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Pleasure Activism
Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good | adrienne maree brown
How do we make social justice the most pleasurable human experience? How can we awaken within ourselves desires that make it impossible to settle for anything less than a fulfilling life? Editor adrienne maree brown finds the answer in something she calls "Pleasure Activism," a politics of healing and happiness that explodes the dour myth that changing the world is just another form of work. Drawing on the black feminist tradition, including Audre Lourde's invitation to use the erotic as power and Toni Cade Bambara's exhortation that we make the revolution irresistible, the contributors to this volume take up the challenge to rethink the ground rules of activism. Writers including Cara Page of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation For Justice, Sonya Renee Taylor, founder of This Body Is Not an Apology, and author Alexis Pauline Gumbs cover a wide array of subjectsfrom sex work to climate change, from race and gender to sex and drugsthey create new narratives about how politics can feel good and how what feels good always has a complex politics of its own. Building on the success of her popular Emergent Strategy, brown launches a new series of the same name with this volume, bringing readers books that explore experimental, expansive, and innovative ways to meet the challenges that face our world today. Books that find the opportunity in every crisis!
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review
Shievad
Pickpick

I totally judged this book by its cover and title and was surprised that it was a collection of essays and interviews. I did a lot of skimming but did enjoy the chapters that I read in full and the whole concept.

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thestarlesscasea
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Pickpick

I really loved this book. It centers the voices of marginalized groups in an exploration of and case for being pleasure-driven. I've posted several quotes from it and could have posted many more, as it is often so eloquent and opened my eyes in many ways. I was having a high-anxiety day, and this book's urging to start genuinely caring for myself and prioritizing my pleasure led me to bake cookies, a process I find meditative and calming. ❤

Soubhiville I hope today is better for you. Cookies help everything. 5y
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blurb
thestarlesscasea
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I saw Birds of Prey, and there is so much about it that is exceptional (so clearly made by women--the wardrobe, the hair tie sharing, all of the things), but one thing I haven't heard enough about is the love between Harley Quinn and her egg sandwich. I've never seen myself represented in a love story the way I saw myself in that. Sometimes the most radical pleasure is finding love in a cheesy, bacony, eggy delight. #yesiweptaboutthesandwich2x 🍳

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thestarlesscasea
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"In general, I am a high-functioning depressive person...I have come to believe this is a part of my magic, that I dance with darkness and respect it. I know what it is to need therapy, medicate myself, not be able to get out of bed, and not want to live. And while it isn't easy, it makes me feel like I can see things whole, and whatever joy I have is grounded in the miraculous and tragic dual nature of the real world." That's quite a footnote.

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thestarlesscasea
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"It has been said before but it's always relevant: no is a complete sentence...We must remember that our socialized aversion to no, particularly in capitalist countries, is strategic for those who aim to hold power over us. If we are made to feel uncomfortable saying no, then we will say yes to anyone and anything that tries to sell us shit. We must remember that we are learning to say no as we recover from patriarchy, capitalism, racism."

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thestarlesscasea
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The instant your mind begins to move in any direction of desire, you can type your longing into a search bar and watch your fantasy or something close to it. Your imagination isn't really needed. And perhaps that would be fine if the top searches were: woman on top of someone she could never identify as a family member, strapped women taking tender tushes, grown up legal-aged professionals of all genders in hot consensual antiracist role play.

Soubhiville Those searches sound much nicer than I imagine the actual popular searches to be. 5y
thestarlesscasea @Soubhiville right?! She lists some of the real ones, and...YIKES 5y
6 likes2 comments
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thestarlesscasea
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"But 'money can't buy you happiness,' right? Like fuck it can't...Money buys protection, time off, privacy, and nice, pretty shit. Money also buys food, housing, and health care. Getting paid enough to meet our needs--and more--feels good. I'm not romanticizing the sex industry, I know it has risks; I'm just not going to romanticize economic deprivation in the name of being a 'good girl' either...you know what feels amazing? Surviving capitalism."

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thestarlesscasea
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"Folks who are rooted in sensing and seeking pleasure, and bring that energy into their work and relationships, are shining a light for others--there is another path that isn't full of stress, self-doubt, pain, victimization, and suffering. There is a path in which everything is learning, playing, practicing, doing things anew."

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SW-T
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Panpan

I didn‘t hate this book, but it‘s problematic. It‘s a hodgepodge of essays, interviews, poems, and art, including an “interview” with a sex toy. It says its focus is on pleasure in all forms, food, art, clothing, etc, but it primarily focuses on sex, with or without a partner. And in the same breath as talking about harm reduction, it advocates drug use, including mushrooms and ecstasy, as spiritual detox. Had potential but missed the mark.

Chrissyreadit That was a great succinct review. 5y
BookishGirl06 How do you have interview with a sex toy? Lol 5y
14 likes2 comments