Reclaiming Feminine Power
Rachel Gombos, MSW, LSW | September 20 | 4:00-5:00 PM | Room 2591
Topic: Conceptual | Knowledge Level: Beginner, Intermediate
The process in which religions use powerful sex drives to infect society with ideas that benefit the ideologies and influence human sex and sexuality continue to influence society today. Historically, Judeo-Christian religion has looked at female sexuality, on its own, as uncouth and something that deserved to be punished both by the church and publicly, achieved by limiting human, and in particular, female pleasure through shame and control. Pro sex feminism, one of two ideologies founded in 1980s feminist movements, makes the case that consensual sex expressions should be protected, no matter the form it takes. Today, feminists struggle with the implied patriarchal imprisonment of porn, sex work and the sexual representation of women in mass marketed media. Women have the choice to work in the sex industry as strippers, porn performers, etc. and their practice is akin to a lineage of healers tapping into taboo female power. Regardless of factors that have lead each individual woman to participate in this industry, sex workers are persecuted by both the patriarchal authorities and by feminist narratives that integrate sex work with sex trafficking. Just as women who defied the sexual status quo were once persecuted as witches, sex workers are persecuted for using their bodies to survive and even thrive in a culture that still has not granted complete bodily autonomy to women (Sollée, 2017).
Presentation Objectives:
· Deplete the negative stigma of the sex industry.
· Reframe the narrative around sex work.
· Analyze the connection between slut shaming and female persecution through the guise of religion.
· Describe the in-depth factors of what sex work means through the lenses of different races, sexual orientation.
· Introduce the idea of touch therapy, cuddle therapy, etc. in reference to sex work.