Tag: sexuality

Sexuality Beyond Consent: Risk, Race, Traumatophilia by Avgi Saketopoulou Review

On By authoranthonyavinablogIn reviewsLeave a comment

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

Author and Dr. Avgi Saketopoulou give an in-depth, thought-provoking look into the complicated world of sexuality, consent, and trauma in the book “Sexuality Beyond Consent: Risk, Race, Traumatophilia.

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The Synopsis

Radical alternatives to consent and trauma

Arguing that we have become culturally obsessed with healing trauma, Sexuality Beyond Consent calls attention to what traumatized subjects do with their pain. The erotics of racism offers a paradigmatic example of how what is proximal to violation may become an unexpected site of flourishing. Central to the transformational possibilities of trauma is a queer form of consent, limit consent, that is not about guarding the self but about risking experience. Saketopoulou thereby shows why sexualities beyond consent may be worth risking-and how risk can solicit the future.

Moving between clinical and cultural case studies, Saketopoulou takes up theatrical and cinematic works such as Slave Play and The Night Porter, to chart how trauma and sexuality join forces to surge through the aesthetic domain. Putting the psychoanalytic theory of Jean Laplanche in conversation with queer of color critique, performance studies, and philosophy, Sexuality Beyond Consent proposes that enduring the strange in ourselves, not to master trauma but to rub up against it, can open us up to encounters with opacity. The book concludes by theorizing currents of sadism that, when pursued ethically, can animate unique forms of interpersonal and social care.

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The Review

This was quite a compelling, thoughtful, and engaging read. The author expertly crafts a philosophical, analytical, and professional examination of the current culture of consent, especially with the rise of the MeToo movement, and the differences between that type of consent and the unknowable, unrecognized experiences during sexual or intimate moments that both shock and pleasure people. The use of case studies and personal conversations with others in her field, as well as the in-depth research the author conducted, allowed the reader to get a sense of the themes the book was dissecting and bringing to life.

Now I will be honest, this is quite a challenging book, in that it challenges the readers to keep an open mind and not only explore new and radical ideas that can flip our ideas on their heads but to explore our own minds and the experiences we have. The idea of not sweeping away trauma but learning to work with it and push ourselves through that trauma to discover new aspects of ourselves was quite an interesting idea, and one of many such notions the author explores in this book.

The Verdict

Memorable, enlightening, and thoughtful, author Avgi Saketopoulou’s “Sexuality Beyond Consent: Risk, Race, Traumatophilia” is a must-read nonfiction book on sexuality and consent. The morality, psychoanalytical, and introspective themes the author explores in this book will push readers to really think about life and the impact that trauma and sexuality can have on a person’s life altogether. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy today!

Rating: 10/10

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About the Author

Dr. Avgi Saketopoulou is a Cypriot and Greek psychoanalyst based in New York. She is on faculty at the NYU Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, where she also trained, and teaches in other psychoanalytic institutes. Her published work has received several psychoanalytic awards, such as the annual JAPA Essay Prize, the Ruth Stein Prize, the Symonds Essay Prize, and the Ralph Roughton Award while her interview on relational psychoanalysis is in the permanent collection of the Freud Museum in Vienna. In 2022, she received Div.39’s Scholarship and Research Award and her essay, co-authored with Dr. Ann Pellegrini, received the first Tiresias Essay Prize from the IPA’s Sexual and Gender Diversities Studies Committee. That work will appear in a forthcoming volume titled “Gender Without Identity” coming out in Spring 2023 from the Unconscious in Translation Press. Dr. Saketopoulou’s monograph, “Sexuality Beyond Consent: Risk, Race, Traumatophilia” is published by the Sexual Cultures Series, NYU Press.

More information about her can be found on her website www.avgisaketopoulou.com

A Body Hair Experiment by Eli Cohen Review

On By authoranthonyavinablogIn reviewsLeave a comment

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

Author Eli Cohen and photographer O Zhang share an intimate look at the question of gender through a series of photos outlining an experiment on body hair in the book “A Body Hair Experiment”.

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The Synopsis

As an experiment, Eli Cohen removed the hair off the left side of his body and began to journal about the experience. The result is a luscious and intimate photo essay that invites us to challenge assumptions and unearth hidden beliefs around masculinity, femininity, and gender. These tenderly provocative photos and words create a powerful prompt and open a doorway to the vast potential of experiences within our human bodies.

  • Can our seemingly inconsequential decisions around body hair limit or expand our relationship to our own bodies, to desire and pleasure, and our range of emotions? 
  • What paths toward personal and societal transformation lay upon our skin? 
  • Does it make sense that most sweaty men never consider trimming their underarm hair? 
  • How much meaning is braided into our body hair?    
  • Is body hair a marker of masculinity, femininity, gender or genderqueer-ness? 
  • How would society change if each of us had access and the ability to choose with ease and intention, smooth or hairy, for each and every body part? 

The acclaimed O Zhang’s works have appeared at Guggenheim Museum and Miro Art Museum, as well as solo exhibitions in New York, Beijing, London, and Istanbul. In A Body Hair Experiment she works her magic again. These luscious black and white photos will have you going back for more. 

A Body Hair Experiment is a gentle and delicious invitation. Eli Cohen presents his body in his vulnerability, showing and telling. His words weave through reflections both personal and societal, while inviting the reader to do the same. 

The Review

This was a completely short yet powerful read. The author’s intimate and personal writing style allows readers to connect to the deeper themes of sexuality, gender identity, and gender norms as a whole as it relates to the human body and how we perceive it. The thoughtful atmosphere each passage invoked in the reader allowed for a more introspective reading experience that challenged the reader to fully grasp these themes.

For me, the power of this book came from a balance of the author’s moving words and the photographer’s stunning imagery. The themes speak to so many people and reflect on how our society forces certain roles and perspectives on different groups of people. From men not being able to feel comfortable being in touch with a more “feminine” ideal to the need to assign physical and material aspects of our daily life to a specific gender, and having these impact our perception of a person’s sexuality as a whole, really moved me, and to see this stem from something that seems so simple such as a body hair experiment and to see it blossom the way it does was powerful to read.

The Verdict

Heartwarming, thoughtful, and reflective, author Eli Cohen’s “A Body Hair Experiment” is a must-read photography book. Due to its release in January of 2023, the author and photographer both deliver a moving story of redefining our relationship with our bodies and separating society’s expectations from our own feelings and emotions. The passionate way the author shares his story and the deeper themes really will speak to many readers out there. Be sure to grab your copy early 2023.

Rating: 10/10

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About the Author

Eli Cohen was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. At the age of fifty, he began to share his personal journey through the prevalence of arbitrary gender markers and his transgression of them. He is the founder of Spacious Human, a movement to create thoughtful awareness for human expression. 

Cohen is a personal embodiment activist and a facilitator of events and experiences during which people can explore clothing and appearance norms with intention and feel in their bodies the corresponding freedom that alternate choices can provide. He uses the transformative powers of dress and expression to provide humans with the opportunity to excavate their own hidden emotions and beliefs relating to both masculinity and femininity. 

Cohen is also a writer, dancer, and speaker, and has been featured on podcasts such as Late Night Health Radio, The Positive Head, and The Pleasure Report, among others. He has given talks at venues such as the Lightning Society and has appeared in the Gothamist. 

He is a father, grandfather, and lives with his wife and daughter in Brooklyn, New York. 

www.spacioushuman.com