THE PILLOW BLOG

 

Sex /vs./&/?/ Violence. Attempt at a conceptual delimitation on the basis of demarcation
Beata Absalon Beata Absalon

Sex /vs./&/?/ Violence. Attempt at a conceptual delimitation on the basis of demarcation

"What is sex?" we asked in a discussion round during Xplore. Anna Natt and Matís invited us to break down this impossible question: "How do you use the word sex?", "How do you do sex?" and "How do you know you had sex?" One participant explained that he was attending this discussion group because he thought it would be a good idea to hear what "sex" means to the participants at a sex-positive event. Community = shared language. Makes sense. But after the first round, it becomes clear that "sex" means something different to everyone. And yet it would be too easy to stop at private language and pseudo-enlightened "Everyone sees it differently, everyone is right, no one is right. Namaste." Surely we can find good arguments for common denominators in order to agree on convincing conceptual limitations. The answers to the questions vary between references to certain...

Read more
Inspiring restraint - not only in Japanese. Cultural and historical links to bondage
Beata Absalon Beata Absalon

Inspiring restraint - not only in Japanese. Cultural and historical links to bondage

"[...] it matters what stories we tell to tell other stories with; it matters what knots knot knots, what thoughts think thoughts, what ties tie ties."
- Donna Haraway

Anyone who has tasted bondage blood and wants to learn more about the techniques, schools and origins of bondage practices beyond improvised tying with a bathrobe belt will sooner or later come across the Japanese arts of restriction Shibari or Kinbaku. The Hojojutsu practices of the samurai, which date back to the Japanese Middle Ages and were used to overpower opponents by tying them up with ropes, are then referred to straight away. We learn that shibari/kinbaku developed organically from everyday Japanese culture, which is based entirely on binding, as kimonos and gifts are also tied with a furoshiki. In his highly acclaimed book "The Beauty of Kinbaku", Master "K" never tires of emphasizing how closely shibari/kinbaku is linked to Japanese...

Read more

 

TAG CLOUD