Pleasure activism – come as you are

It’s true. For much of the last two centuries, women’s sexuality has largely been a mystery – far less frequently mapped in science than its male counterpart, it has been at best repressed, at worst, pathologised.

This very special and intimate Supper Unyoked event is your exclusive invitation to a place that is rarely explored with the depth it deserves – let alone around a dinner table! But the time is now and you’re invited to celebrate all things female sexuality from the miraculous vulva, to pleasure and how it all informs women’s empowerment.

Who taught you to feel good?

The way we experience the world as men and women is deeply rooted in our childhood. We may not have been thinking about gender bias issues as babies, but we were dealing with them  – and some of us still are.

Fear of the vulva or women’s orgasms is nothing new. In the Middle Ages power holders attached hysteria to demonic possession (quite the passion killer). There was also the idea that a woman’s vagina being the entry point for demons meant the only release was through pubic manipulation by a midwife, cleric or doctor until the possessed experienced an ‘hysterical paroxysm’ ­­– your garden-variety orgasm.

And as the European witch-hunts peaked in the 17th century, a woman’s hysterical symptoms, (which could include a disinterest in marriage or an unquenchable sexual thirst) were often confused with Satanism, punishable by execution.

Back in 1883 French physician Auguste Fabre wrote, “all women are hysterical. And every women carries with her the seeds of hysteria”.

Diagnoses of hysteria persisted into the 19th century, but the face of the disease changed when the “witch” transformed into the ‘nervous’ hysteric. By the late 1800s, almost anything could mark a woman as  ‘hysterical’, but one symptom was particularly damning: belonging to the growing feminist movement.

Putting this eye-opening history to one side for a moment…

How can women awaken their desires to live a more fulfilled life? How do you know if we’re repressed? When did you unlearn pleasure?

And don’t we all want to create more pleasure than we thought was possible? More to the point, don’t we deserve it?

Join our ‘radical hysterical celebration’ as we explore these questions and more – including the vultastic power of women, and the uniqueness of being a sexually actualised women, in a safe (and fully clothed) intimate container led by two extraordinary women, Phyllis Foundis and Sandy Davies.

We stand on the shoulders of many incredible women activists who were leaders in igniting women’s fulfilment. At the core of what we are exploring is what it means to not just survive, but to seek and find pleasure, and to reclaim our true selves.

Ultimately, this is a reminder that pleasure is a connection to freedom and activism.

About our special guests / Phyllis Foundis and Sandy Davies

About Phyllis Foundis

A writer, producer, multi-award-winning TV host and TEDx speaker, Phyllis’ has spent the last few decades travelling, collecting stories, meeting extraordinary people and generally juggling the joyful demands of creating art and raising two incredible sons – the loves of her life. Revealing, intimate and very, very sexy – even when sex doesn’tplay a part – The Joy of Sags– sexual adventures from the pre-menopausal frontline, describes a judgement-free, sensual nirvana where over-40 female desire is alive, well and kicking serious orgasm. phyllisfoundis.com

About Sandy Davies

The founder and formulator of HappyPause™ Balm and editor of book The Power to Rise Above, Sandy is a bit of a rebel who struggles taking ‘no’ for an answer. Sandy turned the lack of a simple, preservative-free natural solution for intimate dryness into her mission. That mission also encompasses eradicating shame and stigma around pleasure and gynae health. At every chapter of life Sandy has thrived on giving back as a part of her ethos. For this supper, Sandy’s Pay It Forward partner is the Older Women’s Network (OWN). happypause.com.au

This suppers' theme and title has been inspired by author and activist Adrienne Maree Brown, author of Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good