I thought taking a girl I’d just met to an erotic bondage workshop would be fun and progressive. I was wrongBy Jed LipinskiiStockphotoA few years ago, I put my old queen-size mattress up for sale on Craigslist. The first to show at my Brooklyn, N.Y., apartment was an attractive brunette in her mid-20s named Darla. She asked if she could lie down on it, and I politely averted my eyes as she bounced and flopped around. “I’ll take it,” she said. As we squeezed the mattress down the stairwell, she explained that she was on a roller derby team, and that it had kindled in her a new sense of self-confidence and female solidarity. After we tied the mattress to the roof of her Subaru, we exchanged numbers.We talked amiably over the phone a few times, but I never asked her out. Then one day, I came across an ad in the Village Voice for a workshop called “Erotic Bondage and Dirty Domination,” given by the adult sex shop Toys in Babeland. I was not involved in the BDSM scene — in fact, I’d never even considered bringing sex toys, far less weapons, into the bedroom. But I thought it would be a kind of anthropological adventure for Darla and me. It might speed up the expensive and psychically exhausting courtship ritual, and give us a shared experience to discuss. At the very least, it was more original than a bar or a club or a show. A friend of mine had just been to an S/M party, and returned swearing that everyone should try it. That night, I sent a text message to Darla, suggesting we attend.I should point out that I had only recently discovered the ease of texting. Suddenly, a hand-held device allowed me to write something I didn’t have the courage to say to someone over the phone, never mind in person, and then to sit back and wait, burning with anticipation, for a response. The city at night seemed aglow with the variety of encounters this made possible. In truth, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to go to the class. I was half-joking. I was also, frankly, a bit drunk.

via My first date at the BDSM class – TMI – Salon.com.

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The “groundbreaking sex robot” is neither groundbreaking nor a true robot.

By Veronica BelmontPosted Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010, at 9:32 AM ET

Usually when I write about a new tech product, I like to have a little “hands-on” time with the device. Perhaps fortunately, that’s not the case with the Roxxxy TrueCompanion, the latest in high-tech sex toys, unleashed at this year’s Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas. While I was next-door at the Consumer Electronics Show, checking out the latest in 3-D televisions and e-book readers, Roxxxy was making waves with sex industry professionals and robot bloggers alike.

Creator Douglas Hines believes his “sex robot” to be the most realistic in existence, with several different personality modes built into each unit (Mature Martha, Frigid Farrah, Wild Wendy) that can be further tailored and shared with other users online. It also has software that responds to touch and offers audio feedback based on activity. While the technology inside of Roxxxy is very intriguing, I’m more curious about how artificial intelligence in the bedroom will change how we real humans view sex.

Starting at $7,000 and topping off at $9,000, depending on how customizable you’d like your doll, Roxxxy isn’t priced low enough to achieve mass-market adoption—any plans to add sophisticated electronics to your existing sex routine are probably a few years off. But as the technology advances and the prices of parts drop, we’ll begin to see more devices out there like Roxxxy. With such advanced sex toys readily available, could a real woman’s role in the bedroom become obsolete?

via The “groundbreaking sex robot” Roxxxy is neither groundbreaking nor a true robot. – By Veronica Belmont – Slate Magazine.

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Having an orgasm used to be so arduous and difficult, it’s no wonder many old people have never had one, or if they have, they seldom talk about it or tell their spawn about having one. In times of yore, before YouTube videos and electricity, rubbing one out was akin to deciding to make a trip from New York to San Francisco in a covered wagon. You could get halfway there, but if something broke down and it was winter, you might have to eat something horrifying to make it out alive. With your pants down, bandits could attack you at any moment. There were vibrators, but they were made of wood and powered by pedaling, or frightened rodents running in little exercise wheels. Everything had to be done by hand. There was no lube until 1910, so if the friction didn’t kill you, fire was always a concern. You had to use corncobs as freshwipes. People had to make their own amateur porn.

The horrors of the past are mostly behind us. Now that we’re more civilized about our sexuality, we no longer have to suffer achieving orgasms through primitive methods, carving our dildos out of root vegetables or whatever porn starlets did in caveman times. Now we have technology. Now we have plastic. We have batteries. We have bandwidth. And fortunately, we have handcuff keys.

And this has all changed the way we, er, come together. And not necessarily for the holidays. Sex toys are now, for many people, life-changing items. When I idly asked the Twitter and the Facebook what sex toys had changed people’s lives, I didn’t expect the overwhelming response; now that people are more sexually sophisticated they’ve traded shame for sexual savvy, and over a hundred people stepped right up to volunteer to me which toy, when used with amour, made their view of the world a little brighter.

via Sex Toys That Will Change Your Life / Violet Blue: Can a sex toy change your life? For many, the answer is yes.

