Sexies Winners Announced!

Sexies Winners Announced!

The board and judges of the Sex-Positive Journalism Awards are proud to announce the winners of the 2009 Sexies. Selected from about 100 entries (not counting multiple nominations of the same piece!) submitted by both writers and readers, the winning entries cover subjects from teen pregnancy to conjugal visits, vaginal plastic surgery to prudish responses to public art. The winning articles come from all across the United States and Canada, and represent a range of genres, from news to advice columns.

What they all have in common, however, is that they succeed in embodying the Sexies criteria for sex-positive journalism far better than the vast majority of their counterparts, helping to improve the quality of dialogue around sex and create a more well-informed reading public. "Without clear-eyed, informed journalism about sexuality, the public runs the risk of seeing sex-related issues through a murky scrim of ignorance and biased attitudes. The Sexies help show the media—and the citizenry—how it can and should be done," says Carol Queen of the Center for Sex and Culture.

The first-place winners are:
Mainstream News Sources (Newspapers/National News Magazines/TV Station Print Affiliates: “Plastic Surgery Below the Belt,” Laura Fitzpatrick, Time Magazine,
News/Features (Alt-Weeklies, Monthlies): “Growing Up Glouster,” Rachel Baker, Boston Magazine
Columns: Carnal Knowledge, JoAnn Wypijewski, The Nation
Opinion: Tie: “A Poverty of Solutions,” Judith Levine, 7 Days, and “The Great Porn Misunderstanding,” Michael Bader, Alternet
Here's the list of all the winners, with links to online versions of their stories where available, and comments from the judges. All entries were read by at least two members of the Sexies judges panel, including at least one with a journalism background.

The judges were: writer, speaker, educator and activist Carol Queen, PhD; journalist Kai Wright; journalist and 2008 Sexies winner Debbie Nathan; journalist Liza Featherstone; journalist and radio host Doug Henwood; journalist and 2008 Sexies winner Amanda Robb; sex educator and columnist for The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction, Debby Herbenick, PhD, MPH; and writer, editor, and blogger Rachel Kramer Bussel. (Full bios.)

A note about the sex-themed publications category: After careful consideration by our judges, we have decided not to give awards in this category this year. The judges felt the quality of the submissions did not measure up to the work submitted last year. We started the Sexies primarily to give mainstream journalists encouragement and support for covering sexual topics in unsensationalistic honest fashion. We added this category to give some recognition to folks in the trenches who are writing for publications that devote themselves to this topic. We are immensely grateful to those writers and those publications, and yet we feel that when writing about sex is expected and not an achievement in itself, to be award-winning, a story must really push our boundaries and be risky and challenge even the assumptions of the sex-positive community. We look forward to receiving more pieces in that vein in the future. We know they're out there!

Thanks all the writers and readers who sent in entries (and apologies for the various delays). We encourage all of the writers who entered or were nominated to keep up their crucial work. Submissions for the 2010 Sexies (for articles published in 2009) are open and they will be accepted through June 2010 at www.sexies.org/submit.php.

The Sexies would also like to thank our corporate sponsors, Babeland (founding sponsor), UltraVirgo Creative, and all of our individual donors. It’s not too late to become part of that sex-positive number: www.sexies.org/support.html.

Sexual Photography with Mark I. Chester

The Center for Sex & Culture invites the public to a slideshow/gallery talk by Mark I. Chester
Significant Folsom Street artist and CSC announce new fiscal sponsorship

Thursday, Nov 12, 7:30pm, at 1229 Folsom

The Center for Sex and Culture will host an evening of history and gay fine art sexual photography on Thurs. Nov. 12th from 7:30-9:30pm at the Mark I Chester studio, 1229 Folsom St in San Francisco. The evening is free and open to adults of all genders, orientations and sexual styles. Call 415-621-6294 to make a reservation, as space is limited.

