“Awakening a pleasure politics that makes justice and liberation irresistible.” I resonated with author adrienne maree brown the first time I attended the Allied Media Conference out of Detroit. I had heard of their work but hadn’t had a chance to engage. There was a kinship I felt as a fellow military brat, writer, heaux for the subversive, and someone who had a worldly and intensely fast paced perspective at a young age. The book Pleasure Activism, The Politics of Feeling Good, is a manuscript serving liberation, reconciliation, and truth about our individual and collective relationship to pleasure and those who deny us.
Pleasure Activism is a speedy and juicy read through interviews, anecdotes, and interspersed with “Hot and Heavy Homework” assignments. The assignments take a genuine approach to get the reader in touch with an honest perspective of their own relationship with pleasure, politics, and interpersonal interactions. It had really helped me understand concepts of non-monogamy and anarchist style romance more thoroughly. I found insights to identify my own struggle with the idea of someone “owning” me in a patriarchal framework and surviving abuse. It was refreshing to read about other folks’ struggles in this framework and strategies to experiment with language and communication.
Most of all, Pleasure Activism, is a guided inquiry through sensations we experience through touch, substances, emotions, and healing trauma around shame and societal pressures. If you are looking to connect with your “why” and channel your pleasure power with purpose, this book will serve you well. This is a great one to keep around for inspiration too!