The first sexual revolution: lust and liberty in the 18th century
posted by Artw on Jan 21, 2012 - 17 comments

England's Obscenity Trial of the Decade is over, with unanimous Not Guilty verdicts being returned for all 6 charges. R v Peacock was a rare outing for the Obscene Publications Act 1959 and its out-lawing of media which depraves and corrupts, and despite being shown DVDs of explicit homosexual acts, fisting, testicular torture, rape scenes, prolaspses and other acts the prosecution described as extreme the jury decided the material didn't breech the law. Alex d. live tweeted the proceeding and Peacock's supprters are celebratory. The question now is what is obscene in today's society, and is the act still relevant. [more inside]
posted by samworm on Jan 6, 2012 - 25 comments

A Few Popular Misconceptions And Victorians And Sex
posted by The Whelk on Oct 18, 2011 - 28 comments

From 1999 to 2003, the largely-female UK comedy trope Smack The Pony had a series of short skits based on video dating ads. Youtube user myLastTears has edited them together into a supercut: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 [more inside]
posted by The Whelk on Aug 21, 2011 - 18 comments

(NSFW) So Much For the Stiff Upper Lip. Slate writer gets jiggy wit the history of Georgian Britain's aristocratic sex clubs.
posted by jason's_planet on Dec 14, 2009 - 38 comments

"I'm not a politician, I'm an artist. Depravity is part of the job description," says self-styled dandy, former drug addict, and controversial British author Sebastian Horsely, who was denied entrance to the US by customs officials at Newark Airport on the grounds of "moral turpitude," a wide net that encompasses everything from fornication to being a "nuisance." Shades of Oscar Wilde.
posted by digaman on Mar 21, 2008 - 42 comments

The Return of a Clockwork Orange - Writers, artists, directors, UK film censors and starring actor Malcolm McDowell discuss Stanley Kubrick's classic film A Clockwork Orange
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Jan 28, 2008 - 121 comments

Norman Mailer has posthumously won this year's Literary Review Bad Sex Award for his novel on the early life of Hitler, The Castle in the Forest. He was up against some stiff competition but Norman managed to rise to the occasion (sorry). Safe for work, but you might feel a bit dirty in the morning.
posted by fearfulsymmetry on Nov 27, 2007 - 24 comments

Masturbate-a-thon 2006 will be the first event featured on UK Channel 4's "wank week", and will involve hundreds of Londoners gathering in a hall to have a televised toss-off. Participants will be fapping away in hopes of garnering prizes for number of orgasms and endurance - the current record stands at over eight hours of continuous onanism. In other news, kittens everywhere are getting their affairs in order.
posted by LondonYank on Jul 18, 2006 - 91 comments

Wal-Mart sells dildos
posted by Protocols of the Elders of Awesome on Dec 16, 2005 - 51 comments

Homosexuality in 18th Century England :: an amazing compilation of primary source material from newspaper reports and other sources.
posted by anastasiav on Mar 3, 2005 - 13 comments

Sebastian Horsley - a man who's slept with more than 1,000 prostitutes - gives a controversial and candid account of his experience of paying for sex
posted by zeoslap on Sep 24, 2004 - 40 comments

Have more sex says the Conservative party in the UK, procreate for the good of the economy and solve the looming pensions crisis. "Europe's real demographic crisis is not longevity but birth rates". Research says, apparently, that most women want more children than they have, but could it also be the case that a growing number of people just don't see the attraction?
posted by jonvaughan on Sep 24, 2003 - 30 comments

Trial by Tabloid? Top BBC presenter Angus Deaton has been sacked after a sex & drugs scandal. He has presented comedy news quiz Have I Got News For You for over ten years. So, is ti right for him to be sacked after trial by tabloid? Do we actually care what our T.V. presenters get up to after the cameras are turned off?
posted by prentiz on Oct 30, 2002 - 16 comments

Joanne's beaus one thru four revealed. Something which really exposes the underbelly of the football (soccer) world. Phone-in host and media guru Danny Baker wrung some milleage a few years ago from a single caller over a number of months. Joanne, a woman of generous virtue, was quietly working her way through the back four of a well known Premiereship football team, and calling Baker's saturday show both morning and evening revealing all but names in shocking yet hilarious detail. The British tabloids and football chatrooms were ablaze with theories about who these four players were and also the two managers involved (one of which paid her £5000 to retain naked photos she had taken of him, lest a red-top get hold of them). Well now we finally know - and with all of Joannes calls collected together for the first time. [Real Audio, streaming and download]
posted by feelinglistless on May 18, 2001 - 8 comments

"Brad the Cad" is disciplined, but not fired. This is the man who forwarded an email, describing his sexual prowess to four people, thus starting a world wide fury. Speculation on exactly how he was disciplined includes losing out on his annual bonus.
posted by karenh on Dec 22, 2000 - 12 comments