Pleasure Activism summary

One of the author’s primary inspirations for pleasure activism was Audre Lorde. A self-decribed Black lesbian warrior poet, Lorde wrote many influential poems and essays, including the 1978 piece, “Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power.”

The author first encountered this essay in college, and it was transformative in teaching her how erotic pleasure can help people let go of pain and repression. The erotic is far from the only expression of pleasure, but it can be a potent one – especially when it comes to feeling connected to, and feeling good about, your body. 

Are you familiar with your orgasmic yes? Well, you should be! Pleasure is about saying yes – and becoming comfortable with that can have far-reaching effects in your life.

When you get used to repressing your desires and withholding pleasure, you’re essentially growing accustomed to not getting what you want. Is this any way to live? 

Many of the pleasurable things in life – things like sex, drugs, music, and even sugar – have been politicized in one way or another. The author believes that drugs should, in general, be legalized; as it stands, their criminalization is mainly serving to ruin Black and Brown futures.

There’s a reason why the most marginalized and oppressed people in a society turn to drugs. Marijuana, in particular, is often used to trigger pleasure or relieve pain. But as we can see with the legalization of marijuana in places throughout the United States, this doesn’t make it any less of a political issue. Nowadays, a predominantly white group of entrepreneurs are getting rich selling something that people of color are still getting jailed for. Hopefully, this burgeoning industry will find more ways of being inclusive and giving back to these communities.

When you’re depressed, pleasure can be one of the most difficult things to connect with. After college, the author’s drug use wasn’t helping her feel better in the long run. She was just using substances to try and cope with her constant feelings of anxiety, fear, and paranoia – as well as lingering issues around abuse, sexual trauma, and fatphobia.

But things took a turn for the better when she found a therapist and began to identify and talk through some of these issues. Later, things really began to change in deeply positive ways when a friend introduced her to a course called “Somatics and Social Justice,” which was developed by an organization called Generative Somatics. 

Feeling good isn’t a waste of time; feeling good is freedom. Pleasure has the power to heal, easing us back from the edge of being overwhelmed by life, and letting us know we are liberated individuals. Pleasure also has an important social function – it can be used to develop stronger connections with our fellow human beings, and with the planet we’re a part of.

Right now, things aren’t looking great for the Earth. We need to connect with each other and become more aware of our relationship with nature. Pleasure activism has the potential to facilitate this and help us envision a better world. Once again, we can turn to the visionary work of Octavia E. Butler for inspiration.