THE FIXED HEART

This week's Modern Love column in the New York Times is wonderful: "Nursing a Wound in an Appropriate Setting." It's about how a doctor overcomes a broken heart in an unlikely place: the hospital in which he works. The accompanying video is spectacular.

When I started my work as a doctor, it took every bit of concentration to put aside my private sadness and focus on my patients. I was lost, and it’s a wonder I didn’t hurt anyone. In moments of downtime, and especially in the depths of night when the unit was quiet, memories of my ex and my longing for her would overtake me. Like a persistent virus, loneliness lived inside me.

[NYT]

MAN, THAT BOOTY

According to MediaTakeOut, "Houston Men Are Getting GIGANTIC BOOTY IMPLANTS ... So That They Look Like NICKI MINAJ!!" Behold, the male mega-booty trend.

MediaTakeOut

A new trend is emerging amongst gay men in Houston - BOOTY IMPLANTS. We're not talking about TRANSGENDERED folk either . . . men with implants is apparently the new style out chea!!

Peep one man showing off the new trend on his Instagram page. Dude got CAKE!!

An MTO commenter adds this behind-the-scenes report:

Yea ive seen before and after man real talk dude *** himself up iwas floored because it makes you wonder what was the point of no return or the little voice that said "ok this is enough" As long as hes cool with it idk why others are tripn... He said he isnt changing i almost passed out when I asked him lol It all started with him tryna please his ex who actually funded the earlier procedure so i guess he went overboard...

Another commenter IDs him as Sir-Omi Lieurance. On YouTube: "This is me. This is my body." In another video, he declines to explain how his butt came to be: "What I did to my body, if I did anything, is not anybody's business." According to his Facebook, he lives in Atlanta.

[MediaTakeOut]

PORNIFIED

The American porn star and sex educator Nina Hartley calls this “doing it on someone else's template”. Gallop agrees. “The poor guy is going, ‘That porn actress loved it when he did that, so why doesn’t she?‘ Meanwhile, the girl is lying there thinking, ‘The porn actress really loved it when he did that so why don’t I?’” But, she goes on, “in real the world , every single partner you will ever have is different. Different things will turn them on.”

[The Telegraph]

THOSE SASHA GREY AMERICAN APPAREL ADS

Several years ago, I hosted a series of controversial American Apparel ads on a previous iteration of this blog. The model in one of the ads was porn star Sasha Grey, and in the ad, she was exposing her nipples and her pubic hair. Occasionally, people search for those ads and arrive here. This is the original blog post I wrote in December 2008 about the ads.

Sasha Grey for American Apparel

If you haven't noticed it already, I've got a new American Apparel ad up on the site. The model is adult film star turned star of Steven Soderbergh's upcoming call girl movie "The Girlfriend Experience," Sasha Grey. Won't you welcome Sasha?

The ads are part of a new campaign that only appears here, at my friend Debauchette's site, and on Last Night's Party. Debauchette's model is adult film star Charlotte Stokely, and LNP's model demonstrates the fun that can be had with personal electronics.

While some feminists like to spend their time caterwauling about the supposed sexism of AA ads, it bears mentioning these ads were conceptualized and shot by Kyung Chung, who, it also bears mentioning, is a woman. Previously, Chung got feminist knickers in a crack-splitting twist when she shot herself for a Manhattan AA billboard. Gee, it's a good thing feminists are ripping their hair out and clawing at their eyes and pulling down the drapes over supposedly sexist ads shot by a woman, or I'd have, like, no self-esteem.

According to AA's Shawn Shahani the new ads are "definitely our most racy web ads that we've ever created." And if you're confused as to what's being sold here, Shahani explains: "We're selling socks. Thigh-highs because it gets cold when you're otherwise naked."

You can read about my first ad here, find out what Fast Company has to say about the new campaign here, or buy some thigh-high socks here.

Update 1: Debauchette: "Two things I love about Susannah’s new AA ad. (1) It’s hot. And (2) Sasha Grey has pubic hair."

Update 2: Fimoculous: "In addition to that Sodebergh flick, Sasha Grey is also appearing naked in skyscraper ads for American Apparel around the internet."

Update 3: Gala Darling: "American Apparel have taken the leap to totally naked advertisements — well, except for the socks."

Update 4: Molly Crabapple: "Not a huge fan of AA ads, but oh the lovely Sasha Grey one one me over."

Update 5: Buzzfeed: "A young porn star lands a Hollywood Role and appears nude (like, totally nude) in a new American Apparel ad."

Update 6: Fleshbot: "As far as we're concerned, American Apparel can use sex to sell whatever they want—as long as 'sex' means 'naked Sasha Grey.'"

Update 7: Nerdy Grrl: "Let me just say I can’t think of an ad campaign in the history of ad campaigns that would make me want to buy socks, but, by golly I think I need to go and get me some socks."

Update 8: Nerve: "We always wondered when advertisements would feature nothing but naked woman and the name of the product ... "

Update 9: There are some rumors floating around that the ads are fake. They're not. They're real.