San Francisco gay radical sex photographer Mark I Chester will give a slide show talk and historical overview of his explorations in sexual portraiture. These photographs document his life in the San Francisco gay sexual underground from the late 1970s to the present. Included in the presentation will be a special focus on two bodies of work from the late 1990s, "the dream of my youth is dead but I can't stop dreaming" and "Bad Boys on Parade - portraits on the verge of the new millennium." Mark is working to put these two bodies of work into a book called "Marked Men." As a special treat, 28 framed vintage black and white silver prints from "Marked Men" will be on display. This work can be previewed at http://markichester.com

Mark self-published a book of his photographs in 1996 called "Diary of a Thought Criminal," a groundbreaking book of radical sex portraits. Now Mark seeks to publish the next chapter in this diary with images that continue to delve into the sexual psyche of gay men in San Francisco on the verge of the new millennium, from 1997-1999. The Center for Sex and Culture proudly announces that it has become the fiscal sponsor to raise funds for "Marked Men." And because the Center for Sex and Culture is a 501c3 non-profit, all donations are tax deductible. http://www.sexandculture.org

Mark's work has never been easily categorized (or for some people, easy to take) because it crosses the normally exclusive boundaries of fine art portraiture, social documentary work and sexually explicit art. His radical sex portraits document a sexual history and reflect the tumultuous changes that have occurred in our communities during the last 30 years. Lives that are not documented disappear into the ether over time as if they never existed.

Center for Sex & Culture founding director Dr. Carol Queen says, "I am personally enormously moved by Mark's work; it is hot, beautifully photographed, and truly sexologically significant. Mark documents a series of historical moments, a community of sexual affiliation, and sexual identity and connection, and succeeds in showing us the diversity within all of this. His work is unique and deeply meaningful. The Center for Sex and Culture is committed to seeing that this important part of San Francisco history is documented and saved for all time."

The Center for Sex & Culture (CSC) has been called "Best Emerging Sex Nonprofit" (the San Francisco Bay Guardian's Best of the Bay, June 2004). It is open by appointment and for events. The Center for Sex & Culture is a nonprofit volunteer organization that subsists on donations from the public, including donations of books, art, videos, archival materials, etc. CSC's mailing address (where donations can be sent) is 2215-R Market Street, #455, San Francisco, CA 94114. Website donations can be made at www.sexandculture.org; people can sign up for CSC's twice-monthly email calendar at the same address.

Event in Brief:
When: Thursday, November 12, 2009
Where: Mark I. Chester's studio at 1229 Folsom Street, San Francisco
What: Gallery show, reception, and slideshow/lecture about Mark I. Chester's work and book project
Contact: 415-621-6294 (Mark I. Chester's studio; call to reserve space)

CSC Photo Club

CSC PHOTO CLUB

SEEKS HOT SHOOTERS

Do you like taking pictures?

Do you like porn and erotica?

Join the CSC Photo Club for its monthly shoot. This month our model will be Tanya Leigh Cummings. Tanya Leigh Cummings made her debut with "Real Lesbians, Real Bondage" in 2002 and currently is doing private photo shows for the fetishists. As the name implies, this model can cum easily and well. Tanya Leigh readily enjoys most types of pain and power play - including blood play with an artistic flare. Miss Cummings is decorated with numerous scarifications on her voluptuous body. Get ready to love her and watch out, she's a squirter! To RSVP and purchase tickets, please go to http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/91528

Join other like-minded photographers at the Center for Sex and Culture Photo Club shoots. All that’s required is a camera and the desire to create images reflecting your erotic point of view. We provide lights, models and occasional lecturers. Shoots are usually the 3rd Sunday of the month and are open to club members and, space permitting, nonmembers. Each shoot costs $25 for members, $40 for nonmembers; trial memberships are available. Annual membership is $240 or $20/month.

We are also seeking models!

For info and RSVP contact Julie
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Best of the Bay

The Center for Sex & Culture received its third Best of the Bay this week! We're San Francisco's "Best Sex Education Resource" -- but then, you knew that. Last year our Erotic Reading Circle won a Best of the Bay for Best Erotic Resurrection, and our first one was as Best Emerging Sex Nonprofit, back in 2005. Thanks to the SF Bay Guardian for honoring us again!

Sex Education in America

Dear friends of the Center for Sex and Culture,

My name is Caitlin Krapf. Carol Queen was kind enough to agree to circulate this letter for me. I am contacting you because I am working on a feature documentary about Sex Education in America. We are attempting to look at the history of sex education, the current state of affairs, and also what might be done to create a better, more inclusive, more comprehensive way to teach sex education.

Center For Sex & Culture