Video interview by the Goethe-Institut China with Beata on “Pornography & Society”
What materials can help us get to the bottom of the elusive nature of sexuality? How are our bodies and their desires entangled in power dynamics—and how do we deal with that? Alone or with others? Publicly or privately? By emphasizing the beautiful or the difficult aspects? With playfulness or seriousness? Being sweet or being angry? Do we even have to decide—and why is it always so much about deciding “This is good and this is bad!” when it comes to sexuality? For the issue of the online magazine “yì” focusing on “Pornography and Society,” Silvan Hagenbrock, online editor at the Goethe-Institut China, spoke with Beata about her work and vision.
Watch the video here.
Sex /vs./&/?/ Violence. An Attempt at Conceptual Delimitation Through Distinction
“What is sex?” we asked during a discussion session at Xplore. Anna Natt and Matís invited us to break down this impossible question into more specific parts: “How do you use the word sex?”, “How do you have sex?”, and “How do you know you’ve had sex?” One participant explained that he was attending this discussion group because he thought it was a good idea to hear, at a sex-positive event, what “sex” actually means to the participants here. 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 ground to agree on convincing conceptual boundaries. The answers to the questions vary between references to specific…
Sexual moralism – Compulsory sex – Sex positivity – Sex negativity
I’d like to take a stand in defense of sex negativity. Why?
1) For all the wonderful things that the “sex-positive” label makes possible, it also comes with some weaknesses, stumbling blocks, pitfalls, and misunderstandings. These go hand in hand with an uncritical understanding of sex-positivity, when a one-sided diagnosis of the problem is made: that sex is primarily suppressed and tabooed.
2) I would like to propose a very specific understanding of sex-negativity that cannot be confused with either a church-conservative or politically right-wing hostility toward sex.
3) In general, I would like to move away from binary divisions and make it clear that sex negativity and sex positivity do not have to be two opposing forces, but rather could be two progressive strategies—each from opposite directions—pulling together to jointly create a huge…
A mixed bag, please! Definitional difficulties
Difficulties in understanding. When friends are socializing and recounting their wildest romantic escapades, and then someone casually adds: “…and then we had sex, too.” Yikes! And what about all the other things you did together? It’s actually a classic question: where does sexuality begin, and where does it end? Generally, the term refers exclusively to the act of penetration. This is particularly surprising when the people in the conversation are individuals who otherwise celebrate sexuality in all its diversity and engage in various experiments, techniques, games, and desires that go beyond the heteronormative framework…
INDEX
- March 2025
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January 2025
- Feb. 10, 2025 On the "tradition" of Tantra Massage (OR Eva says it best) Feb. 10, 2025
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September 2024
- Oct. 24, 2024 My First Time Oct. 24, 2024
- Oct. 21, 2024 I'm sorry about the sex Oct. 21, 2024
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July 2023
- Aug. 22, 2023 Devouring, Digestion, and Kokoreç Aug. 22, 2023
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June 2023
- July 3, 2023 "I do wonder: Why am I putting people through this?" July 3, 2023
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March 2023
- April 22, 2023 Workshop on Sexuality. Part I April 22, 2023
- April 21, 2023 Workshop on Sexuality. Part II April 21, 2023
- April 20, 2023 Workshop on Sexuality. Part III April 20, 2023
- April 19, 2023 Workshop on Sexuality. Part IV April 19, 2023
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July 2022
- Aug. 23, 2022 Tantric Massage: Decluttering, Recluttering & Beyond – A TWAPOS experience Aug. 23, 2022
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June 2022
- July 30, 2022 Salt With a Pinch of Tantra July 30, 2022
- July 21, 2022 On Being Unenthusiastic About Enthusiastic Consent – New Zine by Beate Absalon July 21, 2022
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December 2021
- Jan. 11, 2022 Calling a Sex-Positive Community, Group, or Event a “Family”—And Why It Is a Red Flag—New Zine by Beata Jan. 11, 2022
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November 2021
- Dec. 1, 2021 But I'm a Creep. A Lab Report. Dec. 1, 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
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March 2021
