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Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'
Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good by adrienne maree brown
7 reviews
sweetcaptainlily's review
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
3.75
Some great principles, some disjointed bits, some chapters I skimmed over, some I skipped entirely. Some that were too woo-woo or too short, or hard to follow. This book feels like amb invited 60 friends to write for the book with a generous spirit and not a concrete plan. More like a collection of insights than a cohesive manifesto and that's ok.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Rape, Violence, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, and Child abuse
abbyslittelife's review
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
This is a collection of essays, interviews, and poetry focused on pleasure (mostly sex related) and the lack of it (sex-related trauma, recovery from chronic illness and its effect on one’s relationship with pleasure). It focused on providing diverse narrative voices, covering all different ages, voices, races, genders, and identities.
Some of this felt as though it was a bit too mushed together, a conglomeration that may have benefitted the interviewer/author more than the reader. I did love to hear the voices of so many different perspectives. I had to continue to remind myself that while most of those interviewed are accredited experts in their fields, some are mostly just friends of the author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual harassment
Minor: Sexual violence, Rape, and Sexual assault
zosiablue's review
hopeful
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
This collection made me uncomfortable and that was good. It showed me how far I've strayed from my original desires/intentions when I was young - I so thought I would be free love, fully realized, pleasure seeking, and open to "out there" shit. But something changed, and I can't say what. Now I feel almost prudish, wincing at writing about pleasure, even hating the word "pleasure." So while this was an imperfect book (needed a lot more editing and was disconnected), I'm glad I stuck with it. It reminded me that I need to purposely seek out more of this to remember what I used to want. And to see if I still do.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
natcortes's review
medium-paced
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual content, Incest, and Rape
Moderate: Drug use
Minor: Addiction and Transphobia
aellwy's review
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
I have owned this book for some time now, but only recently felt called to read it. It is one that I knew I would get a lot out of and I wanted to take my time reading it. I am a big amb fan and this furthered that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Incest
alayamorning's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
There are a lot of important concepts and perspectives shared in this book. I'm really glad I read it. And... it was not at all what I expected.
This book primarily focuses on pleasure via sex and drug use. (On one level I get this as they are the most overtly stigmatized avenues for pleasure.) I was expecting (and hoping!) the book would cover a wider scope of pleasure practices -- nature! music! food! swimming! dancing/movement! laughter! ceremony/ritual! spiritual practice! beautifying self and space! following your curiosity! expressing creativity! community gathering! -- more thoroughly. The opening and closing sections of the book were probably my favorite, as they held a wider scope for what prioritizing pleasure could look like.
I had some discomfort reading the "Skills for Sex in the #MeToo Era" section. I agree that we need better conversations around consent, including getting better as individuals at discerning and speaking our own boundaries and desires. However, the way this section continually juxtaposed consent and #metoo felt irresponsible and edged toward victim-blaming. As if a clear "no" is all that is lacking in instances of sexual assault. (This may not have been brown's intention - in fact, I suspect it wasn't - but it was easy to read it this way.)
Overall, I experienced this book as a handful of seeds scattered over top of the soil, rather than as a flourishing, fully flowering/fruiting garden. Each essay/interview held the seed of an important idea, but each felt underdeveloped. The interview sections especially felt too short. They seemed to end abruptly just as they were getting interesting! (I also had the thought while reading that I would have preferred to experience these interview sections as a longer form podcast, to actually hear these conversations in real time with space to play all the way out. I will have to check out brown's podcast next.)
I think, in the end, this was an offering from adrienne marie brown that outlines how she and some of the members of her extended community have cultivated pleasure in their own lives. If you read it as a model of what living wholeness through pleasure looks like for one person, it may also serve as an invitation to begin exploring what your own pleasure story might look like. (An idea which is encapsulated by brown on the final page:)
"Pleasure is the point. Feeling good is not frivolous, it is freedom. We can gift it to each other in a million ways: with authentic presence, abundant care, and honesty; with boundaries that keep us from overextending; with slower kisses; with foot massages in the evening; with baby hugs and elder hugs; with delicious food; with supported solitude and listening to our bodies, our shameless desire, and coordinated longing.
Find the pleasure path for your life and follow it. Let it reverberate healing back into your ancestors' wounds. Let it open you up and remind you that you are already whole. Let it shape a future where feeling good is the normal, primary experience of all beings." pp. 441
This book primarily focuses on pleasure via sex and drug use. (On one level I get this as they are the most overtly stigmatized avenues for pleasure.) I was expecting (and hoping!) the book would cover a wider scope of pleasure practices -- nature! music! food! swimming! dancing/movement! laughter! ceremony/ritual! spiritual practice! beautifying self and space! following your curiosity! expressing creativity! community gathering! -- more thoroughly. The opening and closing sections of the book were probably my favorite, as they held a wider scope for what prioritizing pleasure could look like.
I had some discomfort reading the "Skills for Sex in the #MeToo Era" section. I agree that we need better conversations around consent, including getting better as individuals at discerning and speaking our own boundaries and desires. However, the way this section continually juxtaposed consent and #metoo felt irresponsible and edged toward victim-blaming. As if a clear "no" is all that is lacking in instances of sexual assault. (This may not have been brown's intention - in fact, I suspect it wasn't - but it was easy to read it this way.)
Overall, I experienced this book as a handful of seeds scattered over top of the soil, rather than as a flourishing, fully flowering/fruiting garden. Each essay/interview held the seed of an important idea, but each felt underdeveloped. The interview sections especially felt too short. They seemed to end abruptly just as they were getting interesting! (I also had the thought while reading that I would have preferred to experience these interview sections as a longer form podcast, to actually hear these conversations in real time with space to play all the way out. I will have to check out brown's podcast next.)
I think, in the end, this was an offering from adrienne marie brown that outlines how she and some of the members of her extended community have cultivated pleasure in their own lives. If you read it as a model of what living wholeness through pleasure looks like for one person, it may also serve as an invitation to begin exploring what your own pleasure story might look like. (An idea which is encapsulated by brown on the final page:)
"Pleasure is the point. Feeling good is not frivolous, it is freedom. We can gift it to each other in a million ways: with authentic presence, abundant care, and honesty; with boundaries that keep us from overextending; with slower kisses; with foot massages in the evening; with baby hugs and elder hugs; with delicious food; with supported solitude and listening to our bodies, our shameless desire, and coordinated longing.
Find the pleasure path for your life and follow it. Let it reverberate healing back into your ancestors' wounds. Let it open you up and remind you that you are already whole. Let it shape a future where feeling good is the normal, primary experience of all beings." pp. 441
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Incest, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Sexual content
Minor: Ableism, Racism, and Transphobia
jackry's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Child abuse, Child death, and Drug use
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