US Pole Dance Championship highlights
I meant to post this weeks ago, but here you go… highlights from the 2009 US Pole Dance Championship, held March 15 in New York City. These ladies are truly phenomenal. I hope that one day with enough practice, I’ll have the strength and control to do some of the AMAZING tricks shown in this video.
Quote of the Day
From Melissa McEwan at Shakesville:
[E]very time someone asks me, greets my bellicose display of unreasonable expectations with, the exceedingly un-progressive question, “What do you expect?” I will answer the same as I always do: I expect more.
Of course the Republican Party is racist. What do you expect?
I expect more.
Of course lots of male bloggers are misogynists. What do you expect?
I expect more.
Of course some television show is homophobic. What do you expect?
I expect more.
Of course some feminists are transphobic. What do you expect?
I expect more.
Of course there are ablest jokes in sitcoms. What do you expect?
I expect more.
Of course there are fat-hating jokes in advertisements. What do you expect?
I expect more.
You can’t expect people to mess with iconic cultural images just to give a nod to diversity. It will upset people.
The fuck I can’t. I expect more.
I’m not ironically detached, I’m not apathetic, I’m not resigned, and I’m not contemptuous of bleeding hearts. I am a greedy bitch with voracious expectations, and I dream long and lustfully of a better world that is both my muse and objective. I want it like the cracked earth of the desert wants rain, and I will neither apologize for nor amend my desire because of its remove from the here and now; its distance encourages my reach.
Don’t bother asking me what I expect.
You already know the answer.
This this this this this!!!
Next weekend in the ATL: MondoHomo 2009!
I love this! MondoHomo, a five-day festival of awesome, is entering its third year, and it’s all organized by local activist Kiki Carr (you might recall Rusty and I interviewed her back in February 2007) who just blows me away with her talent and devotion. Does she never sleep? Maybe I’ll learn her secret because after MondoHomo, she and I are going to be collaborating on a new project for Atlanta; but stay tuned for that.
Here are all the details about MondoHomo; yeah, it’s a lot, this is five days of stuff, people! Rusty and I will definitely be there Saturday night for a the Film Love portion (hosted by Andy Ditzler, whom we also interviewed… fancy that); the rest is still up in the air for us. But if you are on the fence about whether you want to go, take the time to read below (detailed info after the jump) because there truly is something for everyone.
(more…)
Sex 2.0, v2 – success!
If you follow my tweets, you already know that Sex 2.0 was a blast. I’m going to do a proper recap post as soon as I get a free minute or thirty. In the meantime, here are some photos:
Sadly, scheduled keynote speaker Nikol Hasler fell ill days before the conference and was unable to attend. Melissa Gira stepped up, doing a This American Life-esque keynote with Dacia playing Ira Glass from the back of the room. I sure hope someone got audio and/or video.
MySpace-esque photo of me and Melissa. She knows how to sit like a lady while I clearly do not.
This is how the sex nerds get down.
(Shades of this photo [coincidentally, also in Washington]. It’s clear I value certain priorities in my friends.)
I’ll also be posting audio of the Revisiting Naked on the Internet panel, which I was on along with Melissa and Furry Girl, and Dacia moderating. It’ll be up as an episode of (un)ConCast whenever Rusty does his MacBook Pro magic on the audio file.
Also, I’ve been collecting links to other posts recapping Sex 2.0 in my del.icio.us.
Thanks, all, for a terrific weekend!
Quote of the day
I hope Trinity won’t mind me quoting her entire post. ‘Cause it rocks.
Can somebody tell me…
…precisely who actually said “We’ll just all fuck our way to freedom?”
Because honestly, the first time I came across that phrase, it wasn’t a Sex Positive Ooh Sparkly Laughing Pornified Dumb Chick (tm) giggling.
It was Patrick Califia saying “I don’t believe we can fuck our way to freedom. But this is not what the discourse of sexual repression tells us. In that discourse, unbridled sexuality has enormous disruptive potential.”
In other words, it’s not us who said sex is liberation. It’s those who dislike sex-positivity who read “Fuck For Freedom”
…when what we said was “Fuck Off.”
Concerned about violent crime in ATL?
Then be sure to check out this event at Charis tonight!
Atlanta Transformative Justice Collaborative Dialogue
Thursday, March 12, 7:30-9:00pm
Over the past three years, a collaborative of Atlanta based organizers have been building a framework of transformative justice focused on transforming state, communal and interpersonal response to violence. From local neighborhood violence to international genocidal violence, from Gaza & the West Bank to intimate partner & family violence, the Atlanta Transformative Justice Collaborative (ATJC) seeks to transform the responses and conditions that perpetuate all forms of social control and violence. Join ATJC organizers Mia Mingus, Cara Page, Sonali Sadequee & Stephanie Guilloud at Charis as they discuss ways to engage communities through transformative justice and deepen cross-movement conversations within southern based strategies.
I just now found out about this, and as such won’t be able to make it tonight. But I can assure you these four ladies are all kinds of awesome, and the ATJC is the kind of organization I can get behind. I would encourage ATAC folks to attend and participate.
BlogHer ‘09: I’m speaking!
I’ve been given the go-ahead to announce this, so, guess what?
I’m going to be on a panel at BlogHer ‘09 in Chicago! Here’s the description:
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Identity/Passions: LifeBlogging Outside the Lines: When you’re not a Geek, a Political Wonk or a MommyBlogger
Friday, July 24, 1:15-2:30 PM
Blogging started as a geek’s game, and by 2004 political bloggers were making waves and mainstream media news. Post-BlogHer 2005 the rise of the MommyBloggers, first as cultural, then as commercial, force began. So where does that leave the rest of us… blogging about who we are and what we do with as much dedication, passion and amazing writing as any of those other blogging archetypes? We know that many of you who don’t fit neatly into the above boxes share the same concerns:
- How can I dispel stereotypes about people like me?
- How can I build community without something like an ideology or a kid of a particular age to serve as the common thread?
- How can I get a piece of the monetization pie… I have income and spend money too, you know?
Join Shameeka Ayers, Trish Bendix, Jane Gassner, and Amber Rhea and come flex your blogging muscles.
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I’m really looking forward to this panel! And I have to say, the title amuses me… remember when “lifeblogging” was called, well, blogging? Heh. Also, I am a geek, but I know what they mean… my blog isn’t trying to be TechCrunch (thank god).
If you’re able to make it to BlogHer, register soon to get early-bird pricing through this Saturday!
So much yes
Women’s sexual needs are not a scientific mystery. Want to increase female libido? Put down the pharmaceuticals and free our minds with equal pay, affordable child care and equitable distribution of household responsibilities. Wondering why women gravitate toward sexually passive roles? The answer has far less to do with evolution than with the ways women are shamed for expressing aggressive desire and with the pervasive idea that women who pursue their own satisfaction are asking to be raped.
What this woman wants is an end to tired clichés dressed up as science and the beginning of a world in which women are treated as individuals, each of whom may or may not be turned on by intimacy, back-alley ravishment or any number of things; a world in which anyone wondering what a woman wants knows that the best thing to do is just ask her.
Found via Kimberlee Cline on Tumblr – then clicked through to find the comment was posted by Jaclyn Friedman! (of WAM! fame)
Small world of awesomeness.
Pussy!!
Awesomeness via Renee.