Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} U.S. Male - Inside the Box by Lisa Worrall Inside the Lives of Female Maskers. B eing comfortable in your own skin is difficult enough. But what if expressing yourself requires you to alter your identity? German photographer Corinna Kern spent several months in Germany capturing the lives of various “female maskers” – predominately heterosexual men who wear a latex mask and bodysuit resembling a woman to embrace their femininity. Her first real encounter with a female masker occurred by coincidence while walking the streets of Germany. Curious, the photographer soon discovered female maskers have a thriving online community that remains taboo to the public. “It’s not very big,” Kern tells TIME. “So many people are quite far away from each other so it’s not really that you find people meeting up regularly.” Female Maskers isn’t exactly a new phenomenon. Kerry, an American female masker living in Seattle began a business dedicated to making realistic female masks in 1996. A 2014 British documentary called Secrets of the Living Dolls followed the lives of males who go through the motions of being a masker at the risk of being ostracized by society and their loved ones. While the documentary introduced the subculture to mainstream audiences, Kern mentions some she talked to were hesitant to participate in her project because the documentary portrayed them as “freaks,” something she kept in mind when photographing her subjects. “I think it’s a natural thing for me not to capture them in a freakish way,” she says. “It’s just something that goes along with my photography, my style of photography because I’m very open minded. As I go along I’m learning about their backgrounds and their motivations.” One of her subjects, Chris, 49, has 10 aliases (six female and four male), three which Kern displays in her photographs. Some of his aliases include: Romy von Dornfelder, a blonde shown in the woods and at home; Cecilia McArthur, a brunette who poses in the grass and is also shown in workout attire; and Nicole van Diesten, who is covered from head to toe. Another veteran in the German female masking scene, Christian, whose alias is Chrissie Seams, loves to play up with her looks with dresses, accessories though her most distinguishing feature is her long, wavy black hair. While Christian enjoys being a female masker due to his latex fetish, Chris fondness for female masking goes beyond his love for lycra. “Wearing the mask, I don’t feel like a different person,” he tells Kern. “That only takes effect when I look at the photos that I take of these. I then see the fictional characters I create, reflecting a counterpart of myself, a desired partner or something that I lack but wish for.” When it came to being out in public, the range of emotions were mixed. Christian, dressed as Chrissie Seams, enjoyed being out in public where most onlookers were curious and looked on in admiration. Others only felt comfortable dressing up at home, and even then, they remain trapped in their own skin. “It’s so much part of their identity sometimes,” Kern says. “It becomes so much a part of them they have an urge to tell it. But then at the same time, they don’t want to be rejected.” Bianca Silva is a writer and contributor to TIME LightBox. Follow her on Twitter. Don't See Steve Jobs Without Reading This First. Steve Jobs, the new Aaron Sorkin-written, Danny Boyle-directed film about the late Apple co-founder, is out Friday, Oct. 9. The film is split into three acts, each centered around a different product release helmed by Jobs—the Macintosh in 1994, the NeXTcube in 1988, and the iMac in 1998. The movie, based on former TIME editor Walter Isaacson’s biography, avoids biopic birth-to-death tropes. But beginning in medias res can be confusing. Here’s a spoiler-free guide to who’s who in the film. The Leadership Brief. Conversations with the most influential leaders in business and tech. Thank you! Contact us at [email protected]. The late co-founder and CEO of Apple, clearly. After being forced out of the company in 1985, Jobs founded NeXT, a computer company focused on high-end machines. A struggling Apple bought NeXT in 1997, bringing Jobs back into the fold. He heralded the company through a massive turnaround, launching hits like the iMac, iPod, iPhone and iPad. Jobs died Oct. 5, 2011 of complications related to pancreatic cancer. Jobs was given up by his birthparents and adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs, an experience that many say colored his worldview significantly. The marketing chief on the original Macintosh, Joanna Hoffman also followed Jobs to NeXT. She was known to be one of the few people seemingly unaffected by Jobs’ legendary “reality distortion field,” the name given to the executive’s seeming ability to get people to believe what he wanted them to. Kate Winslet, the actress portraying Hoffman in the film, recently said that Hoffman “did genuinely love” Jobs, and that “she misses him terribly.” Steve “Woz” Wozniak co-founded Apple along with Jobs. Wozniak designed the Apple I and much of the Apple II. He and Jobs had a love-hate relationship: Wozniak was a firm believer in the 