Who's Afraid of the Big Bad F Word?

Venus magazine, the Chicago based feminist music zine that started out as an overnight project, is getting a makeover. The Chicago Reader reports that Sarah Beardsley is taking over and revamping the content and style of the much loved mag. The biggest change? No more blatant feminism. Beardsley is quoted as saying:

"That's such a word fraught with interpretation and meaning," she said. "We don't use that particular F word around here. It just doesn't seem relevant." She called feminism "an old-fashioned concept" and explained that "it doesn't enter into our discussions about what we're going to cover and what have you." She said, "We're much more into discovering trends, talent, whatever they are, and they can come in all shapes, sizes, genders, and forms."

Uhhh...what?

Venus was so great because it was all about women in music and art being DIY as fuck. While I agree with founder Amy Schroeder's concern that there's nothing wrong with getting bigger and growing up, I think feminism is still viable and relevant and important. But old fashioned? Until I get paid as much as the jerk with a dick in the next cubicle, I can walk home without looking behind me every few steps, and I'm not bombarded with images of naked or domesticated women everytime I turn on the television, there's still work to be done. It's nice to think that feminism has done everything it can do and everyone is equal and there's no oppression or exploitation, but we all now we're not even close to that point. Old fashioned is lemonade. Equality is not old fashioned.

While I'm not giving up on Venus, I'm also not looking forward to more celebrity coverage and less F bombs. I'll check out the next issue but I'll be doing so with a critical eye. Let's hope Venus won't become another Sassy turned into Jane, watered down girl power trying to sell stuff instead of build awesomeness.

Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang

A couple weeks ago I was lucky enough to attend the Chelsea Handler show at the Dodge Theater in PHX (for free nonetheless!). I've been a fan of Ms. Handler since seeing her TV show Chelsea Lately. The lady is quick. She always gets the last word and usually that word is pretty hilarious. She's got a new book out, Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang (and yes, I just linked to GoodReads, fuck that huge online bookseller that pushes indie bookstores out of business), from which much of the material at her live show was based.



A girl after my own heart, Ms. Handler went on a huge spiel about how gross balls are ("I can understand wanting to get fucked but who goes out thinking, 'I can't wait to get my mouth around some balls!'?") and then reenacted discovering "the feeling" at her first sleepover at age 8. How can you not love a woman who learns to masturbate at 8 but thinks she's the only one that knows about this magical power and so has the inside balls to do it at the dinner table?

If you get a chance to see Ms. Handler on the road I highly recommend it. Otherwise just read the book, or her collection of one night stands, My Horizontal Life.

Stoner Chicks

If you're not already aware, we are constantly decrying the lack of lady stoner flicks available. I love me some green ladies. And while stoner flicks make for big laughs in Hollywood, apparently only as long as everyone involved (I mean really involved, not just the love interest) has a dick. Don't tell me ladies are not as funny stoned. Everyone is funny stoned. That's like a scientific fact or some shit.

But there's sill hope! There's Best Buds coming out soon and I hope it's good. And then there's Smiley Face, a stoner comedy featuring Anna Faris as Jane:

Jane is a giggly, flirty goofball whose perpetual buzz is cranked up several notches when she scarfs a plateful of cannabis-spiked muffins baked by her roommate. Intending to bake a replacement batch, she orders a large amount of product from a dealer (a dreadlocked, droll Adam Brody) whom she can’t afford to pay; accidentally destroys her cellphone while cooking the muffins; then arrives late to an audition for a strait-laced casting agent who reports her drug use to the police; and so on.

And it's a pretty good movie! Faris is totally committed as Jane. She's spacey, cute, and believable. Plus, her character is badass. Jane gets into an argument with her dealer in which she schools him about Reaganomics and later impersonates a Union organizer at a meat packing plant and fantasizes about going off on a Marxist rant about labor oppression. Of course she can't really go off on such a monologue, not because she's just a girl and doesn't know about Marxist theory, but because she's really freaking stoned and everything comes out sounding ridiculous.



Yet, while there are some big laughs in Smiley Face, I felt like something was missing. SEX. Jane gets dumped by her boyfriend for being too much of a stoner at the beginning of the movie, and even though dudes are into her throughout the film, she's too out of it to recognize their signals or even care. At one point, a cute delivery truck driver helps her out with a ride and Jane starts getting sultry and asking him if being high makes him horny. I was excited for some hot stone and bone action at this point, but turns out Jane wasn't really saying that, the dude was just imagining it. Boner killer! Faris is really convincing as a clueless stoner, but I don't know a lady stoner out there who knows of the glory of the stone and bone and doesn't at least think about it when stizoned. Plus, there's major boobage in all the dude stoner movies, I just want a little equality. I'll settle for a little peen flash ala Jason Segal or even implied cunnilingus. Just throw us ladies a boner now and again!

