On Monday, January 30th, I was part of a quiet, revolutionary act. While people drove on Central Ave, Route 66 in Nob Hill, Albuquerque, their drive was interrupted by signs of sex positivity. There were only five of us standing on the median, but our messages still led to smiles, laughs and hopefully feelings of well being among unexpected commuters.
I love the concept of culture jamming and random acts of kindness. I also love the idea of combining the two.
Culture jamming is often used to describe disrupting corporate messages to the masses in media like Adbusters. But it also means simply challenging socially accepted behavior and using a public forum to change the negative, mainstream messages people see and hear all around them. Random acts of kindness are a simple way to offer more kindness and generosity in the world, without apparently getting anything in return. One of my favorite stories is the Free Hugs campaign documented on youtube.
Sex negativity is everywhere.We have begun challenging it in creative, positive, and affirming ways. On Monday, we simply held up signs with sex positive, body positive messages.
What's the ABQ Sex positive Street team?
A direct action group created by and for the community of Albuquerque. Our goal through the year of 2012 is to do a bimonthly action aimed at responding to issues of sex negativity with messages of sex positivity
Why now?
Self Serve is celebrating five years of spreading the love in ABQ! We love what we do everyday in our store and out in the community. We believe that we are changing the culture around sexuality one conversation at a time. We can say with confidence that the space that we share at 3904 Central in Albuquerque is safe space to talk about sexuality, our bodies, our feelings, and anything else that comes up. Creating safe space around sexuality is our daily job and we love it.We wish the world was a safer space for sexuality.
It's not.
We are activists at heart and working to create empowering events that support the radical acceptance of self and desire.
In a world where custom paint colors and even designer water are easy to come by, the basic human need for a healthy sex life too often goes unspoken or dismissed. Sexuality is everywhere, yet access to good information, discussion and products for promoting healthy sexuality is limited.
We hope that by taking to the streets we will help create a more sex positive world. We want to start a community group that is created by and for our community, because our voices together are hard to ignore.
Learn More...
What is sex positivity?
"The sex-positive movement is an ideology which promotes and embraces open sexuality with few limits. Sex positivity is "an attitude towards human sexuality that regards all consensual sexual activities as fundamentally healthy and pleasurable, and encourages sexual pleasure and experimentation. The sex-positive movement is a social and philosophical movement that advocates these attitudes. The sex-positive movement advocates sex education and safer sex as part of its campaign."[1] The movement makes no moral distinctions among types of sexual activities, regarding these choices as matters of personal preference." http://en.wikipedia.org/
What is Direct Action?
Activists have used direct actions to spur significant social change, such as the occupation of the all-white lunch counters during the sixties, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the anti-Vietnam and Gulf War protests, and the American Indian Movement occupation of Wounded Knee. Many famous activists have participated in civil disobedience, including the Reverend Martin Luther King, Ghandi and Rosa Parks. These actions have brought attention to many injustices and led to the growth of progressive movements.
http://www.ibiblio.org/
Even if the media buries the story, activists see each other. For a few minutes or an hour you own a chunk of public space. You exist in a way you don't at home alone. Your voice and your life are amplified in unimaginable ways
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Join the ABQ Sex Positive Street Team!
Join on Facebook or sign up online...
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