Sessions

 

Opening Keynote Plenary

Momentum: Making Waves in Sexuality Feminism and Relationships

Moderator

Dr. Carol Queen

Panelists

Dr. Charlie Glickman
Dr. Logan Levkoff
Audacia Ray
Bill Taverner

A year after MOMENTUM 2011 and sexuality in America is still filled with the same mixed messages, baffling dichotomies, and misinformation.  Our keynote panelists, from Logan Levkoff and Bill Taverner, who try to change these attitudes within a more mainstream framework to Audacia Ray and Charlie Glickman, who do the same with some of the more controversial aspects of sexuality, all have made significant impact in their own spheres. These esteemed panelists, moderated by the legendary Carol Queen, will discuss the role of sexuality in today’s culture, how they make waves that help change perceptions about sex, feminism and relationships and what attendees can do to carry forward the momentum by generating their own conversations about sexuality.

Closing Keynote Plenary

Sex in America: Changing the Conversation Beyond Smut and Sanctimony

Panelists

Dr. Joycelyn Elders
Esther Perel
Lara Riscol

Adultery, abortion, homosexuality, transgender rights, teen sex, female promiscuity, virginity campaigns, sex ed, pornography, prostitution and family values all clog public debate, especially in an election year. Despite America’s hypersexualized consumer culture, the practice of policing and demonizing sexualities continues unabated, while an Ozzie and Harriet, Sandra Dee nostalgia binds us to sexual myths that harm us as individuals, as lovers, as a society. As today’s infotainment era churns out a “smut and sanctimony” narrative that divides our nation regardless of sexual lives lived, how do we change the conversation?

When we’re taught that sex is dirty but save it for the one we love, is it any surprise that so many couples become erotically alienated? How do the politics of sex enter the bedroom? Join three bold thinkers–known for challenging the sexual status quo–in a thoughtful and provocative conversation about sex, pleasure, desire, eroticism, infidelity and monogamy.

SESSIONS

Click Each Title to Learn More:

 

 

Addressing Intimate Violence in Our Communities
Dr. Ruth Neustifter

This workshop will address the unspoken by exploring the prevalence and experiences of sexual abuse, domestic violence, emotional abuse, stalking and other forms intimate violence across kink, poly and other communities. Awareness raising is an important component of addressing this topic, but it is only one part of the solution. The workshop will also propose strategies for prevention and intervention. Participants will be invited to share their own experiences and strategies through facilitated “silent conversation walls” as an interactive component of this workshop, offering the opportunity to begin a larger inter-community dialogue on this essential issue.

Ruth will ensure that at least one understanding mental health or domestic violence professional is in attendance to assist, should an attendee need help during the experience.

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Bearing Responsible Witness: Sex Worker Stories and Social Justice
Sabrina Morgan, Sarah Elspeth Patterson, Monica Shores

As new media continues to foster valuable dialogue and incorporate the voices of individuals who previously were silent, sex workers are poised to benefit tremendously — or suffer, if their issues and experiences are mishandled. This panel will explore where sex worker activism fits into the social justice movement at large, and how writing can be used to champion sex worker rights. Aspects touched upon will be the importance of framing, how to sensitively and effectively promote sex workers’ stories, the use of anonymity in sex worker writing, the ways in which allies can proactively reach out to sex workers (and vice versa) and methods to overcome issues of access and privilege. Other topics may include dealing with common misconceptions or derailing responses, and how to avoid tokenization. Sex workers and allies alike are welcome.

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Being the Change you Want to See: Helping Stem the Tide of Silence about Sexual Abuse in Sex-Positive Communities
Nadia West, Kitty Stryker, Heidi Anderson, Nancy Schwartzman & Jane Duvall

A panel discussion on how sexual abuse/assault/rape have been mishandled by our communities in the past, and how we can stop the silencing that goes on and create positive outcomes in the future. How can we create change online and in the physical world?

