Before I start this post I just want to send out a huge thank you to all of the folks who wrote to YouTube (last I counted we were 717 strong), created videos, signed my petition and offered support when I needed it most. Without you I don’t think Sex Ed 102 would be what it was, is, and will grow to be (new videos will be out soon, my comp hates me right now and I can’t edit anything until I get it back. Until then, laptoppin it).

As for YouTube, after months of unanswered emails and the assumption that they just didn’t give a shit about me, you, or offering honest, helpful, informative and non judgmental sex ed/advice to the deserving masses, I received the unexpected – a letter from YouTube (though I’m damn near positive it’s auto-generated):

“Hi hollidaychild,

Thanks for your email. Your “hollidaychild” account has been suspended due to repeated or severe violations of our Terms of Use and claims of copyright infringement. Suspended accounts cannot be reinstated. Federal law requires that we terminate accounts when there are repeated claims of copyright infringement. Because you have had other videos rejected in the past, we are unable to reinstate your account. Users with suspended or terminated accounts are prohibited from creating new accounts or accessing YouTube’s community. In order for your account to be reinstated, you will need to resolve at least one of the following video removals.

The following videos have been removed from your account:

Penalty 1:
“Exploring the Female Body” formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhhuG7i1Ea0
Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 08/25/2009.
Please see http://www.youtube.com/t/terms and http://www.youtube.com/t/community_guidelines

Penalty 2:
“Vaginal Stimulation” formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RE0bmHKiVc
Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 11/11/2009.
Please see http://www.youtube.com/t/terms and http://www.youtube.com/t/community_guidelines

Penalty 3:
“ANAL BEADS” formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaOnr12eoxA
Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 11/11/2009.
Please see http://www.youtube.com/t/terms and http://www.youtube.com/t/community_guidelines

Penalty 4:
“Purring Thrusting Panther” formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgGAQFb1Bxw
Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 11/03/2011.
Please see http://www.youtube.com/t/terms and http://www.youtube.com/t/community_guidelines

Penalty 5:
“Sex Ed 102 – Blooper Reel” formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQx-LjNin6k
Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 11/06/2011.
Please see http://www.youtube.com/t/terms and http://www.youtube.com/t/community_guidelines

Penalty 6:
“Tenga Soft Tube Onacup” formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cplIW_JecA
Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 11/07/2011.
Please see http://www.youtube.com/t/terms and http://www.youtube.com/t/community_guidelines

IMPORTANT: If you feel a content owner has misidentified your content as infringing, you may be able to resolve one or more of these penalties by filing a counter-notification. For more information, please visit our Help Center article about counter-notifications at http://help.youtube.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?answer=59826.

Regards,

The YouTube Team“

Now here’s where I have a few problems:

First of all, there were no “claims of copyright infringement” on any of my Sex Ed 102 videos. Ever. Not a one. And being that the music in my intro/outro was written by my husbands band, with numerous permission forms sent in to state that I’m allowed to use it, I can’t see why they’d even suggest that. (You can find Methodology’s music here <- shameless plug).

Secondly, that whole “Federal Law” line is a complete load of horseshit. Yeah, I said it. Horse. Shit. I know of numerous YouTube Partners and creators who have used music without permission, yet got nothing but a slap on the wrist. Furthermore, being that there couldn’t have been repeated claims of copyright infringement I second the statement that it’s horse shit.

Third, and I think the one that pisses me off the most, since when is educating females about their body in a respectful, professional and informative way a “severe violations of our Terms of Use”?? No, seriously?? I mean it. Type the words “Female Sexuality” into the YouTube search bar and you get over 10 pages filled with videos. Yet my video “Exploring the Female Body” was so inappropriately done that it violated the Terms Of Use??? WTF YouTube. What. The. Fuck! I’m sorry but this shit just ain’t right. How’s about you get it together and start focusing on removing videos of booty clappin (even though their hilarious when drunk), animal cruelty (don’t watch any of the videos unless you want to end up crying into your tequila for an hour while forming a serious hatred for human beings), girls that could be 12 dancing on their webcam (for the record I’m not against webcam work, but when you cant determine the age of the person – yeah, it’s a no g0 in my books), and violent videos of people getting beat up (um, I’m sorry YouTube, but in case you didn’t notice this bullshit is against your “Community Guidelines” as per the statement “Graphic or gratuitous violence is not allowed. If your video shows someone getting hurt, attacked, or humiliated, don’t post it.” considering the one video I posted has 145,000 views I’m pretty sure someone at the office has seen it by now and yet didn’t remove it #HYPOCRITICALBULLSHIT). And that’s just the tip of the ice berg.

