Kink is Political - Resistance

Kinksters love talking about resistance. Sometimes it’s demonized, like in the image of the sub who can’t submit or the rope partner who has some impediment to becoming totally transparent in order to “share authentically.” Other times, kink itself is framed as a practice of political resistance, a political act that goes against sexual conservatism and the violence of the State. In this session we’ll ask: does it make it sense to use the same word for both registers? What is the broader political context and content within a notion of resistance? What does resistance entail? And how important is it to articulate what one is resisting against? Along the way, we’ll think about what it means to use a concept with such a deep ties to scientific and therepeutic discourses.
About this series
Kink is Political is an online discussion with Addie Tahl, Georg Barkas, Andrea Rimon, and occasional special guests. Participants are invited to join a discussion during which we unite critique with an emphasis on the practical and day-to-day issues and challenges of kink, intimacy, and relationships.
Focusing on concepts central to BDSM, leather, rope, and sex-positive communities, it interrogates widely adopted approaches and commonly held notions. It aims to understand the politics of kink beyond the language of sexual liberation and politics of sexual liberalism, both frames that have proven insufficient in addressing widespread harm, a rising international tide of sex-negativity and reaction, or in guaranteeing that the most marginalized can sexually flourish.
Kink is Political is an examination of the contexts and consequences of how we talk about and understand gender and sexuality. It is a forum to think about how kink spaces and practices operate, what works, what doesn’t, and what we can use to build something better.