Sep 182014
 

Entertainment media have long been identified as having a key role to play in education about sex and relationships. All too often in studies of sexual learning the media have been assessed for their potentially negative effects on young people. For example, studies have correlated consumption of particular media forms with early sexual intercourse or teenage pregnancy, while parents and schools have been seen as providing a positive corrective.

However empirical research shows that this simple binary is not always accurate: in some instances entertainment media may offer positive information and representations while school or parents often offer more moralizing or conservative perspectives. For example, a young person growing up in a homophobic family may see happy queer characters in a sitcom; or young people attending a school that emphasizes young women’s role as gatekeepers and controllers of men’s sexuality may find helpful TV dramas that explore women’s active sexual agency.

This special issue of the journal Sex Education will engage with these and related concerns, pausing to take stock of where we are now, especially with respect to the positive role that old and newer forms of media can play in learning about sex.

Papers may focus on any aspect of the entertainment media, and on any aspect of healthy sexual development – including, but not limited to, open communication about sex, assertiveness, sexual agency, sexual identity, or an acceptance that sex can be pleasurable.

If you are not sure whether your article is appropriate for this special issue, please feel free to send an abstract in the first instance to a.mckee@qut.edu.au

Articles for the special issue will be subject to normal peer review in line with the procedures of the journal.

You should submit your article for review by the 24th the journal’s instructions for authors at: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?

Peer review:

Articles for the special issue will be subject to normal peer review in line with the procedures of the journal.

Timeline:

You should submit your article for review by the 24th October 2014. You can find the journal’s instructions for authors at:

http://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?journalCode=csed20&page=instructions#.Utent_27yf0

When you submit your article will be asked whether you are submitting for a special issue. Please use the pull-down menu to note that you are submitting your paper for the special issue The Media’s Evolving Role in Sex Education. Please also note in the manuscript of your article that you are submitting it for this special issue. If you have any questions about the mechanics of submitting a paper for Sex Education you should find the answers in the guidelines for authors mentioned above.

More on the guest editors

Alan McKee is a Professor in the Creative Industries Faculty at Queensland University of Technology, and leads the ‘Promoting Healthy Sexual Development’ research group at QUT. He is particularly interested in the relationship between media consumption and healthy sexual development. He has published in the Journal of Sex Research, Archives of Sexual Behavior, International Journal of Sexual Health and Sex Education.

Sara Bragg is a Senior Research Fellow in the Education Research Centre at the University of Brighton. She is co-author of many books, reports and articles on young people’s cultures including Young People, Sex and the Media (with David Buckingham, 2004); co-editor of Children and Young People’s Cultural Worlds (with Mary Jane Kehily, 2013) and of Rethinking Youth Cultures in the Age of Global Media (with Buckingham and Kehily, 2014) .

Tristan Taormino is an award-winning writer, sex educator, speaker, filmmaker, and radio host. She is the editor of 25 anthologies, author of seven books, and co-editor of The Feminist Porn Book: The Politics of Producing Pleasure. As the head of Smart Ass Productions, she has directed and produced sixteen sex-ed films. Tristan’s work, writing and films are routinely used in college courses to explore the complex issues of relationship and sexual diversity, politics, and media.

Jun 032013
 

quickiesSpring is in the air, so if you’ve got the fever, grab a camera and have a Quickie!

Good Vibrations Quickies Erotic Shorts Competition wants you to show them what you think is “erotic” – sexy, saucy, funny, bizarre or whatever — in any genre or orientation in 7 minutes or less. Finalists will be screened at the Castro Theatre on Friday, October 25th 2013, where the Audience Choice Winner will receive $1,500.

The deadline for submissions is June 30th and submission is free. Check out the submission guidelines. Any questions can be directed to marketing@goodvibes.com.

May 062013
 

Routledge-Logo-2

The editors, Feona Attwood (Middlesex University) and Clarissa Smith (University of Sunderland), and Routledge are pleased to announce the launch of a new journal devoted to the study of pornography.

Porn Studies is the first dedicated, international, peer-reviewed journal to critically explore those cultural products and services designated as pornographic and their cultural, economic, historical, institutional, legal and social contexts. Porn Studies will publish innovative work examining specifically sexual and explicit media forms, their connections to wider media landscapes and their links to the broader spheres of (sex) work across historical periods and national contexts.