While I’m ranting about the crap you can find on YouTube, let me not forget to include the following as it seems like another pile of steaming horseshit that this is making shit tonnes money via the Partner Program, yet my content is perpetually flagged, removed and censored: For those of you that don’t know of KassemG he’s one of the ‘elite’ YouTubers who went big a few years ago. I lost track of him after he made a video joking about rape (go about 1:40 in then watch), but apparently he can make videos interviewing female porn stars. Yet I can’t teach women to love their bodies. Go YouTube, you’re doing a fantastic job in the liberation of female sexuality!! <- I’m spitting venom as I type that. *for the record the videos aren’t that bad, and in some cases fairly interesting since you get to see the girls from another perspective not spread eagle. But still, he can do that but I can’t inform. Nice. Real nice.

Fourth, the fact that they removed a “Blooper Reel” for “violating our Terms of Use” is so beyond bizarre that even I can’t get my head around it. Since when in the hell did a blooper reel violate a Terms of Use? Furthermore, why is it that the other two blooper reels I made stayed up (even being offered Partnership and ad placements) yet this one was so terrible it needed to be removed? It’s this kind of b.s. that makes me seriously question if they’ve got rabid monkeys throwing shit as their approval department. No, it can’t be. Even a damn monkey would know this wasn’t worthy of removal.

Fifth, how in the hell do videos that were removed 2 years ago still come into play?? This is one thing that seriously baffles me when it comes to how YouTube conducts itself. Maybe I’m wrong but I think that there should be a time frame where previous video removals are no longer an issue so long as there have been no infractions in at least 6 months to a year (from when they were flagged/removed).

Sixth (God this numbering thing is just getting stupid), being that YouTube has a flagging system for ‘mature content’ why don’t they just flag the appropriate videos and keep them online for those with a mature mindset or parental permission to see? It seems to me that would be a far more realistic option. On that note, considering that others like Dan & Jenn, Dodson & Ross, Kicesie, LaciGreen (of Sex+), Davey Wavey and others get to create sex positive content, why is it that mine is flagged, removed and terminated? Yet another steaming pile of hypocritical horse shit if you ask me.

*no hate to those I mentioned (I actually support them all), I just think it’s bullshit that others can create topics on Sex Ed yet I can’t.

Finally, if intimate accessories are off the list of what’s accepted by YouTube why is it that typing the words ‘sex toy’ generates over 10 pages worth of hits, “vibrating butt plug” over 7 pages worth of hits and “g-spot vibrator” gets over 10 pages worth of hits? Okay, wait, let me get this straight: my videos have been flagged, removed and actually had the entire account terminated, yet there’s still pages upon pages of reviews and sex toy videos on the website? Clearly I’m being made an example of, that or someone in their offices seriously hates me. Either way, it’s totally uncalled for, unfair, and silly .

*for the record, in the past numerous ‘review’ videos of mine had been flagged and removed, only to be reinstated with the ‘mature content’ once I wrote to my contact within YouTube. They even gave my Fleshlight video a preemptive ‘mature content’ rating before it went live just so it wouldn’t be removed by the system, leaving me to believe that helping men jerk off is okay, but helping women do the same thing is bad. Good on ya YouTube!

As per the last sentence in the email they sent “ In order for your account to be reinstated, you will need to resolve at least one of the following video removals.” I sent an email to all of my YouTube contacts stating why I feel they were in the wrong, how my videos are important and emphasized the fact that from day one my intention has been to help, guide, inform and provide a safe space for learning about ones self, their partner or any other sexually related topic they seek to learn about. There is no way I’m going down without fighting for something I believe in, and I believe in this.

We’ll see what happens…

While revising a bunch of reviews a month ago I came to the realization that my inclusion of butt plugs and anal toys was seriously lacking. Sure I’ve covered the basics of anal play and with the exception of reviewing an anal douche and a Swarofski butt plug, I really haven’t branched out very much. As such I took it upon myself to get my hands on a few goodies just so I could review them for all of you. Included in the mix was a small black Tantus silk, Vixen Creations Buddy in the ‘must have’ limited edition glittery silver, a fantastically neon green Tantus Ryder and a rather intimidatingly large set of Tantus butt beads in an awe inducing neon blue called “Peacock” (they were on sale and I couldn’t help myself).

For today’s review I’ll be covering the Vixen Creations Buddy… and working myself up to the beads through the series of reviews that cover the others. As it stands, my ass is nowhere near ready to take them at this point.

To follow my progress the reviews make sure to subscribe to my RSS feed or add me on twitter as I’ll be tweeting the hell out of them once the reviews are done.