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Beyond Consent: The Radical Possibilities of Sexuality as an Antidote to Sexualization
Jaclyn Friedman

Through media manipulation, religious propaganda, government laws and institutions and more, we’re all systematically alienated from our own, authentic sexuality. This ongoing state of affairs can leave us living in confusion, denial, and fear, and makes us easily manipulated by those who want to sell us endless streams of crap and those who want to do violence to us. It alienates us from each other as well, encouraging us to police each others’ sexual expressions, rather than work together to fight back. In this interactive talk, we’ll explore ways to cut through the deafening cultural noise to build a stronger relationship with our authentic sexuality, and learn how strengthening this core relationship can be a powerful act of resistance — one of the most powerful ways we can all reverse the effects sexualization and sexual violence.

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Blogging 202: Take Your Site to the Next Level
Dangerous Lilly & Laura

Are you working with a small, free blog on Blogger or WordPress and are ready to take your site to the next level? Attend this hands-on training to learn how to use your site to make a bigger statement with a focus on better accessibility for readers and greater appeal to potential advertisers. Topics covered include:

  • Do’s and don’ts of design, layout and content
  • Dealing with paid advertising
  • Making the switch to a self-hosted platform
  • What to expect in terms of effort and cost
  • Maintaining professional and engaging interactions with peers, readers and advertisers

Join long-time veteran bloggers Lilly (dangerouslilly.com) and Laura (3design3.com) for a session that will give your site a boost.

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A Case for Show-N-Tell Sex Education: Why Visual Learners Today Are Screwed When It Comes To Sex, Dating, Porn and Relationships
Reid Mihalko, Megan Andelloux

For the first time in history, the college-aged men and women have more access to porn via the internet than ever before and have statistically been exposed mostly to federally funded, abstinence only sex education. For the visual learners out there, that means they’ve been learning the ins and outs of lovemaking from porn, and trying to learn how to be a better lover from watching porn is like trying to learn how to drive from watching The Fast and The Furious!

Join Show-N-Tell Sex Ed and Sex Edutainment educators Reid Mihalko and Megan Andelloux as they discuss how humor, explicit demonstrations, savvy facilitation, and role modeling can better help people learn about sex and intimacy and what you can do to incorporate these into your work across digital and “meat time” mediums.

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Can We Love God & Sex: Young Women, Media, and Making Room for Sexuality & Spirituality
Nicole Clark

Black and Latino women have been intimately connected to two of the most powerful forces in human reality–spirituality and sex. However, instead of discussing the relationship between these two forces, we usually are preoccupied with trying to create distance between them. Stereotyped images in the media of Black and Latino women often emphasize the extremes—from the Black “video vixen” and “hot” Latina, to the Bible-toting mother of the Black Church and the rosary-clutching Latina Catholic—increasing the denial of voices to be heard on how we view our sexuality and spirituality. Although women have made great strides in advocating for positive images of women and of sex and sexuality to include that, indeed, sex is not “dirty” or “sinful”, the mindset that “good girls don’t have sex” is still deeply rooted. How do young women incorporate their sexuality with spirituality, and how can the sexual and reproductive justice movement help them? This workshop will create stimulating dialogue to help participants develop strategies with coping with the complexity of race, sex and spirituality among young Black and Latino young women.

Within this session, participants will seek answers to the following:

  • How do images and messages from the media shape Black and Latino young women’s body image, and how does it translate into spirituality?
  • What are the differences among faiths when it comes to sexuality?
  • How do contradicting messages from the media and spiritual practices affect the ways young women live out their sexuality, and what can be done to reduce these contradictions?
  • Does religion/spirituality or culture have more of an impact on sexual decision making?
  • Do religious/spiritual beliefs influence what people do sexually, regardless of what their faith actually teaches?
  • Along with heterosexual young women, how do lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender women view their sexuality based on their faith?

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Check Yourself: Recognizing Privilege in a Sex Ed Context
Shanna Katz and Lisa Pittari

This workshop examines how we as individuals can construct more dynamic, innovative and social justice focused approaches to inclusion in sexuality education. We’ll be discussing how to turn theory into action, impacting our roles as educators committed to exploring our privileges and increasing awareness of systems of oppression.

Our society operates within multiple systems of oppression, in which agent groups benefit from the oppression of target groups. This is also prevalent in the field of sexuality education, as race, class, ability, gender, orientation and other identities can significantly impact access to sex education, contraception, reproductive healthcare and more. By using the experiential learning cycle (Kolb), participants will learn about agent and target groups, self identify as a member of an agent group, and work on creating action items to reduce oppression of the associated target group. Only once privilege is recognized and discussed can those in agent groups take the next step towards creating equal access to important services within sex education.

