8 Search results for "pleasure praxis"

A Black feminist pleasure praxis acknowledges and affirms the possibility for Black women’s sexual pleasure
We must do the work to detach Black women’s sexuality from violence and we must start with our foremothers. by Haillee Mason This essay contains discussion of sexual violence. The myth of white supremacist history suggests that sexual pleasure and intimacy that enslaved Black women endured were unable to be detached from violence. While I […]
Black women speak to being socialized to fear their own pleasure, & what we can do about it
By Caroline Colvin For a subset of society whose bodies are so sexualized, so desired, and so sought-after, Black women and femmes as a whole feel a substantial amount of shame when it comes to our sexuality. When you’re a Black woman or femme, pop culture encourages you to be the video vixen — or, […]
Men’s lack of respect for women’s sexual boundaries is informed by our lack of care for their sexual pleasure
by Chris Saltmarch Like many of my contemporaries, I never really gave much thought to the sexual desires of women. Much of my life, when I really sit and think of it, I was totally oblivious to the needs and desires of my sexual partners. This was due in part to being raised in the […]
Black asexuals are not unicorns, there are more of us than we know
This essay contains discussions of sexual violence as well as racist violence and fetishization I personally know of fewer than five Black people who identify as asexual, and I’ve only met two of them in person. The others remain virtual friends for now, but I hope to meet them someday. Of course, these are just […]
Reclaiming our bodies through Black erotica
by Donnie Moreland Literarily, the words Black and erotic are dissonent. A by product of what would become synonymous with talk about sex, in the public domain, for Black folk—sin, depravity, immorality, etc. Though canonically scattered, some Black folk do dabble in erotic fiction. A previous romantic partner of mine introduced me to Zane—the most […]
We can’t talk about sexual health if we never talk openly about sex
We live in a society that is sexually repressive and at the same time oversaturated with reminders of sex. They say that “sex sells”—or, rather, sexually objectifying women and feeding into misogynistic male fantasy about power, control, and sexual prowess sells—and yet, Michigan State Representative Lisa Brown was barred from speaking on the House floor […]
‘Set It Off’ and the Black feminist lessons it still holds for us
This essay contains spoilers for Set It Off, and discusses sexual exploitation and state violence “Women respond to racism. My response to racism is anger. I have lived with that anger, ignoring it, feeding upon it, learning to use it before it laid my visions to waste, for most of my life. Once I […]
Reframing “sex positivity” by centering consent
This essay discusses sexual coercion and manipulation I used to feel bad for getting “90% vanilla” whenever I took one of those online BDSM or kink tests (and answered the questions honestly), or whenever I tried to talk to a potential sex partner about my boundaries and they called me some variation of “boring.” […]