Connexions Resource Centre
Focus on Sexuality
Recent & Selected Articles
- This is a small sampling of articles related to education and children in the Connexions Online Library. For more articles, books, films, and other resources, check the Connexions Library Subject Index, especially under topics such as
Subject Index, especially under topics such as
and sexual freedom.
- A Win for Sex Workers - A Win for Safety, Equality, and Justice (December 20, 2013)
The Supreme Court of Canada has released a unanimous decision striking down all three prostitution laws, paving the way for more safety, justice and equality for sex workers in Canada.
- Secret Sexual Fantasies (October 8, 2013)
Your fantasies are always with you, playing hide-and-seek with your perceived realities, whispering wild ideas into your inner ear, showing movies in your mind, stirring your passions mysteriously, yet so powerfully. If you are imprisoned in any wayby your work, your family, your education, your religion, your governmentyour fantasies become your freedom. Sometimes your ability to fantasize is the only freedom you have.
- Whats the Sexual Health of the Nation? (June 21, 2013)
What happens to pleasure during a period of social crisis? Sex may be the best way to determine the true pulse of the nation
- Primitive Heterosexuality (April 12, 2013)
- Connexions Archive Case Statement (September 24, 2011)
Working together to secure a future for the past
- Toward A Queer Marxism? (March 1, 2011)
Scholarly approaches to sexuality since the 1980s have become increasingly divorced from practical sexual politics, and both have largely given up on earlier attempts to engage with Marxism. Now this may be changing. A stimulating new book by Kevin Floyd maintains that people in queer studies are paying more attention to Marxisms explanatory power. From the activist side, Sherry Wolf of the International Socialist Organization (ISO) has made an impressive effort to sum up LGBT (lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender) theory and practice from a Marxist perspective.
- Lupercalian Valentine's Day (February 11, 2011)
The tradition of honoring all-inclusive, natural LUST around February 14 pre-dates classical times when Ancient Romans celebrated the Lupercalia, an archaic festival of the now obscure old shepherd god Lupercus (or perhaps Faunus, the Roman Pan), and a celebration of communal sexuality, purification, fertility, the rush of hormones, the howl of the wolf, the crack of the whip and the coming of Spring.
- Hot Wet Holiday Sex (December 17, 2010)
Whatever your preferences, do go on some kind of holiday sex adventure. Try not to hurt anyone, including yourself, and whatever your pleasure, enjoy it and infuse it with a sense of *sacred* solstice power, a promise to resist the deadly status quo of depression, perma-war and power-grabs, and a passionate commitment to love.
- Our Promiscuous Prehistory (August 19, 2010)
Most otherwise topnotch evolutionary psychologists, primatologists and anthropologists come up with flip, vague or convoluted ways to explain away unpopular evidence. They seem to be trying to squeeze the square peg of monogamy into the round hole of humanity. Ryan and Jethá have chosen a more well-rounded term to characterize the essence of human sexuality as practiced by our prehistoric progenitors: promiscuity.
- The New Sexual Radicalism (May 1, 2010)
What are the social origins of queer? Does this current have a vision # whether implicit or explicit # of sexual liberation, and if so, what is it? What is its relationship to such emancipatory projects as feminism, antiracism, global justice and socialism?
- The New Sexual Radicalism (May 1, 2010)
From its beginning in the 1990s in the United States, a queer activist current has gradually spread to other countries, including in recent years in Western Europe. In decades when the prevailing trend in LGBT movements has been to orient to legal reforms by parliamentary means, queer activism has constituted a third wave of sexual radicalism, emphasizing visibility, difference, direct action, refusal to assimilate to the dominant culture, and the fluidity and diversity of sexual desire.
- Globalizing the Culture Wars (April 2, 2010)
Uganda, like many countries in Africa and around the world, adheres to long-standing heterosexual and patriarchal traditions as to what is acceptable sexual behavior. In the West, such traditions are shared by a dwindling minority. The bourgeois capitalist marketplace has reconfigured that which is morally acceptable. Sexual practices among adults are areas of personal erotic experience, protected private activities.
- Connexions Archive seeks a new home (November 18, 2009)
The Connexions Archive, a Toronto-based library dedicated to preserving the history of grassroots movements for social change, needs a new home.
- No, Not All Bi Women Love Threesomes (October 1, 2009)
Being bisexual means that you are attracted to members of both sexes, even if you#re not sleeping with them. Here are some things bisexuality doesn#t mean.