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Chewing the Cyberfat:  Body Weight, Size, and Sex Online
Hanne Blank, Chloe Angyal, Therese Shechter, Margitte Leah Kristjansson

In meatspace, it often seems that the only “meat” considered sexy is the leanest that can be found.  Fat bodies are often excluded from visible public discussions and displays of sexuality and desire unless they are used as a negative example or the butt of a joke.  Online, it’s a whole different story.  Fat sex culture, both as part of fat-acceptance culture generally and as its own very distinctive subculture, has grown exponentially since the Web came into the picture.  This session will look at the way new media has influenced and in many cases wholly enabled both grassroots and commercial fat sexuality including dating and hookup sites, sex education and information, erotica and pornography, self-representation and display of sexual fat bodies, and more.  What does the Internet do for fat sexuality that the offline world generally doesn’t, and how?  Can the community, visibility, and opportunity the Internet affords translate into our day-to-day offline lives, and how?  Join author Hanne Blank (Big Big Love: A Sex and Relationships Guide for People of Size (And Those Who Love Them), Straight: The Surprisingly Short History of Heterosexuality, Virgin: The Untouched History) for some thoughtful fondling of the Internet’s love handles.

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Citizen Science: Breaking Sex Science Out of the Ivory Tower
Ned Mayhem

Academic institutions, journals and large funding sources have complete control over the direction of scientific research. Controversial or unprofitable research is difficult to fund, including progressive studies of sexual topics. The institutions that control science are limiting our access to accurate information about sex and sexuality.

At the same time, online tools have allowed bloggers and independent news outlets to challenge our dependence on large media sources for our news. Ideas and information can now be publicized directly by private citizens.

The same online tools can be used to bring science out of the ivory tower. Private citizens need to play a role in the investigation of verifiable facts. An online citizen science community, with a community run peer review system, could challenge academia’s control over scientific investigation.

In no field is this more important than sex. Current research tends to focus on fertility and pathology, while basic facts about pleasure, behavior, and physiology are usually ignored. Citizen science can go beyond what our cultural norms deem to be acceptable research subjects. The PSIgasm project has created our own open source measurement devices – butt plugs with embedded sensors – to gather physiological data about sex in its natural habitat. We want to gather and publish data about the breadth of human sexual behavior, and start to fill in the gaps left by the ivory tower.

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The Dirty Business of Sex Toys
Metis Black, Greg DeLong, Rachel Venning, Dr. Carol Queen. Moderated by Lynn Comella

Sex toys, or “novelties,” are a billion dollar business. It’s an industry that thrives on creative (and not so creative) minds and ethical (and not so ethical) business practices. Get an insider’s look at a few company’s core values, and talk about material safety, creative rip offs, labor relations, financing and politics. Hear some stories on the challenges that have arisen and how very important you, the sex educators, bloggers and the consumers, are in moving and shaping up the industries ethics.

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Easy Does It: Using Pleasure and Joy to Build Strong Relationships
Leela Sinha

Pleasure and ease are central to the human experience. They are keyed to survival. It’s how we know what’s good for us. So why do we insist that good relationships take lots of hard work?

Maybe we’re trying too hard. Maybe the obvious solution is right in front of us.

In this workshop body and pleasure coach Leela Sinha will guide you through an exploration of the ways in which ease, grace, and pleasure can form the foundations of a strong relationship. Through simple exercises* and connection with your body you can shift your focus from hard work to sweet play, lower your stress, raise your joy, and yes, you can make it easy.

* chocolate will be involved

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Erotica 101
Rachel Kramer Bussel

Professional erotica author and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel, editor of over 40 anthologies, will take you through the ins and outs of modern erotic writing, from getting started, finding your voice, writing against type, erotic love and lust letters, to submitting your work keeping up with the thriving erotica market. You’ll learn how to incorporate everyday scenarios as well as outlandish fantasies into your writing, and make them fit for particular magazines and anthologies. Whether you’re writing to that special someone, penning longtime fantasies, or want to earn cash for your dirty words, this workshop, taught by the editor of over a dozen erotic anthologies, is for you. Paper and writing implements will be provided.

