I'm right into bloggery
Millions of people are using websites to talk about their sexual desires and fears. A revolution or a new twist on an old story? David Higgins gets wired.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2005 The wife and I had sex (again) on Wednesday night and it was great. F---ing great, in fact. And while my wife still isn't really on board with the whole dirty talk/fantasies thing (I do all the talking), I'm starting to think that if I have sex every three days I'll be happy as a well-f---ed clam.
The Man Nobody Knew
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2005 The Caveman and I have been together for many years. Until 2005, we let whole years go by without having sex. It was not about libido problems, though his is lower than mine. I have always felt very sexual. It was more about apathy and being timid with each other.
Wendy Cavewyfe
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2005 No sex to report. It's kinda hard to have sex when the two of you are in bed AND ASLEEP by 9.45pm! YIKES! Hopefully, the weekend will be better.
Over 40 Married Sex
MONDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2005 Phoenix & I are working rather hard at the moment. He falls asleep at around 7pm and I am up till around 10 or 11pm. Then he wakes up at 5am and I sleep till 7 … OK 8am. This does not permit us to get it on other than a quickie in the morning and we had some awesome outside sex over the weekend but it is not enough for either of us.
Suburban Sex
IMAGINE these were the confidential musings of a friend whose private diary unintentionally fell open in the wrong spot. Unable to resist, some of us might read a few paragraphs or even pages, before snapping the diary shut and carefully placing it back as it was found. But no one would discuss the entries with complete strangers or dare adding their own comments in the margin.
That, however, is exactly what the authors of the above passages intended.
These are not private diary entries. They are excerpts from online sex weblogs, or "blogs". The writers, who publicly diarise every thought and action concerning their sex lives, intend their words to be read and discussed by as many people as possible.
"It's like my free psychiatrist to vent to," says Suburban Sex Blog's anonymous author. "To help myself and to help others in the same situation."
Blogger Leela Lamore says: "I keep a sex blog, although I would like to call it more of a relationship blog, as it deals very much with my relationship with my husband and what it takes to have a good relationship."
Wendy Cavewyfe says: "I wanted an anonymous yet public place to work things through, with mediators and witnesses if you will. The feedback from commenters was invaluable. Either I'd feel vindicated or realise that I was way off base. I've never used porn and have only ever seen one sex film in my life."
No one knows how many people are publicly diarising their sex lives. A quick search of blog search engine Technorati.com reveals about 600 sex blogs with names such as Not So Normal, Confused Husband, Bedroom Dancer, He Doesn't Want Me, 30-year-old Virgin and Always Aroused Girl.
Blogger Violet Blue, who monitors sex websites for Uber sex blog Fleshbot, says she has "at minimum over 300 current sex blogs in my roster at any given time, and that's just a small sample of what's out there".
There's little doubt that sex blogs of every variety, from romantic to hard-core, number in their thousands, perhaps tens of thousands. As science fiction writer and sex blog aficionado Rudy Rucker recently wrote: "Sex blogs are very hot right now … Warbloggers are so 2001."
Technorati tracks more than 20 million blogs. "There are about 70,000 new weblogs created every day, about one every second," says Technorati founder David Sifry. "We're seeing over a million posts made every single day. In a world where you see over 50,000 posts every hour, it should not surprise you that a not insignificant number are writing about sexual content or pornography."
But the explosion in amateur online pornography doesn't end with sex blogs.
When the insecure Wendy Cavewyfe decided her husband didn't appreciate her figure, she modelled it on Yahoo's popular Flickr photo-sharing website for the 1 billion or so internet users. Hundreds of other amateur photographers post similar photos of themselves, their partners or other people.
Log into Apple's iTunes website and you can take your pick from dozens of amateur erotic audio recordings, or podcasts. Podcast directory Odeo lists about 160 "iPorn" podcasts. There are already several sex video podcasts, such as Kitkast, which launched in October. Thousands of "cam girls" and "cam boys" video themselves and ask for donations or gifts.
The internet even offers porn parody, such as Coeds with Colds, a website that mocks porn website cliches.
The online porn industry has not taken this lying down. In fact, far from hurting commercial pornographers, the explosion in free amateur online sexual content has boosted the industry. About 2.2 million Australians visited porn sites in the past year, an increase of 19 per cent, reports research group Nielsen//NetRatings. By comparison, the total Australian internet audience grew 13 per cent.
The industry has been smart, moving into niche areas and cashing in on porn chic. One of the most successful new porn sites, Suicide Girls, oozes indie cred and boasts endorsements by pop stars such as Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl. And it's not only the sex industry that is benefiting from this Sexual Revolution 2.0. Online bookstore Amazon.com now sells sex toys.
Are we throwing off the last vestiges of sexual repression? Where does this newfound exhibitionism come from? And in a world where anyone has access to anything, how will we protect our children?
In the late 1990s, there was a robust internet censorship debate in Australia. It revolved around Senator Brian Harradine, who demanded online content regulation in return for his balance-of-power vote on issues such as the Telstra sale. Barely a week went by without a headline: "The dark side of the net", "Harradine push to ban internet porn", "Net leaders vow to fight censorship". Today the debate, in Australia at least, is non-existent.
