The Philosophy of Sex

Welcome to The Philosophy of Sex. Today we’re talking about consent. The idea of affirmative consent first attracted attention in the early 1990s. Since then, consent laws have been passed in a number of countries. Alongside legislation, women are often told to know what they want and know how to communicate this to their partners. While women asserting their pleasure sounds positive, it assumes communication guarantees safety and that a satisfying experience will follow. But might the pressure to give a fully formed and enthusiastic ‘yes’, be at odds with the ability to take risks and explore sexually? If we look at the dominant culture around sex, in recent years, two requirements have emerged for good sex: consent and self-knowledge. This seems like progress. It takes women at their word and defuses the potential for sexual violence. But does conceit of absolute clarity place the burden of good sexual interaction on women’s behaviour?In this episode, Caroline speaks with Katherine Angel to unpack the shortcomings of affirmative consent, Katherine is a writer and academic. She directs the MA in Creative and Critical Writing at Birkbeck University of London, where she teaches fiction, non-fiction, and critical work relating to sexuality, feminism, gender, and psychoanalysis. Katherine has a PhD in the history of psychiatry and sexuality from the University of Cambridge. She’s held multiple fellowships at academic institutions in Europe, the US and the UK, including Harvard and the University of London's Centre for the History of Emotions. Her research into 'female sexual dysfunction', American psychiatry,  sexology, and feminism has been published in journals including the History of the Human Sciences, Studies in Gender and Sexuality and Current Opinion in Psychiatry. From ‘No means No’ to #MeToo, Katherine shares her thoughts on consent and the complexities of female desire. A heads up that sexual violence, rape and assault are discussed during the episode, but no specific details are included. Resources:Check out Katherine’s work here.Connect with us:@becuming.meBecuming takes the frustration out of finding the perfect sex toy by sending you personalised recommendations. Check it out at www.becuming.me.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the face of it, the sex industry appears to be a sex-positive haven. Growing rapidly, it's become a highly competitive industry and an attractive investment opportunity for those with a buck or many to spare. However, with this comes the expected; individuals willing to put profit over honesty and integrity. Despite appearances, the sex toy industry in Australia and elsewhere is hugely male-dominated. Greenwashing is quickly becoming part of the industry's rhetoric. Social ideas, like feminism, are being co-opted for marketing purposes by companies who appear to be doing less than walking the talk.Layer on top of this the unregulated nature of the industry, and you have a recipe for attracting cowboys by the dozen. Selling sex toys is about more than selling pink dildos, sexual wellness and female empowerment. The idea of this being all it takes feels pretty outdated. No one is better placed to comment on these issues than Alisha Williams, the founder of Rosewell. Rosewell is a sex care brand based in Brisbane, Australia. Alisha started the company roughly three years ago, and the brand has become hugely popular. I'm constantly impressed by the level of knowledge and care that go into Rosewell products, particularly in their manufacturing and supply chain processes. In this episode, Alisha and I share our experiences working in the sex industry in Australia. We discuss what it's like working as two young women in a male-dominated industry, the social implications of branding and the current ethical plights of the sex industry.If you'd like to learn more about these issues, I'd recommend listening to our episode on sex toys from season one. Resources:Rosewell products: RosewellFollow Rosewell on Instagram Connect with us:@becuming.meBecuming takes the frustration out of finding the perfect sex toy by sending you personalised recommendations. Check it out at www.becuming.me.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Euphemia Russell, an embodiment and somatics coach and pleasure educator and author of Slow Pleasure, explores how time, pace, and bodily awareness shape a broader spectrum of pleasure. They discuss slowing down, felt time versus clock time, rituals to savor moments, non-sexual pleasures, and imagining collective, embodied joy. Short practices and cultural context feature throughout.