1970’s-era computer hacker and hobbyist movement, which led him to push for Apple’s machines to be open and changeable by consumers. Jobs, however, felt simplicity to be the better route, thinking that too many options served only to confuse less-educated shoppers. John Sculley, a longtime PepsiCo executive and marketing expert, was convinced by Apple and Jobs to become the company’s CEO in 1983. Sculley and Jobs enjoyed a warm relationship at first, with Jobs as the product guy and Sculley the marketing guru. Before long, however, the partnership soured as the two tussled for power. Jobs attempted to get the Apple board of directors to oust Sculley; Sculley in return convinced the board to limit Jobs’ responsibilities. Shortly thereafter, Jobs left to found NeXT. Eventually, unfriendly market forces and a series of product flops, including the ill-fated Newton PDA, resulted in Sculley’s dismissal from Apple. Chrisann Brennan was Jobs’ girlfriend. They had an on-again, off-again relationship for years. When Brennan became pregnant in 1977, Jobs denied the child’s paternity. After Chrisann’s daughter Lisa was born, a paternity test proved Jobs to be the father. He initially questioned those results, telling TIME in 1983 that “28% of the male population of the United States could be the father.” Jobs also denied naming Apple’s Lisa PC after his daughter, though he later admitted to biographer Isaacson that was exactly what he did. Jobs would later reconcile with Lisa, leading her to change her legal name from Lisa Brennan to Lisa Brennan-Jobs. How Refusing To Conform To The "Man Box" Makes Men Better Feminists. Since the feminist movement picked up steam in the 1960s and transitioned from one ideological wave to the next, one tenet has remained constant: both women and men must band together to achieve a more egalitarian society. Promundo, a global organization that promotes gender justice through research and policy development, is dedicated to engaging boys and men worldwide to challenge the most severely ingrained gender norms. Earlier in 2017, Promundo began studying the "man box" to determine how best to transform what it traditionally means to be "masculine." And in Trump's America, the findings are more consequential than ever. Sexism is oftentimes rooted in gender norms that have become so accepted, they’re barely noticeable. And exposure to these gender norms begins during boyhood. "Children start facing norms that define 'masculine' and 'feminine' from an early age," UNICEF's page on "early gender socialization" reads. "Boys are told not to cry, not to fear, not to be forgiving and instead to be assertive, and strong." According to Promundo founder Gary Barker, these societal expectations can contribute to sexist behavior later in life. So, Promundo launched a new study, "The Man Box: A Study on Being a Young Man in the US, UK, and Mexico," alongside Axe to map out the consequences. “[The man box has] been a term used by advocates and colleagues working in the field of pro-feminist men's work for a very long time, referring to just the notions that boxed us in about what it means about men,” Barker explains. “That we're not supposed to ask for help, that we have to show our dominance over women and over other men, that we're more likely to fight than have a dialogue about it, and that we're told these things sort of from the moment that we're born.” The "man box" and toxic masculinity aren't new concepts — Promundo's study builds upon findings from numerous others on masculinity. For example, as far back as 1992, Dr. Ronald Levant created the Male Role Norms Inventory, which evaluates how strongly a man conforms to masculine ideologies prevalent in the western world including aggression, homophobia, and restricted expression of emotion, among others. In 2007, research conducted by both Levant and Katherine Richmond suggested that men who adhere to these ideologies are more likely to fear intimacy, be sexually aggressive, and feel hesitant to seek out psychological help. Of course, no one is forcing men to fulfill these outdated expectations and harass or assault women. An individual is always responsible for his or her actions — and that will never change. But it would be ignorant to overlook the fact that young boys are conditioned to act in ways that could ultimately prove toxic to both them and women. If the way boys were raised didn't matter, articles such as Claire Cain Miller's "How To Raise A Feminist Son" wouldn't be so renowned. And neither would the United Nations Women's "He for She" campaign. As Emma Watson, a UN Women Goodwill ambassador, said during a speech promoting "He for She" in September 2014, "I’ve seen men made fragile and insecure by a distorted sense of what constitutes male success. Men don’t have the benefits of equality either." It's frightening, yet telling, that U.S. men who reported feeling confined to the “man box” are six times more likely to have sexually harassed a woman before. In addition to correlating sexual harassment with the “man box,” Promundo's study also forces men to be self-reflective and realize that they may not be as feminist as they think. Barker points out that it’s not enough as a man to