Adina and Saffron in Crash Pad Series episode 303. All of the photographs in this NSFW Sunday are from the Crash Pad. The inclusion of a visual here should not be interpreted as an assertion of the model’s gender identity or sexual orientation. If you’re a photographer or model and think your work would be a good fit for NSFW Sunday, please email carolyn at autostraddle dot com.
Welcome to NSFW Sunday!
Daisy Ducati and Ella Nova in Crash Pad Series episode 186
Sex workers have always known that platforms like Zoom are anti-sex. The difference is, now the public is being forced to acknowledge that mass surveillance, vanilla-washing and censorship of sexually radical ideas and people, writes Erin Taylor at Bitch:
“In the pre-lockdown era it was easier for the general population to be okay with sexuality being written out of the policies. These people, whose bodies weren’t actively censored and criminalized by the TOS from 2018 to early 2020, didn’t have a personal stake in the fact that these entities deplatformed many people for not following their guidelines around sexuality. It was easy for people who aren’t sex workers to simply say, ‘Why can’t they just follow the rules?’
Now, the general public finds itself increasingly privy to the ways that platforms like Zoom control and limit sex and sexuality. […] Despite vague answers to Dickson’s question, the Zoom spokesperson parroted the company’s policy, saying they would take a “number of actions” against people found using it for ‘any activity that is harmful, obscene, or indecent.’ For me, it is fascinating to watch: the general public is now reacting to next-level surveillance that they had implicitly accepted in the past, even as it affected other people.”
Put another way: everyone’s a camgirl. Again at Bitch, Meggie Gates asks, “As struggling creatives join sex work, what do long-term sex workers lose?”
Maxine Azula and Mistress Lita Lecherous in Crash Pad episode 284
Sex workers are also getting kicked off of OnlyFans, the platform they built:
“The influx of so-called civilians (industry terminology for people outside the sex industry) has prompted concern among many sex workers, who’ve long relied on the platform as a source of income and are worried about oversaturation of the market. ‘The top content creators on there are no longer sex workers but celebrities/YouTubers,’ says Mrs. Hell, a model and dominatrix. ‘That’s very problematic.… More people into the vanilla lifestyle think it’s easy to make money on there, so it could have an impact [on our ability to make a living].’
To make matters worse, some feel that they’re being pushed out of the platform, reporting that their accounts have been deleted even when they have not violated OnlyFans’ terms of service. Such complaints ‘are hitting fever pitches,’ says Rothfield, who says that she has spoken to more than 20 models who have complained about losing accounts without being able to recover their funds. Emails shared with Rolling Stone show the boilerplate language OnlyFans has sent to such creators, saying accounts are ‘typically being deleted due to suspicious/fraudulent activity’ without specifying the activity in question. ‘Unfortunately, we are not able to override this automatic process,’ the email concludes after informing the user their account has been erased from the system.”
Adina and Saffron in Crash Pad Series episode 303
At the New York Times, Aminatou Sow writes about the joy of butt selfies:
I have learned that there’s not a standard belfie pose but that if you lie down on your stomach and arch your back enough to make your butt pop out, those pictures look really good.
I have learned that you can twist your body enough that your shoulders and hips are aligned, and those pictures also look really good. This is all very hard work, but practice makes perfect. Some people are raising little sourdough bread children. I am learning photography. Learning is learning. New skills are new skills.”
Byron DuBois and Daizy Blaze in Crash Pad Series episode 296
Speaking of new skills, here are 12 ways to make masturbation more interesting.
Is it… time to go on Chatroulette?
Here are backgrounds from Kink.com for your next Zoom “meeting.”
“Dutch officials are urging single people to find a sex buddy for lockdown.” Better than sneaking out for pandemic sex (don’t).
Fifteen queer sex workers recommended their favorite sex toys.
It’s not just you: texting back is harder now.
“‘Settling down’ just sounds sad.”
Here’s what happened with the people who texted their exes.
Here’s what it’s like to produce porn right now.
Today is a good day to buy A Quick and Easy Guide to Sex and Disability.
Cinnamon Maxxine and Golden Curlz in Crash Pad Series episode 206
What’s the post-pandemic future of porn?:
“The sudden comprehensive shift to at-home, DIY performances has many wondering about the future of the industry. The question isn’t just when things return to normal, but if the norm changes. What will the porn industry, and porn itself, look like on the other side of a months-long shutdown? Speaking with over a dozen industry members, many near-term possibilities were floated: socially-distanced crew members, small hubs of performers who exclusively work together, and covid-19 screenings folded into industry-mandated STI tests. Several people raised the possibility of gang bangs temporarily disappearing, given the increased number of performer interactions. For some, though, this feels less a passing event requiring temporary accommodations and more like a historically catalyzing moment, with reverberations that will be felt for years.”
