Over 5,000 Naked People at the Sydney Opera House

(Click here to watch a short video on the event)

Less than two weeks ago thousands of Sydney residents congregated at the famous Opera House to shed their cloths in support of a free and equal society. The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras commissioned the famous American artist Spencer Tunick to take the picture, however neither party expected such a tremendous turn out.

Among the naked supporters were a pregnant woman (who was taken to the hospital shortly after the shooting to give birth) and a local weather man, who showed Sydney more than just the daily forecast.

“Gay men and women lay naked next to their straight neighbours and this delivered a very strong message” Tunick said. This was a message to the world, a message letting them know what Australians really embrace. It is stories like these, and individuals like Tunick, that help to spread these ideas to the rest of the world. Ideas that speak to the sameness of individuals, regardless of their sexual preferences.

Whenever I hear of such amazing events happening within our society I’m always moved. I often struggle with thinking optimistically about the future of gay rights, animals rights and mother nature’s rights. However stories like this bring me back to the power of the human spirit and the direction we’re moving in.

Thank you Tunick and thank you Sydney, for paving the way to equality…. one naked butt cheek at a time.

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College Students Urged to Trade in Their Bibles for Playboy

The Atheist Agenda, a student group at the University of Texas in San Antonio, is urging students to trade in their holy books (Koran, Bible, Vedas) for pornography. The group feels that ‘religious texts are so appalling, you’re better off having porn’.

The ‘Smut for Smut’ program, which has drawn widespread attention during its campaign, has apparently done fairly well. Riding on the idea that the program presents a fair trade, group member Brian Talker states, “[Religious texts] are so full of genocide, misogyny and ludicrous ideas that far overshadow any banal common-sense platitudes like loving thy neighbour, that you are better off having porn, which isn’t nearly as smutty.”

Although many question the groups tact, the students profess that ‘Smut for Smut’ is an excellent way to draw attention to religious leaders and the hypocrisy of their condemnations of pornography. “They’ve been going and rallying against pornography for the longest time,” the unidentified student said, “and the disgusting, depraved acts that are within the Bible, Koran and Vedas completely outnumber any [faults] of any pornographic image.”

Christian groups have risen up against the program by establishing anti ‘Smut for Smut’ websites (drawing thousands of members) and by giving away anti-pornography literature in a booth situated across from the Atheist Agenda. As of yet, neither group has backed down and both continue to campaign for their cause.

Although I have always lobbied for freedom of speech, even I know better than to venture my unsolicited opinion on this topic. So I will simply say that I think it’s important to fight for our opinions, but not to believe that they contain the whole truth, or the only truth. And that we ought to always entertain our belief with some measure of doubt – a point I still struggle with – as I wouldn’t wish people to dogmatically believe any philosophy…. not even mine. So instead of inserting ______ Teesha’s thoughts here _______ I will simply leave you with the facts and let you decide whether you’re offended by this story, or you find gentle amusement in its progressions.

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Swingers Clubs for the Artistic Type

A very renowned Vienna art museum has asked a swingers group to ‘move into’ a Gustav Klimt exhibition to help visitors confront their sexual inhibitions.

Gustav Klimt, who was famous for shocking Edwardian Europe with his sexually explicit artwork (most notably his 1902 “Beethoven Frieze”), is at the centre of the new exhibition. The museum felt that sexually explicit artwork, such as Klimt’s, was important and historic, but no longer shocking enough to the public. To combat this, the workers have combined artistic sexual expression with physical sexual expression. The result? Shock and amazement.

So what are the swingers actually doing in the museum? Well having sex of course. Orgies among the artwork begin in the evening and continue throughout the night. Visitors to the museum are therefore given the opportunity to overcome their inhibitions while ‘taking in’ as much of the artwork as possible.

My view? I think it’s fabulous that museums – often thought of as pretentious in nature – are not only embracing a radical and very liberated view of sexuality, but exposing this view for all to see. My swingers club experiences were not only shocking and liberating, but educational as well. The club that I first attended had multiple rooms with multiple themes (Arabian, Pillow Talk, Club Scene, Jungle etc) and each room had its own vibe. Some were very inviting, others had more of an exhibitionist feel. The rules of “No Means No” and “Ask Before You Touch” were strictly followed. And whether you were just there to observe or you were in to participate, everyone was overtly nice and welcoming. All and all, I think that more people could benefit from this type of experience. Now I’m not saying I joined in on all the ‘love’, but my opinion of the scene was positively altered but my openness to accept other peoples sexual expression.