- Porn can be good for you (2008)
While pornography can be dehumanising and exploitative, it can also be educative, liberating, empowering, fulfilling and immensely socially beneficial. It all depends on how it is made, who makes it, what it depicts and why it is being used.
- In Defence of Sex and Science: Review of Kinsey (2005)
A review of the film "Kinsey".
- US-UN Crusade Against 'Sex Trafficking' (2004)
Kidnapping, debt bondage, sexual assault, beatings - for any purpose - are horrible crimes. But there is a qualitative distinction between this kind of coercion and the fundamentally consensual act between a prostitute and her client to exchange money for sex.
- Further Dialogue on Pornography (March 1, 1997)
The Church and right-wing groups have intensified their war on the three horsemen of immorality: abortion, gays and pornography. In the struggle against this, we have emphasized the need to oppose censorship. We have also-if appropriate or necessary-defended pornography. a freer, richer, sexuality cannot evolve by somebody (experts, feminists, socialists) legislating what liberating sex is, while censoring what falls beyond the practices so defined.
- Beyond Gay Identity (1997)
Gay emancipation will destroy gay identity. This is a good thing, because gay identity sustains gay conformism.
- Pornography and the Sex Censors (July 1, 1996)
The pornography debacle has driven deep wedges among feminists, and has weakened the women's movement by alienating many women who cannot relate to a perceived ethos of anti-sexuality, gender antagonism, and victimhood. To the extent that it has convinced women to conceive of themselves as victims, to live in constant dread of male violence and aggression, rather than thinking of ourselves as the agents of our own liberation, it has been profoundly disempowering.
- Satan, the State and Anti-Sex Hysteria (1996)
A lengthy review of two books about the anti-sex witchhunts in the United States in the 1980s and 1990s.
- Are We Having Sex Now or What? (1992)
Questions you may never have thought to ask about sex.
- Yes Means No? (1992)
The anti-sex moralists say one thing but mean another.
- Anti-Porn is the Theory, Repression is the Practice (1989)
The campaign against pornography has been one of the most visible faces of feminism for more than a decade now. Few have wanted to know whether the 'clean up' they were promoting strengthened women's hand or the State's. Thus they have attracted supporters and allies among politicians from the New Right, which governs (among others) the US and the UK, from the old moralizing Left, and even from the trendy Left. Although this anti-porn lobby is not homogeneous, it is rare for any part of it to dissociate itself from the most powerful pro-censorship law-and-order identity.
- Prostitution Rights (1980)
Decriminalization takes prostitution from the jurisdiction of the criminal code. It means private sexual acts between consenting adults are placed outside the realm of criminal laws.
Selected Websites and Organizations
- This is a small sampling of organizations and websites concerned with education and children in the Connexions Directory. For more organizations and websites, check the Connexions Directory Subject Index, especially under topics such as
and sexual freedom.
- BiNet USA
BiNet USA collects and distributes information regarding Bisexuality; facilitates the development of Bisexual community and visibility; works for the equal rights and liberation of Bisexuals and all oppressed peoples; and to eradicate all forms of oppression inside and outside the Bisexual community.
- Bisexual Resource Center
Information, discussions, and resources for bi-sexuals.
- British Columbia Bisexual Network (BiNet BC)
An umbrella organization providing resources and networking for bi and bi-supportive people and groups in British Columbia.
- Connexions Library: Lesbians, Gays, Bi-sexuals Focus
Selected articles, books, websites and other resources on gays, lesbians, bisexuals.
- Greenery Press
Publishes books "for the sexually adventurous".
- Loving More
Organization and resource for people who who wish to move beyond traditional monogamy.
- QSM - Books, Magazines and Comics
Books, DVDs, magazines, and comics on SM, dominance & submission, erotic pain, and related fetishes.
Other Links & Resources
- Alternate Sources
A safe sex manual for SM Play. The authors, all experts in SM play, dispel the stereotypes and myths about sadomasochism with this introduction to a hitherto hidden world of human expression. Safe Edge is a pan-sexual book structured to answer the questions a novice might have as he or she begins to explore safer SM play, and those of experienced players as they try new ways to play. It provides an understanding of how SM play can be a positive, safe, and healthy expression of sexual fantasies.
International site for bi-sexuals.
Information about bi-sexuality and links to bi-sexual sites.
