I watched the special edition of Eurotrash this weekend and I could not stop grinning. Until, of course, someone tried to engage me in a debate about the EU referendum, causing my smile to shatter into a thousand pieces. So. Two things this week: Europe edition.

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Yesterday, Deborah Orr wrote in the Guardian about ‘creepy’ sex robots. She began with a statement from Noel Sharkey – a robotics professor at Sheffield Uni – who earlier in the week had terrified people by claiming that one day people might lose their virginities to robots. Shock! Horror! Misery! Woe! Another way to perpetuate the myth of virginity as a valuable jewel which people must save to give to someone special!

Deborah questioned this, which is good, but she then launched in to a lot of the same disappointing fearmongering about sex tech that I’ve seen before. Let’s have a look. And then a rant.

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I’ve wanted to publish something about 3nder for a really long time, so I was delighted when Jenny Guérin got in touch to say she was working on a piece about threesome advice – based on her dates with couples on 3nder. 3nder is a hook-up app which allows you to create a profile as either a couple or a single person. A dating app, essentially, but for threesomes.

It’s been incredibly popular, because it’s a great app and because (in my opinion) many more traditional dating apps are bizarrely prudish about what they can be used for. Tinder, for instance, got really angry when Vanity Fair called it a hook-up app. Yet bizarrely – and to my mind misguidedly – Tinder is suing 3nder and demanding it be shut down, because ‘users might get confused.’ Way to crush the little guy, Tinder! And look like a complete dick! And prevent people from meeting for threesomes! Blergh. I’ll write more on this soon.

For now, though, I’m delighted to welcome Jenny (follow her on Twitter here and check out her blog), who’s got some great threesome advice that she picked up – all courtesy of 3nder.

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This post includes discussion of coercion and non-consent. If you give a shit about spoilers, it also contains details of episodes 2 and 3 of SexFactor. 

It’s a reality show in which wannabe porn stars compete to complete challenges which include anything from sultry poses to full-on fucking: of course I have watched ‘Sex Factor’. I usually avoid Xhamster, but this show has had a huge amount of press attention, so I couldn’t really not.

And I have very, very, VERY strong feelings about it.

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We all kick different hornets’ nests. Whatever you write, whether it’s vegan recipes, erotica, news or even lighthearted comedy, at some point or another you’ll have to deal with a gang of angry people who really want you to stop. You’re too X, not enough Y, you’ve pissed off someone’s idol or what have you. Mentioned something controversial. Unless you want to be either bland or silent, you’ll write things that stir up emotions. You offer your opinion. Make an argument. Tell a story.

And in doing so, you’ll probably kick a hornets’ nest.

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