Herstory

This movie isn’t always as appreciated as it ought to be. People too often hear the name “Billy Wilder” and expect a ‘screwball comedy’ but completely miss the deeper, darker tones… Kiss Me, Stupid is one of those films. 

People may chuckle & hoot at the idea of Dean playing “Dino,” a caricature of the drinking, skirt-chasing Dean Martin persona, and the comedy of errors involving mistaken identities, but what they fail to see is black comedy teeth that takes a bite out of the music industry, marriage, and even sex...

sixpenceee:
“ Most beautiful leg contest held in Paris in 1936
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In January, National Trafficking Awareness Month prompted me to hunt for one of the many books in my sex work history collection which would illustrate that it's the same old story ~ and worse, the...

an abridgment of a 1938 exploitation film "Sex Madness" and a few words on the burlesque revival.

The very real economic component of gender disparity, of how male privilege affects women, continues to be heard in serious talks about modern sex work and feminism today. The issue of censorship limiting discussions of the same — as well as discussions and depictions of truth, sexuality, and other taboos — also continues.

For Satan's Angel and Big Fannie Annie - legendary performers in the world of burlesque - age is no barrier

Protesting Ms. Magazine: In the 1980s, Ms. Magazine was the publication of record for sex-hostile feminists (who were a much larger proportion of the feminist movement back then, and who claimed to be the entire movement). Here’s a p

klappersacks:
“ 1960-(via File Photo)- on Flickr.
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Dr. Maya Angelou, American Poet Laureate, most famous for authoring I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, passed away at age 86 on May 28th, 2014. Her literary agent Helen Brann confirmed the news to press, and thus began a worldwide outpouring of grief. The top trending tag on Twitter was “RIP Maya Angelou” and,…

Ms. Yeager, a former model herself, produced famed innocently sexual images of the pinup era.

A brief interview with Jennifer Cody Epstein, author of The Painter from Shanghai, a novel based upon the life of Chinese painter Pan Yuliang.

“T’aint fair” reads one of the signs held by protesters of newspaper censorship in 1959. Was that a pun? Could very well have been as a lot of the signs are rather clever with the wordplay. These vintage magazine pages were found...

Trina Robbins—a San Francisco-based '60s underground comix pioneer, writer, historian, and vintage-clothing collector—met Pat Chin, Cynt...

One of these titles was How to Succeed with Brunettes (1967), a film produced by the Navy that demonstrates proper dating etiquette for officers.

Alan Duncan of the nudist magazine Nude Living looks at what brings women to undress in front of the eyes of the public: is it exhibitionism, does it make them a whore, is it a sign of frigidity...or are they simply sexually healthy women? 

From the August 1963 issue of Nude Living

The Devadasi, a centuries-old caste of sacred temple priestesses, struggles to have it's own renaissance. One woman leads the way...

The origins of the practice are often disputed, but historians agree that in India by the 10th century this caste of sacred temple servants enjoyed great wealth & property as signs of respect & clout.

Considered married to the Hindu deities, the Devadasi were talented dancers, singers & even viewed as political advisors. At the core of Devadasi faith is the belief all men are incarnations of the male deities & so in addition to performing sacred temple ceremonies, Devadasis offered sexual services. In the act of making love, a man & a Devadasi enact the sacred marriage of god & goddess which therefore allows them to become divine themselves.