- The Black Rose
Black Rose is "a non-profit organization which provides a forum for the many different expressions of power in love and play. This can include dominance and submission, bondage & discipline, fetishism, cross-dressing, and so on."
An eclectic site for literate adults.
- Let it bi
French-language site for bi-sexuals.
- Polyamory Society
Promotes and supports the interest of individuals of multipartner relationships and families.
- Safer SM Education Project
- Sexuality Topic Index in Sources Directory of Experts
A subject guide to experts and spokespersons on topics related to sexuality in the Sources directory for the media.
- Society for Human Sexuality
Social and educational organization whose purpose is to promote understanding and appreciation for the many forms of adult intimate relationships and consensual sexual expression.
Books, Films and Periodicals
- This is a small sampling of books related to education and children in the
Connexions Online Library. For more books and other resources, check the Connexions Library
Subject Index, especially under topics such as
and sexual freedom.
- Art and Pornography
Author: Peckham, Morse
- The Civilized Couple's Guide to Extra-Marital Adventure
Author: Ellis, Albert
- The Ethical Slut
A guide to infinite sexual possibilities
Author: Easton, Dossie; Liszt, Catherine A.
A guide for anyone who dreams of having all the sex and love and friendship they want. Explores the skills and issues of a life beyond tradiational lifetime monogamy, from scheduling dates to handling jealousy, finding partners, resolving conflict, and raising children.
- Intimate Friendships
Author: Ramey, James
Examines various forms of intimate relationship, from monogamy, to monogamy with adultery, to polygyny, polyandry and group relationships.
- The No-Nonsense Guide to Sexual Diversity
Author: Baird, Vanesse
An examination of the ways in which tolerance and hostility have manifested themselves throughout history, and in current attitudes toward sexual diversity.
- Open Marriage
A New Life Style for Couples
Author: O'Neill, Nena & George
The authors propose open marriage as a way to help couples realize that there can be both relatedness and freedom in marriage, and that freedom, with the growth and responsibility it entails, can be the basis for intimacy and love.
- Satan's Silence
Ritual Abuse and the Making of a Modern American Witch Hunt
Author: Nathan, Debbie; Snedeker, Mike
About the wave of hysteria over alleged satanic abuse of children which hit the United States in the 1990s.
- Sex at Dawn
The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality
Author: Rayn, Christopher; Jetha, Cacilda
Ryan and Jethá contend that humans evolved in egalitarian groups that shared food, child care, and, often, sexual partners. Weaving together evidence from anthropology, archaeology, primatology, anatomy, and psychosexuality, the authors argue that monogamy is by no means part of human nature.
- Sex Scandals America
Politics and the Ritual of Public Shaming
Author: Rosen, David
A comprehensive history of sexual scandals in America from colonial times, including Pocahontas and the Puritans, to today which exposes the scandals of national political figures and celebrities and ties these scandals to the deeper changes in sexual culture. It assesses the role of political scandals as a form of public shaming and shows how, scandals have changed, evolving from a morality tale to an entertainment distraction.
Author: Reich, Wilhelm; (Baxandall, Lee, ed.)
Wilhelm Reich's writings from his Marxist period, outlining his thoughts about sexual and political liberation.
- Sexual Minorities Out South Sexual minorities in the Majority World
New Internationalist October 2000
Why and how sexual minirities are persecuted throughout the South. As well as religion, minorities are a threat to the nuclear family (the most manageable social unit) and a convenient scapegoat. Articles on Africa, India, Muslim countries and the spread of HIV.
- Sexuality and Socialism
History, Politics, and Theory of LGBT Liberation
Author: Wolf, Sherry
An accessible analysis of many of the most challenging questions for those concerned with full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. Essays on the roots of LGBT oppression, the construction of sexual and gender identities, the history of the gay movement, and how to unite the oppressed and exploited to win sexual liberation for all. Sherry Wolf analyzes different theories about oppression including those of Marxism, postmodernism, identity politics, and queer theory and challenges myths about genes, gender, and sexuality.
- Sexually Speaking: Collected Sex Writings
Author: Vidal, Gore
Learning from our History
Resources for Activists
The Connexions Calendar - An event calendar for activists.
Media Names & Numbers - A comprehensive directory of Canada's print and broadcast media. (CX5857).
Sources - A directory that enables journalists to find spokespersons of organizations. Organizations that list themselves in Sources signficantly increase their odds of getting called by reporters when they are doing a story of their issues..
Donate or Volunteer
Selected Resources by