Review: Jimmyjane Iconic Ring

Product Review:
Jimmyjane Iconic Ring

Although the cock ring originated (purportedly) in 1200 AD constructed of goat's eyelids, it's iconic 2011 status is finally of elastomer--soft, hypoallergenic, phthalate-free. The cock ring has further evolved from a simple ring of fabric to be set on the base of a penis to a miniature pliable vibrating machine. Simple in purpose but complex in design, cock rings like the Jimmyjane Iconic Ring combine clitoral stimulation with sexual intercourse without intrusion. These kiddos are the best couples toy I'd recommend for light experimentation. They are safe, easy to clean and enhance a sexual experience without breaking the comforting intimacy of vanilla sex. Hey, we all like vanilla at the end of the day, right? Maybe with some chocolate chip cookies, though..

The Product Review:
Jimmyjane Iconic Ring is especially fantastic not only because of its malleable material but touch-sensitive vibration mode that responds easily with vibrations as it contacts the body. Another option lets you leave the vibrations on continuously.
I've had this ring for about six months now and its battery is still working great. This cock ring cannot be compared with the average cock ring that lasts for one use; as a hetero-couple toy, the Jimmyjane ring is the ultimate.

However, as a toy to maintain an erection or stimulate the perineum, this cock ring is not rigid enough nor built for that kind of play. This should also not be used for medical purposes (ED).

9-Year-Old Boys Can Prevent from HPV, Too, Says FDA

For the 100th year of International Women's Day...I bring you (and not a month too late) exciting news! Merk proves that a vaccine for a disease for which men cannot be tested carries usefulness in prevention of said disease. From your first nipple hair and textbook-hidden-erection, you can take a shot to protect from a whopping 4% of HPV strains. But wait, if you turn a vaccine-less 27 and you're sick of using condoms with your longtime girlfriend, Gardasil isn't proven to protect that 4%.

Seems I'm rubbing Gardasil a bit hard, here. Its development and production is, well, extremely productive in long-term prevention of cervical cancers and warts in women. Gardasil--for women or for men--is a stepping stone to even more widespread improvements in the drastically high statistics on HPV. Gardasil for men, no matter how limiting, is a significant vaccine to come into play whilst 20 million Americans and counting add HPV to their medical history.

Adding Male Studies to your Women and Gender Studies minor acts similar to taking a vaccine for a virus you cannot be physically proven to have. While gender equality makes sense on many (most!) levels, these academic and medical developments simply will be lost on the male population they seek to attract. While women spread for paps, the majority of men know vague--if any--facts about HPV. Meanwhile, half the male population acts as carriers. Scary, but, how scary can it be if it doesn't cause you any symptoms?

As a friend to many HPV survivors, I have just a few words of advice. Boys: use condoms, and donate all your cash to the FDA for testing research. Girls, take your folic acid and get your pap smears on the regular.

On the Road...Fellatio Included

Here's the bread-and-butter scenario: you're driving through wide open country with Hunky Companion who happens to be operating the machinery. He twists his fingers over the radio volume, presses his foot against the gas pedal. Tumbleweeds--cacti--what have you--speed past your window. You haven't seen a speed limit sign, a bystanding rabbit, or a refrigerated truck in what seems like hours. Hunky Companion rubs his thumb over the edge of the clutch and continues moving until he grasps your thigh. The sun begins to go down and you think, why not?

Hot enough of a subject to land 16 posts on texts from last night and tingle the editing hands of Esquire and Jezebel, what many a youth refer to as "road head" is a pervasive yet taboo(-ed) phenomenon of sexually active persons since the dawn of Ford. Nearly as golden as a threesome but as dangerous as texting while driving, road head can be perplexing, exciting, adventurous, and even empowering. On the one hand, going down on a man while he drives puts him in complete control. Hunky Companion is the manliest man possible--he's driving a car, he's got a hot woman in passenger seat, and he's--for lack of a better phrase--gettin' his dick sucked...

