2023 is about Pleasure Activism
Pleasure Activism defined (n.)
Including pleasure in seeking justice and hope for transformative changes while addressing systemic oppression
What is pleasure activism?
“Pleasure activism asserts that we all need and deserve pleasure and that our social structures must reflect this. In this moment, we must prioritize the pleasure of those more impacted by oppression.
Pleasure activists believe that by tapping into the potential goodness in each of us, we can generate justice and liberation, growing and healing abundance where we have been socialized to believe only scarcity exists.”
Reclaiming the right to pleasure
As a result of systems of oppression and colonization, marginalized communities have been denied or restricted the rights to freedom, joy, pleasure, and self-expression in so many ways. Such as:
the systemic hypersexualization of Black and Indigenous people
the desexualization of disabled folks
hyper surveillance of BIPOC engaging in pleasurable practices such as listening to music, gathering in parks, dancing
oppressive legislation against homosexuality and gender fluidity
legislation that keeps people in the margins (prevents financial security or upward mobility)
Reclaiming and asserting the right to avenues of freedom, self-expression, and joy is an important way that marginalized folks can engage in activism.
Pleasure activism can include things like:
Creative outlets like poetry, art, dance, and song to express trauma, injustice, and desire
Community circles and gatherings; laughing, dancing, singing with community
Attending concerts & conferences that centre joy for systemically neglected communities
Caring for yourself (meditating, resting, investing in healing intergenerational )
Reading/watching fiction by and about systemically neglected folk experiencing joy
Singing, dancing, and playing music at protests.
Building, maintaining and prioritizing intimate relationships that bring you joy and pleasure
Cooking for and caring for the people you love
Visioning for the future, we want to see
Pleasure activism includes everything we traditionally think of as activism (because it is essential work) but reimagines how to achieve those same goals with pleasure infused throughout.
Dear white people*
To be clear: pleasure activism isn't some white hippy 'peace and love' shit: this isn't about white people having fun doing activism, nor is it about making activism comfortable and easy for white people.
Pleasure Activism reminds systemically neglected folk that surviving under systems of oppression is a radical act in itself.
It's about reinserting pleasure, rest and healing to sustain themselves so they can continue fighting for collective liberation.
*white people and people with privilege
The necessity of social justice work
Social justice work towards our collective liberation is necessary in a society rife with systemic and deeply ingrained inequities. Any person who can see beyond their own privilege would agree with this.
And while social justice work might have become more mainstream in recent years, for however long systems of oppression have existed, social justice work has been occurring. Black people, Indigenous people, women, Trans folk, queer folk, and disabled folk have led this work.
So it is essential work, and yet, there is so much burnout experienced which makes this necessary work hard to sustain—so how can we make social justice work the most pleasurable human experience?
Everything, everywhere, all at once
There is no one way to do activism: lots of important justice work (protests, grassroots movements, blockades, fundraising, mutual aid) involves disruption, dismantling and (in the words of John Lewis) getting in good trouble.
A lot of this work is, understandably, rooted in anger and anguish. How can it not be when all systemically neglected people want is not to fight every day just to survive in a system that was intentionally not designed for them?
But to imagine the pursuit of fighting injustice as only possible through anguish and inevitable burnout ignores the rights systemically neglected communities have to joy, love and happiness, and the power of fueling the fight for justice with these.
“There is no way to repress pleasure and expect liberation, satisfaction, or joy.”
Learn with us
Read Adrienne Maree Brown's "Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good,"
Read Audre Lorde's "Use of the Erotic."
Look into somatics, the practice of self-actualization to help your body recover from traumatic events, bring out your authentic self, and recognize your true feelings within yourself. This involves creating internal safe spaces examining how you respond to trauma, and being honest with your feelings. Somatics work to remain grounded in the present, become secure in your emotions and show your sense of self in a way that matches who you are on the inside.
