Have you heard of Gisèle Pelicot? You must have by now, surely. You must have heard of the woman who stood up publicly and showed everyone exactly where the shame lies in a rape case. Gisèle’s husband, Dominique Pelicot, drugged her repeatedly and invited strangers into their home to rape his unconscious wife over a period of almost a decade. There are 50 other men who have all been found guilty today, and more who have still not yet been identified. Despite the enormous stress of publicly naming your assailants, Gisèle Pelicot waived her anonymity in this case, to ensure that people knew not just what had been done but crucially who had done it. Gisèle Pelicot taught a world that desperately needed to hear it that ‘shame must change sides.’ So as we celebrate her breathtaking heroism, let’s also spend some time discussing Dominique Pelicot’s shame.
“Point your toes”: he fucked me like he owned me
Sometimes I feel like part of my body still belongs to him.
Throughout my life I’ve been fucked in so many different ways: like I’m precious; like I’m trash; like they’re hungry and I’m the nearest hot meal… but only one or two men have ever fucked me like my flesh was theirs by right. Fucked me like they owned me. As if my body – my cunt, my thighs, my hands, my mouth, my heart – belonged to them exactly as much as their own. He was one of them.
Guest blog: Difference brings the world colour
I’m so excited to bring you this week’s guest blog, from a brand new guest blogger who has already submitted a second (excellent) post that’s coming up in January! He’s here to talk to you today about sex and disability, specifically fulfilling his hunger for kissing, skin-to-skin contact, and other forms of intimacy, and the ways in which his disability makes him focus more on the journey rather than the destination…
Christmas gift guide for kinky people
Is it that time again already? It comes round quicker with each year that passes and there is literally science to prove that I’m right. Whatever. It’s nearly Christmas, so if you’re looking to pick up something sexy for someone in your life who has a penchant for pervery, I have spent a happy afternoon browsing around the websites of the lovely companies who are kind enough to sponsor this blog so I can nudge you in the direction of a few things you might consider buying. Here’s a Christmas gift guide for kinky people…
You can’t build love on lies
When I was young, my family used to be big followers of soaps: Neighbours, Eastenders, Coronation Street. I can’t remember what else there was to do on evenings in the nineties besides yell things at the telly as ludicrous fictional characters cocked up their lives in ever more creative ways. Perhaps this is testament to how my Mum raised me, but when I watched soaps, the thing that got me most irate was how terrible people were at just fucking talking to each other.