On the other hand, both you and Hunky Companion lose control by performing your intimate act in a public setting.

Both the gain of control and loss of control that come with the road head experience cause it to be thrilling, perhaps scary for some. If you do choose to engage in road head with someone, follow these three simple rules:
1) Don't attempt while intoxicated; bumps, potholes and other road impediments could cause injury if not anticipated.
2) Be discreet. Although there are no actual laws against receiving/giving head while operating a motor vehicle, there are laws against reckless endangerment, public acts of indecency, and in many states, oral sex itself!
3) Watch your elbows...wrists...jaw..etcetera. One foul move while concentrating on the act at hand could land your car in reverse or with the emergency break up. Getting road head may seem godly, but explaining a totaled car post-road-head is just humiliating.

Thank you, come again!

Masturbation and Self-esteem

Many of you (or few? My marketing abilities fell by the wayside on this one) may remember a survey I designed via Survey Monkey back in November. I had been brainstorming about how self-esteem affects masturbation: frequency, intensity, gain, and felt a mini-study might provide some insight. Noticing I felt turned on more frequently and more mentally engaged in personal sexual conduct when happy with my appearance and social life, I pondered if these psychological manifestations might be positively correlated.

So... I designed a pretty shitty survey. I have yet to take experimental psychology and asked what I thought *might* probe at my hypothesis. For example, my first questioned asked, "Do you genuinely like yourself?" Vague but somewhat revealing. 71% of my 50-person (facebook-induced!) data pool said "Yes, my personality and my looks." An interesting 23% said "Yes, my personality but I don't find myself attractive." We could be getting somewhere...

After having respondents rank on a scale of 1-10 their self-esteem (common answer: a high-medium 7), masturbation frequency questions revealed that 30% masturbate quite often (once per day) and another 30% masturbate a few times per week. Again, standard figures from a pool of people approximately 70% white, 98% ages 20-25.

Here I probe, "Do you ever think about yourself while masturbating?" Though this question may have nothing to do with my hypothesis (you can have high-self esteem without being incredibly narcissistic!) 41% of respondents admitted that they sometimes do. Respondents enjoyed thinking about their accomplishments, abilities, intellect, confidence, positive attitude, and success with the opposite sex.

However, the majority of frequent masturbating twenty-somethings never have thought about themselves while masturbating (54.2%.) This diversity of opinion points to a major flaw in my mini-study--lack of information. Further questions could have accessed why said respondents decidedly do not think of themselves while self-pleasuring. Is sexuality something they view more externally from themselves? Do accomplishments and confidence contribute at all to their understanding of sexuality and dominance?

One study published in the Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology measuring self-efficacy as well as self-esteem in sexually active 18-year-olds (1991) concluded, "There is need for adolescents to achieve a sense of mastery and self-worth in the sexual domain." Though this outcome supports my hypothesis, it still skims the periphery of the individual's self-perception and how that is linked to perception of pleasure in a fully safe place (alone). Perhaps I'll get back to you after I read the classic Masturbation, Self Esteem and Other Variables* (1973)...Google scholar, you allude me!

Returning for 2011!

Hello all! Although I'm sure my blog has far fewer readers than my column, I've still neglected you guys since november! Who would have thought working a 40 hour week and juggling a second blog (rufflife) could be so time consuming. My apologies for hoarding three babeland toys for review, a masturbation study, and the rest of my ambitions. Here goes a little bit of a start, nearly in time for February.


Product Review: Butterfly Kiss

The Butterfly Kiss, a bright pink TPR (thermo-plastic rubber) specimen, was mailed to me in early November. At first glance, the silicone-like three inch-stature with its overtly feminine jutting limb (butterfly!) came off--actually--intimdating. As a user primarily, er, solely, of clitoral-only vibes ("buttons," "pocket rockets," the like...), Butterfly's wavering cock head solidified by its rubbery base promised not only clitoral stimulation, but that of the g-spot: a realm I had yet to venture. Would such a thick (1 3/4") intrusion upon simple pleasure be welcomed?