My only critique is that all swingers could get tagged with an ‘orgy’ label. Many individuals who identify as swingers have more conservative practices that involve dating and couples only get-togethers. Be that as it may, I commend the museum for paving the way for a more liberated view of human sexuality. My motto: If it’s consensual and safe, all the power to you!

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100,000 Condoms & Counting in the Vancouver 2010 Olympics!

During Sydney’s summer games people were provided with 70,000 condoms and ran out! Beijing brought in 100,000 but had 5,000 left over. So what’s the lucky number? Well apparently in Vancouver its 14.6 condoms for each of the 6,850 athletes. Assuming that most condoms are used by couples, that works out to 29 encounters in 2 weeks, or 2 a day!

So why the condom spurge and sex extravaganza? Well, experts say it’s a combination of things. The fact that many athletes abstain from sex before the games, and that a large number of them don’t have steady partners because of their dedication to the sport (therefore they are more able to ‘hook up’ afterwards). Also many of the athletes are surrounded by alcohol, the party atmosphere and are constantly meeting new people.   

Ok so those reasons may seem obvious, but what isn’t is why we’re so interested in the athletes condom usage. Is it because we are bombarded with mysterious and alluring sexual imagery in media daily, and this imagery is almost exclusively tied to young, fit people… So athletes are sexy by definition? Are we just a sexually curious species, voyeurs by nature? Or is it because when it comes to sex, many people feel as though they are somehow missing out on something? Sex is sold to us as this amazing, mind blowing out-of-body experience. When in reality it’s usually messy, sometimes awkward and – for women especially – often lacking an orgasmic ending.  

Well regardless of the reason, I’m elated condoms are on the ‘must have’ list. As STI’s don’t discriminate, and the world is over populated enough. Although you can’t argue the fact that those athletes would produce some genetically gifted individuals!  

“Condoms aren’t completely safe…. A friend of mine was wearing one and got hit by a bus!” ~ Bob Rubin

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Semen Cookies!?

Last week a bunch of the ladies got together for Cocktails Hour. We had some drinks, appetizers and cocktails while telling…. you guessed it….. cock tales. What we didn’t have however, were semen cookies to snack on while we drank. Yes, I said semen cookies.

Recently I was sent the book Natural Harvest – A Collection of Semen Based Recipes. The author proclaims that “Semen is not only nutritious, but it also has a wonderful texture and amazing cooking properties. Like fine wine and cheeses, the taste of semen is complex and dynamic. Semen is an exciting ingredient that can give every dish you make an interesting twist. If you are a passionate cook and are not afraid to experiment with new ingredients – you will love this cook book!”

The ‘Gourmand World Cookbook Award’ nominated book does present a plethora of recipes and tips for cooking with semen. However, my question isn’t so much why someone would want to cook with semen (as I personally feel that drinking milk that was squeezed from the teat of another animal isn’t that much better), but rather how consistent is semen as an ingredient? As sexual scientists we’ve studied the precarious nature of semen and its changing consistency between people and within each person throughout their lifespan. Some semen is quite acidic (such as the ones that leave yellow stains on a man’s ‘hanky’ socks/towels from his ejaculate) some semen sweet. Sweet is of course a relative term, as semen usually doesn’t taste like lollypops. But my point is, if a man is living on fast food and beer as opposed to fresh fruit and veggies, his semen is going to present with vastly different flavour properties. So, can we really trust the ingredient to taste as the chef intended it to? Or will each of these recipes be dependent on the donors’ lifestyle?

A quick sidebar before you try the Natural Harvest recipes, I should point out that the sous-chef (for lack of a better term) must not have a Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI), a contagious blood borne disease, acute long term exposure to poisons, heavy metals, radiation or intravenous injections. The receiver must also be careful that they are not allergic to the semen, have cancer tumours that could contact concentrated ejaculate, or are sensitive to testosterone. However, if you and your partner are both free of the above constraints and want to try some tasty new recipes, please feel free! I would love to hear your reaction to the dish you made, and whether or not you’d recommend it to others…. as I think I might sit this one out.

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