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Feminist Porn as Cultural Critique
Lynn Comella, Ph.D., Carol Queen, Ph.D., Sinnamon Love, Tina Horn

It’s not uncommon for sex positive feminists, including those who make, watch, study and write about pornography, to be accused of lacking a meaningful critique of the mainstream adult industry. This session discusses how we can reframe the very idea of what counts as “feminist critique” and “sex positive” by focusing on the ways in which cultural producers use media texts, sexual images and ethical production practices as modes of political intervention that challenge ideas about “business as usual” within the adult industry.

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Free (Sex) Advice on a Park Bench: A Not-So-New-Media Approach
Francisco Ramirez

In 2008, Francisco Ramirez took to the streets of NYC with a folding chair and a handwritten sign that read: “Free Advice on Relationships, Sex & Dating.” Nearly four years later, singles, couples, and families of ALL backgrounds continue lining up to ask him their most private, burning questions about sex.

Join award-winning sexual health scholar, Francisco Ramirez (FranciscoRamirez.org), as he recounts his favorite tales from four years of Free Advice in the Park including:

  • the impetus for the project
  • the common thread running through every question–it’s not what you might think!
  • avoiding near run-ins with the law
  • the one question he never saw coming

Francisco’s stories from the park are aimed at getting us to ponder the bigger picture: the limitations of new media and sex, and why (and how) we must go beyond tweeting and tumbling.

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How to Be an Ally to Sex Workers
Patricia West, Jenna Cohn, Pele Woods, Shannon Williams (Sex Workers Outreach Project Bay Area)

Join a dynamic panel of current and former sex workers in a conversation about the relationship between the sex worker rights movement and sex positive community. Gain an informed perspective to effectively advocate for the diverse population of people working in the sex industry. We invite you to stand with us in our shared efforts toward sexual liberation.

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How Not to Be a Douche on Sexy Sites
Cunning Minx

The great news is that we can haul all our alternative, sex-positive asses to an online community of our choosing and commence making like-minded friends. The bad news is that community sites can be rife with douchebaggery, both intentional and unintentional. Join Minx, poly dating diva who has seen the worst that FetLife, OKCupid and other community sites have to offer, as she shows how not to be a douchebag on kinky and poly dating and community sites.With a few basic tips based on extensive polling and feedback from some of the sites’ most respected (and hottest!) users, you’ll find out how not to be a douche AND how to get all the hot, kinky, poly or otherwise alternative ass (or connections, if you must) that you want!

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Ironies of the Anti-trafficking Movement: How Radical Feminism and End-demand Messaging Dis-empowers Women and Fosters Sexual Compulsion
Megan Morgenson & Serpent Libertine

In the fight to understand what drives the demand for sex trafficking, factions of the anti-trafficking movement have chosen an old stance that has been retooled for a new era: anti-sex. Instead of trying to truly understand the root causes behind how and why some people choose to exploit and subjugate others, some feminists and conservatives instead choose to use the current media attention around human trafficking to further long-held anti-sex messaging. We will take a look at historical perspectives of anti-sex/anti-porn campaigns within the feminist movement, and how radical feminists contribute to the breakdown of feminism as a whole when the feelings and perspectives of other women are ignored and dismissed as invalid. We will also discuss the gender bias of these arguments, and how end-demand policy fosters further sexual compulsion in our society through the shame and repression it seeks to force upon consenting adults. Further, we will discuss the class bias, and lack of understanding of those living at the margins of society, and how we force people to become “victims” before support services, or “rescues” are offered.

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Merging Identities: Avoid the Pink Glass Ceiling and Rockstar Your Goals
Abiola Abrams

After I wrote and directed the AVN Award-winning feminist erotica film “Afrodite Superstar” I was terrified that if I was labeled as a part of the world of sex I would never get “mainstream” work again. Then the recession hit and I lost my national advice column and TV show. I decided to go on a VH1 reality show as a social experiment– and a paycheck. This was simultaneously the smartest and most stupid thing I’ve ever done. Find out why!

