A while ago I wrote that even in today’s topsy-turvy world, Lo and I attempt to avoid politics and political positions in the things we publish. Yes, we’re political in our everyday lives. I mean, who isn’t? To be a-political is to say, “I don’t care if other people make decisions for me or what decisions they make.”
Deborah de Robertis
But here, in our little nook of the erotic blogosphere, we do our best just to tell a good, sexy story and keep you all out there engaged. It’s a safe space for us and hopefully for you from all the noise, hatred, and vitriol that surrounds us.
But then, one morning while listening to an interview with the creator of “The L Word,” Ilene Chaiken, I heard her say of the show that, “I think it’s revolutionary in America because we’re such a sex-averse culture. And to talk about sex, not just lesbian sex or LGBTQ sex, just to talk about sex is revolutionary.” That gave me pause and totally reframed this little endeavor of ours.
Mia Kirshner
Maybe she’s right. Maybe, just writing these lewd, crude, prurient, perverted, sexual, salacious, suggestive, and explicit stories is a political act.
I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of this before since, during the course of our career as sex enthusiasts, we’ve been banned from: PayPal, WordPress, Tumblr, MeWe, and most recently, Pinterest. After that last one, Lola turned to me and said, “Since when did being sexy become a crime?”
The L Word
I said, “Darling, you have looks that could kill. Your body is a dangerous weapon if in the wrong hands.”
We were kidding around, but really, she’s right and so is Chaiken. In our society, sex – consensual, adult, legal sex! – is treated as a contagion that must be contained. Beauty, especially the beauty of the unadorned human body, is hypocritically exalted in museums but excluded from life. It is sequestered away as if the halls of high culture were but a peepshow parade for the few, but not for the many.
Deborah de Robertis
Deborah de Robertis
Deborah de Robertis
A keen example of this is the performance art of Deborah de Robertis. In 2014 she entered the Musée d’Orsay, sat down in front of Gustave Courbet’s painting, “The Origin of the World,” hiked up her golden dress to her hips, spread her legs, and displayed her genitalia. This may seem like the bizarre behavior of an exhibitionist unless one is aware that Courbet’s painting is a beautiful oil painting of a woman’s naked torso, prominently displaying her cunt – the origin of the world. Like any great piece, her performance art could be interpreted in a variety of ways. The way I understand her work is as a statement about society. “Look here! You, you artists, aesthetes, philanthropists, critics, connoisseurs, cultural gate-keepers, and curious members of the museum-going public – look! Courbet says that this is the origin of the world. He’s right. This, the window of women through which you came and into which you cum; this is the origin and center of the world. Yet, here I am, proudly displaying mine right next to the framed work, and the latter imitation you prize and protect while the former flesh and blood you censor and persecute. You hypocrites! You despisers of the female form, the body, the earth. You cower in fear before the frothing flaps from which you emerged.”
I digress. All I am trying to say here is that we are proud of our body of work and proud of our fellow sex bloggers, sex workers, sex enthusiasts, and all of our readers and fans. People say the Sexual Revolution took place in the ’60’s. Well, by the looks of things, the Revolution is far from over. Pick up your penises, your dildos, your vibrators, your anal plugs, your strap-ons, and whatever other toys and tools you use and jack it, jill it, fuck it, fill it! Long live the Revolution!!! Kinksters of the world unite. You have nothing to lose but your clothes!
Deborah de Robertis in front of Lola Down as “Origin of the World”
