Pleasure Politics: Excerpts From The AOI Manifesto
Could pleasure politics include aspects of us that sometimes feel left out in sex positivity?
Written by Paromita Vohra & Rama Srinivasan Illustrated by Shikha Sreenivas
Nov 10, 2023
This card features a number of small illustrations arranged along the border. One illustration features a person dreaming about being kissed on the hand by their romantic partner. Another features a person in a dancing pose with their arms outstretched. There is a small snail next to them. Another illustration features a couple holding hands. The next illustration features a person watering a plant. There are some mushrooms near them. Other illustrations include that of a massager, a couple of packets of condoms, a peach fruit that is squirting juice, and the word sex written on a banner.
Text on the card reads:
Could pleasure politics embrace aspects of us that sometimes feel left out in sex positivity? An exploration
On the top half of the card there are four speech bubbles, drawn to make it seem as if they are shouting. “Orgasms for all,” is written inside the first one. “Sex is good,” is written inside the second one. “Everyone is sexual,” is written inside the third one. “Lot’s of safe sex,” is written on the fourth one. On the bottom of the card, two human figures are illustrated. One of them is standing with a disapproving look on their face, and their finger pointed, as if lecturing someone. The other figure has their face between their hands and a shocked expression on their face.
Text on the card reads:
A starting point for Sex positivity: to combat the idea of sex as a cultural taboo and an area of silence. But it can sometime translate into the opposite -
This ends up limiting the idea of pleasure to sex. Limits the idea of pleasure in sex to orgasms. Limiting the definition of these experiences. And then...
How to think about sexual violence, without stigmatizing sex, or include asexuality in this discourse? Also...
Does this create the old binary of good culture vs bad culture in a new bottle? Where...
This card features a number of small illustrations arranged along the border. The first features a chilli biting its lip and winking. The second features an illustration of Shahrukh Khan on the TV, in his signature pose with his arms outstretched. Someone in front of the TV is holding a heart out to him. The next features a person with a flower in their hand, singing, “Ab tum hi ho, meri aashiqui ab tum hi ho.” There is an illustration of a person with their face between their hands and a shocked expression on their face. A still of Kirron Kher as a scandalized mother is also featured. There is an illustration of a book, the title of which reads, “What is Indian Culture?” Other illustrations include that of a massager, a couple of packets of condoms, a pair of lips, and the word sex written on a banner.
Text on the card reads:
PLEASURE POLITICS recognises that in every culture, eroticism can (and does exist) & so does taboo.
Rather than present one culture as 'better' aka superior to another we can build on the pleasurable elements in a culture while countering its restrictions and taboos, without imposing a singular idea of pleasure (or culture)
So, maybe, PLEASURE POLITICS is expansive (AND decolonial) (AND intersectional) while SEX POSITIVITY risks being normative (kunjam kunjam colonial)
The card features multiple images. One is of a bowl of food with hearts sprinkled on it. The other is of a heart shape with the colours of the asexual flag within. Other images include a scroll with a feather pen, a pair of clasped hands with friendship bracelets on them, and a pair of bra and panties.
Text on the card reads:
Sex Positivity is a part of Pleasure Positivity
We bring our complex selves & social influences into sex. Rather than deciding what is pleasure for others, pleasure-positive politics lets people define their own pleasures.
Food is my love-language
I'm very romantic and asexual.
Poetry arouses me
Friendship is very important to my emotional security
Hook ups give me confidence
The card features two illustrations of a person standing in a garden-like space. In which there are mushrooms, a snail, some flowers etc. In one illustration the person is standing with their eyes closed and their hands on their chest, indicating that they are sensing something within themselves. In the other image, one of their eyes is open, and there are connections leading outward from their chest to other people, indicating that they are sensing their external environment and connections.
Text on the card reads:
PLEASURE POLITICS
is a process that helps us unpack our self-doubt...
...our reliance on external judgements and black & white concepts
...Learn to trust the knowledge of our senses
...and build a community that listens to this knowledge with curiosity, not judgement!