In this presentation I’ll share:

  • How to build a multi-platform career and what to do with your platform once you have it
  • When what looks like an opportunity can actually be a misstep
  • How to say “so what” to your fears and do what you really want to do

With illustrations from her erotic films and an emphasis on the roles of feminism and race in identity, Abiola Abrams will help you take the world by the ovaries and rockstar your goals.

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The New Monogamy: Redefining Relationships -  Is Infidelity the New Monogamy?  
Tammy Nelson, PhD

We live in a culture where almost fifty percent of married people get divorced. Many of these marriages end as a result of infidelity, perhaps as high as one third. Does this mean that as a society in general we are not committed to monogamy?

It may be hard to continue to view infidelity as an out of the norm behavior in a country where almost 60% of men and over 45% of women will cheat at some point in their marriage.

Today, couples in modern marriages are negotiating their fidelity partly as a way to avoid the pain of betrayal. This new type of attachment includes management of their relationship through negotiation. This “out-fidelity” (versus infidelity) means that their affairs are out in the open. Couples can have sexual and emotional relationships with others as long as there is complete honesty and disclosure.

More and more couples are broadening their understanding of what commitment and monogamy means to them, without giving up the desire for a long-term, committed relationship with one person. This new monogamy is different than polyamory, not the same as open marriage, and could lead to a new development in society and sexual freedom altogether.

 

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The Pleasure Revolution: Feminst Subversives Then and Now
Lara Riscol, Rebecca Chalker

Feminist sexuality activism after 1968 created a dynamic, profound and far-reaching shift in sexual values and practices that recast the heteronormative, androcentric paradigm to include the sexual needs, interests, problems and preferences of women. Chalker coins this movement, “The Pleasure Revolution,” in which feminists critiqued Freud, wrote subversive novels and sex advice books, popularized masturbation, demanded respect for lesbians, opened their own sex shops, did their own sex surveys, rehabilitated the clitoris, challenged male-centered psychology, made “cunt art,” created their own porn, and in the process, reinvented sex for women and their partners! Chalker evaluates the work of these “pleasure activists,” in the 1970s and 80s, with respect to their legacy.

Riscol captures today’s historic Pleasure Revolution revived over recent years to combat politically potent mainstreamed Christian fundamentalism against female sexual autonomy and gender deviance. New media has not only enabled pleasure activists a reverberating voice in political and cultural debates mired in purity vs. perversion nostalgia, but also a more intersectional feminism to include men, sexual and gender queers, people of color, and immigration and sex workers rights activists. The revolution will be tweeted!

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The Publishing Revolution: How Writers, Editors and Publishers are Making New Media Work
Allison Moon, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Kitty Stryker, Kimmie David, Carol Queen

Print on Demand. EReaders. Espresso Book Printers. Crowdfunded novels. The publishing world is in the midst of a revolution. This panel will join experts in the field to discuss how they are adapting to the changing publishing climate, and how aspiring authors and booksellers can harness technology to find an audience and find success.

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Putting the Pleasure into Risk and Harm Reduction Sex Education!
Reid Mihalko, Heidi Anderson, Maggie Mayhem, Megan Andelloux

Risk and Harm Reduction refer to a wide range of public health policies and educational approaches designed to reduce harmful consequences associated with high risk activities like recreational drug use. Reduction models are amazingly useful for sex educators in designing comprehensive, pragmatic sex education; however, the language and discourse surrounding risk and harm reduction can often sound less than sexy.

How can we as the “sexiterati” make talking about harm reduction sound alluring, flirtatious and, dare we say, downright erotic?

Join panel moderator and professional sex geek Reid Mihalko of ReidAboutSex.com and his knowledgeable panelists for a fun and informative discussion on the basics of risk and harm reduction, and innovative ways we as sex-positive professionals can put the pleasure into harm reduction sex ed!

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Queer is a Verb
Charlie Glickman

What does it mean to queer something? In a world that’s full of sweeping statements and gender essentialism, what happens when we think of queering as an act that we can engage in, rather than an adjective or an identity? How does it shift our thinking about the Myth of the Normal, gender essentialism, and inflexible categories?