Packaging

One of the things I loved about a previous Vixen Creations product I reviewed (Tex) was the unexpected and highly original tubular packaging. Not only is it quite different from many other boxed or clam shell designs (that often get tossed in the garbage once the product is removed), it’s very easy to store and meant to be reused. Even better, there’s ample room inside to store a small bottle of lube, some condoms and any other little sample sized products you might have lying around.

As with many other high end intimate accessories there is nothing on it that’s rude, crude, tacky or cheap, instead only offering a brief description of the Companies products and cleaning/care instructions. There’s also the adorable fox logo I’ve come to love, but that’s it.

*For those of you that value total discretion the sticker can be removed so there’s literally nothing on it.

The Good

As I expected there’s quite a bit to love with Buddy; first and foremost the silicone is highly squishy, supple, smooth and flexible making it very accommodating and surprisingly comfortable. More than that, once inserted it doesn’t create that awkward “get-it-out-of-my-ass-now” sensation many other firm products beget.

Speaking of silicone, Buddy is non-toxic, phthalate and latex free, odourless, tasteless, hypo-allergenic, hygienic, and non-porous so it doesn’t require the same heavy duty cleaning a TPR, TPE or PVC product may require.

*For the record I don’t suggest anything but non-porous materials for anal play as they’ll store bacteria, lube and bodily fluids every time they’re used. Even worse, they can’t be fully sterilized. Yuck.

The tapered tip and graduated body makes insertion effortless, allowing it to slide in place without any discomfort or force. Of course relaxing a bit before helps, as does a small amount of good water based lube. Quite surprisingly the rounded thicker lower portion allows it to stay in place nicely once inserted, adjusting with the body as you shift, flex or move. For me it was a nice change from my Small Ripple whose last rounded bulb I often struggle to keep in place (it always ‘pops’ out right before I’m about to orgasm*).

Size wise it’s not too big and not too small, instead being just right. I personally think it’s the size that makes it suitable for just about everyone; whether you’re inexperienced and afraid rear insertion might hurt or familiar with anal play but not in need of something too girthy or long, you’ll likely find Buddy to be a worthy contender. Actually, I was rather surprised when I got it as I expected it would be larger than the 4″ inches in length and 1 1/4″ in diameter it sports (it’s 3 1/2″ insertable). Even with looking at the measurements online I still thought it would be bigger and much closer to the Medium Tantus Silk, clearly I’m not good with mentally picturing inches in my head. Having said that, while it’s relatively small, by no means is it lacking in the sensation department. You’ll feel it, all of it, it just likely won’t come with the ‘full’ feeling a larger plug would offer.

Fortunately the base makes removal easy, and fits between the butt cheeks without being annoying or painful. On top of all that it’s seamless leaving you worry free when it comes to potential internal scrapes or scratches.  On that note, because it’s got a flared base it’s also compatible with most harnesses, though I don’t know if it’s the kind of product I’d want to use for strap-on play. Then again, wtf do I know?

*Regarding the orgasm part, while it is a possibility, very rarely do women get off from anal play alone. Instead many will also require clitoral play or something inserted vaginally to aide in the experience. Having said that, if you’ve previously crammed something in your butt thinking it would be the end all, be all, only to find yourself coming short, don’t worry you’re perfectly normal and it’s to be expected.

Finally, it’s got silver sparkles so your ass is all blinged up and glittery. That in itself makes it worthy of putting in my butt. All jokes aside (who says I was joking?), the body is transparent and glossy with layer upon layer of exceptionally shiny silver square sparkles.  Even when looking deep within the body they’re there, less shiny of course, but still there. I actually have no idea how they did it, but you can’t feel any of the sparkles on the surface, something that totally surprised me. I even tried to gently pick one out, didn’t happen.  For those not impressed with sticking sparkly things in your rear it also comes in gold, black and purple versions.

Care And Cleaning

Because it’s a high quality silicone and not some shady mix of silicone and who-knows-what it can be easily cleaned with soap and water or by boiling for 3 minutes. Regarding lubes I’d only suggest a good water based lube as a silicone one would likely ruin it over time.

The Bad

When it came to things I didn’t like about Buddy there was only one, but being that it’s a silicone product that’s somewhat glossy it was highly expected: it attracts lint and fluff, but it’s minimal when compared to other silicone products.

Final Verdict

If you’re looking for a butt plug made of body safe material that’s easy to insert, supple, squishy and flexible, while also being comfortable, accommodating and surprisingly discreet I highly suggest taking the Vixen Creations Buddy into consideration. Aside from being impressed with the basic design, the level of quality will probably leave you looking through the entire Vixen Creations collection and wondering which will be your next. Yes, they are that good!

*I’ve personally had my eyes on Raquel, Mavrick and  Tristan.