In one word, yes. Butterfly's easy, pliable construction made for comfortable insertion during clitoral stimulation. While I found internal vibration slightly strange, the butterfly and its wings, reinforced by three levels of power, caused enough pleasure to distract from new (and a bit unsettling!) feelings. Before I knew it, all three areas (g-spot, labia, clitoral hood) of stimulation were increasingly pleasured, in sync. Only one more thing made this toy better: it is very quiet (and discrete!).

The only thing I would change about Butterfly is the butterfly itself. The minute climax has been reached, I find myself thinking, 'What the fuck is this magenta-ass-butterfly doing near my vag?" Truly. It's a bit too girly for my taste. But for $17, a great alternative to the more pricey dual-vibes like the iconic Rabbit.

Sex: A Powerful Pesticde

As told to BBC's Technology of Business reporter Kabir Chibber, the product Exosect has recently been released in Punjab and West Bengal to combat rice stem borers. These pests have been terrorizing crops in India and in the past, were only partially controlled by "aggressive" use of chemicals. With the use of Exosect, pioneered by a UK biological control company, pest populations in agricultural units have decreased significantly.

And why do I care about insects roaming around in India? Well, to start, agriculture supplies 20% of India's large economy. But, mostly, these borers have been tricked by Exosect into believing male pests are indeed female. Unable to determine female from male borer, these flippant fliers launch into a life of confusion and often are left unable to reproduce.

Exosect achieves this "miracle" through sticky wax powder soaked in female pheromones. This powder is attached to males, rendering every male affected a female in another borer's eyes.

However roundabout and biologically cruel, this method is working not only in India but also to combat pests in apple orchards and moths in such esteemed places like the Royal Opera House and the Houses of the Parliament in London.

The sexual implications of such a breakthrough are numerous. For one, the successful reproduction and use of pheromones, even in such a simplistic biological context, could have repercussions ranging from stimulating human patients out of hypoactive sexual desire disorder to an extreme change in sex worker marketing. For more information on the science behind pheromones, please visit:
Sex, Smell, and the Genome

Product Review: Climax Pop Vibrator

I am no at-home vibrator expert. I know what all the crazy vibe/dildo combos potentially do; for example, the rabbit stimulates your clitoris while simultaneously pressing on your gspot through vibrations on several levels, including pearls on the shaft. I know what it means for a vibrator to have greater strength than another, or what the difference between a silicone and plastic vibrator might feel like. But, in my short lifetime, I've only owned three: two of which don't classify as anything beyond pocket rockets, and one which has been my sole proprietor to cater to any animalistic needs.

My sole proprietor, which I will name, uh, Odysseus, for the purposes of this review, is a medium length (4") bright orange plastic rod with four miniature metal rotating balls stationed at the top on a circular plane. The metal spinners take the brunt of the batteries' power, acting as a pulsating unit to titilate the hood of clitoris. The power of its double A is strong and loud. An apartment with thin walls is Odysseus' antagonist.

Enter little Blue, who I will now (ironically) refer to as Charybdis. He is less than 3" long with a spherical top (pictured above). He is silicone, waterproof, and powers on with those little buttons our posterity might stick in their hearing aids. Though soft, supple and discreet compared to the cacophony that is Odysseus, Charybdis loses his strength through the thick walls of the silicone. He is merely a pop dominated, at least in my corner, by his predecessor Odysseus.

And yet, Charybdis must not be discounted from the general market. He or any of his brethren (he comes in pink, orange, and Charybdis blue) might suit a clitoris-clad body not used to the pumping waves of Odyseus's buzzer, or a fresh perineum. His calm demeanor, classy small size and cute figure could be a welcome addition to any bedside drawer, especially for a vibrator rookie. In short, I would recommend the Climax Pop to anyone looking to try a vibe for the first time or looking for an easy travel companion. If a Climax Pop goes off spontaneously in your dresser, no one but the panties (and a garter or two) will know.

You can purchase a Climax Pop for an easy $15.00 at Babeland.