Update 10: SlackerTalk: "Sasha Grey does for pubic hair, what Justin Timberlake did for sexy."

Update 11: Pipeline: "Somehow, Charney's ads, which double as cheeky send ups of exploitation chic and clear examples of actual exploitation, have become targets for post-Feminist love and ire."

Update 12: URB: "However, they've pushed it to the limit this time and decided to just let it all hang out."

Update 13: Scanner commenter Lawston Found points to an amusing and relevant Bill Hicks bit on sex and advertising: "Drink Coke!"

Update 14: Examiner: "This isn't just some sexy model wearing some socks, after all: Sasha Grey is one of the most foul-mouthed females in hardcore porn, and she's somehow managed to take ownership of her own exploitation and twist it around into something like a feminist statement."

Update 15: NBC: "In a move that should not surprise anyone anywhere the latest (NSFW) ads from American Apparel feature a model wearing little to nothing at all."

Update 16: XBIZ: "The ad marks a continuing trend for Los Angeles-based American Apparel, which features many scantily clad models in its advertisements."

Update 17: AVN: "Is it still a 'mainstream crossover' if you're showing bush?"

Update 18: Portland Mercury: "Sex and youth selling clothes is ubiquitous, AA is just not bothering to 'beat around the bush' if you'll excuse the pun."

Update 19: LA Pretty: "And I also love how their ads at least attempt to deviate from the norm by actually portraying real-looking people, which is probably why they're so erotic and unnerving because that's something that we rarely get to see."

Update 20: mashKULTURE: "It was really the only logical next step in the evermore controversial ads that make up American Apparel’s marketing strategy that full-frontal nudity, and the use of porn stars would be inevitable."

Update 21: Debauchette: "If we’re talking about depictions of women, I want to see more of this, of women looking you in the eye and fucking owning their sex."

THAT'S OBSCENE

Obscenity Rules

From a review of Whitney Strub's Obscenity Rules: Roth v. United States and the Long Struggle over Sexual Expression in the Wall Street Journal:

It shouldn't be surprising that progressives have certain visions of a good society and are willing to suppress speech in pursuing them. Such liberal objectives aren't different in kind from the desire to maintain a culture with limits on the expression of sexual vulgarity, a desire once expressed on both the left and right. Neither objective is anti-intellectual; both involve large aspirations that aren't reducible to arguments about short-term empirical evidence. Mr. Strub's simplistic left-right frame notwithstanding, "Obscenity Rules" shows that both liberals and conservatives are often willing to subordinate freedom of speech in their quest for what they believe to be a decent moral order.

[WSJ]

BEHIND THE CURTAIN

Photographer Christopher Sturman takes photos inside empty New York City strip clubs and the results are haunting. The series is: "NYC Strip."

At night, with the lights turned down low except for a spotlight illuminating the half-naked exotic dancers cavorting on stage for dollar bills, male patrons believe that all their carnal dreams can come true.

But Sturman’s unforgiving photographs show that when lights are on, yesterday's enticing pleasure palace filled with beautiful female forms and rivers of champagne is actually a dingy room with besmirched carpets and beat-up, saggy furniture in need of reupholstering. 

[Daily Mail]

SUPER WHAT HEROES?

Adult toy-maker Doc Johnson has a new line of superhero-themed dildos, Super Hung Heroes.

The lineup includes The Caped Cock (Batman: "GoodHead City needs a hero and Bruce Wang is just the man for the job!"), The Amazing Web Shooter (Spider-Man: "Peter Pecker has a sexy secret…he’s the Amazing Web Shooter!"), The Incredible Hunk (The Incredible Hulk: "After a lab experiment gone sexy, Dr. Bruce Boner can transform into a big green monster cock known as The Incredible Hunk"), and Rock Hard Man (Iron Man: "Ladies’ man? Check. Genius? Check. The man that has it all? Check!").

They're selling on Adam & Eve for $59.95 to $109.95.

VIRTUOUS INVESTING

Troll Meme

Do you believe in virtuous investing? I don't. The intention of investing is to make money; the intention of capitalism is not to do good.

For those who embrace vice, like me, there's the Vice Fund. For those who prefer something more pure, there's Ave Maria Mutual Funds.

Four practices that will get a company banned from the Ave Maria funds: Supporting abortion; supporting embryonic stem cell research (because it "is closely linked to abortion"); contributing to Planned Parenthood; and involvement with pornography.

While the philosophy no doubt will rankle progressive sensibilities, it's hard to argue with the results.

Ave Maria's flagship Rising Dividend fund carries Morningstar's top five-star designation and is up 26.8 percent in 2013. That puts it in front of the S&P 500, which has gained 25.3 percent on a total-return basis. The fund has $642.2 million under management as part of Ave Maria's $1.4 billion total handle.

[CNBC]

KATE BUNNY

Here's your first sneak peek look at Kate Moss, who will cover Playboy's 60th anniversary January/February 2014 issue. The photographers are Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott.

I worked for Playboy, in their TV division, for five years and loved it. You know you're with a killer brand when you travel all over the world, and no matter where you are, people recognize the logo.

