Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power

Audre Lorde explores the power of the erotic as a force of empowerment for women, challenging societal suppression and reclaiming the importance of deep, unapologetic feeling in personal and collective liberation.

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Because it says, first, how can I be a creator? How can I trust that I am worthy of defining desire and pleasure and liberation as myself or in relationship to other Black lesbians, Black queer women of color, trans and gender-nonconforming folks of color?

adrienne maree brown, Rodriguez, • Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good (Emergent Strategy Book 1)

But the erotic offers a well of replenishing and provocative force to the woman who does not fear its revelation, nor succumb to the belief that sensation is enough.

adrienne maree brown, Rodriguez, • Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good (Emergent Strategy Book 1)

For once we begin to feel deeply all the aspects of our lives, we begin to demand from ourselves and from our life-pursuits that they feel in accordance with that joy which we know ourselves to be capable of. Our erotic knowledge empowers us, becomes a lens through which we scrutinize all aspects of our existence, forcing us to evaluate those aspec... See more

Audre Lorde • Audre Lorde reads Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic As Power (FULL Updated)

The erotic is a measure between the beginnings of our sense of self and the chaos of our strongest feelings.

adrienne maree brown, Rodriguez, • Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good (Emergent Strategy Book 1)

Can women possess their own desire if the terms of sexuality cater more to the desires of men? In other words, if part of being an oppressed person means that you are in reference to the dominant ideologies of those in power—in this case, men's sexual fantasies, desires, wishes, wants, pleasures, representations, interests, needs—how do oppressed p