27 Aug
I’m packing up my apartment at the moment in preparation for my September 1 move, and I just want to say that I did not buy all this stuff. Not possible. It has to have been asexually dividing in my closet. Jezus.
That is all.
25 Aug
ABSTRACT: Say it with me now, female genital mutilation (FGM) and male circumcision are not equivalent. This is a really, really simple concept to grasp.
It has come to my attention (rather unfortunately since I’m going through a period of high stress at the moment and I have a hard time dealing with this level of stupid at the best of times, really) that everyone’s favorite shrill concern troll has yet again decided to trot out a thoroughly discredited line of argument against male circumcision. I’d like to say at the outset that I’m not pro-male circumcision: if I ever have a son, I’m not sure what I would do. I have no problem with people advocating for abolishing the procedure. What I most decidedly DO have a problem with, is people mobilizing florid rhetoric, faulty logic, and stupid lines of argumentation at the expense of women. But mostly, the bad logic hurts me.
This, to me was the most telling juxtaposition in the relevant post:
“But I’ll stick to facts, rather than opinion.”
“Now, don’t worry too much about the facts. I’m sure they’re debatable and I accept that I might have made a few assumptions. Just concentrate on the question.”
Well, which is it? I can’t answer the question if the underlying facts and premises are wrong. That’s not how logic works. That’s a REASONING FAIL. So, lets look at some facts, shall we?
FACT: The clitoris is NOT equivalent, in any sense, to the foreskin. The foreskin does not contain anywhere near the number of nerves the clitoris contains. The clitoris, in point of fact, contains twice the nerves of the entire glans (including the foreskin) The clitoris even has its OWN tiny foreskin.1 If people were running around chopping the entire head off of baby boys’ penises, you’d have what we call equivalency. But I haven’t heard of anyone doing that, soooo…
FACT: Female Genital Mutilation (FGM, sometimes referred to as female genital cutting or FGC) is practiced with the express purpose of removing ANY AND ALL pleasure from the sex act for the female in question. It is a means of oppression. Its entire purpose is to reduce the woman to her husband’s property and to remove her bodily and sexual agency.2 It is horrific. On the other hand, whatever you think of male circumcision, I don’t think anyone can argue with the fact that there are lots of circumcised penises out there that still *really* enjoy sex. Not so with women who have undergone this intentionally barbaric ritual, which is often performed in unsanitary conditions and without anesthetic. And it would be laughable to argue that circumcision has kept men down or somehow made them second-class citizens. So argue all you want about how terrible circumcision is for teh menz, I won’t stop you. I might even agree.3 But it’s completely beside the point, because the two procedures (if you can even call the butchery of FGM a “procedure”) are not even remotely comparable. This is like playing “which of these things is not like the other” with a particularly dense child.4
FACT: There is a growing body of evidence that circumcision protects against the transmission of more than just HIV5. It prevents the infection of the owner of the penis and it protects anyone the owner of said penis might penetrate later. And in developing countries where condoms aren’t always readily available, this is a good thing. You can choose whether you find this compelling enough to have the procedure done or not: that’s up to you. If you consider an individual and public health benefit to be worth a slight loss in sensation (as I said before, circumcised penises are completely functional). You might think it’s worth it, someone else might think it’s not. And, regardless of what you chose, you should be thankful you live in a place where you have steady access to condoms.
Gee, now that we’ve established that FGM and male circumcision are not equivalents, how could I possibly consider your question, o prolific and cacophonous concern troll? The fundamental premise is false. Your hypothetical has become magical thinking (“Yeah it’s wrong, but what IF IT WERE TRUE?! WHAT THEN?!”).
So the question is, will facts prevail over opinions? I think there’s a lot to be said for both sides of the male circumcision issue: what I don’t want to see happen is for parents who decided to have their sons circumcised, whether out of cultural momentum or some pretty compelling medical data, to become demonized. These decisions are very personal and involve a lot of personal decision-making. The issue isn’t black and white. What is clear, however, is that comparisons of male circumcision to FGM are not only disingenuous, they’re intellectually bankrupt. Worse, refusing to acknowledge the severity of FGM is reality-denying (which doesn’t look good on anyone) and is typical of a lot of misogynist thinking.6
If you want to have a crusade against male circumcision, go for it, everyone will be bowled over by your passion. Start introducing misinformation, concern trolling, and false equivalencies that trivialize very real, very horrible problems that women face, and you will run into problems. Come up with a new line of argument, tighten up the reasoning a little, and lay off the misogyny.
But alas, this particular concern troll has in the past displayed a stunning unwillingness to engage facts and learn. To borrow from Barney Frank, having an argument with said troll would be like trying to argue with a dining room table, and I have no desire to do it.
UPDATE: Apparently, everyone’s favorite concern troll™ claims he didn’t compare male circumcision and FGM. To which I and everyone else with basic reading comprehension skills says: bullshit.
I linked to the relevant post, but let me reproduce another section of it here:
“And, finally, assuming that a man’s foreskin (containing 50,000 nerve endings) is equivalent to a woman’s clitoris (also containing 50,000 nerve endings)7 I asked the following:
If you knew it would reduce your daughter’s chance of HIV infection, should she choose to have unprotected sex with somebody who was possibly infected, from 1 in 750 to 1 in 1,250, would you advocate a ‘clitectomy’ – removing her clitoris – at birth, like the CDC is advocating boys are circumcised?”
