maternal health.

Naomi stated publically that "no woman should die giving birth."  Most of us don't realize that pregnancy is the leading killer of women of reproductive age in the developing world -- more than 80 percent of them preventable. A woman dies in childbirth or pregnancy every minute worldwide.

Then, Naomi took on discrimination against black models, "Where do we see a woman of colour in an advert? It's quite blatant."

I could not wait to get my pole dance project under way. This is truly an understudied environment and I'm all about being the pioneer! I began a month long conversation with the studio manager at the New York City location about if and how the school would want to be involved in my project. It was during much phone tag with my contact at the school that I discovered they were having a Halloween party for their students. I decided this was a perfect opportunity for observation of the students at this school and a full on sub-cultural experience.  After I put out a few more unreturned phone calls in order to get on the guest list for the event I did what any intrepid investigator would do, I went ahead and crashed the party.

Inspired by the Guardian's coverage of Chella Quint, a menstruation activist (yes, that's her in the pic and that's not red lipstick it's menstrual blood), I decided to ask our female bloggers to answer this question,  "what does your period mean to you?" 

As a young girl, I was terrified by first period stories.  You know the period lore - the accounts of the girls who got their period in school unprepared with either blood running down their legs or blood soaking through their panties and their jeans to the jeers of their classmates.  I was so thankful when I got my period the morning before school right after my shower.  Somehow I had been spared the indignity that a simple panty liner could have eliminated. 

What My Period Means to Me:

I have one towel. It's tattered but beautiful. It's almost as heavy as a thick slab or rubber; but I need it to be that way. It wears a shade of orange so perfect that it magically exudes a comfort and sexual energy I cannot ignore. I lie it down on my bed. I take off my panties. I pull out my soiled tampon (or, ideally, menstrual cup) and toss it in a small trash can. Then, I go to bed.

The next morning, my thighs are decorated in blood. My towel wears my femininity proudly, soulfully deep red blotches appear next to browned ones that (after many a wash) still fight to remain present.

Penny and I have admired each other's ground breaking art for decades. We agree as sister artists that the best thing in the world a woman can do is to have a BAD Reputation. Carlin and I call our business BAD Media, LLC. And my initials spell BAD. Can't wait to read her book, Bad Reputation.

She was a runaway at thirteen, a reform-school graduate at sixteen, a performer in the legendary New York City Play-House of the Ridiculous at seventeen, and an escapee from Andy Warhol's Factory scene at nineteen. Penny Arcade emerged in the 1980s as a primal force on the New York art scene and an originator of what came to be called performance art.

"The pleasure is in your hands" is a new workshop being offered by the Spanish government through its Youth Council and the Institute for Women and it's quite controversial. The workshop encourages teens to masturbate and teaches them how to use sex toys. The course description includes how to use and enjoy ben-wa balls "because they help strengthen the muscles in women", and how to stimulate your genitals with oils, lubricants and all types of vibratory equipment (sound familiar).

The first time I heard about labiaplasty was about 10 years ago on the Howard Stern show.  It was right when we started seeing the "clamshell" asethetic in porn and all the porn stars who came on the show would talk about the surgery.  One pornlet had her snipped labia suspended in a clear resin block and auctioned it off on ebay.

What struck me then was that there had been no research.  No one knew what the risks were in removing sexual tissue directly from a woman's genitals.  Most women say they want the surgery because they're embarrassed of their labia during sex.  Not that far off from Betty's experience believing she was genitally deformed because she had "dangling inner lips".  It took the right lover to convince her that she was "normal".   

Finally, someone is standing up for women. Gynaecologist Sarah Creighton and psychologist Lih-Mei Liao are challenging the ethics of offering women surgery to address such insecurities, suggesting it is advertisements for a "homogenised, pre-pubescent genital appearance" which creat these anxieties in the first place. 

Current TV takes a behind the scenes look at the porn industry including my favorite site kink.com

For those new to my blog, I write on my sex life, in erotica form, because many of us need only read of an example of what really is possible or that they'd never thought of. It so often lights a desire inside to "Want to do that. To feel that." To want to learn how to have better sex through sex education, consulting, and coaching, maybe for the first time in their lives.

Olivia and I set the alarm clock for early the night before. Got to her place late, cleaned up, and snuggled down into bed together. Out went the lights. When that alarm clock rang, we woke up gradually, first me touching her cute small foot with mine, which she responded to. We curled around each other. Did all the getting up to use the bathroom stuff, then, get the towel (to cover the sheets) let's sex it!

Scientists at the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Centre's Institute for Regenerative Medicine have found a way to conduct penis transplants on rabbits. So why fiddle with the rabbit's dong? Leading this research is Dr. Anthony Atala, former pediatric urologist and a specialist for regenerative medicine. His expertise has made it possible to successfully create a "tailor-made transplant".

This is a pretty incredible process for those who suffer from genital injury (*cough*), penile cancer, erectile dysfunction, and other genital disorders. There is also a chance that if a penis is grafted onto an infant, then this new sex organ will grow and develop with the child.

I can identify with Jane's comment on her sexlife being better than ever at 71. I had a double hip replacement and at 69 began a love affair with a young man who was 47 years younger. Once he became my protégé, teaching him about the sex I'd always wanted was so delightful that it lasted throughout my seventies. Orgasms for Two: the Joy of Partnersex chronicles our sexlife. While Jane says she wouldn't want to be young again, I'd go for it in a heart beat! At 80, I'm just getting a good start toward making important dreams come true.

Laura Roberts' article was sent to me by Steven Otero to support my latest commitment to self publish my sexual memoir. It got me thinking that Nin's sexual diary was nothing like what I'm doing really. Good thing I actually enjoy being ostracized by people who don't like sex. Saves time.  Here's Laura's take on the reality of being a female sex writer:

Female sex writers often get labelled; people think they're promiscuous, flighty, frivolous, that they're porn stars or prostitutes or worse. They're often assumed to be living the impossible life of Carrie Bradshaw, a fictional character who has been the bane of my writing career since its beginning. Sorry to disappoint, but I have never in my life worn a giant vagina, er, flower pin in public. Nor do I intend to.

A Scrabble pin with the letter V, on the other hand... well, that's just nerdy-hot.