Sex, Atheism, and Other Heresies
What would a consent culture look like? How are we, as a community, getting it right, and how are we getting it wrong? Kitty Stryker asks questions about what consent means, from a legal and ethical standpoint, and how we can practically encourage it in our everyday lives.
Kitty Stryker is the co-editor of ConsentCulture.com, where she discusses alternatives to rape culture and explores how consent works under capitalistic patriarchy.
I think that Kitty Stryker is one of the smartest and most honest people talking about sexuality these days. The below video shows why.
I’m not in the same position as Kitty; I’m neither a sex worker, nor do I do sex education. Being seen as sexy isn’t part of my job requirement. But I do identify with a lot of what she says. The majority of “sex-positive” culture ((I know that there are a lot of people — including myself — who question the validity of that term, and whether it really means anything any more, but for lack of a better term that’s both colloquial and precise, I’m going to stick with sex-positive for right now.)) doesn’t talk enough about sexual fears and insecurities, and how to cope with them. Or, for that matter, how to accept that, as Kitty says below, being sexually “off” is part of our sexualities, too.
I think that a big part of the problem — although by no means all of it — is how much of the structure of sex positivity is based on feeding commercial ventures. I have no problem with people feeding themselves, and I wish to hell that Kitty and others like her could go out there and make lots of money off their insights.
A somewhat nerdy pervert who looks (mostly) normal on the outside, Chris Hall is fascinated by the politics, culture, and art of sex. He has written for The Atlantic, Alternet, SF Weekly, Slixa, numerous anthologies, and a dog blog that will go discreetly unnamed here.