Bar Games

The other night I was out with a friend visiting from NM (Go Lobos!) giggling through my beer haze as we played bar games. You know what I mean when I say bar games, right? From the classic "Who would you bang?" to the newer but infinitely more fun "teams" (thanks T-Bag!), bar games keep things lively when you're only looking to chill with friends. We've come by a few new games recently, and it's just in time. While Hipster or Homeless? has gotten old, I wonder if we are really ready for the possible (more like, inevitable) disappointment of Hipster or Gay?



Sometimes it's so hard to tell.

Either way, it seems like we've come too late as it is. Hipster or Gay? appears to have faded away too soon and entirely too late.

Chad VanGaalen...Swoon

Once upon a time I was living in a crack house with a loser boyfriend in Somerville, MA. The highlight of my week was smoking meticulously rolled joints with said boyfriend Sunday nights and watching 120 minutes on MTV. One night we saw this video for clinically dead by Chad VanGaalen.




Intrigued, I looked up some more info on this VanGaalen dude. Turns out he animates all the videos for the music he writes and performs, sometimes on instruments he creates himself. On further investigation, his latest album The Soft Airplane is haunting and spooky and beautiful.

Do you have a lady boner yet? Oh, did I forget to post a photo of the Canadian hot boy?


Swoon.

Srsly.


(Thanks to knickerbocker for reminding me how much I love this dude)

Ms Beyoncé if you're nasty

Doesn't Beyoncé look like a cutie patootie in the new Lady Gaga (ft. Beyoncé ) video for "Telephone"??

i luvs the hot pink lipstick and short bangs

the video is pretty fun too....

World Water Day was March 22

Water conservation in Arizona is sadly not as pushed as it should be.

March 22 is World Water Day, created by the United Nations General Assembly and first commemorated in 1993 to raise awareness and encourage action around water issues.
Many of us take access to clean water for granted. It is readily available in our sinks and showers and even in plastic bottles. But, for a vast and growing number of people, access to safe water is a major health issue:

• Over half of the world's illnesses are due to diseases caused by unsafe water.
• One billion people on the planet don't have access to clean drinking water.
• By 2025, this number could be 1.8 billion, unless we act.

As with many environmental issues, blame is too often placed on population growth. This masks the realities that actually cause the problem. According to National Geographic:

The average U.S. lifestyle takes 1,800 gallons (6,814 liters) of water a day to support -- twice the global average.

Meanwhile, major polluters who, big surprise, are corporations rather than individuals, are successfully evading regulation.
And yes, this is a feminist issue. Women hold much of the responsibility for obtaining clean water and are often most impacted by water scarcity. And women are taking action.
While this sort of environmental issue is often thought of as occurring in the global south, the impact of water scarcity is spreading. It's already a major problem in the U.S. Southwest. This map, which is a few years old, shows the spread of scarcity caused by both physical and economic factors (click for larger version):

Huffington Post has a list of a number of ways to take action on this vital issue.

(Reposted from Feministing )

Sushi Pillow!

oh sushi pillows! I love you so....



oh lap pillow...




you make me feel less creepy about owning my cock shaped neck pillow:

Guys with iPhones

Beware (Hooray?!), there are lots of dicks on Guys with iPhones. It's exactly what it sounds like. And totes NSFW. Also, NS if you plan on keeping your undies dry.


Most of the advertising and commentary is gay, but whatevs, gay dudes are still hot (usually hotter, actually). Eye candy knows no sexual preference.

Anyway, thank you, technology.

Knickersoaker!

YES! This lovely Canadian blog is all about hot dudes! Thank you ladies!!

Love this little blurb about Joseph Gordon-Levitt:

While this picture isn’t the most flattering I’ve seen on Mr. Gordon-Levitt, who the fuck cares? Kid, while you’re “shooting up in Canada” come over to Vancouver Island for a “visit” and let me have all you babies. I know you’re in Vancouver, don’t even front. I have people who saw you eating at one of my favorite restaurants. Come serenade me a-la your “monologue” on SNL, and I’ll show you my own personal version of one of Canada’s iconic animals (it’s a beaver, people!).

i heart Canadians

Pool Boys

never has a photoshopped image been so sexy and so right

Feminist Porn Awards Announces Nominations

The 2010 Good For Her Feminist Porn Awards have announced the details for this years party. Along with the impressive list of guests, the nominations are pretty drool worthy. With categories ranging from Sexiest Straight Film to Hottest Trans Scene/Film to Most Deliciously Diverse Cast there's something for every lady.

