I attended a very thought-provoking lecture on gender, prostitution and HIV, where there were case studies from Senegal and Cambodia. The lecturer spoke about the difficulties clinics in Africa and southeast Asia have when it comes to accessing proper resources and equipment, and said that they almost exclusively rely on donations. That’s when it occurred to me that this is something I can maybe help with. Do you know of any reputable, sex-positive charities in Toronto that accept either money or condoms (or other necessary items) that they send to international STD (or other health) clinics? WANTS TO HELP
It looks like one of the easiest ways to get aid to health clinics in developing nations through a reputable independent agency is simply by giving to Doctors Without Borders. In Canada, you can reach them through www.msf.ca. There’s no way to earmark funds for specific groups; you can’t click on their donations page and find Condoms for Senegalese Sex Workers or ARV Drugs for Cambodian Trannies but medical aid for prostitutes is certainly part of their work.
Another way to assist sex-positive health organizations in developing nations is by contributing directly to sex worker orgs, many of which do incredibly effective HIV/AIDS and safer sex outreach. Merch can be a profitable business for whores, and several of them are wise to this fact, offering snazzy threads emblazoned with catchy slogans and naked chicks. Go to www.empowerfoundation.org or the Asian Pacific Network of Sex Workers at www.apnsw.org/apnsw.htm and you’ll find loads of t-shirts. I have a couple from the APNSW that never fail to elicit a chuckle from passersby on the street.
Payment and shipping are a little difficult to negotiate — as Noi from Empower says, they’re better at selling sex than products — but rest assured both these organizations are above board. The most savvy of all sex-work orgs, when it comes to merchandising, is Brazilian NGO Davida, which put together a line of clothing designed, promoted and modelled by hookers called Daspu (“Of the Whore”); www.daspu.com.br/putique is their online boutique. You may also contribute directly to organizations like Danaya So (www.danayaso.org) through an online donation system.
While I was doing research I ran across the link www.sexworkerspresent.blip.tv, a site that hosts personal films by sex workers. With Dec. 17 being the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, many of the films are a sobering reminder of the aggression aimed at sex workers daily and universally.
When dildos attack
I am a 50-year-old male who has a satisfactory sex life with his oversized black dildo. I tried to suck this black dildo the other day and I was surprised how awfully bitter it tasted. After a couple of seconds, I had to spit and wash my mouth and the bad taste did not go away completely. I think the Chinese are using toxic materials in all those toys we fuck and suck and you need to start a serious investigation on this. JIM
The use of toxic materials in sex toys has been a concern for a few years now and the word on everyone’s lips is phthalates. Phthalates are, among other versatile things, chemicals used to soften plastics. To read an explanation of these chemicals in plain language and check out a list of the myriad products they’re found in, visit www.earthresource.org/campaigns/capp/phthalates.html. There’s another product list at www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/toxics/polyvinyl-chloride/pvc-products.
One major health concern (and there are several, including damage to the male reproductive system) is that certain classes of phthalates are carcinogenic, as proven with rodents in lab tests. Meanwhile, a Danish study on phthalates done in 2006 claims the levels in sex toys aren’t high enough to affect human health, with the caveat that pregnant or breastfeeding women should abstain from heavy usage. This link will tell you a little more about that study: www.udansk.blogspot.com/2006/09/phtalates-in-sextoys-dangerous.html.
But wait, there’s more: “While phthalates have really been in the news of late and it may very well have been a taste factor in the oversized black dildo of Jim’s, it could have well been any number of chemicals,” says Metis Black from Tantus, a company that makes premium silicone toys. “When the Dutch EPA did a study of novelties in 2006, out of 16 toys tested, they found three had arsenic, six had antimony, 12 had lead and seven had cadmium. This study, more than any other, brought public safety concerns to light.”
The Dutch study also found touline in several of the toys. “Touline is a solvent and it’s hell on the kidneys and liver and no, you don’t want to suck it or get it near your mucous membranes,” Black continues. “It was probably used to clean the machines or the moulds that the toys were made with. Probably 98 per cent [I’ve read both 70 per cent and 80 per cent myself — Sasha] of the sex toys made are made in China, and there are no regulations concerning them. It’s a sad truth. In fact, the way most “manufacturers” choose toys is that they get a catalogue from a Chinese toy factory and they choose 1,000 of these and 5,000 of those — it’s one of the reasons all the toys look similar. Bigger companies buy the moulds and thus keep others from using them, but usually it’s price-point driven.”
Of course, as a businessperson, it behooves Black to promote this information. Her company sells only toys made of medical-grade silicone with FDA-approved, food-grade dyes or mica and uses non-toxic solvents in their manufacturing process. Still, all other alarming chemicals aside, breast cancer websites (as well as other environmental sites like Treehugger) contain warnings about phthalates and they have been banned in children’s toys. Despite all the rumblings, the phthalate industry is conspicuously positive. At www.phthalates.com you can read all about the marvels of phthalates and their lack of impact on human health and the environment. Oddly, more than any information I’ve read, this extolling website, with its stock photos of children running through pristine fields and scientists posing beside fat babies, makes me the most nervous.
So, then, what’s a Jim to do? If a silicone, glass or Pyrex dildo is out of your price range, common wisdom suggests you put a condom on your big black buddy before sucking or fucking it.
EMAIL SASHA AT SASHA@EYEWEEKLY.COM OR SEND YOUR QUESTIONS TO SASHA C/O EYE WEEKLY, 625 CHURCH ST, 6TH FL, TORONTO, M4Y 2G1.