Tag Archives: interview
Guest blog: What’s it like to run an ethical sex toy shop?
Today’s guest blog is something a little different, because I really want to introduce you to the fabulous person behind The Pleasure Garden – an awesome ethical sex toy shop that sponsors my website. If you’d like to buy stuff you can use the code GOTN10 for 10% off anything they stock, but I’m not trying to actively sell you anything here, I just wanted to introduce you to someone cool: Francesca Cross, who runs it. I have written about a number of fantastic Pleasure Garden products over the years, from restraints kits to g-spot vibes, and door cuffs to doppelganger dicks. And whenever I have a catch-up with Francesca to talk about what I could review next, we always end up in a fascinating sidebar about the challenges involved in trying to carve an ethical path through the adult industry: how to improve accessibility, how to make sure the toys in stock are body safe, how to write copy for websites in a way that is inclusive and never shaming. I thought you lot might like to see a glimpse behind the scenes, and meet someone awesome who is working to do exactly that. So I interviewed Francesca! Grab a cup of tea and learn about running an ethical sex toy shop in the UK…
Guest blog: interview with Shine Louise Houston
I’ve wanted to write about porn for a while, and when Shine Louise Houston got in touch about Snapshot – her latest crowdfunded erotic film, I thought it’d be an excellent excuse. So instead of a guest blog this week, Shine Louise was kind enough to answer some questions about her latest project: a feature-length erotic thriller.
If you pick up a newspaper – in the UK media at least – you’re likely to find that any discussion on porn is centered around a view of the porn industry as a homogenous whole. Big-name studios with questionable practices churning out easy, identikit films for a primarily straight male audience. This by no means an accurate picture. The general narrative that ‘porn is damaging/exploitative/bad/degrading’ is changing, albeit slowly – independent producers who make fairtrade porn, feminist porn, queer porn, and other films that don’t fit the stereotype – are getting more attention.
Since I started writing this blog, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting (and working with) brilliant porn producers like Pandora Blake and Petra Joy, and in turn they’ve recommended other porn producers who are creating unique and amazing films. One of these people is Shine Louise Houston, who founded Pink and White Productions – the company that produces the CrashPad Series (the Crash Pad is a secret apartment in San Francisco dedicated to hot, queer sex).
Let’s chat…