This is a truly fabulous organization and event that is fully community driven, so they need our help to make this event happen. You can donate money through their Indiegogo campaign to help fund the permits, stage, vendors, and other city costs for the march. If you don’t have money to spare there are lots of other ways you can help– by donating raffle prizes and other items, making signs, or simply sharing this with friends. If you want to get involved or want more information contact dykemarchchicago@gmail.com .

The Chicago Dyke March moves to a new neighborhood every two years to raise visibility and build solidarity across various communities. This will be the march’s second year in the Arglye neighborhood, just a few blocks from Early to Bed. So be sure to stop by and say hello afterward!

Did you know that Mother’s Day wasn’t always about brunch and flowers? It actually has some pretty radical anti-war feminist roots. Here is Julia Ward Howe’s original Mother’s Day Proclamation from 1870.

Lot’s of us feel alienated by picture perfect Hallmark Mother’s Days. Strong Families has an inclusive vision of Mother’s Day, celebrating mothers of all gender identities, sexualities, nationalities, colors, family structures, (dis)ability, and more. They asked artists to create this diverse collection of beautiful ecards for you to share.

Milk Junkies interviews a trans woman in a lesbian marriage about non-gestational motherhood, inducing lactation, and her breastfeeding relationship with her son. Its a really awesome story that challenges the gender binary, ignorance about trans women’s bodies, and assumptions about mothering.

And we can’t leave out this heartwarming and hilarious Mother’s Day story from our friend, Sunny Megatron, “Put it between my breasts.”

So stock up on supplies to make self-love fun & easy!

xoxo,

EtB

Submit your masturbation themed haikus (limit 5 per person)  in the comments below, on our Facebook wall, or on Twitter! Due by May 31st. Top 10 are posted on our blog. Top 3, as chosen by our staff win prizes!

1st Prize: $40 Gift Certificate to EtB
2nd Prize: $25 Gift Certificate to EtB
3rd Prize: Large bottle of Sliquid H2O lube

Need a haiku writing refresher?
Haiku is derived from a style of Japanese poetry with very stringent rules about syllables. They are typically written about nature, but these days you can write about anything… even masturbation!

The style is this: Three lines. First line–5 syllables. Second line–7 syllables. Third line–5 syllables. They can rhyme or not.

You do not need to live in Chicago to participate in this contest! So get crackin’!

Rule 1: Never have sex with someone who says mean things about your body.

They don’t deserve to fuck you. Period. Unless you have a humiliation kink and have requested such negative commentary, anyone who says something mean about your body and then expects to have naked access to it should be denied. Yes, this means that sometimes you will turn down people you’d like to fuck. But do not reward anyone who thinks it is acceptable to insult the person they want to have sex with.

Note: I think this actually includes people you are married to. Because bodies change but if they can’t handle that? You might need a new partner.

Rule 2: Practice being naked.

If you cannot be naked with yourself, it is probably going to be really hard to be naked with other people. It is totally okay to need to dip your toe into nakedness a little bit, but being comfortable enough to take off the T-shirt is going to improve your sex life. And not just because the T-shirt will be out of the way but because it’s easier to have a good time when you feel comfortable.

Hang out in your living room naked (if you are able). Try sleeping naked! Get comfortable with the way your body moves and shifts.

Thank you Marianne for being awesome! For more on this topic, I totally recommend reading Hanne Blank’s Big Big Love. Also, here is a bunch of amazing full figured women having a lot of sexy fun on DVD, and it won 2013 Feminist Porn Awards award for Hottest Dyke Film!

xoxo,

Searah

*Not sure if that is the actual name of that piece, but it is what we call it. 

The author of that article had a TON of material to work with, but I’m a little surprised he didn’t include Figure 32, captioned “How constipation affects female sex apparatus.” In sticking to the pictures, he also missed out on some fantastic reading material. Check out this choice passage that I just randomly opened to: “The imago-man must always maintain his authority if his wife is to accept him as her sexual partner. If he is unable to do so, or if he goes so far as to reject, as a matter of conviction, the old-fashioned tyrannical attitude of husbands, and tries to regard his wife as his social and sexual equal, then his wife will inevitably become impotent in relation to himself.” Well, obviously! Who can get a lady boner when a dude just wants to treat you like a human all the time?

So stop on by, and enjoy this enlightening text and many more. (We also have contemporary sexy books.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgLzrTPkdgI&feature=player_embedded

You’re welcome.

SWOP-Chicago is pleased to host a public reception to celebrate the launch of PROS Network-Chicago; an exciting new directory and network of helping professionals, clinics and agencies offering non-judgmental, client-centric resources and support to people in the sex trade.

The reception will take place at Cortelyou Commons (DePaul University, 2324 N Fremont, Chicago IL, 60614)

RECEPTION WILL INCLUDE:
• the release of new PROS print outreach materials…
• speeches by network professionals…
• a fair where attendees can pick up info about and talk to PROS network members…
• light reception fare.

The Pros Network Chicago, is one of few existing resource guides created for sex workers, in the world.
The PROS Network-Chicago currently includes over 35 helping professionals, agencies and clinics.

NETWORK MEMBERS INCLUDE:
• Asian Human Services
• Chicago House
• Chicago Women’s Health Center
• Chicago Recovery Alliance
• Heartland Health Outreach Inc
• Howard Brown Health Center
• Rape Victims Advocates

The PROS Network-Chicago was created to connect individuals involved or previously involved in the sex trade with affirming, non-judgmental services.
SWOP-Chicago hopes the PROS network will reduce access barriers to medical care, legal support, and human services commonly experienced by sex workers and also raise awareness and sensitivity of the human service and harm-reduction community to the unique needs of people involved in the sex trade.

The reception is co-sponsored by DePaul University Social Science Research Center.

The reception is FREE and opened to the public.

We usually recommend water based lube to use with silicone toys because some silicone based lubes interact poorly with some silicone toys. Its simpler to just stick with the water based lube, especially because we love them so much anyway. But if you, like me, are in the throes of a love affair with silicone lube (it lasts so long! it never gets sticky! it works under water! I only need a little! it makes my hair shiny! I can put some on a steel butt plug and wear it to math class!!) and are determined to use it whenever possible, you can do a spot test on the base of your toys before dousing them in a potentially damaging product. If after much rubbing you wash it off and the spot feels the same as the rest of the toy you’re probably good to go. If it feels tacky, best stick with the water based stuff. Generally, the highest quality silicone toys will mix fine with a high quality silicone lube.

Having banished oil based lubes to the far corner of our store (and sometimes minds), we were caught off guard when someone asked if oil based lubes will harm silicone toys. My initial thought was that they would work together fine, but it sounded like the perfect science experiment. I tested our oil based lubes on an old silicone Fun Factory Bubbles vibrator: Stroke 29, Him Cream, Please Stroke Cream. The results? No bad interactions whatsoever! So yes, it is safe for dudes to use oil based lubes with silicone toys in their butts and on their dicks. But remember that oil based lubes should never be used with latex condoms and can cause problems for vaginas.

Since the test toy was still in perfect condition after the oil based lubes, I decided to check out a few silicone based lubes on it as well. I tried Eros Pjur, Uber Lube, Pink, and Sliquid Organics Silk; none of them had a bad interaction with the Fun Factory silicone toy either. I still recommend doing spot tests with silicone toys and lubes on your own though. 

You can read more about lube here.

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