When we make queer a verb, it becomes a powerful tool for exploring, transcending, and transforming boundaries and definitions. It allows us to play with the rigid limits that are often imposed on sex and gender. And it can inspire us to create new ways to build the world around us. Charlie Glickman will discuss some of the ways that thinking of queer as something we do rather than something we are can offer new perspectives, and explore some tools for engaging in the practice of queering sex, gender, and sexual orientation.

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Ready, Sexy, Able: Building Collective Knowledge About Sex and Disability
Robin Mandell and Dr. Ruth Neustifter

“Sex and disability” has become a common point of curiosity, concern, and conversation in the sex positive community. What does it really mean to be disabled and sexual, or to understand disability in terms of sexuality, and vice versa? This workshop will explore the ways that the broad range of experiences commonly known as disabilities or illnesses can affect relationships, intimacy, and sexuality. Through exploring the differences, challenges, and triumphs of people whose sexuality is often not even acknowledged by mainstream society, we understand how similar we really are. WE can discover our sameness through exploring difference.

Part presentation, part collaboration, part consciousness-raising, part skills-building, this interactive presentation will look at how different disabilities can affect the specifics of daiting, intimacy, and sexuality for people with disabilities and those who love or work with them. The presenters will start the conversation with some key concepts from sex and disability research and some key toys and tools that can level the sex and intimacy playing field. They will lead the audience in an exploration of the practical problems and bonuses of being disabled and sexual. The human experience is too individual to slot into little boxes, but through this workshop we aim to build a collective knollege base for allies, professionals, lovers, and people with disabilities themselves.

This workshop is ideal for:

  • Sexuality educators who want to learn skills and gain knowledge to use with their clients and incorporate into their workshops.
  • People who want to understand how disability does or could impact their relationships.
  • People who identify as having a disability or illness and welcome a forum of like minds and allies with whom to share information.
  • People who are simply curious about the human experience.

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Safe/Ward: Combating Abuse in Altsex/BDSM Communities
Kitty Stryker and Maggie Mayhem

Safe/Ward is for for community members and leaders looking to understand and address sexual, physical, and emotional abuse within communities that practice altsex/BDSM. The internet, in theory, has given us more freedom to speak out against such abuse- and yet many are still reluctant to do so, or are told that they can only speak out if they maintain anonymity. We want to discuss why that might be, what we can do to counteract entitlement culture, and how to promote consent culture in sexually charged spaces. We want to explain how to be an effective first responder, what sort of resources to have available, and how to build a safer event from the lighting and music to how to host.

By actively taking a stand against abusive behaviors we can act to reduce the frequency of predatory actions.

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Self Expression: A Discussion on How to Be Yourself Online and Offline
Brian Ballard, Lisa Speer, Jazz Goldman

Self expression is a large topic that can be demonstrated by what relationship model you choose, your gender expression, who you’re attracted to, how you talk about sexuality or even what your politics are. What it comes down to is, what can be possible for our culture and ourselves by being a fully self expressed person both online and offline? This guided conversation will explore this and other questions designed to have you create a new awareness and be empowered to take action in media and in your personal life. Whether you’re in an open relationship, a sex educator or a free thinking person with aspects of yourself you are looking to explore, this workshop is for you.

Throughout our discussion we’ll use polyamory as an example to discuss the impact of being open and self expressed in the world and in social media. As one of a myriad non-mainstream relationships, polyamory has been getting increased media attention of late due to individuals’ increased visibility and willingness to share their relationships and sexual self expression on a public scale.

This is a highly participatory workshop – come ready to share, get inspired and be expressed!

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Selling Safer Sex to College Students.  Tips and Techniques of the Trade
Maria Falzone & Jill Grimaldi

Within American pop culture sex and college go together like condoms & lube, yet so many college students start their first years off with very little practical information about how to have happy, healthy, exciting sex! Despite the importance of understanding how to avoid harm while engaging in sex, and the joy of knowing how to engage in sex that is fully desired by everyone involved, American society often teachers us to feel uncomfortable talking and learning about sex in a meaningful way.