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Experts say that just about every man who can masturbate does — and why not? You don’t need an expert to tell you that solo sex feels good, relieves stress, and is a terrific sleep aid. But here are five things you may not know about masturbation:

1. There’s no such thing as “abnormal” masturbation.

Men often wonder if there’s something abnormal about the way they masturbate. But experts are loath to offer specific definitions of “normal” and “abnormal,” pointing out that men show great variations in both frequency and technique. “We humans are too diverse to establish a norm,” says Betty Dodson, PhD, a New York City-based sexologist and the author of Sex for One. Every man masturbates in his own way, says Martha Cornog, the author of The Big Book of Masturbation, whether he “uses his hands, rubs against something, uses a sex toy or household object, wears special clothing, fantasizes, looks at a book or magazine, tries different positions, or looks in a mirror.”

2. Masturbation is very safe — but not entirely safe.

Unlike sex with a partner, masturbation can’t give you a sexually transmitted disease. Nor will it subject you to the muscle strains, pokes in the eye, and awkward moments that can come with partner sex. But masturbation safety isn’t guaranteed. “Masturbation is just about the safest sex there is,” says Cornog. “But the laws of physics and biology don’t stop operating just because someone is masturbating.”

via Masturbation: 5 Things You Didn’t Know.

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Of course, we couldn’t let you trudge blindly into the sex-toy abyss — so we tried out a few items to get you started.

via We Review Luxury Sex Toys — and Give You 15 Percent Off Yours – Lemondrop.

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It’s finally springtime and so naturally, a randy young lady’s thoughts turn to sexytime. But whether you’re fantasizing about a longtime partner, a captivating new prospect or even your own bad self, it’s important to remember your mother . . . Mother Nature, that is.

Like the rest of the manufacturing world, the sex toy industry saw the future and the future was green. As a result, you no longer have to resort to a well-scrubbed cucumber when you want to get down while staying Earth-friendly. Here are some options that will get you off without getting you down.

via New Eco-Friendly Sex Toys – YourTango.

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If you decided to have sex every day, would your relationship benefit?

Two long-married couples decided to find out. When lovemaking fell off their respective “to-do” lists, they ditched the sweats, bought sex toys and books, stepped up exercise, lit candles, and took trips. Then they chronicled their “sexperiment” in two recently released books, Just Do It: How One Couple Turned Off the TV and Turned On Their Sex Lives for 101 Days (No Excuses!) by Doug Brown and 365 Nights: A Memoir of Intimacy by Charla Muller with Betsy Thorpe.

But will daily sex really help a relationship that’s hit a rough patch? Some experts say yes; others aren’t so sure. As for the two couples who tried it, the Browns and the Mullers, both say the experiment strengthened their marriages in — and out — of the bedroom.

via 365 Nights of Sex: Can It Strengthen a Marriage?.

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Dr. Kate is an OB/GYN at one of the largest teaching hospitals in New York City and she answers your medical questions here once a week. To ask her your own question, click here.

A patient in my office last week confessed to me that she’s worried she’s hurt herself from too much vibrator use. She asked me how common vibrator-induced injuries were…and I had no idea. Searching throughout my usual (and not-so-usual) references didn’t yield much information, either. Apparently, sex toy hazards are not a common area of research or publication (go figure). So the advice I could give her (and everyone else) is based mostly on common sense:

via Dr. Kate: Bad Vibrations | Em & Lo: Sex. Love. And Everything in Between..

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The latest features in the new iPhone OS 3.0 make it a better phone, GPS, gaming and computing platforms. But they also have the potential to turn it into the most perfect sex toy yet.

Dr. Debby Herbenick—author and sex expert—liked our iPhone 3.0 guide so much that she wrote a great phone sex guide inspired by it. Which got me thinking: Can the new OS make the iPhone the best sexual toy ever?

Actually, I think it can. Or at least, it has all the elements to turn it into the most sophisticated sexual machine I can imagine.

via Nsfw: iPhone OS 3.0 Will Turn Your Phone Into a Revolutionary Sex Toy.

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LEXINGTON PARK, Md. — Some sexual experimentation landed a southern Maryland woman in a hospital with injuries tough to imagine and even more difficult to forget.

Maryland State Police airlifted the 27-year-old woman to Prince George’s County Hospital Center early Sunday morning after she was injured in an incident involving a sex toy attached to a saber saw blade, TheBayNet.com first reported.

The man who called 911 about the incident admitted attaching the sex toy to the saw and then using the high-powered, homemade device on his partner, according to the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office.

via Woman Injured in Power Tool Sex Toy Encounter – News- msnbc.com.

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