say you’ve never sexually harassed a woman. To achieve true equality, men, alongside women, have to take action. “[It’s] great that you're with us, but you're not done,” he tells them. And you need not look further than the White House to realize it. Barker suggests Trump has perpetuated the toxic masculinity America should be trying to root out of its system. If the man in power dismisses his joking about sexual assault as “locker room talk,” other Americans will be empowered to do the same. The current American political situation, therefore, has made Promundo’s mission all the more necessary. And while it may feel as though there’s a “big wave of conservatism … smashing us in the face,” as Barker puts it, there’s also a silver lining. Young people — both men and women — are becoming more aware of the inequalities enmeshed within American society. And they’re doing something about it, whether it’s marching on Washington or attending local demonstrations and protests. Promundo’s mission to “promote gender equality and create a world free from violence by engaging men and boys in partnership with women and girls” isn’t confined to the United States. According to Barker, the organization initially born in Brazil is now active in over 60 countries and has worked alongside over 700 non-governmental organizations. And its report on the “man box” is just the tip of the iceberg. For example, the organization’s most recent report titled “State of the World’s Fathers” examines the role men around the world play in child care. In addition to funding in-depth reports on gender equality, Promundo has also pioneered various initiatives, such as MenCare and MenEngage, which work to combat violence against women and teach men how to become allies in the fight for women’s reproductive rights. Regardless of where Promundo ventures next, its roots will remain the same. “Our work, it only exists because of all the important work that key women's rights partners have done everywhere,” Barker says. Now, it’s time to engage men to break away from what it traditionally means to “be a man” so that society can raise feminist boys who grow up to be genuinely feminist men. SOLD OUT. David Kwong will next be seen at the Geffen Playhouse in The Enigmatist. Sign-up to be notified when tickets go on sale. SECRET PUZZLE CONTEST. Did you see the question mark formed by the games in the poster? Guess what? There's another secret message in the image for Inside the Box . Can you find the hidden word that can be spelled out from these games? Thank you to everyone who entered, the winner will be notified soon. Click here to view the "Wall of Frame." OVERVIEW. Inside the Box takes us into the exhilarating world of games with New York Times crossword constructor David Kwong. Twenty-four guests will have a front-row seat to an entirely interactive show of puzzles, while David regales them with stories of the most extraordinary puzzle-makers throughout history. This incredibly smart and wildly entertaining event is filled with wordplay, multi-layered games, and surprises that will leave your mind blown. Log on, put on your thinking caps, and join in the fun. HOW IT WORKS. Intimidated by puzzles? Don’t be! David Kwong has designed these games to be fun and enjoyable at any skill level. Ticket holders will be emailed a PDF packet of materials one week in advance, which must be printed prior to showtime. David will guide the audience through these materials during the show. This production will use the Zoom video conferencing platform. Audience members will “check-in” to their show up to 30 minutes ahead of curtain, and may be asked to interact with David as well as share their video at all times. The show will begin once everyone is in the Zoom theater. Some puzzles will require volunteers, while others will involve the “Zoom grid” in which everyone gets a chance to participate. Along the way, David will unveil clues that ultimately reveal a special surprise at the climax of the show. INTERACTIVE & VIEWING-ONLY TICKETS. $75 Interactive Tickets Twenty-four tickets are available for per show, which give audiences a spot in the Zoom "grid" and full participation in the show. Interactive participants will receive the full packet by email and the ability to interact with David Kwong during the show. $25 Viewing-Only Tickets Five viewing-only tickets are available per show. Although they won't be able to interact directly with David or the other participants, they will receive the pre-show puzzle packet and be able to enjoy the show (like watching Jeopardy , or Wheel of Fortune ) at home. We strongly recommend printing out and preparing the puzzle packet because, if any regular ticket holders don't show up, viewing-only ticket holders may be randomly selected to be upgraded into a participating spot in the show! REQUIREMENTS. You must have a printer, or access to a printer, as you will need to print and review the materials in advance. Please don’t leave this until the last minute; some specific interactions with the materials will be required before the show. Internet access is required, with audio/video conferencing capability. You must be willing to participate and have a good time! NEED