- April 10, 2021 Cookie Consent April 10, 2021
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December 2020
- Jan. 2, 2021 Self-help zine for the time AFTER an exciting workshop Jan. 2, 2021
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November 2020
- Dec. 31, 2020 Intimate Interviews Part II Dec. 31, 2020
- Dec. 22, 2020 Goethe-Institut China video interview with Beata on “Pornography & Society” Dec. 22, 2020
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October 2020
- Nov. 11, 2020 The Inner Playground. An audio journey by Tim Holland Nov. 11, 2020
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September 2020
- Oct. 29, 2020 Daniela Reina Téllez on the Power of Workshops and Circles Oct. 29, 2020
- Oct. 20, 2020 Sex /vs./&/?/ Violence. An Attempt at Conceptual Delimitation through Demarcation Oct. 20, 2020
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August 2020
- Sept. 18, 2020 Testimonial for our workshop “Trial & Eros” by Claire Sept. 18, 2020
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July 2020
- Aug. 6, 2020 “Sex & Food” – Beata in a podcast conversation with Nicole Siller Aug. 6, 2020
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May 2020
- June 23, 2020 Intimate Interviews Part I – The Connection Between Art and Desire and a Workshop Request Show June 23, 2020
- June 15, 2020 Lonely Surfaces – Sexual Enhancement on the Touchscreen June 15, 2020
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April 2020
- May 3, 2020 Sexual Moralism – Compulsory Sex – Sex Positivity – Sex Negativity May 3, 2020
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February 2020
- March 18, 2020 Inspiring Restraint – Not Just in Japanese. Cultural-Historical Connections to Bondage March 18, 2020
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January 2020
- Feb. 24, 2020 Clauses: A Self-Reflection Feb. 24, 2020
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December 2019
- Jan. 15, 2020 Beyond ‘sex-positive’ and ‘sex-negative’ Jan. 15, 2020
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October 2019
- Nov. 27, 2019 Deguiltification – An Experiential Essay by Chris Ifso Nov. 27, 2019
- Nov. 10, 2019 Forensic Sexualities. Some Thoughts on Shame Nov. 10, 2019
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August 2019
- Sept. 25, 2019 “Look What Marketing’s Done to My Body” – On the Pressure of (Not-So) Creative Self-Promotion Sept. 25, 2019
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June 2019
- July 9, 2019 An Eclectic Essay on (In)security (work in progress) July 9, 2019
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Mai 2019
- June 24, 2019 On Wellness and Exorcism: An Essay on What Makes a Session Valuable June 24, 2019
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March 2019
- April 28, 2019 The Ropes That Mean The World. Reflections on the EURIX – Rope Artist Intl. Performances Spring 2019 April 28, 2019
- April 6, 2019 “Always this gross sex.” On reading the reviews of Jan Bonny’s ‘Wintermärchen’ April 6, 2019
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February 2019
- March 26, 2019 A mixed bag, please! Definitional difficulties March 26, 2019
- March 19, 2019 Dealing with the Unconventional: Reflections After a Workshop March 19, 2019
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June 2018
- July 10, 2018 Some Thoughts on the Empowering Sensual Objectifications in Contact Improvisation July 10, 2018
TAG CLOUD
- An Orgy
- Anna Mense
- Type
- Audio
- BDSM
- Beata
- Beata
- Beate Absalon
- Bondage
- Brainstorming
- CI
- cluttering
- Consent
- Creepiness
- Critical Sexpositivity
- criticism
- Cultural Theory
- decluttering
- Definition
- Decriminalization
- Empowerment
- Enhancement
- Enthusiastic Consent
- Expectations
- Felix Ruckert
- Female Pleasure
- Feminism
- Shackles
- Arts & Culture
- Fluent
- FOMO
- freedom
- FRIES
- Goethe-Institut China
- I gotta fuck
- Borders
- Growing Old
- History
- Timber Market
- humor
- Independence
- Interview
- Intimacy
- Kinbaku
- consensus
- Criticism
- Cultural History
- Art
- Body
- Nouns of the body
- Lumen d'Arc
- Luhmen d'Arc Studio
- luhmendarc
- Desire
- Martha Nussbaum
- matis
- Matís d'Arc
- MyGiulia
- new age
- Not giving a damn
- Orgy
- Podcast
- Positivity Pressure
- Prude-shaming
- Queer Contact Improvisation
- Rape Play
- Rebecca
- Reflection
- Rules
- retreat
- Review
- Risk-Aware Space
- Rules
- Safe(r) Space
- Shame
- Self-help
- Session
- Sex
- Sex Technologies
- Anti-sex
- Sex-positive
- Sexuality
- Sexuality
- Shame
- Shibari
- Safety
- Solidarity
- Spain
- tantra
- tantric massage
- tantra with a pinch of salt
- Testimonial
- Touch & Play
- lack of enthusiasm
- Uncertainty
- Devour
- When
- Workshop
- Workshop on Sexuality
- zine

