Pleasure Chest

Summer’s Coming! Shouldn’t You?
Win a Form 2!

June 19th, 2013

This is the Jimmyjane Form 2. Beautiful, isn’t it? It’s also waterproof, rechargeable and ridiculously strong.

The Form 2 is a staff favorite. Mary called it “the best little vibrator I’ve ever had.” With 8 reviews so far, this little toy has an average customer rating of 5 stars. A perfect score.

You know you want one. And here’s your chance, because we’re giving away TWO of these this coming Friday.

How to Win a Form 2

Simply post a comment below telling us about your summer plans. On Friday, June 21st, we’ll pick one reader at random to win a Form 2. We’ll award the other Form 2 to the reader who submits our favorite answer.

It’s that simple. Good luck!

Posted in Contests, High-tech, Pleasure Chest News, Promotions, Toys, Vibrators | 15 Comments »

HPV Vaccine Cuts Infection Rate In Half

June 19th, 2013

There’s great news in the fight against HPV. The vaccine is working! The New York Times reports:

Infection with the viral strains that cause cancer dropped to 3.6 percent among girls ages 14 to 19 in 2010, from 7.2 percent in 2006, a new study has found.

Yes, the rates of HPV infection were cut in half in just 4 years. As Jezebel points out, this is even more remarkable when one considers that vaccination rates are still pretty low, with only about a third of teenage girls completing the series of doses. As more young men and women get the vaccine, public health officials expect rates of infection– and the cancers associated with HPV– to decline even further.

h/t Jezebel

Posted in Science, Sex in the News, Sexual Health | No Comments »

Hide: Art on Leather by Karl Hamilton-Cox
Friday in Chicago

June 18th, 2013

HIDE is an exhibition from Karl Hamilton-Cox of Art On Leather. The exhibit features erotic works painted on leather canvas.

Of his first showing outside of the UK, the artist says “My work is unashamedly illustrative in nature as I prefer a realism style that I feel is more of a technical challenge than contemporary representative or abstract genres.” He developed his painting on leather technique after he was asked to do a bomber jacket sample in early 2011. With some lateral thinking he has successfully adapted the concept to the UK fetish and alternative lifestyle markets.

Chicago readers are invited to join us at the opening of HIDE this Friday night from 9 to 11 PM at the G.A.G. Contemporary Fetish Gallery located at the Leather Archives and Museum. You can even RSVP on Fetlife.

Posted in Art, BDSM, Chicago, Fetishes, Leather | No Comments »

Good in the Hood

June 18th, 2013

We just found this amazing GIF of bondage hoods and had to share it with you.

h/t World of Wonder

Posted in BDSM, Fetishes, Leather | 1 Comment »

The 8 Most Outrageous Condom Designs

June 18th, 2013

Some of these are real. Some are pranks. All of them are hilarious. Which ones did we miss? Tell us in the comments.

Nintendo condoms

Bacon condoms

Louis Vuitton condoms

Scotch-flavored condoms

Posted in Art, Sexual Health, Sexy Safer Sex | 1 Comment »

Will This Become the Gold Standard for Birth Control?

June 17th, 2013

A few months ago, we told you about RISUG, a promising male birth control method in which a nontoxic polymer is injected into the vas deferens, sterilizing sperm. Now there’s another birth control procedure for men that’s proving its mettle in Chinese laboratories.We’ll let Popular Science explain:

The method requires researchers to inject male mice in the testes with a mixture containing nano-size rods of gold. (I feel like there’s a rap song in here somewhere.) Then they aim an infrared laser at the testes, which heats the nano-gold inside. At just the right temperature, the testes are warmed enough to kill sperm cells, but not enough to kill the cells that make new sperm. The sperm death lasts for a certain amount of time.

Are you ready to have microscopic bars of gold injected into your balls in the name of science? Not so fast. Resarchers are still testing on mice, so human trials could be a ways off.

h/t Violet Blue

Posted in High-tech, Science, Sex in the News, Sexual Health | No Comments »

The Curious Case of Playgirl

June 17th, 2013

The basic thinking was that by speaking directly to women we could appeal on some level to both markets: gay men would still buy it, since they were fine with, and maybe not even averse to, enjoying something not overtly aimed at them. But that, if we marketed it the other way, the reverse would not hold true: no woman was going to buy gay male porn.

That’s former Playgirl editor Jessanne Collins in a revealing interview with Salon to promote her new ebook on running the famous male nudie mag. Read about the challenges of appealing to a female readership and a largely secret gay following, and about the many hilarious euphemisms for the penis found in the company’s epic thesaurus. ” Purple-helmeted warrior of love” anyone?

Posted in Gay, Porn, The Olden Days | No Comments »

Vote for Your Favorite Staff Pride Outfit

June 13th, 2013

Staff Pride 2013

[img src=http://www.thepleasurechest.com/blog/wp-content/flagallery/staff-pride-2013/thumbs/thumbs_pridecostume.jpg]00Salute
[img src=http://www.thepleasurechest.com/blog/wp-content/flagallery/staff-pride-2013/thumbs/thumbs_pridecostume2.jpg]00Suspenders
[img src=http://www.thepleasurechest.com/blog/wp-content/flagallery/staff-pride-2013/thumbs/thumbs_pridecostume3.jpg]00Sunglasses
[img src=http://www.thepleasurechest.com/blog/wp-content/flagallery/staff-pride-2013/thumbs/thumbs_pridecostume4.jpg]00Sexecutioner

While our street team made the scene at LA Pride on Sunday, our store staff kept things proud on the sales floor. Which of these four fabulous outfits should win best dressed? Vote below.

Posted in Contests, Gay, Lesbian, Los Angeles, Pleasure Chest News, Queer, Staff Stuff | 1 Comment »

Sex Work & the Global War on AIDS

June 13th, 2013

Ten years ago, the United States dramatically ramped up AIDS funding, but the funding came with this dangerous string attached: in order to qualify, non-governmental organizations must adopt an explicit policy opposing prostitution.

The US provides nearly 60% of the funds to fight the global AIDS epidemic, but as you can see from this infographic, aid is often prohibited from going where it is most needed. Namely to female sex workers in the Global South. Can the US fight a war on sex work and a war on AIDS at the same time?

More at The Nation.

Posted in Politics, Sex in the News, Sex Work, Sexual Health, Sexy Safer Sex | No Comments »

Multnomah County Makes Gender Neutral Bathrooms Mandatory

June 12th, 2013

Here’s great news for transgender equality. Multnomah County in Oregon has become one of the first in the country to require that gender neutral bathrooms be included in all new construction projects. County board Chairman Jeff Cogen signed the executive order yesterday in the hopes that it will decrease stigma for transgender county employees and visitors when using public restrooms.

“Some folks have told us they literally have to wait and go home during the day to go to the bathroom,” he said. “Clearly, that is suffering no one should have to endure.”

The decision, which was timed to coincide with LGBT Pride month, has been praised by advocates for transgender equality, and signals a small, but important shift in the recognition of trans rights.