The Golden Girls were chronic masturbators.

All right, maybe there???s no definitive evidence, but it’s certainly plausible. Masturbation is a healthy practice, with countless benefits like stress reduction and skin rejuvenation but female masturbation is still a hush-hush topic.

Ph.D. sexologist Betty Dodson said that the taboo nature of female masturbation, and its awkwardness, goes hand-in-hand with sexism. From holding New York City’s first erotic art exhibition in 1968 to 23 years of Bodysex groups where women learn about orgasms and how to see their genitals as beautiful Dodson has been a pioneer in the sex-positive feminist movement for the past 40 years.

Due to sexual repression and the double standard, women are supposed to be fulfilled by intercourse alone, Dodson said.

Like Dodson, modern sex activists are adopting a feminist stance in the current sexual revolution: encouraging women to empower themselves through masturbation.

Like a Virgin

Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud said that the libido is the single most important motivating force in life, yet most sexual education focuses on precaution and leaves gratification out of the dialogue.

[Current education] is about how to help you learn the basics to prevent pregnancy and prevent sexually transmitted conditions, but not necessarily as a precursor to the kind of pleasure that adults in intimate relationships can have with each other, Ph.D. sexologist Carol Queen said.

She believes that society goes mum when it comes to the topic of masturbation because it is considered inappropriate to talk about.

There’s a silence around it and the silence speaks volumes, she said. It carries its own message.

In 1998, Heather Corinna founded the first young adult sex education Web site, Scarleteen.com, the no-spin zone of adolescent sexuality. Read More

As this year’s international sex and technology conference Arse Elektronika 2008 hit its stride last Saturday — that’s Folsom Street Fair eve here in San Francisco ??“ I found myself on a panel discussing “The Erotic of the Machine” (listen to the MP3 here) with six men and a sizable audience. The men were an assembly of artists from the Bay Area and Seattle to Austria and France, along with a sex machine maker, a sex machine pornographer and a spokesperson from San Francisco’s Kink.com, where the most famous sex machine site hails from. (That’s F-ing Machines.com, also here in San Francisco.)

They went off on an existential tangent as we discussed sex with machines, ideas for “softer” interfaces, theories about the industrial revolution, gender and sexuality. I sat on my hands with a burning query until I couldn’t stand it anymore. Finally, I grabbed the microphone and asked Monochrom’s Johannes Grenzfurthner if I could ask Kink.com’s Thomas Roche what I thought was the million-dollar question. And for Kink that million dollars is probably literal. I said, “Thomas. You work at Kink. The F-ing Machines site is insanely popular. Why!? Why do people want to watch women have sex with machines, and pay good money to do it? What’s the appeal?”

Thomas is of course used to this type of outburst from me onstage. His response was fantastic, including conjecture about the viewers projecting themselves into the scene, but he centered on the basic fact that it’s a woman alone, pleasuring herself, with no unnecessary window dressing tacked on. It’s true that a machine enables huge variations in how one conjures an orgasm, as in speed, stroke, size, vibration, steadiness, how long it all lasts — things that wouldn’t be possible with a human. Thomas told me, “There are many other advantages to sex with a human, and many things you will not get — yet — from a machine, like skin touch, smell, eye contact, tenderness, etc. Those things that humans alone can provide (so far) are only part of the sexual experience, but they are so fraught with intensity that they can often dominate the experience. Since women in particular are socialized to not be blatant about physical pleasure, even if they’re blatant about sexuality, seeing that kind of physical expression, and focusing on the purely penetrative and rhythmic, is liberating for many, including women and men who like watching women.” Read More

bese men have poorer quality sperm, perhaps because too much fat around their testicles causes them to heat up, scientists have suggested.

University of Aberdeen researchers looked at the sperm of over 2,000 men in couples having problems conceiving.

The heaviest men had a higher proportion of abnormal sperm, as well as other problems.

The scientists told a European fertility conference losing weight probably boosted fertility.

Being obese is already known to affect women’s chances of getting pregnant.

The men were divided into four groups, according to their BMI (body mass index).

Other factors which could affect fertility, such as smoking, high alcohol use and age, were taken into account by the researchers.

Men who had a healthy BMI of 20 to 25 were had higher levels of normal sperm than those who were heavier.

They also had higher semen volume, the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology meeting in Barcelona was told.

But those with a higher BMI had lower volumes of seminal fluid, and a higher proportion of abnormal sperm.

