via Daily Bedpost by Em & Lo on 11/3/08
NYC sex blogger Urban Gypsy, aka Tess Danesi, had the bright idea just a few weeks ago to create a pin-up calendar of NYC sex writers, educators, and filmmakers in support of Audacia Ray's Sex Work Awareness Project. And now, with a sponsorship by Njoy (among others), a photo shoot by Stacie Joy at the Slipper Room, and a forthcoming release party on Friday, Nov. 14 from 6:30 to 9:30 at the White Rabbit, it's already a reality. We spoke with Tess about the shoot n' shit:
If you were giving the quick, one-sentence descriptive tagline for each of the calendar's pin-ups, what would it be?
Mariella Ella (first on left) is the recently deflowered virgin of the bunch -- a shy, doe-eyed college student toting around a burgeoning bowl full of cherries and an unhealthy obsession for Faulkner.
Rachel Kramer Bussel (second from left) is the hot nerdy girl with glasses that cover the biggest, warmest brown eyes ever, a wicked knowing smile and a penchant for spanking -- both giving and receiving.
Tess (third from left) may be a New Yorker but she's really a gypsy at heart, albeit a gypsy who sees herself frolicking through the forest clad in garments from the season Givenchy was high on the peasant aesthetic, nimbly avoiding stray branches and skipping over rivulets in her newest pair of Pucci stilettos.
Sinclair Sexsmith (fourth from left) is a classically trained poet and kinky queer butch top with a weakness for avocados, whiskey, gender theory, and submissive femmes.
Diva (face hidden) is June Cleaver gone awry. While her pearls were formerly found only wrapped around her neck, these days they are more than likely to be found wrapped around her lover's erection.
Riese (back & center) is the sarcastic and sassy bisexual who never wears heels in real life and doesn't actually have a sex blog, but thinks sex is really sexy.
Jamye Waxman (front & center) has been dubbed "my girl crush" (oops, no that's another story altogether), the "nexxxt generation of sex educator" by wired.com. When spoken in her sexy, husky voice, even the word urethra sounds hot.
Desiree (fifth from right) is a brainy, sexy, foodie, geeky, writer chick from New York who has always had an inclination toward the naughty and whose absolute favorite topic of conversation is sex.
Lux Alptraum (fourth from right) is obsessed with the Internet, computers and sex. You'll have to ask her in what order.
Twanna A. Hines (third from right) is funky, brown and most definitely a chick. "After Ellen" online calls her "one of those women who oozes sexuality." She's also as sharp as Gouda cheese; she even speaks Dutch!
Audacia Ray (second from right) is the embodiment of brainy and sexy wrapped up in one voluptuous package. She has a hidden love of food and a much more overt love of tattoos.
Dr. Elizabeth Wood (first on right), the brilliant academic with flowing waist-length hair, reconnected with her inner girly-girl on this shoot, discovering that a little glam doesn't really hurt (not much anyway)...
Who had the best outfit at the shoot and what was it?...
Jamye had the best Wonder Woman costume ever. She had frilly blue panties with stars glued above her crotch and a red bikini top. It got even better when she went scouring Orchard Street for a golden lasso of truth. In my opinion, Jamye truly is Wonder Woman. Audacia's ceramic corset also made for a fabulous dark and moody shot. Her boobs are nearly incandescent against the red and black of the corset.
Did anyone get naked, or topless, for the shoot?
Well of course there was the all-girl, all-naked romp in the hotel room after the shoot. Oh wait, you meant not just in my imagination, right? We sex bloggers are not as hedonistic as some would like to think, so there's no nudity in this calendar. It's more of a fun and flirty aesthetic. Though Rachel Kramer Bussel's beautiful and bountiful, bare and spanked bottom made in it into the calendar. Next year, more skin!
It's one person per month, right, or did you do any group shots?
It is one person a month this year. I have visions of joining up with out-of-town bloggers next year and having at least two people pose for each month. That, however, would mean a much more rational timeline. This went from brilliant idea to photo shoot in three weeks.
Any funny anecdotes or wardrobe malfunctions during the shoot?
Walking through the lobby of our hotel and then down Allen Street clad in our outfits got us some interesting looks from the staff and on the street. But this is NYC, after all, and strange things are pretty normal here. The prior evening while on our way to the Slipper Room, the location of our shoot, we saw a crowd assembled and I pushed my way to the front to find a woman clad only in a strap-on and boots inside a bodega. She emerged saying she was going to see how far she got before being arrested and then headed her bare-assed way down Orchard Street with a crowd in tow.
Also, Jamye, while in pursuit of that golden lasso, found herself swarmed by young children asking to have their photo taken with Wonder Woman. One man even told her Wonder Woman had always been his fantasy and then proceeded to ask her out on a date. I think she turned him down.
As for wardrobe malfunctions, there was a moment when my always-unruly boobs popped out of my corset as Sinclair dipped me. Facebook took a dim view of that particular shot.
Will each participant get a say in which pic gets used? Who's editing?
Our fabulous photographer, Stacie Joy, picked the best shots of all the pin-ups and sent everyone their own best shots. We each got to pick our favorite from those.
How much will the calendar cost?
The calendars are priced at $20 and can be purchased either online at our blog or in person at release party, which is happening November 14th from 6:30 to 9:30 at White Rabbit. If you show up and are really nice to us, we may even sign them for you. We hope to have them stocked in independent book stores and sex toy shops.
Who's your target market?
Anyone who likes sex and sex writing! And, of course, anyone who wants to be part of our effort to make a difference by supporting Sex Work Awareness. We're even considering a drive to send calendars as a way of thanking sex-positive representatives or to persuade the less than sex-positive to reconsider. In this current political and cultural climate, where sex workers are often considered freaks, mentally or emotionally unstable or drug addicted, I think it's time to bring down these myths and replace them with facts by supporting education initiatives such as SWA.
We also sold days on our calendar to kink events, sex toy manufacturers, and bloggers making our calendar a great tool for keeping all this information at your fingertips. Some companies, like Liberator and OhMiBod even gave us discount codes you can use when you order their products.
Reblogged with MessageDance using Google Reader | Reply On Twitter