Sooo… his entire point hinges on the claim that male circumcision is just as bad as FGM, that once that similarity is understood, everyone will cease and desist with the male circumcision. I’d now like to post a definition from the OED (just so there’s no confusion):
compare, n: The action, or an act, of comparing, likening, or representing as similar.
So, in other words, you keep using that word: I don’t think it means what you think it means. It just makes me feel tired when people don’t even understand what it is they’re arguing. Like I said, dining room table.
24 Aug
via sexy_photo
Pleasurists is a round-up of the adult product and sex toy reviews that came out in the last seven days from bloggers all around the sex blogosphere. Did you miss Pleasurists #42? Read it all here. Do you have a review for Pleasurists #44? Submit it here before Sunday August 30th at 11:59pm PDT. Please re-post this list on your own blog if listed.
Note: No Editor’s Pick again this week, instead enter one of the many many contests that are going on!
Want to win some free swag? All you’ve got to do is enter.
Madame Editrix
On to the reviews…
Vibrators
Dildos
Anal Toys
Toys for Cocks
Lube, Massage Oil, Bath Stuff, & etc.
BDSM/Fetish
Adult Books
Adult Movies/Porn
Sex Furniture
Miscellaneous
22 Aug
Win $500 of sex toys from Babeland! Just create a wishlist containing toys worth up to (but not exceeding) $500 from babeland.com. Then send the link, along with your name and mailing address to freesextoys@babeland.com. Here’s my wishlist:
1) Candy Colored Glass Dildo ($90)
2) Form Six ($185)
3) Fling ($140)
5) Athena ($85)
Grand total: EXACTLY $500. I’m that good.
22 Aug
Turns out there’s a HUGE GRAND PRIZE in Bad Bad Girl’s anniversary contest, courtesy of extremerestraints.com. The great thing is that the more people who enter, the bigger the prize is!
From BBG:
Here’s what you can win as the entries increase:
I don’t know what the current total of entrants is, but everyone should throw their hat in the ring!
To enter, register at extremerestraints.com and create a wishlist. Then, post your wishlist on your blog and leave BBC a comment here. (She’s also got more detailed instructions about how to create an extremerestraints.com wishlist.)
I’ve put together a wishlist and you should do the same so *someone* can win all this awesome stuff.
22 Aug
I’m a little late to the party on this one, but the wonderful Bad Bad Girl is having a contest for the three-year anniversary of her blog! Here are her rules of entry and the prizes:
Drawings
How to get an entry (you can do both):
1. Post the details of the contest on your blog, saying something wonderful about me along with the list/links of prizes up for grabs. You will need this paragraph (from ‘Drawings’to the last prize). (you must leave me a comment here so I know you did it)
2. Email me a picture wishing me a happy blog anniversary I will post it on my anniversary. badbadgirlx (at) gmail (dot) com (Nudity is greatly appreciated).
See, I’m easy. (As if you didn’t know!!) I MAY add a third way half way thru, stay tuned for that!
Here’s the things up for grabs and the fantastic vendors who are supplying some of the best, coolest and my favorite items.
Adam&Eve- Silicon Dream Cock, 16oz bottle of Adam&Eve Signature Lube, DVD- Bree’s Big Campout, DVD- Hello Nurse, and DVD-World of Sexual Variations 2
TabuToys- Carmen Electra’s Stripper Pole
Babeland- Hitachi Magic Wand and 1 oz Rocketbalm
Eden Fantasys- Bandito, 1 oz Eros Light Love Lube, Cock and Ball Rings
Happy Anniversary BBG! The drawing for the winner will be on September 12th, so head on over and enter!
22 Aug
I’m in the process of updating the look of The Outspoken Clitic. I’m going to be making a fancy new sex-toy related header, so hopefully I’ll be able to figure out how to upload it properly.
21 Aug
Hi everyone! I’m back(ish). I’ve been gone for a long time, as evidenced by the number of unmoderated spam messages on this blog and the number of twitter followers I’ve gained whose accounts have since been suspended.
Because I feel more comfortable here, in my relative anonymity, than I do in my real life, I’m going to share with you all what’s been going on with me. It’s been an absolutely hellish few months. I spent a large chunk of the summer in the hospital undergoing intensive treatment for PTSD (a result of an abusive relationship), which, as you can imagine, was pretty awful. Before that, I’d been diagnosed with type II diabetes (I have a pretty strong family history and it was kicked off by weight I gained on the anti-depressant I’ve been on for a year). Additionally, I have psycho roommates who have treated me really badly. It was a really bad situation: they’d been my friends until we moved in together. When we did, I became the apartment scapegoat. Most recently, they signed the renewal lease for the apartment behind my back and started advertising my room without asking me if I wanted to move out. It was all too much to handle and I had a breakdown and ended up in this hospital treatment program.
On top of all that, I’ve come to the realization that I can’t continue on my current career path: my abuser is closely connected to what I’m doing and I can’t manage it anymore. I’m pretty angry and bitter about it. I loved what I was doing and I’m extremely upset about this. I have *no* idea what else to do with my life, so I’m casting about desperately for options.
But I missed you guys and I’m trying to maintain as much social contact as possible. So, I’m back. 
I’ve known, even before this hospital stay, that sex is a trigger for me. Part of the purpose of this blog is to help me take back at least the solo stuff, so I’m going to ease myself back in and I may have to go very slowly. So, I apologize to everyone, especially the people I owe reviews to, for the long absence. I’ll be moving on September 1st, but after that I should be back in this crazy, crazy blogging world. I plan to give the blog a facelift! Stay tuned.
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