Folks, when I say, I love my job, you gotta understand, it’s the most honest thing I’ve ever uttered in my life.
I got the opportunity to attend this summit where there were about 50 presenters from different edges of the sexuality world coming together. To note, this was a celebration of BIPOC folks or BIPOC companies that did also include some cis-white female presenters as well.
There were dildo slingers, sexologists, sex therapists, STI-destigmatizing organizers, sex educators, porn stars, dominatrixes, surrogate partners, podcasters, and much more! It does not shock me a bit that they will not have another one until 2025! I cannot imagine the planning and coordination that went into this one! I have to hand it to Reba C. Thomas AKA “Reba the Diva” and her company, Sexpert Consultants, LLC. They really outdid any of my expectations with the line-up and novel information I learned.
Some of my personal heroes spoke via video links. Luna Matatas, adrienne maree brown, Ruby Ryder ffs! These 3 are queens in my world…pushing the boundaries of fucking the patiarchy, redefining pleasure, and empowering vulva havers. And I got to hear them speak and actually engage a bit with Luna Matatas in chat! Un-fucking-real.
Now, if you exist outside the world of sexuality, you’re probably like, ummmm who the fuck are these people? Well, I hope you will look them up after reading this, because if you are at all attempting to live a more satisfied and/or pleasurable life, they are good people to know and follow. I am going to reach out to as many of them as I can and see if I can get them to guest on my podcast.
The whole idea was that any of these jobs constitutes you calling yourself a “pleasure professional.” I love that. I love the sound of it. I love the positive connotation of it. I also love the inclusivity of that message. Whether you are an author, a sex worker, an educator, a porn director, an activist, or a writer…basically no matter where you fall on the spectrum of sexual employment, you are a pleasure professional. I also really really took to heart and felt solidarity in the idea that Mahx Capacity from Aorta Films told us…that we are ALL sex workers. And if we are to take down the patriarchy that is controlling how much we get credit for and how we get paid and whether or not what we do or speak on is legal, then we need to acknowledge that a sex therapist and a porn star…are all going to work because of sex. The division is helping no one. We should be legitimizing all sex work.
In the coming weeks (pun totally intended), I will be sharing more about the speakers there and what I learned on my podcast with show notes added here. I hope you enjoy this first series and it opens you up to a whole new world of sexology and sex work…and pleasure!