In this session Maria and Jill will present a variety of tools that can be used to break through American taboos and communicate lessons about safer sex in an enjoyable and accessible manner. They will focus on ways in which educators, both formal and informal, can use their personal experiences and communication styles to make lessons about safer sex comfortable and exciting for everyone involved! The pair will provide various activities (such as “condom relay races” and “healthy love catchphrase”) and tools (such as personal anecdotes, and humor, and factual information) for teaching safer sex lessons from communication and consent to how to put on a condom to anal sex.

This workshop is geared towards speaking to college-aged individuals, but the tools are universal enough to adapt to any age range.

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Senior Sex Out Loud
Joan Price

Joan Price has been writing, speaking, and blogging about senior sex since 2005. Formerly a health & fitness writer, she switched topics to senior sex when she wrote her spicy memoir, Better Than I Ever Expected: Straight Talk about Sex After Sixty, to celebrate the joys of older-age sexuality. Her blog, NakedAtOurAge.com, attracted a growing community of sex-positive (and sex-inquisitive) seniors who sent Joan their stories and questions. This led to her next book in 2011: Naked at Our Age: Talking Out Loud about Senior Sex, a compilation of 130 reader stories, advice from 45 experts, and Joan’s candid commentary. In this session, Joan talks frankly about the most interesting, surprising, and provocative questions and concerns that seniors raise about their sexuality, along with the special challenges and satisfactions of blogging about senior sex. You’ll learn how a couple of shock jocks tried to close down the “old lady sex blog” and how Joan’s commitment to raising important and unnerving topics led to her appearance on ABC News Nightline.

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Sex and Cybercrime: “I Know It When I See It”
Twanna Hines

In 1964, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart famously defined pornography by saying, “I know it when I see it.” Chances are you probably already knew that, but do you also know the current U.S. obscenity laws on the books regarding pornographic internet content? The law could affect you more than you think, and ignorance of the law does not excuse. Unwittingly sexting an online friend you’ve never met and didn’t know was a minor could tag you a child pornographer and land you on the sex offender registry. States are increasingly extending traditional (i.e. “in person”) harassment and stalking laws to cover cyberharassment, sextortion, cyberstalking, and cyberbullying. Attend this workshop to participate in an invigorating discussion about laws regulating sex and electronic forms of communication. This seminar also teaches those who have been victims of cybercrime how to report computer- and internet-related offenses.

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Sex and the Media: Who Wins?
Brian Gross

The relationship between Sex and the media is a love/hate one. The industries of sexuality see incredible response when spoken of in the media, but what’s the cost? The media loves to use sexuality to sell publications, bring ratings, and increase advertising revenue. However, they don’t necessarily paint the prettiest or most accurate picture.

We discuss the relationship, the do’s and don’ts, and how you you can come out ahead.

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Sex Positive Pundit: Best Practices for Talking Sex in the Media
Logan Levkoff, Ph.D.

I feel privileged that I get an opportunity to talk about sex on television. On all kinds of television. I have been a mainstream media pundit on Good Morning America and The Today Show; I have debated Glen Beck and another of the world’s all-time biggest homophobic blowhards, Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council, on Fox News. It’s no surprise that people might wonder, Why subject yourself to hostile environments? Why attempt to change the minds of people who aren’t interested in playing fairly? They are good questions, and can be directed at more “liberal” media, too. But being an advocate sometimes means stepping into the line of fire, especially when your subject is sexuality. This presentation is designed to arm advocates with the tools needed to become confident and media-savvy sex educators.

In this presentation, I will talk about:

  • when to say “yes” and when to say “no” when approached with an opportunity
  • how to maintain your cool in hostile environments
  • how to stick to your key messages even when there seems to be no opportunity to speak about them
  • what to ask producers before going on air
  • how to manage feedback (aka “the aftermath”) from your appearance

and much more….

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Sex Positivity and New Media
Anita Wagner

What exciting times we live in! With every day that passes there are more cultural signs that indicate that western culture in the U.S. is slowly shaking off the sex-negativity that has had us in its grip for a couple of centuries.

The most recent example is the repeal of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy against coming out in the U.S. military. Still, we’re far from done in achieving a sex-positive mainstream culture. Let’s talk together about the potential for all of us via new media and new relationship models to play a pivotal role in removing the burden of sex-negativity.