Moss will be 40 on January 16, 2014.

[Huffington Post]

REJECTIONS

Hi Susannah,

Thanks again for the pitch. As proposals go, it's well-done, and you make a good case. [Redacted]'s feeling is that, given all that's been done on porn, the topic doesn't seem novel. Before arriving here more than a decade ago, [redacted] was at the [Redacted] and the [Redacted] and has seen [redacted] share of porn pieces. I know the novelty is in the details, but the bar for porn stories is especially high. That said, I'll be happy to read other ideas that come to you.

Till then…

[redacted]

BANG

Model Ricki Hall shot by photographer Darren Black. [Eddy-Eddy]

IT'S HARD OUT HERE FOR A BITCH

Lilly Allen has a new single and a new video: "Hard Out Here." For a bitch, that is. [YouTube]

I'M GOING LONG

Longform

Thanks to the folks at Longform for including me in "The Longform Guide to Sex Work," which was also featured last weekend on Slate.

Along with my own "They Shoot Porn Stars, Don't They?", the lineup includes Susan Shepard's excellent "Wildcatting: A Stripper's Guide to the Modern American Boomtown" and Mark Jacobsen's fascinating "The $2,000 an-Hour Woman."

"OK, so what are we going to do?" a man standing off-camera asks in a voice that sounds as if it has been digitally altered. "Should I just beat the shit out of her?"

[They Shoot Porn Stars, Don't They?]

SHE'S AN ANGEL

The holidays are all about spending time together, exchanging gifts, and watching the Victoria's Secret Runway Show. Recently, supermodel Karlie Kloss, who is 21 and 6'1", got fitted for a pair of psychedelic wings. The Cut has the behind-the scenes video. 

YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG

Alta Bikes

Breaking news out of Hamilton, Ohio, care of the local newspaper's police blotter: 

A man walked into CVS, 820 S. Breiel Blvd., and walked out with a box of condoms, bottle of lubricant, five Slim Jims and an A&W Root Beer, valued at $65.71. The suspect left the store and rode off on a bike.

[Journal-News] 

THE HORROR WITHIN

Ariel Levy has written the most terrifying reproduction story since "Rosemary's Baby" for the New Yorker. As a journalist, she travels the globe, and she finds herself far from home when her pregnancy goes off the rails. The result is an eviscerating tale: "Thanksgiving in Mongolia."  

LoveThisPic 

I got pregnant quickly, to my surprise and delight, shortly before my thirty-eighth birthday. It felt like making it onto a plane the moment before the gate closes—you can’t help but thrill. After only two months, I could hear the heartbeat of the creature inside me at the doctor’s office. It seemed like magic: a little eye of newt in my cauldron and suddenly I was a witch with the power to brew life into being. Even if you are not Robinson Crusoe in a solitary fort, as a human being you walk this world by yourself. But when you are pregnant you are never alone.

[The New Yorker] 

LARS VON TRIER GETS CUT

The coverage of Lars von Trier's "Nymphomaniac" journey from can to screen is a boggler. Take, for example, the latest reports that the controversial director has surrendered his final cut. It's a matter of hardcore and softcore.

Jensen says the cuts were purely for commercial reasons and not to eliminate any of the films' many explicit sex scenes. There were initially plans to release both a hard-core and soft-core version of Nymphomaniac but those plans have now been abandoned. Instead there will be just the hard-core version but distributors in individual countries can decide to blur whichever elements they find unacceptable. The Danish version will go out with all the explicit sex intact and in focus.  

[The Hollywood Reporter] 

THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE

A model sports a "Suck My Cervix" T-shirt at Fashion Week Australia earlier this year. [Man Repeller]  

SMELL IT

SodaHead

Meet Roja Dove, the man who makes bespoke fragrances for women who can afford to spend $40,350 to smell like no one else. His nose is so sensitive that international flights are nearly unbearable, and he compares creating his personalized perfumes to having sex.

For example, Mr. Dove had three clients smell tuberose. One gave a horrified shudder, while the other two described the scent as, respectively, “quiche with cabbage” and “young girls in tank tops running around a mall.”       

[NYT] 

WHERE ARE THE PORN STARS NOW?

Jenna Jameson was on Oprah Winfrey's "Where Are They Now?" last night. She discussed her DUI arrest, her custody battle with her ex, MMA fighter Tito Ortiz, over her kids, and her current problems. It was very sad.  

The first time I met Jenna was in 1997. I believe it was August. I visited the set of her movie, "Flashpoint." She showed up at some point and disappeared quickly into a trailer. The girl who went in the door was young, messy-haired, fresh-faced. The person who emerged after dark was wearing towering thigh-high boots, kabuki makeup, and a spiked collar. We paraded into a building behind her like some sort of demented wedding procession. In the cavernous room of an industrial building, she had sex with T.T. Boy while flames shot up all around them.

At the end of last night's episode, she indicated that she has no idea who Jenna Massoli (her real name) is.

[Oprah]