susan mernit

Wiley said, when the police scan online classifieds on Craigslist and the escort service site My Redbook, they sometimes find 50 to 100 individuals advertised from the Bay Area who look like teenagers -- even though they are described as adults. With cell phones, a john can call up a number on the advertisement and "have a girl delivered."  Read more

Oakland Local, a web site run by BlogHer Contributing Editor Susan Mernit, is running an original investigative series on youth sex trafficking in the Bay area. This story is reposted from that series at Oakland Local. It's nearly midnight on a Thursday and teen-age girls are on every corner of International Boulevard in the dozen blocks stretching south from 41st Street. Many are dressed up. But this is not prom night or a concert letting out.  Read more

So, do you do it?  Pet the mouse, comfort the kitten, make with your muffin, play with the little man in the boat, dive for the pearl, pleasure yourself. And if you’re in a relationship with someone else, possibly a fella, do you do it when he’s around, or just by your lone self?   Is this a hey, this is hot come and watch, kind of thing, or is it a “Damn, I’m tired and need to put myself to sleep,” kind of thing?  Read more

This June, I reckon, I get my postgraduate degree—in divorce, that is. It was exactly four years ago, you see, that after 20+ years of fiercely monogamous marriage, my husband and I parted ways. I’ve written before about the shock I felt, the determination to make this split an opportunity for personal growth, and the fact that, at the end of the day, I just really had no clue what I actually wanted once I was on my own.  Read more

For someone like me, living in oh so open-minded Northern California, the tabloid press stories about celebrities’ sex lives are kinda puzzling. Every week, there’s a story outing some star’s sexual life: “Gavin Rossdale’s ex-girlfriend is a man!” “Lindsay Lohan is gay!” “Will Smith is secret love of Tom Cruise—and his wife Jada’s on the down-lo!” “Lady Gaga’s Poker Face is about how she really likes girls!”  Read more