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Sexual Freedom and the Law
Diana Adams

Why is sexual pleasure treated as ‘dangerous’ by the religious right? How can we activists use political messaging to defend our rights to sexual freedom and privacy? Sexual civil rights attorney Diana Adams will educate you on the current state of the war on sexual pleasure, and facilitate a discussion about the best political and legal strategies to create positive messages about sexual freedom

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Sexuality and Social Media
Stef Woods, Dr. Jennifer Gunsaullus, Maggie Campbell, Carmen Rios

This workshop examines the interplay between sex, sexuality, and social media, from an experiential perspective. The growth of online communication and social networks has encouraged sexual expression, sex education, and activism. However, social media has also increased fear, misinformation, prejudice, and harassment with respect to individual and group sexuality. This workshop will guide participants through how social media has individually (personally and professionally) impacted their sexuality and relationships, and where or how they can be empowered to shape their social media experiences to meet their needs. Five key concepts of awareness, responsibility, education, identity, and community will be addressed.

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Spread Your Legs & Open Your Heart: How Living Your Sexuality Brings the World to Its Knees
Sarah Avant Stover

When you learn how to turn yourself on daily, from the inside out, you will discover that right in the center of your sexuality lives your greatest gifts. Being connected to your sexuality means being connected to your power, your spiritual insight, your creativity, and your radiant health.

When this happens you know where to source the courage and energy to create more beauty in the world, and you know how to show up in relationship in ways that can get you what you really want. You can turn your life into an exquisite expression of the deepest and most embodied version of you. And when things get scary, overwhelming, or lonely, you’ll have all the resources you need, inside, to get you through. When you feel juicy, sensual, alive, and deeply connected to your own soul—at any age–that’s when you’re truly powerful. It’s time to claim your vitality, your womanhood, and YOUR sexy!

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Staying True to Yourself
Rachel Venning

As sex writers, promoters and all around cheerleaders for positive sexuality how do we handle the ups and downs of our own sexual energy? The pressure to maintain a consistent voice for sex positivity does not always jibe with the times that the baby is crying, we just broke up with a lover and we’re having a hell of a period. Another issue is the projections of other folks who know us as “sex experts.” We may not be the sexual superstars potential mates and dates expect us to be. This will be a discussion, not a “presentation;” let’s support each other in finding ways to be authentic and to do the work we’ve set out to do.

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The Three P’s of Porn -Pleasure, Politics and Personhood
Megan Andelloux

Within the field of sexology, there is little research and professional discussion regarding pornography that does not quickly spiral down the staircase of name calling and individuals leaving (or not joining) professional organizations.  However, if professionals cannot speak about pornography and the personal choices made in it’s relationship to pleasure and health-how can we expect the general public to?

Join Megan Andelloux as she deconstructs tactics used by often, but not always well meaning anti-porn activists, showcases the different genera’s of porn available, demonstrates the lack of evidence based research regarding the national crisis of “sex addiction” and provides decision making tools for participants to utilize so that they can make their own personal definitions of what constitutes ethically-made porn. Resources for locating ethically made pornography, sex positive professional organizations and professionals will be provided at the end of this session.

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Why the Sex Positive Movement is Bad for Sex Workers’ Rights
Audacia Ray

If pleasure is good, how can it be bad for sex workers? In this session, we will examine the power and privileges that are embedded in the search for a pleasurable, sex positive life and the ways in which this pursuit of happiness can unintentionally have a negative impact on the sex workers’ rights movement. We will also discuss strategies for being an ally or sex worker activist who is grounded in doing both both pleasure-based and human rights activism.

 

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Workshopping Your Sexual Orientation
Avory Faucette

Sexual orientation is something many of us take for granted. We may go through a struggle to define ourselves early in life, or perhaps have a mid-life shift, but once it’s set, it’s set, and we’re used to defining it by two simple questions–what is my gender, and what genders am I attracted to?

This workshop will break your ideas of sexual orientation wide open. While respecting everyone’s claim to any chosen identity, we’ll be looking at other ways to define what we love, what we like, what turns us off, and what makes us hot. We’ll explore the options in a safe space and use new ways of looking at sex, gender, and orientation to make us better sexual communicators and increase our sexual self-awareness.

All genders, sexualities, and identities are welcome, and encouraged to participate!

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