HELP? Having trouble getting into your show, or have question? CLICK HERE to contact support. Performance Information Runtime 85 minutes, no intermission. Late Seating. Please join the Zoom meeting 30 minutes prior to your showtime so we can check you in. There will be no late seating. We Took a Tour of the Fleshlight Factory and It Was Terrifying. What are Fleshlights REALLY made of? And why do some of them have teeth? Fleshlight makes the world’s best-selling male masturbation accessory, ever. Externally, they resemble an emergency grade flashlight. Unscrew the top, and you’ll be greeted with a different form of illumination—various orifices perfect for injecting a little holiday cheer. And some of those orifices are exact replicas of your favorite porn stars’ parts – Fleshlight models include Jessica Drake’s vagina, Stoya’s butt, and Tori Black’s mouth, among many other options. But what exactly is a Fleshlight? What's it made of? And what happens… after? I know I'm not the only one with questions, so I put out a call for queries on Twitter, picked out the stickiest ones, and headed out to Fleshlight’s headquarters in Austin, Texas—a facility that's epically modern, absolutely gigantic, and thoroughly ordinary. I was greeted by Brian Shubin, Chief Operating Officer of Interactive Life Forms (the name of the company’s umbrella LLC). Brian is 37, friendly without being creepy, and smart without being annoying. Like Ford, Wal-Mart, and Comcast, Fleshlight is a family business. Back in the mid-90s, when they were still living in Los Angeles, Brian’s dad Steve Shubin and his stepmom Kathy found out they were pregnant with twins. Their gynecologist advised them to stop having sex because of Kathy's advanced maternal age (she was 46 at the time), which presented the elder Shubin with a fantastic jerking-off puzzle. After a long, mad- scientist chemistry tale of trial and error, Fleshlight’s original Pink Lady was born. “My dad has always been creative like that,” Brian told me. “In life, whenever a problem or a need presents itself, he tries to figure out the answer.” How does Fleshlight take the external molds of ladies’ mouths, vulva, and butts? “On this scary gynecologic table of course,” Brian joked as he pulled out a stirrup. Except he wasn’t completely joking. Originally, Fleshlight would literally make molds of whatever orifice they were looking to replicate. right here: But for various reasons, the resulting detail wasn’t great. Plus, a lady’s sexed-up vulva looks quite a bit different than a cold, plaster-covered one. Consequently, starting with Stoya, Fleshlight began using digital imagining to create the molds. And speaking of molds, what about the insides? How do they get all those wild-looking internal textures? Do they pour plaster inside people? (No, please no.) Or do they digital image them as well? (That would involve some serious gaping!) Turns out, neither. The internal textures, of which there are standard and unique custom options for every Fleshlight Girl (e.g. the Stoya Destroya), are all designed by another Shubin son. Before that, “I did it,” Brian told me matter-of-factly. “We listen to our forum members and design their requests,” he continued. “My brother is really good at bringing those requests to life." I also learned about toxins. Surely there must be some weird chemical involved in the creation of a lifelike vagina, something that’s slowly rotting your penis every time you use it. What is it? And more importantly, what does it smell like? The Fleshlight material is a secret (!) combination of high-quality mineral oil and rubber polymers, and it's protected by a series of U.S. patents. Also worth knowing: The Fleshlight material does not contained phthalates. Phthalates are mainly used as plasticizers—substances added to plastics to increase their flexibility, durability, and longevity. All things you’d want in a soft squishy sex toy, except that there’s a lot of controversy about the safety of phthalates. Or, more specifically, the lack thereof. Generally, you can tell if something contains phthalates if it has a strong plastic smell when you first open its packaging. As a test, I opened up a Christy Mack Fleshlight fresh from the warehouse and took a big whiff—nothing. According to Brian, 45% of Fleshlight customers are repeat buyers coming back for more lights (so you can have an orgy!), additional sleeves, accessories, lube, and maintenance/care products. And because I know you want to know: Fleshlight sells 80,000 units of product per month, worldwide. And each one of them is hand-poured by a real live person. By now, it was time to head out to the factory and see exactly where all these real live people worked. As we entered the warehouse via the main building, Brian apologized. “It’s pretty empty out here,” he explained. “We work four tens. It’s more productive that way, and everyone always gets a three-day weekend.” Four ten-hour workdays? No work happening in the factory on Fridays? I was flabbergasted. In all my years of listening to people talk about improving working conditions and maintaining productivity, I had never come across a company that actually did anything about it. The factory was basically a