In May, the Federal Government unveiled the first major revision of Harradine's 2000 co-regulatory internet censorship legislation. The centrepiece? "Internet service providers will now be required to prominently display a link to internet safety information on their home page and provide customers with regular updates on filtering options every four months," announced Communications Minister Helen Coonan on May 27.
There is the occasional murmur from Family First and the federal ALP (which both advocate filtering by internet service providers). But the reality is, in the post-Harradine era, there are fewer political points to be gained by tighter online censorship.
With the exception of child pornography, Australians these days show little interest in internet censorship. The Government's internet watchdog last year received 1214 complaints about obscene online content. By comparison, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman received 16,012 complaints about technical faults with internet services (and 40,254 complaints about faulty mobile phones). It seems Australians don't care what's out there, as long as we have access.
Dr Michael Flood, a gender studies researcher at La Trobe University, calls this the "pornification" of mainstream media.
"X-rated porn stars run for office or become TV hosts, porn imagery is used to sell clothing to teenage girls or it finds its way onto (television's) Big Brother and so forth. It also reflects sexual liberalisation, a growing acceptance of sexual imagery and breaking down of traditional sexual moralities.
(But) I do think this is historically new, the idea that it's acceptable and desirable to tell your sexual stories in a public realm. Talking about sex and confessing one's sexual lives is increasingly popular. In a sense we have a sexual storytelling culture that began in the late 20th century."
Not everyone agrees. "Nothing has changed," says Kath Albury, a researcher in media and communications at the University of Sydney. "People always wrote love letters and explicit diaries. There are plenty of public diaries like (Leo) Tolstoy's wife (Sonya), and (James) Joyce wrote dirty letters to his wife (Nora Barnacle). As soon as the camera was invented, people were taking dirty pictures. It's just that anyone can post that now (on the internet)."
Albury differentiates porn from sex blogs: "There are people who are certainly not interested in commercial porn who are much more interested in seeing pictures of people who look like them. Mainstream porn is like the Hollywood system, with a homogenous view of human sexuality, whereas the diversity of the DIY porn shows a very wide range of body types and sexual practices."
Says Fleshbot's Violet Blue: "It's free, anonymous and fun, a far cry from all other outlets we've had on sex and sexuality throughout history. Online, it's safe to explore, ask questions, try new things. It's a new sexual revolution, absolutely, the extent of which we have yet to completely comprehend. And everyone will agree that we need to take sex back from the boring mainstream pornographers."
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2005 The wife and I had sex (again) on Wednesday night and it was great. F---ing great, in fact. And while my wife still isn't really on board with the whole dirty talk/fantasies thing (I do all the talking), I'm starting to think that if I have sex every three days I'll be happy as a well-f---ed clam.
The Man Nobody Knew
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2005 The Caveman and I have been together for many years. Until 2005, we let whole years go by without having sex. It was not about libido problems, though his is lower than mine. I have always felt very sexual. It was more about apathy and being timid with each other.
Wendy Cavewyfe
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2005 No sex to report. It's kinda hard to have sex when the two of you are in bed AND ASLEEP by 9.45pm! YIKES! Hopefully, the weekend will be better.
Over 40 Married Sex
MONDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2005 Phoenix & I are working rather hard at the moment. He falls asleep at around 7pm and I am up till around 10 or 11pm. Then he wakes up at 5am and I sleep till 7 … OK 8am. This does not permit us to get it on other than a quickie in the morning and we had some awesome outside sex over the weekend but it is not enough for either of us.
Suburban Sex
IMAGINE these were the confidential musings of a friend whose private diary unintentionally fell open in the wrong spot. Unable to resist, some of us might read a few paragraphs or even pages, before snapping the diary shut and carefully placing it back as it was found. But no one would discuss the entries with complete strangers or dare adding their own comments in the margin.
That, however, is exactly what the authors of the above passages intended.
These are not private diary entries. They are excerpts from online sex weblogs, or "blogs". The writers, who publicly diarise every thought and action concerning their sex lives, intend their words to be read and discussed by as many people as possible.
"It's like my free psychiatrist to vent to," says Suburban Sex Blog's anonymous author. "To help myself and to help others in the same situation."
Blogger Leela Lamore says: "I keep a sex blog, although I would like to call it more of a relationship blog, as it deals very much with my relationship with my husband and what it takes to have a good relationship."
Wendy Cavewyfe says: "I wanted an anonymous yet public place to work things through, with mediators and witnesses if you will. The feedback from commenters was invaluable. Either I'd feel vindicated or realise that I was way off base. I've never used porn and have only ever seen one sex film in my life."
No one knows how many people are publicly diarising their sex lives. A quick search of blog search engine Technorati.com reveals about 600 sex blogs with names such as Not So Normal, Confused Husband, Bedroom Dancer, He Doesn't Want Me, 30-year-old Virgin and Always Aroused Girl.