It’s likely that at some point, you’ve found your morals have felt incongruent with a sexual scenario you’ve found yourself in. While this can feel pretty blindsiding, what would it mean to stop and think about it? Damon Young is an award-winning philosopher and author of “On Getting Off”, a book about sex and philosophy. In the book, Damon urges us to grapple with the complexity of sex in an honest and self-deprecating way. In this episode, Damon and Caroline discuss what it means to think about sex, the importance of humour in the bedroom, and embracing the ethical dilemmas sex gives rise to. Find “On Getting Off” and Damon’s other works here.Recommendations from Damon:Ocean Vuong, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous Irving Singer, SexDavid Halperin, ‘What is Sex For?’, Critical Inquiry 43 (2016).Anna Clark, Desire: A History of Human SexualityArthur Schopenhauer, ‘Metaphysics of Sexual Love’, in The World as Will and Representation, Volume 2Audre Lorde, ‘The Uses of the Erotic’ in Sister Outsider Carmen Maria Machado, Her Body and Other Parties.Jordy Rosenberg, Confessions of the Fox.Milan Kundera, ‘The Hitchhiking Game’ inLaughable Loves. James Baldwin, Another Country Sharon Olds, The Connisuers of SlugsConnect with us:@becuming.me Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gloryholes have long been associated with gay culture. As a great way to maintain anonymity in contexts where gay sex is illegal or socially unacceptable, they come from a history of persecution. However, they're certainly not a new thing. There is evidence Gloryholes existed in ancient Greece, Egypt, and Japan, before being exported to Europe in the 1700s. Given their history of concealment, it shouldn't come as any surprise that Vatican city has one of the largest numbers of glory holes per capita. Gloryholes are a fantastic example of how social ideas influence human sexual behaviour. Emil is a Filipino-Australian artist, sex worker and HIV + health educator who, in 2021, began operating a glory hole as part of their art practice. Emil's work sits delicately at the intersection of race, gender, sexuality, art, and unashamedly being a slut. Their work is subversive, clever and sexy.In this episode, Emil and Caroline discuss navigating gender and power dynamics in sex, being a generous lover, and how engaging in alternative sexual practices can support sexual healing. You can find Emil on Instagram at @babydilfx. You won't regret following them. Connect with us:@becuming.meBecuming takes the frustration out of finding the perfect sex toy by sending you personalised recommendations. Check it out at www.becuming.me.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to The Philosophy of Sex, long-play. This week, we’re speaking with Janet Hardy from the sixth episode of season 1 ‘Hardcore tenderness. Reinterpreting what we think about kink and BDSM.’ Janet W. Hardy is the author or co-author of thirteen books about alternative sexuality, including the groundbreaking bestseller The Ethical Slut. She is also the Founder of the Greenery Press, a publishing house based in California, specialises in books on BDSM and polyamory, with over 50 titles in print.Janet is an experienced BDSM practitioner and she’s been educating people from across the globe on how to engage in BDSM and polyamory for over 20 years. Much of Janet’s work has contributed hugely to establishing a gold standard in behaviour within BDSM and polyamorous communities. And while her work focuses on BDSM and kink, I believe her advice is applicable to anyone who wants to have fulfilling sexual relationships. In this episode, Janet and I discuss identifying kinks, ways to explore them and how to communicate these to a partner. We also unpack what society often misunderstands about kink and its hidden powers. Janet is a wealth of knowledge and speaks with the level of frankness essential for great sexual communication. I can’t recommend Janet, and her co-author Doisse Easton’s work more. Please enjoy our full interview. You can read more about Janet and her work here: http://www.dossieeaston.com/books.htmlhttps://slutandsons.com/Connect with us:@becuming.meBecuming takes the frustration out of finding the perfect sex toy by sending you personalised recommendations. Check it out at www.becuming.me.