Sexuality

Sex

While sex can be fucked up, it can also be empowering (and fun :O).

Yeah, we’ve been taught to suspect, fear, abuse, and shame our sexual selves, but once we see that all that is just the patriarchy trying to steal our mojo, we can move on.

Okay, all the expectations and devaluations won’t disappear, but we might be able to start having the kind of sex that makes us feel more alive, more capable of transformation. Or in the words of Audre Lorde, “When I speak of the erotic, I speak of it as an assertion of the lifeforce of women; of that creative energy empowered, the knowledge and use of which we are now reclaiming in our language, our history, our dancing, our work, our lives.”

Sexual Assault Resources

The first thing to know if you are a survivor of sexual assault is that it is NOT your fault and you are NOT alone.

Students have struggled to get adequate resources for dealing with sexual assault, and thanks to their efforts, you’ve already been given a variety of outlets to help with personal safety and physical and emotional wellbeing. However, if any of these prove unsatisfactory, there are ways to speak up about it and get what you need. MiddSafe is a great student resource.

The continued prevalence of sexual assault at Middlebury is the result of rape culture, which takes many forms. We strongly recommend you learn what it is and how to combat it. This blog, written by a Middlebury student, is a good place to start:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/kristinaswede/18-shockingly-common-things-you-didnt-know-about-mrsx

We also recommend giving some thought to best consent practices. Consent looks different for everyone, but there’s plenty of good resources to help you figure out what works for you and your partner(s).

QUEERS READ THIS: An Army of Lovers Cannot Lose

Middlebury walks a straight line. There aren’t a lot of resources for us besides those that students put together for each other. The marginalization of Queers here goes way back, and continues to include hate speech, discipline, and threatening behavior. But we have also built a strong community. Queers and Allies (Q&A), the main LGBT student group on campus that is mostly liberal, is a good place to find community and social events. There is no radical political queer student group as of yet. Please start one, baby queers! As ACT UP organizers wrote in the Queer Nation Manifesto… Being queer means “leading a different sort of life. It’s not about the mainstream, profit-margins, patriotism, patriarchy or being assimilated. It’s not about executive directors, privilege and elitism. It’s about being on the margins, defining ourselves; it’s about gender-fuck and secrets, what’s beneath the belt and deep inside the heart; it’s about the night. Being queer is “grass roots” because we know that everyone of us, every body, every cunt, every heart and ass and dick is a world of pleasure waiting to be explored. Everyone of us is a world of infinite possibility.” If you’re queer, shout it. Be visible. Be proud. Do whatever you need to do to survive in primarily straight spaces like Middlebury. Alternative cultural production is a radical act of resistance–so throw parties. Make art. Make out. Wear glitter. Be outraged. An army of lovers cannot lose!

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