Porn Studies is an interdisciplinary journal informed by critical sexuality studies and work exploring the intersection of sexuality, gender, race, class, age and ability. It focuses on developing knowledge of pornographies past and present, in all their variations and around the world. Because pornography studies are still in their infancy we are also interested in discussions that focus on theoretical approaches, methodology and research ethics. Alongside articles, the journal includes a forum devoted to shorter observations, developments, debates or issues in porn studies, designed to encourage exchange and debate.

Porn Studies invites submissions for publication, commencing with its first issue in Spring 2014. Articles should be between 5000 and 8000 words. Forum submissions should be 500-1500 words. Book reviews should be between 800 and 1500 words. Submissions will be refereed anonymously by at least two referees.

In the first instance submissions, queries and suggestions should be sent to: editorspstudies@gmail.com

Jan 242013
 

This call for submissions comes from @lastellanera at theyaretoremindme.tumblr.com so you can reblog from there, but I’ve also pasted all the information you need below:

~~~

So I’m trying to put together a publication on radical perspectives on sex/porn/sex work/kink that goes beyond the basic sex-posi feel-goodness, isn’t just a glossary, examines things from a variety of radical angles.

E.g., i’m co-writing a piece on the place of porn & kink “before and after the rev”* – what is problematic about porn & kink, what is functional-in-current-social-conditions about porn & kink, and what aspects of porn & kink would survive if systems of power/oppression were minimal/nonexistent.

I’m really looking for whatever people have to say from a radical & feminist or womanist perspective. It doesn’t have to be from an explicitly sex-pos standpoint, and can range from personal narrative to art to analysis/critique.

All sorts of printable media welcome.

I’m especially interested in featuring work by queers, people of color, trans* folk, disabled folks, and women.

If you’re interested, please get at my inbox or email me at lastellanera [at] gmail [dot] com

*”before the rev”= current white-supremacist/classist/misogynist/etc. society
“after the rev” = systems of power/oppression are minimal/nonexistent/destroyed

Please repost!

Dec 202012
 

Smitten Kitten 264x166

Media has an enormous impact on how we view and engage in conversations about sex and sexuality.  Broadly defined erotic media can be a tool for social change but can also reinforce stereotypes and promote a sex negative cultural backlash. Whether it is a porn film, a book of erotica, mainstream news coverage of sexual issues, social media bringing together sexual communities, or a sexy picture from a photo archive illustrating a news story, it is clear that the intersection of sexuality and the media is rapidly changing both discourses on sexuality and the media landscape itself. SWELL is a conference devoted to critical conversations about these forms of media, conversations that need to be dynamic, challenging, and creative. This meeting is meant to be a space for discussion, synthesis, and collaboration, a praxis on erotic media which in which we share both broader theoretical frameworks and practical skills. We invite presenters who engage with erotic media in any way:  in their business, in their activism, as a side project to other callings and disciplines, or as their central passion and life’s work.

SwellCon is a project hosted by The Smitten Kitten, a progressive sex toys and supplies provider and community resource located in Minneapolis, MN, USA. We are organizing this conference in honor of our 10th anniversary. It is very important to us that under-represented voices and communities be able to present and attend SwellCon. To that end, we will be offering honorariums on a sliding scale to cover travel and lodging costs as well as to pay you for your unique contribution to the success of SwellCon! We especially encourage people of color, differently-abled people, sex workers, LGBTQUIA folks, people of faith, and non-academics to send proposals and attend!

Deadline for Submissions: February 28th, 2013. Details are below or the link to the submission guidelines is here: http://swellcon.com/category/submit-a-proposal/

Submission Guidelines:

You may propose either an individual presentation or a pre-constituted panel.  Please note that because of limited time and space, we will be unable to accommodate all proposals, and we reserve the right to reconstitute some panels for reasons of time, space, and non-duplication of topics.

Please send us a proposal with the following information:

Session Title:
Presenter(s):
Equipment Needs and Special Considerations (AV, room layout, etc.):
What topic(s) of interest does your session address?
In a paragraph, describe your session topic:
What is the main thesis of your presentation? What do you hope to achieve during the session? What is the take away?
How would you describe the format of your proposed session? (roundtable discussion, lecture, small group work, skill share, etc.)
