The Sweet Spot: Selling Sex to Save the World

​This is the second installment of the Sweet Spot, our new column covering alternative sexuality in San Francisco. Author Ginger Murray is editor of Whore! magazine and is invested in a thoughtful and intelligent exploration of alt-sex culture. She recognizes that there are great aspects of this culture in the city as well as some, well, questionable ones. "I don't support all of the events and situations that occur in the name of sexual freedom, but I do think that a high-profile public dialogue about it is vital." On the Whore! website, Murray says the quarterly "explores important facets of culture, sexuality, ascendancy, shame, history, and the right to be." We look forward to her doing the same here on the Exhibitionist.

-- Keith Bowers

Luke Thomas

What do e-waste and sexuality have in common? Sophie (center).

​Sex is good business. And sex is good for business. But is it good for raising awareness about responsible electronic waste management?

"Our generation is overstimulated by being asked to care about causes and environmental problems. These days, you have to grab people's attention," says Sophie, who hosted the E-Waste International Benefit Gala at Harry Denton's Starlight Room last week. Herting herself -- the founder and CEO of E-Waste International -- certainly grabbed my attention, standing more than six feet in her heels and showing a lot of leg in a tight, black minidress. My little-straight-girl heart was all aflutter in awe.

Unlike some other philanthropic galas, there were no speeches or slideshows detailing the horrors of environmental destruction. Instead there was Cassandra Cass, noted transsexual performer and pinup calendar girl, auctioning off a dinner with Herting's handsome younger brother, Camello. To inspire those in the crowd to get out their wallets, Camello unbuttoned his shirt.

Luke Thomas

Date this man for a good cause: Cassandra Cass hawks Camello Herting.

​E-waste International is a consulting firm founded by Herting that specializes in educating people about what to do with their old electronics. You know what I am talking about. How many cellphone chargers do you have lying around? (Or how many "free" cathode-ray tube monitors from 10-year-old computers have you seen on city sidewalks?) According to the website, improper disposal of batteries, cellphones, and computer parts is known to increase the risk of cancer in India, China, and Africa. Not sexy.

Especially not sexy are the numerous images of children on piles of e-waste. Herting believes that the best way to inspire people to invest in a cause is to present them with something they haven't seen before. For instance, an image of a pretty woman in taffeta on a pile of e-waste.

"You want to have people keep looking instead of looking away," says Sophie, "but it's all not just glitz and glam and girls in pretty dresses. I am happy to use what I have as a vehicle for getting the message across."

She may be on to something. The gala was well attended and successful. But some could say that the message was compromised by the presentation. A video looping by the dancefloor showed information about the company. But aside from the fundraising, was anyone's awareness raised?

I used to be uncomfortable using my sexuality as a tool. Whether it was for a free drink, entry into a sold-out show, or being able to sneak into the hotel hot tub, I just didn't believe that a security guard would ignore his job for the sake of a bikini. I was -- in short -- very naive. In my magazine, I shamelessly use sexuality to promote women's history. Pretty vaginas and a female leader of the French Revolution? Why not? And if a little swish of ass helps to invite someone into a rigorous debate, I'll take that and run with it.

Short skirts and the exposing of a little skin is not actual sex, of course. It is merely part of an alluring evening. But one nonprofit, FuckforForest.com, goes all the way in using sex to promote a good cause. Norwegian activists Tommy Ellingsen and Leona Johansson raised roughly $90,000 to buy and protect 150 acres of rainforest in Costa Rica called the Wild Climax Refuge through making and selling pornography. Their activism is two-pronged, promoting awareness of the environment and unrepressed sexuality.

​Returning to e-waste and that awareness question: I have never really known what to do with all those hard drives, memory boards, and outdated videocameras. But after attending Sophie's event, I knew where to go. So at least my awareness was raised. And I do like my philanthropy laced with a dash of sass and style. I have been known to attend events purely for the sake of a good cause, but the lure of some kind of ooh and oh yes works on me. Well, at least it makes being there more fun. Much more fun indeed.

And until there is overwhelming evidence that using sexuality as a marketing strategy to fight the good fight is ineffective, I think that we should do a lot more of it. I have three suggestions for sexing up a few organizations that, while powerful and important, suffer from being a little too tightly buttoned up.

1. The Center for Sex and Culture produces one of its Masturbate-a-Thons at the next Green Party fundraiser.

2. The Democratic Party hires the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to hear President Obama's confession at the next national convention.

3. Food Not Bombs feeds people -- naked.