-Shanna

(Thank you to Michael and Matt at  Fascinations for doing an awesome job with the video stuff-ish-ness)

This post, LTS Workshop Video, originally appeared on Shanna Katz M.Ed -- Sexuality Educator on March 9, 2010.

In other news, I’ll be at Brown University in Rhode Island for Sex Week on March 15th and 16th.  I’ll put up more info about times and locations when I get it.

April 1-4th, I’ll be in New York, and am looking for a place (or places) to present classes/workshops.  If you know of anything, I’d love to get in touch.

I’ll be doing a radio interview soon for Blowfish; I’ll be sure to post a link when their podcast goes live.

Tomorrow night, Sunday, March 7th, I’ll be doing a live internet radio show called Kink on Tap with fellow guest Sarah Sloane, who is one of the coolest sex educators/writers/consultants/awesome people out there.  Make sure you tune in, but if you miss it, it’ll be available in a few days.

This post, Spring Site News, originally appeared on Shanna Katz M.Ed -- Sexuality Educator on March 6, 2010.

This post, On Carnal Nation…, originally appeared on Shanna Katz M.Ed -- Sexuality Educator on March 4, 2010.

-Shanna

Hi everyone,

I’m editing a book and would love your help finding transgender/genderqueer people, as well as their parents and partners for a survey. The answers will appear as quotes in the book, similarly to Our Bodies, Ourselves.

Want to be part of a resource guide for transgender and other gender-variant people?

Trans Bodies, Trans Selves features a line-up of wonderful transgender and genderqueer authors, and they’re looking for your help to make the book amazing.

Take the survey and your thoughts could appear in the book!

Go to http://www.transbodies.com/Survey.html for surveys designed for:

-Transgender/genderqueer people

-Parents of gender-variant children

-Partners of transgender/genderqueer people

Please forward widely.

YOUR VOICE is greatly appreciated!

Laura Erickson-Schroth, MD, MA

Editor, Trans Bodies, Trans Selves

transbodies@gmail.com
http://transbodies.com

This post, Trans Bodies, Trans Selves Looking for Voices, originally appeared on Shanna Katz M.Ed -- Sexuality Educator on March 1, 2010.

Here’s what Audacia had to say:

We’re in need of people all over the United States who are willing to go to their local public library, do a few quick searches on some keywords and URLs we’ve identified as potentially blocked, and report whether or not they were able to access the information. The searches and completion of the survey take less than five minutes.

As you might know, in the US we are constitutionally granted freedom of information, but private corporations have no obligation to uphold this. So, companies that design web filtering software each come up with their own definition of what they consider “harmful content.” When public libraries use this software, they limit access to sexuality and health information – searches on words like “anal,” “transsexual,” and “abortion” may be blocked. More details and the survey to fill out is here:  http://www.infoandthelibrary.org/

This post, Info and the Library Research, originally appeared on Shanna Katz M.Ed -- Sexuality Educator on February 23, 2010.

This has always been something that bothers me, and it is not specific only to the kink community.  Marginalized groups and minorities have started to become bigots towards the “traditional” and the majority.

Example A: Lesbians/dykes who tell straight identified women that they “just haven’t come out yet” or who joke about converting them to be dykes.  Yes, lots of people haven’t come out yet, but not all straight women are lesbians. No matter how much we want it to be. And it is offensive to tell a person that their orientation isn’t valid; and that goes for straight, gay, bisexual, queer, asexual, etc.

Example B: People who are poly/non-monogamous telling other people that ALL of monogamy is a social contruct, and that everyone is really inately non-monogamous and that monogamous people are doing it wrong.  Just because one group has to struggle in being outside the norms of society (being non-monogamous), and it works perfectly for them does not mean that it is not ok to be the norm. Acceptance for ALL methods of relationships please.

Example C: Partially from Mollena, partially from my experience; kinky people/those in the BDSM community who use vanilla like a perjorative term.  “God, we were being all pervy and then this vanila person made us stop doing our thing” or “They SAY they’re vanilla, but they just don’t know what they’re missing.”  Some people are not kinky. AND THAT IS OK. They have fun, exciting, arousing, satisfying awesome sex with no kink. And I know people who are kinky as heck, and have really bad sex (according to them).  Ergo, fabulous sex is not based on how kinky you are.  So we do we pretend that there is something wrong with not being kinky?

Then even within communities, we create levels of how kinky we are. I’ve been told by some people that I’m extra super kinky because I like to do fire play and light people up.  I’ve been told by other people that I’m really not kinky because I don’t identify as a top/bottom, Mistress/submissive, and I choose not to live the lifestyle 24/7  or have power based relationships. So I’m either really kinky or really not kinky. How come I can’t *just* be kinky with out putting levels on it?

In understand that there is an inate need to make our wants/needs/identities/kinks the best, especially if we’ve been oppressed as a community. However, the answer it NOT to do it by telling others that they are wrong. That just perpetuates the binary and is stupid. The end.

This post, Vanilla is a yummy flavor too, originally appeared on Shanna Katz M.Ed -- Sexuality Educator on February 18, 2010.

I was really impressed that they had such a sex positive spin on it, and let me talk about there is more than just sex to sexuality, but also connection, communication, intimacy, etc.

So good job Fox for putting on such an all inclusive and fairly sex positive segment, and for not cutting me to sound like an idiot. Color me impressed!

Click here to see the short video spot.

This post, Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder Newspot on Fox, originally appeared on Shanna Katz M.Ed -- Sexuality Educator on February 16, 2010.