Sex Tech News: Women Take the C-Suite, Tinder in the West Bank & Censored Museums Join OnlyFans
Plus Playboy buys content platform Dream for $30 million.
“[Liz] Flynt is one of the latest women to take on a leading role in what was once a male-dominated industry. For several decades, women have increasingly replaced men in the C-suites of some of the most profitable pornography and adult-oriented businesses.
“Christie Ann Hefner, daughter of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, served as chair and chief executive of Playboy Enterprises from 1988 to 2009. Susan Colvin launched one of the largest sex toy manufacturers, California Exotic Novelties, in 1994. Shirley Lara is chief operating officer of Chaturbate, which draws more than 19 million unique visitors a month and is one of the nation’s most popular adult websites.
“’One of the most interesting trends in the adult industry over the past 15 years is the increasing presence of female entrepreneurs and CEOs’” said Lynn Comella, professor of gender and sexuality studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.” (via Hugo Martin/Los Angeles Times)
“This is swiping right from within the complex geopolitical reality of Israel and Palestine. When I tell people how Samir and I met—that we started talking during the six months I lived in Israel; that after two years of virtual friendship I finally crossed to meet him in Ramallah (a day trip while back in Tel Aviv visiting family); that I returned to see him the following year and we fell in love; that in 2019 we both moved to Washington, DC, where we’re currently based—I’m aware that it seems like a rather romantic portrait of how digital technology can bring people together across divides.
“But this is not really how I see our story. After all, if I were an Israeli citizen, like nearly everyone I was with at the time, Samir and I would likely never have been able to meet face to face. Though Tinder operates as if the nature of its technical apparatus allows it to transcend borders altogether, the truth is that, by default, the app reflects, and at times even reinforces, a bleak, segregated reality.” (via Yona Golfing/Wired)
“Playboy’s parent company is purchasing the platform Dream for $30 million to use as the infrastructure of their new premium fan site product Centerfold. According to a report by Forbes, PLBY Group Inc. acquired the existing platform to speed up the launch of Centerfold, which “is now set to begin operations in the fourth quarter of 2021 rather than the second half of 2022 as was originally planned…
“‘The Dream infrastructure will effectively serve as the technological backbone of Centerfold,’ Forbes reported Monday, adding that “there will be an e-commerce connection with the Playboy brand attached to the platform also so users can purchase products and merchandise associated with the historic brand. Cryptocurrency usage and NFT applications are also reported to be featured on the site.’”(via Gustavo Turner/XBIZ)
“Vienna’s tourism board has started an account on OnlyFans – the only social network that permits depictions of nudity – in protest against platforms’ ongoing censorship of its art museums and galleries.
“In July, the Albertina Museum’s new TikTok account was suspended and then blocked for showing works by the Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki that showed an obscured female breast, forcing the museum to start a new account. This followed a similar incident in 2019, when Instagram ruled that a painting by Peter Paul Rubens violated the platform’s community standards which prohibit any depictions of nudity – even those that are ‘artistic or creative in nature’”. (via Elle Hunt/The Guardian)
Image sources: MathiasKabal
