How to Make a Black Woman Come to the Center: A Social History of Pleasure Activism for Black Women’s Sexual Liberation
Presenter Title/Affiliation
California Inst. of Integral Studies
Start Date
22-5-2021 8:30 AM
Event Name
Panel discussion
Zoom URL to Join
https://ciis.zoom.us/j/98925562609
Zoom Meeting ID
989 2556 2609
Abstract
Pleasure activism, coined by arienne marie brown, is a growing movement to encourage the historically disenfranchised, specifically Black women, to demand “radical love” and pleasure by “nourishing the orgasmic yes.” This study is a historical review of Black women’s role in the movement of pleasure activism in the United States, with special attention on initiatives taking place in Atlanta, Georgia. Theorist and activist bell hooks discusses the issues of power differences based on sex, in which those with power were closer to the center and marginalized groups have limited access to the center. Paulo Freire identifies the ways in which oppressive language has been used as a tool to sustain oppression of marginalized groups. The history of language in relation to social factors will be considered to offer a sociohistorical linguistic lens to approach the pleasure activism movement. Building on this concept, this qualitative study used interviews and net-ethnography to explore the following questions: How is pleasure activism responding to Black women’s intersectional experiences in the United States? How do Black women fare in the social movement of pleasure activism? Thus, a distinct emphasis was on intracommunity power dynamics within the pleasure activism movement, especially as found in Atlanta among Black women. This research is centrally informed by the premise that the denial of sexual pleasure and bodily autonomy contributes to increased experiences of sexual objectification, hypersexualization, and sexual abuse historically suffered by black women and to which pleasure activists seek to ameliorate.
Presenter Contact
CFrancis@mymail.ciis.edu
How to Make a Black Woman Come to the Center: A Social History of Pleasure Activism for Black Women’s Sexual Liberation
Pleasure activism, coined by arienne marie brown, is a growing movement to encourage the historically disenfranchised, specifically Black women, to demand “radical love” and pleasure by “nourishing the orgasmic yes.” This study is a historical review of Black women’s role in the movement of pleasure activism in the United States, with special attention on initiatives taking place in Atlanta, Georgia. Theorist and activist bell hooks discusses the issues of power differences based on sex, in which those with power were closer to the center and marginalized groups have limited access to the center. Paulo Freire identifies the ways in which oppressive language has been used as a tool to sustain oppression of marginalized groups. The history of language in relation to social factors will be considered to offer a sociohistorical linguistic lens to approach the pleasure activism movement. Building on this concept, this qualitative study used interviews and net-ethnography to explore the following questions: How is pleasure activism responding to Black women’s intersectional experiences in the United States? How do Black women fare in the social movement of pleasure activism? Thus, a distinct emphasis was on intracommunity power dynamics within the pleasure activism movement, especially as found in Atlanta among Black women. This research is centrally informed by the premise that the denial of sexual pleasure and bodily autonomy contributes to increased experiences of sexual objectification, hypersexualization, and sexual abuse historically suffered by black women and to which pleasure activists seek to ameliorate.
https://digitalcommons.ciis.edu/lavlang/2021/saturday/5