What learning styles will your session utilize (visual, oral, tactile, etc.)?
Please note that we are unable to accommodate live, explicit demonstrations in the conference area. Please contact me directly if you would like to discuss alternatives spaces.

Topics
We are interested in a wide range of topics for SWELL. These include, but are not limited to:

Media Skill Share
examples of topics that may be covered:
DIY Erotic Media, DSLR Photography and Videography, Editing in Free Software, Photoshop, and Final Cut Pro, Writing, Blogging and Web design, Podcasting and Internet Radio

Finding the Erotic Muse in Your Media
examples of topics that may be covered:
Writing Erotica, Humor and Comedy in Sexual Media, Innovation and Idiosyncrasy in Erotic Video, Performance and Sex Education, Crafting a Public Persona

Erotic Media and Social, Cultural, and Economic Change
examples of topics that may be covered:
Historical Perspectives on Erotic Media, Technological Change and Perceptions of Sexuality, Second Wave Feminism and New Media, Future Perspectives on Erotic Media

Censorship and The Politics of Erotic Media
examples of topics that may be covered:
Sex Work and Media, Education and Erotic Media, Censorship and Online Payment Technologies, Age-Appropriate Educational Media, Media and Sex-Positive Parenting

The Business of Erotic Media
examples of topics that may be covered:
Erotic Media and The Law, Making Money While Making Erotic Media, Using Media as a Tool of Your Business, Accounting for Your Media

Consent Culture and Media
examples of topics that may be covered:
Privacy and Social Networks, Fetlife, Privacy and Photo/File Sharing, Is Anyone Up?, Instagram, Facebook Posting Guidelines, Online Sexual Bullying and Harassment

Self-Distribution of Media Content
examples of topics that may be covered:
Sex Education and New Media, Podcasting, You Tube, eBooks, Digital Piracy, and the Artisanal Media Maker

Diversity and visibility in sexual media
examples of topics that may be covered:
Interlocking Oppressions and Erotic Media, Sex, Identity, and Bodily Autonomy in the Erotic Media age, ability, race, gender identity, Representing Kink and Non-Monogamy

Sexual media and the mainstream
examples of topics that may be covered:
Daytime Talk TV, Portrayal of Porn and Sex Work in Hollywood and Indiewood, News Coverage of Marriage Equality, Sex Worker Rights, California’s Prop B and Prop 35, Sexual Panics and Right-Wing Media Backlash, Pop Culture and Erotic Media

Please email question and submissions to Clare Jacky at clare@smittenkittenonline.com

 

tristan1114 copy

 

Jul 252012
 

CALL FOR ENTRIES
San Francisco Transgender Film Festival

Deadline: September 5, 2012
Festival:
November 8-11, 2012  (San Francisco, USA)

INFO:www.sftff.org

The San Francisco Transgender Film Festival (SFTFF) seeks entries for its 2012 Festival  (deadline September 5). The Festival will take place at CounterPulse in San Francisco, November 8-11, 2012.

SFTFF accepts narrative, documentary, experimental, animated films and music videos. All work should be created by transgender/gender variant people. All work submitted must be 20 minutes or under. Please only submit one film.

The San Francisco Transgender Film Festival was founded in 1997 as North America’s first transgender film festival. We exhibit groundbreaking, provocative, outrageous, courageous, moving and innovative works that show the complexity of lives lived on the transgender spectrum. The San Francisco Transgender Film Festival is co-presented by Fresh Meat Productions.

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES: September 5, 2011
Early submissions are encouraged.
There is no entry fee.

FORMAT
Please send your submissions on DVD only (North American format).
Please note: If your film is accepted, you may be asked to send us your film in Quicktime format.

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR FILM

  1. Download and complete the Entry Form and print a copy.
  2. Send your Entry Form and one copy of your work (DVD only) to:

SF Transgender Film Festival
c/o Fresh Meat Productions
P.O. Box 460670
San Francisco, CA
94146-0670
USA

  1. Email a 300-dpi (high resolution) JPG image for your film to sftransfilm@gmail.com.
  2. We will email you notification when your submission has been received.

GUIDELINES

  1. Please include all required materials when submitting your entry – don’t forget to email us a JPG for press purposes (All work must be 20 minutes or less! No exceptions).
  2. We cannot return any submitted materials.
  3. We will notify you if your work is accepted by September 10th.
  4. Once a film is submitted, it may not be withdrawn for any reason.
  5. For questions or more information, contact: sftransfilm@gmail.com.

FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
The Festival will take place at CounterPulse in San Francisco, November 8-11. For venue, program and schedule information, visit our Calendar page in September. In the meantime, Join our email list to receive updates.

For more information on how to submit your film, please visit our Submissions Page.

Jun 202012
 