There was no significant difference between the four groups in sperm concentration or activity.

Other studies have also linked obesity to DNA damage in the sperm.

Semen quality

Dr Ghiyath Shayeb, who led the research, said: “Our findings were quite independent of any other factors and seem to suggest that men who are trying for a baby with their partners, should first try to achieve an ideal body weight.

“This is in addition to the benefit of a healthy BMI for their general well being.

“Adopting a healthy lifestyle, a balanced diet, and regular exercise will, in the vast majority of cases, lead to a normal BMI.

“We are pleased to be able to add improved semen quality to the long list of benefits that we know are the result of an optimal body weight.”

The researchers will now look at male BMI in fertile and infertile couples to see if the poorer semen quality is directly linked to poor fertility, and examine further how obesity can damage sperm.

Dr Shayeb said there were a number of possible explanations, including different hormone levels in obese men, overheating of the testicles caused by excessive fat in the area, or simply the lifestyle and diet that leads to obesity also causing poorer semen quality.

Dr Ian Campbell, chair of the charity Weight Concern, said it was known that overweight people had a tendency to have fewer children.

He said there had been a suspicion that was mainly due to lack of opportunity.

“But if weight actually has a detrimental effect on sperm quality, that’s really interesting,” he said

“It’s one more reason for men to lose weight.”

Taken from news.bbc.co.uk

Paris Hilton and her breasts have been away for far too long! That stupid boyfriend keeping her at home and from flashing her crotch every time we turned around. Read More at blog.celebritymovieblog.com

If you’re flying out of New York or LA this week, you could show some out-of-sight airport security guard more than you bargained for. The “whole body imaging” machines tested in Phoenix proved so successful, they??™re expanding them to major airports starting this week and nationwide later in the year, according to CNN. While some complain that such detailed, under-the-clothes shots pose a privacy concern, TSA says 90 percent of passengers prefer their goods to be photo-ed rather than fondled. Faces and private bits are blurred, and the images are viewed only by a mysterious, isolated screener. Read More

Julia Roberts has revealled that she avoided the set of her new movie Charlie Wilson’s War while Tom Hanks was filming his nude scene.

Julia has admitted being too embarrassed to watch her co-star bare all for the cameras so she made sure she stayed well away.

She says: “I wasn’t around for Tom’s butt shot. A memo was sent round saying, ‘If you can’t handle it, stay home.’ So I didn’t go in.”

Julia - who makes a rare appearance in a bikini in the movie - recently insisted shestrip off on film again, claiming actors who agree to nude scenes are not staying true to their craft.

Does that include Tom?

PARTHENAY, France (AFP) ??” Twelve farmers from western France and six of their wives have posed in the nude for a charity calendar, claiming to “be fed up to the backteeth with being taken for a load of bumpkins.”

“Just because you’re a farmer’s wife doesn’t mean you’re a farmer. Of the six women who are on display, there’s a vet, some nurses and a beauty-parlour manager,” said Patrice Boinot, a 35-year-old cattle farmer.

“This has allowed us to get rid of certain prejudices which some people still have about farmers’ wives,” said photographer Daniel Mar.

Do you have the idea that the only sex toys out there are vibrators and dildos? Well, wake up from your slumber; this is the 21st century! Options abound, and you might want to try them. Would you like to buzz along to your iPod? Just plug in the OhMiBod and let it help you find the rhythm. If you don??™t have an iPod, no worries. It also works without it.

Why not wear the Remote Butterfly under your clothes and let your lover handle the remote? It works from 15 feet away and can add some extra fun on the dance floor, in the kitchen, or in your backyard when you??™re raking leaves.

Fortunately, we live in Virginia and not in Texas, where obscenity laws prevent the promotion and sale of, no kidding, ???sex toys shaped like sexual organs.???

Truly, the possibilities are endless. The tiny Fukuoko 9000Finger Vibrator slips right onto your finger and helps relieve headaches and more. There are various Vibrating Sleeves and Cock Rings that can provide a little extra excitement for him??”alone or with a partner. Various styles of Nipple Teasers add extra spice to stimulating those erogenous zones.

Want something slick that can pass the airport security check without lifted eyebrows? Try the ultra-small but powerful Athena Pocket Rocket Vibrator or the Natural Contours Vibrator that looks more like an elegant telephone receiver than a penis. Many of these vibrators are designed to stimulate not only a woman??™s clitoris, but also to provide anal pleasure and to reach your G spot. Read More