THIS ENTRY WAS POSTED ON March 6, 2019 BY Pleasure Chest Ness.
GET UP
Spring It On! Sexuality is abloom, as it always is over here, but for some reason Spring seems just the thing to bring more of a collective consciousness to it. We are already feeling the warmth and rebirth of the new season’s offerings: The pleasure-based indulgence of Mardi Gras, the Spring Equinox and following full moon, the upcoming Super Blooms from this season's rains, and of course, International Women's Day!
Spring Super Bloom in California's Walker Canyon.
As March marks the beginning of Spring and Women's History Month, it feels like a perfect time to honor the radical roots and current growth found both in nature and in history. International Women's Day also brings us an opportunity to reflect on the evolution of female sexuality, women's past and present achievements, and the importance of seeing them from an intersectional perspective.
GET DOWN
Although women's sexuality has had a long history of being censored, suppressed, and controlled by the patriarchy, and mostly exploited for other people's pleasure, we've slowly been seeing a significant shift. There is now an abundance of pleasure products for those with vulvas on major online shopping sites and in drugstores (who knew?), a more inclusive, sex positive dialogue around women's pleasure in (and on) the media, as well as more awareness around sexual assault centering a vital, viral battle cry to #believesurvivors.
Tarana Burke, founder of the Me Too Movement
Tarana Burke began ‘Me Too’ in 2006 to help survivors of sexual violence. Burke's focus was primarily on Black women and girls from low wealth communities whom she offered assistance to through a connection to community-based resources, and thus a more hopeful route to healing. The movement went viral online in 2017 as it evolved into #MeToo, a mostly social media response to the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations, and became a way for survivors to collectively call out abuse and share their stories.
GET IT
If the Patriarchal Pleasure Police have historically shamed and punished women for practicing pleasure, wary be the woman who even dares to practice self-pleasure! Even mainstream electronics distributor Hitachi took their name off the number one selling massager, the Magic Wand, shamed to find out those with vaginas would eventually find a better use for it. ( Gasp!) Cut to the present day where there are now (clitorally!) so many different toys specifically for female pleasure, we can barely fit them all in our chest! Fun fact: The Pleasure Chest was the first sex shop to not block out our windows when we opened our first location in the West Village in 1971.
Betty Dodson led masturbation workshops featuring the Magic Wand in the 60's and 70's.
Flashing back to the sexual revolution of that time, we cannot forget to mention Pro-sex feminist pioneer Betty Dodson, who popularized pleasuring yourself with the Magic Wand in her women's masturbation workshops. Thanks to Betty and other pioneers of the 60's and 70's sexual revolution, and naturally, the relentless desire of women to find endless ways to pleasure themselves, the Wand went on to become (and still remains) one of the most popular toys for personal pleasure. The most modern version of the Magic Wand is now rechargeable and more powerful than ever! And yeah, it gives a pretty darn good massage too. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
“You first have to be self-sexual, and then you can have sex with other people. The love affair—the sex affair—that we have with ourselves is the primary one. It should be ongoing throughout our life, and we should honor it.” - Betty Dodson
Old Skool Pleasure: Early to mid 70's Vintage Hitachi Wand
Today's most modern version: Magic Wand Rechargeable
Modern Day Wand Maker Le Wand
There's a new vibe on the block. With a mission to promote sexual wellness and pleasure, female fronted Le Wand has reinvented the classic wand massager with upgraded features and a flexible design. In honor of Int'l Women's Day, Le Wand has partnered with UK-based non-binary artist Wednesday to create a gorgeous Special Edition Women’s Day Wand.
GET RADICAL
If only there were a Magic Wand to time machine women to a future with equal pay and fair play. Until then, we can at least revel in a bit of revolution with the recent election of a record breaking number of 117 women to Congress in the recent 2018 midterm elections, making a total of 126 women and roughly a ratio of one to five members being women in the 116th Congress. This was the most radical flip in the house in many ways, but most notably in the amount of women it brought on, among them being the youngest, the first among North African and Native Americans, and a record number of women of color. And although the 2020 elections still seem eons away, seeds of change are being planted at a higher level and it is so empowering to finally see a more diverse feminine fertilization both rising from the ground up and now reigning from the top down.
GET INTERSECTIONAL
We've come a long way (baby) in terms of women's sexuality, and there have been so many sexuality pioneers who have laid the foundation for us to do sex positive work today. Despite these achievements, there has historically been a lack of inclusion or intersectionality that does not take into account the experience of underrepresented and marginalized women in the larger lens of feminism and women's rights. It is imperative that the voices and contributions of women of color, women with disabilities, sex workers, queer women, trans women, queer and trans women of color, and women from different ethnic, socioeconomic and religious backgrounds also be honored and heard.
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| Kimberlé Crenshaw | Ain't I A Woman by | author bell hooks |
No discussion on intersectionality would be complete without mentioning Law professor and civil rights advocate Kimberlé Crewnshaw. Crenshaw was the first to use the term intersectionality in a feminist context highlighting the exclusion of black women from traditional feminism. Intersectionality also draws from authors such as bell hooks, whose work represented the historical impact of sexism and racism on black women as brought to light in her book 'Ain't I A Woman' among others. (A must read.)
GET INVOLVED
Let's continue to celebrate women's pleasure, our historic and modern day achievements, while continuing to collectively fight for gender equality and the empowerment of women with an intersectional stance. Be aware of the space you hold, continue to amplify the voices of, elect, and listen to more black women and all women of color. This International Women’s Day (and any given day) also consider donating time, resources or dollars to these intersectional organizations helping to offer support and to alleviate all women from inequality, oppression and marginalization:
Black Lives Matter https://blacklivesmatter.com/
Black Youth Project 100
https://byp100.org/
Trans Women of Color Collective
http://www.twocc.us/
Trans Lifeline:
https://www.translifeline.org/
Sylvia Rivera Law Project:
https://srlp.org/
WOC Reproductive Justice Collective:
https://www.sistersong.net/
TGI Justice for Black / Trans Safe and Liberation:
http://www.tgijp.org/
El/La Para Trans Latinas:
http://ellaparatranslatinas.yolasite.com/
She Should Run
http://www.sheshouldrun.org/
National Indigenous Women's Resource Center
http://www.niwrc.org/
National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
http://www.latinainstitute.org/
Sex Workers Outreach Project USA
https://swopusa.org/
Counsel on American Islamic Relations
http://cair.com/
Planned Parenthood
https://www.plannedparenthood.org/
Read about the contributions of women of color in women's history here: https://www.bestcolleges.com/blog/contributions-from-women-of-color/
GET IN TOUCH
The shift of season and International Women's Day is a perfect time to be more open, aware and in touch, not only with each other, but with ourselves. In honor of Spring and Women's History Month, we encourage you to start planting kisses, charge your chakrubs in the enormous energy of the March 20th Equinox and following day's full moon. Rise up, get sprung, own your pleasure, find your higher power and maybe some more 'inner piece'. (All vibrator references intended ;). Let's celebrate the past, stay present and charge ahead for a more inclusive future.
All women deserve to be heard. All women deserve pleasure.
Find your Inner Piece.