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to The Philosophy of Sex, long-play, I’m your host Caroline Moreau-Hammond. You might remember the name Lisa Wade from our first episode of season 1 ‘Are we doing it right?Putting sex into perspective’. Professor and Sociologist, Lisa Wade is an associate professor at  Tulane University in New Orleans where she teaches gender and sexuality studies. Before receiving her PHD in sociology at The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Lisa earned an MA in human sexuality from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts and Philosophy from The University of California, Santa Barbara.Her recent book American Hookup is an open minded, compassionate and unflinching account on the new culture of sex on American University campuses. Resources:Lisa Wade - American Hookup: The New Culture of Sex on CampusConnect with us:@becuming.meBecuming takes the frustration out of finding the perfect sex toy by sending you personalised recommendations. Check it out at www.becuming.me.Credits:Creator & host: Caroline Moreau-HammondEditor & original music: Zoltan Fecso Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to The Philosophy of Sex, long-play, I’m your host Caroline Moreau-Hammond. You might remember the name Jeanne Proust from our third episode of season 1 ‘Why is sex still taboo?’. Professor and Philosopher, Jeanne Proust (no relation to Marcel Proust) is a post-doctoral teaching fellow at Fordham University and an adjunct professor at New York University and Pace University in the United States. She has studied Philosophy and Visual Arts in Bordeaux, Berlin, and Paris and her PhD dissertation at the Panthéon-Sorbonne focused on the pathologies of willpower, both in philosophical and psychological perspectives, but her interests are wide including, Ethics, Philosophy of Technologies, Bioethics, Feminist theory, and Aesthetics. Jeanne is an advocate for a widening of philosophical education beyond academic frontiers; she regularly gives public talks in philosophy and produces her own podcast, "Can You Phil It?” which aims to make philosophical texts and ideas accessible to a wider audience.In this episode, Jeanne and I examine taboo, the important role transgression plays in desire, the trivialisation of sexuality and the need for more nuanced conversations about taboo and sexuality. Because we weren’t able to include everything in Episode 1 of The Philosophy of Sex, please enjoy our full interview. Resources:Can You Phil It podcast: Apple & Spotify  Recommended reading by Jeanne: Virginie Despentes, King Kong Theory, 2006.Michael Sandel, What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets, 2012. Andrea Dworkin, Pornography: Men Possessing Women, 1981. Catherine Millet, The Sexual Life of Catherine M., 2001Ann Cahill, Overcoming objectification, A Carnal Ethics, 2011. Connect with us:@becuming.meBecuming takes the frustration out of finding the perfect sex toy by sending you personalised recommendations. Check it out at www.becuming.me. Credits:Creator & host: Caroline Moreau-HammondEditor & original music: Zoltan Fecso Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You might remember Euphemia Russell from our first episode ‘Are we doing it right? Putting sex into perspective’.  This is the full-length uncut version of our interview with Euphemia.Euphemia Russell is a pleasure coach, facilitator and author.  In this conversation we examine wants and desires, social conditioning, inherited gender binaries, slow pleasure, and the unsexy reality of sex.Visit Euphemia’s website https://www.iwishyouknew.net/ for courses, coaching, writings and the imminent announcement of their book. Follow Euphemia on Instagram @euphemia.russellConnect with us: @becumingmehttps://www.becuming.me/Credits:Creator & host: Caroline Moreau-HammondEditor & original music: Zoltan Fecso Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Would you consider yourself kinky or maybe more vanilla? Have you ever wanted to explore the world of BDSM, but felt a bit lost and intimidated?In this episode, we explore the softer side of kink. By deconstructing some of the many misunderstandings surrounding kink and BDSM, we begin to see kink in a whole new light. Along with Professional Dominatrix and Gestalt Therapist Emma Steel, and author Janet Hardy, we traverse the nuances of power dynamics, communication, and safety.Sex educator and disability advocate, Caz Killjoy, shows us the enormously vast ways kink can be experienced, sharing their experience of using kink to manage chronic pain and unpack harmful conditioning. We also discuss some of the conundrums that arise when the activities of underground communities become more mainstream, and the importance of education in preventing injuries and reducing harm. Resources:Caz Killjoy has a bounty of writings on her website: https://connectwithcaz.com/Caz co-founded The Disability and Sexuality Access Network: https://www.dasanetwork.org/Emma Steel's website: https://en.lady-emma-steel.com/The dungeon Emma co-owns - LUX: http://studioluxberlin.de/en/studio-lux.htmlRead this interview with Janet Hardy and find her books here: https://www.bookdepository.com/author/Janet-W-HardyConnect with us: @becumingmehttps://www.becuming.me/Becuming takes the frustration out of finding the perfect sex toy by sending you personalised recommendations. Check it out at www.becuming.meCredits:Producer & host: Caroline Moreau-HammondProducer, editor & original music: Zoltan Fecso Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.