Check out the top 10 nominations below. Some of these might have to be reviewed for the next issue of PoolBoy Magazine (perhaps Be My Boy Toy?).

1) 101 Positions for Lovers – Jamye Waxman – Sensual Couples

2) A Man With a Maid: Tales of Victorian Lust – Nica Noelle – Sweet Sinner Video

3) Art of Female Self-Pleasure – Jaiya – New World Sex Education

4) Be My Boy Toy – Anna Span – Easy on the Eye Productions

5) Behind the Red Door – Carlos Batts – HeartCore Films

6) Bordello – Courtney Trouble – Reel Queer Productions

7) Buck Angel’s Ultimate Fucking Club – Buck Angel – Buck Angel Entertainment

8) Cocksucker – Julie Simone – Julie Simone Productions

9) Couch Surfers 2: Trans Men in Action – Brazen Garage Squad –Trannywood Pictures

10) Crash Pad Series 4: Ropeburn – Shine Louise Houston - Blowfish Video

Best Butt

I have some issues with American Apparel but I have less issues with their Best Bottom Contest 2010. I was pretty happy to see they had a guy category as well. The contest is over but have fun checking out all the submissions, there's some good junk (ha!) to be seen.



(via Violet Blue)

Just Eat It

 

AskMen.com has a pretty good article on how to give oral pleasure to a lady.  If you've come across a guy that needs some tongue tips, I recommend you shove this link in his face and then take him out for a test drive.

Happy Women's History Month!

It's officially March, which means it's also Women's History Month. While March 8 is International Women's Day, in the US the whole of March is dedicated to celebrating the contributions American women have made in national history. In honor of Women's History Month I present to you some women to whom I am especially grateful.

Margaret Sanger


Alright, yes Sanger was involved with some fishy eugenics thought, as were many people at that point in history, but she also had a huge impact on birth control so that women could enjoy sex with less fear of pregnancy. She opened the first birth control clinic and formed the organization that would become Planned Parenthood. I propose that next time you swallow that BC pill, get your Nuvaring inserted, roll on that condom, or proceed right into sexy time without interruption thanks to your IUD, that you give a little mental thanks to Sanger. Without her sex wouldn't be nearly as safe or fun.

Juliette Gordon Low


Although Gordon Low had a privileged childhood, her marriage was not a happy one and when her husband died after 18 years of marriage he left the majority of his estate to his mistress. Talk about a dick move. Gordon Low was not a lady to be set back however, and, firmly latching onto the idea that "success is the best revenge," she set up the Girl Scouts of America after meeting the founder of the Boy Scouts. The original gathering of girls to talk about their feelings, boys, crafts, charity, pop culture, and domesticity, the Girl Scouts were, and are, about self-reliance, independence, and a willingness to help others. And not only did the Girl Scouts prepare girls for traditional domestic life, but also for a possible professional life. Many Pool Girls were undoubtedly Girl Scouts back in the day, and I, for one, credit Girl Scouts for teaching me how to build a fire, dig a latrine, and generally be a bad ass lady.

Sandra Day O'Connor


The first woman to serve on the Supreme Court, Day O'Connor's vote was often instrumental in upholding a woman's right to abortion. Curious since she was nominated to the Court by Regan and was considered a moderately conservative Republican. Still, her presence on the highest judge panel in the United States was an important first for American women and her refusal to overturn Roe v. Wade signaled that women's health is an issue that effects all women, no matter the political affiliation.

Betty Dodson


Considered the mother of the sex positive feminist movement, Dodson's book Sex for One helped liberate masturbation. She began having erotic art shows in NYC in the late 1960's but soon left the art world to concentrate on women's health and pleasure. At the NOW Sexuality Conference in 1973 Dodson introduced the electric vibrator as a pleasure device. Also famed for her masturbation workshops, Dodson has written many articles and books on masturbation and women's pleasure. When you get your copy of PoolBoy Magazine in the mail and are able to sneak away for some private time, remember what Dodson did for female masturbation and maybe dedicate your next solo O to this important lady.


Some more contemporary ladies that I am thankful for: Kathleen Hanna, bell hooks, Debbie Stoller, Joani Blank, Judy Chicago, Kate Chopin, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and the Guerrilla Girls.

Who are you celebrating for Women's History Month?