http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/love-sex/men-women/sex-and-the-modern-girl-are-we-witnessing-a-new-age-of-female-sexual-assertiveness-1727304.html?fb_action_ids=10150760823266181,10150703993814941,10150757057155469,10151446524020366,10151446492970/
I
came across this article when I was on stumbleupon.com and it immediately reminded
me of the conversation we were having last Wednesday about gender “boxes” and
what it means to be a lady or a man. When it comes to sex, society tells women
that it is shameful to admit their sexual needs, desires, and likes, whereas society
encourages men to enjoy sex. This article is about a group in the UK, the Killing
Kittens, who host private members’ events where, “the sole aim is the pursuit
of female sexual pleasure.” Men are not allowed to attend the events without a
female chaperone, and once they are in the door, they are forbidden from making
any kind of advance on the women. The article describes these sex parties as a “free-for-all,”
and whether you agree that this orgy like event should be happening or not, it
is clear that the women hosting these parties are stepping out of the
traditional “ladylike box.” Paloma, one of the women interviewed in the article,
explained that the parties are important to the acceptance that women have
needs and desires and that the parties showcase a new sexual outlook. This
article gives a look into the changing definition of what it means to be a
woman, and allows the reader to decide for him or herself whether this change
is for the worse or for the better.
Megan Jansen
As discussed in the video we watched in class, and also touched on in the class discussion, there is a real paradox when it comes to female sexuality. Women are highly sexualized in our culture, but are restricted in the acceptable forms of sexual expression. Basically, they (we) are raised--largely by the media--to be sexual objects instead of sexual agents. Therefore, I think, any discussion about women's sexual agency is valuable because it forces us to think about what makes us (more collectively and personally) uncomfortable, and why that is the case.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, Julia's comment about how "any discussion about women's sexual agency is valuable because it forces us to think about what makes us uncomfortable" and why brought the popular episodic play written and performed by Eve Ensler titled the Vagina Monologues to mind (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuxyXSF4dpA). One of the things Ensler tried to do was normalize the actual word "vagina", which tends to make people incredibly uncomfortable, and talk openly about female sexuality in ways that our culture normally does not. There is obviously a lot of criticism surrounding her approach, I still think it's an interesting idea, and she has been very successful in empowering many women.
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