ginormous room divided into two main sections: packaging and manufacturing. Packaging was what you’d expect: lots of big tables for putting together product and huge rows of shelves containing endless sleeves. I kept asking questions as we meandered through the labyrinth. How exactly do you know when it’s time to retire a Fleshlight? When does it start to break apart? With proper maintenance and care, Brian says, a Fleshlight will (allegedly) last forever. And cleaning? Apparently, a textured canal runs all the way through each Fleshlight sleeve. To clean one out after something’s been. er. deposited inside, you remove the sleeve from the case and run warm water through it. Then you spray it down with Fleshwash (a special cleaner that won’t erode the material), re-rinse with more warm water, and allow to air dry. Image your Stoya Destroya sleeve left out on a dish rack or drip-drying in the shower! It was time to ask questions submitted by the Fleshlight curious on Twitter. Jim from Tennessee wanted to know if you can get your penis stuck inside a Fleshlight. “Ehhh, no. Not if you’re using [your Fleshlight] within the realm of predictable intended use,” Brian informed me with a quizzical grin. Adam from Kansas wanted to know if there’s a size guide for guys that are larger or smaller or thicker? “Well, is there a size guide for real life vaginas and mouths and butts?” Brian asked rhetorically. “No, but Fleshlight does offer the mini-lotus texture for guys who are not quite as far reaching.” I wanted to know if any Fleshlight toy had ever become unavailable—like retiring a number? (Yes.) And Chris from Chicago wanted to know if there were plans to make any heated ones? (Coming soon!) Finally, Brian and I made it to the manufacturing side of the factory just as I was about to raise the most important issue: Can you make your own Fleshlight at home? Honestly, I didn’t even ask this question (sorry, Ted from Phoenix) as I already knew the answer. No, you can't. Because here are just a few of the things you'll need to make a Fleshlight: Fleshlights are made in one of four giant bays. Each bay consists of an outer perimeter of individual molds surrounding a center console. The person pouring your Fleshlight first sets up the molds, attaching the appropriate external (mouth, vulva, or butt) and internal texture forms to each. Meanwhile, a vat of Fleshlight material is busy being heated at the center console. Liquid Fleshlight is then piped to each individual mold, one at a time and by hand, via some sort of gun injector apparatus. There is also an elaborate hot and cold cooling system running through each individual set-up, helping to ensuring uniform consistency. The entire process was complex, high-tech, and (honestly) intimidating. It looked scary and dangerous. And occasionally, it could be. "The only real problem we’ve ever had is when people don’t wear their safety gear and accidentally spill some of the [liquid Fleshlight material] on themselves," Brain said. "That stuff is heated to 300 degrees, so when they try to brush it off, skin comes off too." We left the factory area, walking past a fairly large kitchen, where Brian informed me "We make lunch for everyone every day." MORE OF YOUR BURNING QUESTIONS ABOUT FLESHLIGHTS. "Can a guy potentially get a UTI (or any sort of bacterial infection) from using a Fleshlight?" (Moe from Portland) The level of funk (due to improper cleaning or sharing your sleeve) happening in your Fleshlight would have to be so great that you’d almost deserve it. "How do they quality test those things? Like, do they have a QA department that gets paid to masturbate?" (Chris from Chicago) According to Brian, this is his most frequently asked question. (Followed by: "Do you have any product tester positions open?") Luckily, the Fleshlight team is comprised of mostly guys, so products are well-tested at the prototype level. As far as a specific QA department, Fleshlight has multiple points of quality control throughout their production and packaging process—none of which is actually a masturbation zone. "They make Fleshlights modeled after porn star vaginas. Can I have one custom made after my girlfriend's vagina?" (Eric from New York) "Or what about from my own vagina, for a gift?" (Reba from Las Vegas) Technically yes, but the cost of creating a special mold and pouring only one is quite prohibitive—approximately $5000 per. "Does using a Fleshlight really increase my stamina? How?" (Spencer from Austin) Fleshlight has developed an entire “Legends Gym” program that you can follow. Like any other training program though, your success is depended upon your willingness to get your reps in. "What’s the difference between the Sex In A Can toys and everything else?" (me from Los Angeles) The size and the gimmick of the overall packaging is really it. Each Sex in a Can toy has a generic external orifice and a standard corresponding internal texture, except for the Succu Dry vampire model. That one has fangs on the external mouth, as well as a custom texture called The Fang on the inside. I admit I have been obsessed with this fang Fleshlight for years. Brian gave me one to take home, and it’s now sitting on a shelf in my office.