Attention filmmakers! Polish off your short sexy films and submit them to one (or all) of these great festivals and contests.

The Petra Joy Award 2012
 This is an erotic short film competition for aspiring female filmmakers – women who are either completely new to filmmaking or amateur directors who have not been distributed yet. The theme of the second Petra Joy Award is “Female Fantasies”. Petra Joy is a pioneer of female-focused porn and has always promoted female sexual liberation and self-expression in her erotic films, books and workshops for women. The duration of the film can be anything between one to ten minutes. The genre is open – from animation to documentary or erotic vignettes – we welcome all films that feature female fantasies and in an innovative, creative and artistic way. A fresh, creative approach is much more important to us than technical perfection. Deadline is August 31, 2012. Details here.

HUMP! 2012
The Stranger and Portland Mercury are looking for short porn films – five minutes max – to be screened at HUMP! 2012 over three weekends in November in Seattle, Portland, and Olympia. Films can be hardcore, softcore, live action, animation, kinky, vanilla, straight, gay, lez, bi, trans, genderqueer – anything goes! (Well, except no poop, no animals, no minors.) Deadline for submissions is October 5, 2012. Click here for info on cash prizes and where to send your film.

Good Vibes International Indie Erotic Film Competition
Submit your short erotic-themed film to THE QUICKIES – Good Vibrations international Indie Erotic Film Competition and you may end up a star!  Whether you’re a professional artiste, art student, budding filmmaker, or just having fun with your Flipcam, we want to see your stuff!  What’s erotic?  You tell us! Funny, serious, gay, straight, if you think it’s hot, we want to see it in 7 minutes or less.  Our 2012 Grand Prize Winner will receive $1,500 at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco on October 26th!  Submissions must be received by June 30, 2012. Details on how to submit.

The 2012 Southwest Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
This annual film festival, is celebrating its 10th year, and has expanded to a ten day event presented in the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Films and videos submitted can be of any length and should be of interest to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender communities.  This year the festival is excited to add a new shorts program of erotic films.  While many LGBT films feature love stories and a bit of titillation, this shorts program is an opportunity for erotic films to have their own dedicated showcase.  We are looking for short films that particularly highlight authentic eroticism and desire from a variety of perspectives.  Deadline is Friday, July 14, 2012. Submission guidelines here.

May 232012
 

 

Sassafras Lowery is editing a new anthology called ‘Leather Ever After’ which is a BDSM retelling of classic fairy tales and she wants your writing. The call for submissions below and it can also be found online here.

Call For Submissions:
Leather Ever After
BDSM retellings of classic fairy tales

Editor: Sassafras Lowrey
Publisher: Ravenous Romance
Deadline: August 1, 2012
Payment: $25 plus a copy of the anthology
Story Length: 2,500 – 5,000 words

Once upon a time, in a dungeon far, far away, you were summoned to join the quest for the hottest and kinkiest retellings of your favorite fairy tales. I’m seeking hot, well-written stories about bondage, power play, sadism and masochism. Think dragon fire-play,  princesses in bondage,  evil step mothers, and happy endings too good to be true. Give me fantasy, or show me the magic all around us, when Prince Charming wins the leather contest with the help of his fairy drag-mother,  Rapunzel is entangled in hair suspension and the little mermaid edgeplays with knives. I’m looking for a strong literary voice and characters with a a diversity of race, sexual orientations and gender identities/expressions.  All characters must be over 18.   It’s time to write a new ending to your favorite bedtime story.

Submission Guidelines: Email submissions in Times New Roman 12 point black font Word document (.doc) with pages numbered of 2,500-5,000 words to LeatherEverAfter@gmail.com . Please include your legal name (and pseudonym if applicable), short 50 word or less bio in the third person, mailing address, email, and title of the piece as part of your document.

About the editor: Sassafras Lowrey is an international award winning queer author and artist who came into a gutterpunk leather community a decade ago. Sassafras is the editor of the two time American Library Association honored and Lambda Literary Award Finalist Kicked Out. Sassafras’ first novel, Roving Pack, will be released autumn 2012, an excerpt of which earned hir an Honorable Mention in the Astraea Lesbian Writers Fund for Fiction. Ze tours to colleges,and community organizations across the country facilitating workshops that support LGBTQ and Leather people in telling their stories. Sassafras lives in Brooklyn, New York with hir Daddy, two dogs, and two kitties. You can learn more about Sassafras and hir work at www.PoMoFreakshow.com