This past year has seen an upsurge in the fight against sexism in the music industry, with several high-profile stories gaining national attention. In a Pitchfork piece early in the year, journalist Jessica Hopper asked, “Why are misogynist lyrics still entertainment in 2015?” Then, in August, Hopper used Twitter to…
When MTV’s MADE premiered in the early 2000s, teenagers became infatuated with the idea of transforming into someone else. We saw people being coached into cheerleaders, opera singers, BMX riders and so on. Whenever I would tune in for a dose of reality television, I always imagined what it would be…
Holiday drinks and Playboy cut-outs made for a festive time at the XXX-Mas Craft Fair, a risque co-ed ornament-crafting evening at MCA Denver on December 18. Photographer Danielle Lirette captured the all naughty masterpieces crafted with love, glue and a little T&A. Now see the full XXX-Mas Craft Fair slide…
What do disco, a dress made out of condoms and Celia Cruz have in common? They are all part of COLOR’s seventeenth annual Viva la Diva fundraiser this Friday. COLOR, short for Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights, hosts this event each year to raise awareness for reproductive…
Shocker of all shockers: the Fifty Shades of Grey movie sucked so hard it left a gaping hole where my soul used to be. Not that I didn’t anticipate maximum suckage since the book was also terrible, but I suppose I held out a vestige of hope that maybe the…
Podcasts are in tune with the democratized spirit of Internet media; anyone with a microphone and a computer can offer their listeners unlimited hours of recordings, usually for free. Limited only by their imaginations, podcasters have a freedom of expression unrestricted by commerce, censorship or geography. Indeed, several great podcasts have blossomed from Denver’s own flourishing arts community. Here to celebrate them is Podcast Profiles, a new series documenting the efforts of local podcasters and spotlighting the peculiar personalities behind them.
Some people get off to porn, other people get down to BDSM role play. And then there are those people who are turned on by bicycles. Bike Smut is a collection of short erotic films that have everything to do with bikes. This DIY bicycle-themed festival has been traveling across…
Winnie Wenglewick loves showing her audience how to get kinky. The owner, producer and artistic director of Denver’s Dangerous Theatre, Wenglewick is currently producing BITE, a “choose-your-own-adventure sex farce” that offers audiences numerous opportunities to vote for what happens next, whether it’s a “blowjob fest” or some other kinky escapade…
If you’ve ever wanted to get kinky, this is the weekend to start. Tonight Beyond the Bedroom will host Coming Out Kinky: A Grown Up Comedy at Shine in Boulder; tomorrow it will offer “Welcome to S&M: A Gentle Introduction” at Denver’s Dangerous Theater, with discussion/demonstrations of masochism, bondage, discipline…
Beyond the Bedroom will host Coming Out Kinky — A Grown Up Comedy at Shine tomorrow night. Jean Franzblau’s comedy is about a woman’s path of sexual exploration; she plays twenty characters in the show. Beyond the Bedroom Executive Director Daka Dan describes the actress/playwright as “not a ‘full-time’ kinkster…
With its terrible writing, dump truck-sized plot holes, horrible Twilight fan-fic dialogue and a plethora of downright ridiculous misconceptions about BDSM and kinksters, Fifty Shades of Grey, the first book in E.L. James’s trilogy, made me want to faceplant into my Kindle. It’s four hours of my life that I…
Becky Tate was the last speaker to take the stage last February during Ignite Denver 16 — a periodic event that invites people to give five-minute, twenty-slide presentations about anything they want — and she was a good choice: Tate’s talk was about sex, and it was called “30 Days…
Denver’s park-going public have long enjoyed whiling away summer afternoons sunning on the gently sloping hills of Cheesman Park. Whether strolling through the park’s neoclassical pavilion, enjoying the view of the distant cityscape over the treetops, or happening upon an especially festive Quinceañera, there are always good times to be found in Cheesman Park –along with the occasional human skull.
You may have seen Beforeplay.org’s billboards around the city or memes (like the one above) floating around Facebook. Part of an ongoing campaign advocating safe sex and sex positivity, BeforePlay.org is using humor to connect with Coloradans in a way that is accessible and designed to spark a conversation. Formed…
Bored Japanese businessmen started the air-sex trend, says Bryan Poyser, director of the raunchy, heartbreaking romantic comedy, Love and Air Sex, which opens at the SIE FilmCenter on Friday, March 7, for a weeklong run. Air sex is the erotic equivalent of air guitar. Pornographic mimes boasting filthy stage names…
MM Serra is struggling to find a New York City venue bold enough to exhibit Charles Henri Ford’s 1971 surrealist memoir film, Johnny Minotaur. Nobody wants to bite. This experimental classic reflects on teen sexuality with explicit homoerotic imagery. Unnamed institutions refuse to show it because curators believe the performers look like minors and that the film violates basic standards of decency, she says.
Whether you are a raincoat-wearing heavy-breather, an academic seeking fodder for educational frottage or a run-of-the-mill cineaste, beware, you had better be of age and hope the city authorities do not bust this festival up: The Denver Film Society has curated a lineup of erotic films sure to fan your flames of desire and debate; so, grab your favorite lube and check out our handy guide to Sex Shop Cinema.
Though it’s a human-rights movement with roots in gay-liberation activism, the fight for rights for sex workers is much less recognized, says Melinda Chateauvert. Her new book,Sex Workers Unite: A History of the Movement From Stonewall to SlutWalk aims to change that, chronicling the the movement from the struggle to…
Zombies were solidly outnumbered over the weekend at the Exotica Erotica Ball, where green men and slinky cat-women canoodled with masked mystery ladies and scantily clad executioners. Photographer Brandon Marshall captured the sexy backlash bash in all its fishnetted majesty. Here are some of our favorite photos; you’ll find these…
Reading is about more than following a narrative or learning facts; it can also be a profound shared experience that culminates in a better understanding of ourselves and each other. In that spirit, welcome to the Westword Book Club, a weekly feature celebrating the books that inspire Denver artists.
There is nothing wrong with consenting adults using sex toys to spice up some otherwise boring bed-sport, and the adult-toy industry has come up with a truly dazzling selection of every possible implement for every possible body part/orifice. But for every pair of pink, fuzzy handcuffs and every benign blow-up…
Robots are everywhere. From helping us find cat videos on the Internet to assembling other robots (yeah, that can’t end well), they’ve become almost as ubiquitous in real life as they have been in pop culture for years. This Saturday, the multimedia art exhibit Let’s Pretend We’re Robots opens at…
