Sunday, April 1, 2012

Workshop and talks in Oldenburg: Vacations in Slut Meadow and discussion on Polyamory

When: 20.4.2012, 18h
Where: tbd Oldenburg
Language: Deutsch (with the possibility of English translation)


Film screening of "vacatins in slut meadow" (Ferien in Schlampenau) followed by moderated discussion and Q&A on polyamoury, networking and polyamoury in queer contexts

Workshop and talks in Oldenburg: BDSM Q&A and BDSM in queer context

When: 21.4.2012, 15-17.30
Where: tbd Oldenburg
Language: Deutsch (with the possibility of English translation)






"Short is the pain, but eternal the joy"
A talk about BDSM, its general terms and aspects of BDSM in queer comunities.
(Ann Antidote antidote@imensis.net)


The visibilty of BDSM has increased in the last years, not surprisingly following the development of the internet which not only accelerated the access to information and discussion, but also promoted a change in the awarenes and perception, also from the mainstream society.

In the queer and feminist communities this was no exception, except that the discussion was not to be dissociated from the discussion on power, privilege, abuse and of course, consent, both at a personal and collective level.

BDSM is based on mutual consent, negotiation, respect of borders.. Without consent, negotiation, respect of borders, the many labels to put to it are not nice or fluffy, and can go from plainly unpleasant to criminal.

This talk will aproach BDSM in its aspect of consensual life style only, and will deal in the first place with some common terms, the imense diversity inside it, and basically try to answer the questions that arise. The scope is not to cover all aspects from BDSM, but to convey a general idea to those getting interested in it and eventually looking forward to learn more. We will look into BDSM from a queer (in the sense of safe space) point of view, which needs can be thematised, what makes it special, its chalenges and achievements.

This is not going to be a practical WS on special or generic BDSM practices, although information can be provided on where to get educational resources.

some topics might be sensitive or trigger, and although the discussion will be moderated and rules will be defined, we kindly ask that each participant actively looks after hir borders.

Workshop and talks in Oldenburg: Consent

(under construction)

When: 21.4.2012, 11-13.30
Where: tbd Oldenburg
Language: Deutsch (with the possibility of English translation)




Do you want to talk about consent? (yes/no)
A WS on defining consent, saying yes, no, and defining your borders.
(Ann Antidote antidote@imensis.net)

Consent is present in many of our decisions - consciously or not. And its role in feminism and in the queer movement is quite central, due to several independent reasons, of which the explicit objective to create safe spaces and eventually build a safe community for all is not the least important. The way we deal with consent has repercusions in the community we live and ultimately shape. A society where personal and collective needs and borders are respected, is desirable, but...

...can we honestly say, about ourselves, that we say “no” on every occasion we need to? Hmmm, maybe not. Saying “no” is important, actually it’s vital, but saying “no” can be very difficult. There are several mechanisms which can make “saying no” quite difficult, like fear of rejection or retaliation, peer pressure, or even an entangled bundle of possible cultural reasons linked to expressing disagreement.

In this WS we will make an introduction and pragmatic term definition before, we, as a group working together, dive - in a hands-on approach - into what means to define borders, to say no, to say yes, what hinders us, what feelings do we associate with it. In this WS we will not aim at exhausting the theme consent, but rather raise awareness to what comes with it, from a personal and colective point of view. This WS is intended as a begining and a furtheninig of the consent discussion and not about giving finished answers about it.

We will have one or two practical exercises, we will analyse and summarise them together, and we will evaluate the role of knowing one´s borders in the communication negotiation process and the.expressing disagreement as a space/ act of personal empowerment and in last instance, of community shaping!

the topic is sensitive and is susceptible to trigger. There will be special communications rules and the discussion will be driven from a generalist point of view. Nevertheless, because of different personal sentitivities and possible triggers, I would kindly ask the participants to actively look after their borders