Some of California's finest dressed dapperdans and gentleboys were at Stone Pony (put this place on your must see list) for last week's Big Boy Vintage San Francisco release party, which was as cute and amazeballs as expected. I got a riDICK knit cat purse (see below, ghurl) and was just generally bedazzled. 

Apologies for the late coverage but omg I've been prepping for the Sister Spit Tour like no other! I thought I'd share some photos I took from the evening. The players: moi, Rudy Bleu, Big Boy Vintage's Daddy, who came up from BBV's hometown of Los Angeles and Brontez Purnell, (who I officially officially met yesterday and am now obsessed with.. read this Colorlines piece about him), who was spinning. Oh, and my new BFF the cat purse.

The Sister Spit tour kicks off next week in San Francisco at the Elbo Room! A group of core performers - including me, Chinaka Hodge, Rhiannon Argo, Dia Felix, Lenelle Moise, Beth Lisick and Jerry Lee Abram - will travel all over to bring you some incredible writing and performance.

From March 19 through April 15 we'll be visiting:
San Francisco
Oakland
Olympia
Portland
Seattle
Vancouver
Long Beach
Los Angeles
Riverside
Pasadena
Sacramento
Brooklyn
Toronto
Hamilton
New York City
Pittsburgh
Detroit
Cleveland
Chicago

Afterwards I'll be heading to Earlham University in Indiana to give a lecture and then the amazing folks at the Q Center at University of Washington in Seattle have invited me to give a talk on April 22. I hope to see you at one of these shows and/or lectures! For more details on the tour dates, locations and performer bios and to donate to Sister Spit visit:

www.radarproductions.org

xo,
Virgie

So if you haven't heard of Big Boy Vintage (BBV) then I'm about to drop some hot knowledge I think you'll love. BBV is a Los Angeles based clothing and accessories company for big boys. They carry nothing under size large or 38
waist. And they're going to be in San Francisco for a pop-up this week! (click for the Facebook invite for the launch party + location deets)

In anticipation of their tres exciting arrival I asked Big Boy Vintage's Rudy Bleu some Qs:  

Virgie: What is your fav outfit and why? 
Rudy: I don't know if I have a favorite outfit but more like favorite pieces.
I love my Daddy hat (which I got made at Swap Meet), Siouxsie and the
Banshees sweater, new BBV sweater, Mickey and Minnie Por Vida sweater, Peach short shorts, Selena Shirt, Raiders Jacket, i could go on forever.

Virgie: How would you characterize your look?
Rudy: I would say my look is influenced by my Mexican and punk roots and also by all the cholos I grew up around in East LA and an obsession with short shorts
and tanks.

Virgie: Is fashion political? 
Rudy: I believe so.

Virgie: Who needs to come to this pop up?
Rudy: All the chubby boys and girls in SF and all the fun punk and qpoc peeps.

Shop Big Boy Vintage online.
Come to the launch party in SF this Friday.
Email to join their email list.
Follow them on tumblr.

Do you remember those black and white line drawings of naked people we used to look at so we could "learn about our genitals" - or just stare at boobies and yell "BOOBIES!" and giggle while we slurped pixie sticks?

About two years ago I wrote a blog for Good Vibrations on the implicit sizeism of almost all sex education material. Yes, including those line drawings. Though these images are meant to present a "neutral" - some might even say "sterile" - portrait of nude bodies, these images of primarily thin, white, able bodies in fact confirm what "normal" looks like. While we're learning about sex we are getting an additional - less obvious - set of lessons on what bodies are good, desirable and suitable for sexy times. Sex education materials should instead present a plethora of bodies that represent the range of hotness all around us.

Enter Wicked Productions' newest plus size sex education video featuring real  couples, as well as co-director and well known BBW performer Kelly Shibari. I just heard about the film today (from a beloved friend at the Feminist Press <3!) and have yet to see it but I just had  to tell you about it and share some images from behind the scenes!

From the examiner article on the film:

The film casts the following BBW adult film performers; Devlyn Red, Angel DeLuca, and Scarlet LaVey, as well as non-performer couples Scarlette Cyn and JC Lewis, and Sherri Shaulis and Michael Colbert.

The film will focus on communicating, exploring, accepting, and appreciating the body, and sharing that experience with one’s partner sexually.

“jessica drake’s Guide to Wicked Sex: Plus Size takes viewers through a variety of topics, from relationship communication, discussion of trigger words and acceptable terminology between partners, size-friendly sex positions, and body confidence exercises. The addition of three full-length sex scenes, available with or without commentary, is also offered at the end of the film. Interviews with plus-size adult performers, as well as non-performers, are an integral part of the project. The provide a non-xxx look into the issues confronted by plus size women, men, and couples, and offer solutions to increase confidence and combat negative stereotypes.” (Wicked Pictures)

The film is due out later this year!

Ok so Update #1: Trader Joe's was the lucky winner of a coconut lottery/ they bought like a million coconuts and now have many new coconutastic items including this item I just picked up which is a 10 on the amazeballs scale (ok honestly it's a 9.25.. it would be a 10 if y'all had added some coconut
butter cream, TJs)! Go get some now. Actually this tees up Update #2 nicely.. I spent a week with Dandelion Chocolate in the jungly southern part of Belize to learn all about how cacao is grown and turned into CHOCOLATE! Ethnobotany is one of my pseudo-secret nerd obsessions.

Update #3: upon returning, I headed to Humboldt State University for their annual sex education event Sexland. As the name would indicate, the event is amazing! I had the privilege of sticking my hand in a glory hole tree, had my first chocolate covered fruit kebob, got many shrinky dink pins, and even got to give the keynote and teach an erotica writing and burlesque workshop.

Update #4: I'm headed to Southern California in a couple days to give a lecture on body image and pleasure politics at CSU San Bernardino (Thursday March 6) and will be back in San Francisco to give the keynote for the Women's Conference at SF State on March 15.  

Update #5: I will be touring the US (both coasts! and some inland spots too) and Canada with Sister Spit throughout March and April. See the tour dates and destinations here.

That's it for now! Hope to see you soon..

xo,
Virgie