Feature image of La Muxer Diosa and Zoie Blackheart in Crash Pad Series episode 281. 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!
Finn McKee and Scout in Crash Pad Series episode 267
Feeling lonely? You might be missing some weak social ties in your life — the small casual moments of mutual recognition you have with almost-but-not-quite strangers in your daily universe that profoundly affect happiness:
“It’s easy to begin developing weak ties—certainly easier and less contrived than trying to find a new best friend. Start by paying close attention to what’s happening around you, Sandstrom says. Is there someone who nods to you in recognition at the gym? A cashier at the grocery store who you see every day?
Once you’ve identified a situation of mutual recognition, strike up a conversation. Sandstrom says the easiest way to do this is either through a compliment or by commenting on something you both have in common, such as working out at the same gym or having a dog. Think of a natural way to bring something obvious up, kind of like thinking (positive things) out loud.”
Blair and Megan Reeves in Crash Pad Series episode 279
“I knew enough, already, to see that there was a gap between the narrative I’d constructed about our relationship and the reality. … I didn’t want to look at that gap. I was twenty-two and all I really wanted was for him to love me. He’d suggested that I’d been demanding and unreasonable by asking about our future. I thought he was right. It would be years before I’d learn the term ‘gaslighting’ and years more before I finally began to inventory all the ways it had been a part of our relationship.”
Osé, a woman-created sex toy that “promises a hands-free blended orgasm, one that stimulates both the clitoris and the G-spot,” won an award at CES – and then CES took it away. Here’s what happened and what makes the Osé so remarkable.
You’ve probably already experienced empathic sexual response — getting turned on or off because a partner gets turned on or off, or more. Here’s how to do it on purpose.
There are Game of Thrones sex toys now.
Here’s what it’s like to use a threesome app.
Here’s porn that takes senior sex seriously.
Here’s what it’s like to go udnercover at the Playboy Club as a nonbinary person in 2019.
Bear and Tree in Crash Pad Series episode 282
PornHub buying Tumblr won’t save the platform or sex workers because PornHub is owned by MindGeek, which has a tube site monopoly based largely on stolen content, writes Ana Valens at the Daily Dot:
“But Pornhub’s tips, guides, and outreach programs don’t resolve one issue haunting the website’s success: piracy. Models repeatedly allege their clips are reuploaded without their permission on the site, and that problem would only grow if Pornhub purchased Tumblr. With MindGeek’s extremely lax policy on removing pirated adult content, Tumblr would be a playground for free stolen porn.”
La Muxer Diosa and Zoie Blackheart in Crash Pad Series episode 281
You’re gonna get through your breakup and in the meantime, it’s okay to feel sad, it’s good to keep yourself busy, it’s great to remove them from social media and not contact them, and once you’ve processed and moved on from your first unironic Adele listen it’s great to reflect:
“After the immediate pain has passed, look back on your relationship and reflect. ‘Sometimes a breakup is the shakeup needed when you need to redirect your life,’ Chan says. ‘Breakups are a great time to go inward, to evaluate what lessons are there for you to grow, to evolve, to be more conscious. Pain is an excellent motivator change. Use the pain as fuel to your fire to create the life and love you desire.'”
Aleister Church and Byron Dubois in Crash Pad Series episode 272
I really enjoyed the article about weak social ties. I like talking to a certain receptionist about Taylor Swift, so that’s an excuse to keep up on celebrity gossip, or talking to a dog walker about how her dog is doing.