Blogger Violet Blue, who monitors sex websites for Uber sex blog Fleshbot, says she has "at minimum over 300 current sex blogs in my roster at any given time, and that's just a small sample of what's out there".
There's little doubt that sex blogs of every variety, from romantic to hard-core, number in their thousands, perhaps tens of thousands. As science fiction writer and sex blog aficionado Rudy Rucker recently wrote: "Sex blogs are very hot right now … Warbloggers are so 2001."
Technorati tracks more than 20 million blogs. "There are about 70,000 new weblogs created every day, about one every second," says Technorati founder David Sifry. "We're seeing over a million posts made every single day. In a world where you see over 50,000 posts every hour, it should not surprise you that a not insignificant number are writing about sexual content or pornography."
But the explosion in amateur online pornography doesn't end with sex blogs.
When the insecure Wendy Cavewyfe decided her husband didn't appreciate her figure, she modelled it on Yahoo's popular Flickr photo-sharing website for the 1 billion or so internet users. Hundreds of other amateur photographers post similar photos of themselves, their partners or other people.
Log into Apple's iTunes website and you can take your pick from dozens of amateur erotic audio recordings, or podcasts. Podcast directory Odeo lists about 160 "iPorn" podcasts. There are already several sex video podcasts, such as Kitkast, which launched in October. Thousands of "cam girls" and "cam boys" video themselves and ask for donations or gifts.
The internet even offers porn parody, such as Coeds with Colds, a website that mocks porn website cliches.
The online porn industry has not taken this lying down. In fact, far from hurting commercial pornographers, the explosion in free amateur online sexual content has boosted the industry. About 2.2 million Australians visited porn sites in the past year, an increase of 19 per cent, reports research group Nielsen//NetRatings. By comparison, the total Australian internet audience grew 13 per cent.
The industry has been smart, moving into niche areas and cashing in on porn chic. One of the most successful new porn sites, Suicide Girls, oozes indie cred and boasts endorsements by pop stars such as Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl. And it's not only the sex industry that is benefiting from this Sexual Revolution 2.0. Online bookstore Amazon.com now sells sex toys.
Are we throwing off the last vestiges of sexual repression? Where does this newfound exhibitionism come from? And in a world where anyone has access to anything, how will we protect our children?
In the late 1990s, there was a robust internet censorship debate in Australia. It revolved around Senator Brian Harradine, who demanded online content regulation in return for his balance-of-power vote on issues such as the Telstra sale. Barely a week went by without a headline: "The dark side of the net", "Harradine push to ban internet porn", "Net leaders vow to fight censorship". Today the debate, in Australia at least, is non-existent.
In May, the Federal Government unveiled the first major revision of Harradine's 2000 co-regulatory internet censorship legislation. The centrepiece? "Internet service providers will now be required to prominently display a link to internet safety information on their home page and provide customers with regular updates on filtering options every four months," announced Communications Minister Helen Coonan on May 27.
There is the occasional murmur from Family First and the federal ALP (which both advocate filtering by internet service providers). But the reality is, in the post-Harradine era, there are fewer political points to be gained by tighter online censorship.
With the exception of child pornography, Australians these days show little interest in internet censorship. The Government's internet watchdog last year received 1214 complaints about obscene online content. By comparison, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman received 16,012 complaints about technical faults with internet services (and 40,254 complaints about faulty mobile phones). It seems Australians don't care what's out there, as long as we have access.
Dr Michael Flood, a gender studies researcher at La Trobe University, calls this the "pornification" of mainstream media.
"X-rated porn stars run for office or become TV hosts, porn imagery is used to sell clothing to teenage girls or it finds its way onto (television's) Big Brother and so forth. It also reflects sexual liberalisation, a growing acceptance of sexual imagery and breaking down of traditional sexual moralities.
(But) I do think this is historically new, the idea that it's acceptable and desirable to tell your sexual stories in a public realm. Talking about sex and confessing one's sexual lives is increasingly popular. In a sense we have a sexual storytelling culture that began in the late 20th century."
Not everyone agrees. "Nothing has changed," says Kath Albury, a researcher in media and communications at the University of Sydney. "People always wrote love letters and explicit diaries. There are plenty of public diaries like (Leo) Tolstoy's wife (Sonya), and (James) Joyce wrote dirty letters to his wife (Nora Barnacle). As soon as the camera was invented, people were taking dirty pictures. It's just that anyone can post that now (on the internet)."
Albury differentiates porn from sex blogs: "There are people who are certainly not interested in commercial porn who are much more interested in seeing pictures of people who look like them. Mainstream porn is like the Hollywood system, with a homogenous view of human sexuality, whereas the diversity of the DIY porn shows a very wide range of body types and sexual practices."
Says Fleshbot's Violet Blue: "It's free, anonymous and fun, a far cry from all other outlets we've had on sex and sexuality throughout history. Online, it's safe to explore, ask questions, try new things. It's a new sexual revolution, absolutely, the extent of which we have yet to completely comprehend. And everyone will agree that we need to take sex back from the boring mainstream pornographers."
posted by professor rat at 2:58 PM
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