Filament:  The thinking woman's crumpet is a new women's magazine from Britain, answering a need for quality porn for the female gaze.  Filament first came to my attention on several feminist forums and websites, when they had difficulty getting a printer to agree to print a magazine that might show (GASP!) erect male cocks. 

I know.  Shocking, right?  Everyone knows that women don't want to see icky, icky penises...  Except those of us who do.  Those of us who like looking at erect cocks and find them sexy, arousing, not at all icky. 

Filament has since secured a printer, and my copy arrived in the mail today.  Not a bad turn around since I ordered it only last week.  The pictures are lovely, a little too much soft focus for my tastes. The men presented represent different body types, different styles from very masculine to quite androgynous.  As I've had a thing for androgynous boys for most of my life, the lovely young blonde on the table of contents page has to be my favorite.  No rampant real cocks in this issue, but a lovely drawing of an erect man accompanies the poetry. 

The articles, dealing with subjects as diverse as the ethics of soft-core versus hard-core pornography, parenting as an atheist in a culture full of religions, and whether the Burning Times really were the misogynist holocaust we've believed them to be for the last thirty or so years were well-written and highly interesting.  I enjoyed the advice columns, with my favorite being Ask a Feminist with Penny Red.  All of the advice columns gave good, solid advice and not one of them made me want to squeal with outrage. 

If you can, I urge you to order Filament on their website, http://www.filamentmagazine.com/ (you'll have to forgive the lack of hyperlinking, that utility seems to be down right now).  With shipping to the US the new issue, #2, which ships next week comes to about $14 American.  I just ordered it.

Now, for the second review:  The JimmyJane Form 6 vibrator (mine's purple).  http://www.jimmyjane.com/shop/form6-p-85.html  I admit that the Form 6 costs far more than I ever saw myself spending on a sex toy that didn't also do windows.  But I also have to admit it's worth every penny. 

The Form 6 is about 7 inches long, vibrates at 5 speeds at one or both ends, has 6 different vibrational patterns and is fully submergeable.  It's powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, making it an energy conscious choice as well.  I'm not a big fan of using vibrators as insertables, however, the shape and size of it make inserting it yourself an almost instinctive and unconscious action. 

The variety of speeds and patterns should please even finicky clitorises, and it cleans up easily.  It has a sleep function, and turns itself off if you haven't played with the controls for a while.  This does take a good long while, though.  To recharge, merely put it back into its very simple elegant cradle and plug it into the wall. 

I love it!!  I think this vibrator has supplanted the Genie Bottle Vibe as my favorite, not the least reason for this being that it recharges, saving money on batteries.  The only problem I've had with it so far is that if you go too long, the smaller end does start to get a little warm.

That's about it for this month.  Again, I urge to you support Filament magazine and the good work they're doing for the straight and bi woman's libido.  As someone who has been fortunate in her bisexuality, because that meant I could find well done alternate porn like On Our Backs, I highly, highly approve of Filament and their mission.  And, if you can afford it or scrape together the cash for it, I also highly recommend JimmyJane and their line of sex toys. 

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a copy of Louisa Burton's In the Garden of Sin to read and some lovely dark chocolate with dried raspberries. 

-Valerie