Pleasure Activism by adrienne maree brown is a groundbreaking book that argues that pleasure is a powerful tool in the struggle against oppression. With this book, brown aims to encourage readers to look at their relationship to pleasure and oppression in a new and innovative way. The following are key learnings from this book:
• The pleasure of every person should be respected, regardless of their history or identity
• Pleasure can be used as a tool to counteract oppression, instead of just being a form of escape
• Pleasure can shape identity and can be used to counter difficult stories
• Pleasure is deeply connected to our political, economic, and spiritual power
As a UX Designer, reading this book can be very helpful in understanding the importance of pleasure in different aspects of our lives, such us job and relationships. It can also provide a new perspective on designing user experiences that incentivize pleasure. Besides Pleasure Activism, other books that take a similar approach and may be interesting to UX Designers are How to Create a Mind by Ray Kurzweil and The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman.
🎀 Highlights
“everything in moderation.” So, while we extol the virtues of pleasure, try not to think of it in terms of excess or overindulgence!
gradually bring pleasure back into her life. There was pleasure in having friends over, throwing a karaoke party, and eventually reengaging in sex.
adopting pleasure as a practice can help when we feel dissociated from our bodies or find ourselves slipping into depression.
The erotic can provide you with a deeper understanding of yourself – and thus allow for a more positive relationship with your body – whereas pornography is often about repressing and objectifying women. In short, the erotic is empowering; pornography is not.
As someone who experienced childhood trauma and abuse, Taja believes the body holds onto these memories in a way that’s connected to – but different from – how the brain operates. She created a performance piece that involved her throat and neck, an area directly related to her past trauma. During this performance she felt something within her loosen and break free. It was profound and unlike anything she'd experienced before in her practice.
Pleasure is about saying yes – and becoming comfortable with that can have far-reaching effects in your life. When you get used to repressing your desires and withholding pleasure, you’re essentially growing accustomed to not getting what you want. Is this any way to live?
“Our erotic knowledge empowers us, becomes a lens through which we scrutinize all aspects of our existence...”
Marijuana, in particular, is often used to trigger pleasure or relieve pain. But
Nowadays, a predominantly white group of entrepreneurs are getting rich selling something that people of color are still getting jailed for.
Many of the pleasurable things in life – things like sex, drugs, music, and even sugar – have been politicized in one way or another. The author believes that drugs should, in general, be legalized; as it stands, their criminalization is mainly serving to ruin Black and Brown futures.
There’s a reason why the most marginalized and oppressed people in a society turn to drugs. Marijuana, in particular, is often used to trigger pleasure or relieve pain.
Sometimes, in order to survive, our minds and bodies can end up dissociating from reality. We’ll carry around pain and trauma without realizing what’s going on within us. Not only will we lose touch with ourselves, we’ll lose touch with the world and people around us. In cases like this, somatics can help.
In order to create a better world, we need to strengthen our empathy and our awareness of how so much pain stems from social inequalities, oppression, and racism.
Feeling good isn’t a waste of time; feeling good is freedom. Pleasure has the power to heal, easing us back from the edge of being overwhelmed by life, and letting us know we are liberated individuals.
Pleasure also has an important social function – it can be used to develop stronger connections with our fellow human beings, and with the planet we’re a part of.
Pleasure activism has the potential to facilitate this and help us envision a better world. Once again, we can turn to the visionary work of Octavia E. Butler for inspiration.
Right now, things aren’t looking great for the Earth. We need to connect with each other and become more aware of our relationship with nature. Pleasure activism has the potential to facilitate this and help us envision a better world.
By embracing pleasure and the erotic, we can become more comfortable in our own skin and more sensitive to the pain and trauma we may be carrying with us.
“everything in moderation.” So, while we extol the virtues of pleasure, try not to think of it in terms of excess or overindulgence!
gradually bring pleasure back into her life. There was pleasure in having friends over, throwing a karaoke party, and eventually reengaging in sex.
adopting pleasure as a practice can help when we feel dissociated from our bodies or find ourselves slipping into depression.
The erotic can provide you with a deeper understanding of yourself – and thus allow for a more positive relationship with your body – whereas pornography is often about repressing and objectifying women. In short, the erotic is empowering; pornography is not.
As someone who experienced childhood trauma and abuse, Taja believes the body holds onto these memories in a way that’s connected to – but different from – how the brain operates. She created a performance piece that involved her throat and neck, an area directly related to her past trauma. During this performance she felt something within her loosen and break free. It was profound and unlike anything she'd experienced before in her practice.
Pleasure is about saying yes – and becoming comfortable with that can have far-reaching effects in your life. When you get used to repressing your desires and withholding pleasure, you’re essentially growing accustomed to not getting what you want. Is this any way to live?
“Our erotic knowledge empowers us, becomes a lens through which we scrutinize all aspects of our existence...”
Marijuana, in particular, is often used to trigger pleasure or relieve pain. But
Nowadays, a predominantly white group of entrepreneurs are getting rich selling something that people of color are still getting jailed for.
Many of the pleasurable things in life – things like sex, drugs, music, and even sugar – have been politicized in one way or another. The author believes that drugs should, in general, be legalized; as it stands, their criminalization is mainly serving to ruin Black and Brown futures.
There’s a reason why the most marginalized and oppressed people in a society turn to drugs. Marijuana, in particular, is often used to trigger pleasure or relieve pain.
Sometimes, in order to survive, our minds and bodies can end up dissociating from reality. We’ll carry around pain and trauma without realizing what’s going on within us. Not only will we lose touch with ourselves, we’ll lose touch with the world and people around us. In cases like this, somatics can help.
In order to create a better world, we need to strengthen our empathy and our awareness of how so much pain stems from social inequalities, oppression, and racism.
Feeling good isn’t a waste of time; feeling good is freedom. Pleasure has the power to heal, easing us back from the edge of being overwhelmed by life, and letting us know we are liberated individuals.
Pleasure also has an important social function – it can be used to develop stronger connections with our fellow human beings, and with the planet we’re a part of.
Pleasure activism has the potential to facilitate this and help us envision a better world. Once again, we can turn to the visionary work of Octavia E. Butler for inspiration.
Right now, things aren’t looking great for the Earth. We need to connect with each other and become more aware of our relationship with nature. Pleasure activism has the potential to facilitate this and help us envision a better world.
By embracing pleasure and the erotic, we can become more comfortable in our own skin and more sensitive to the pain and trauma we may be carrying with us.
