THE POWER OF THE EROTIC

Katie Burkholder

Valentine’s Day is one of the most misunderstood and underappreciated holidays. It’s one of my favorites, despite often being reduced to consumerist anti-single propaganda. While I relish Valentine’s Day for the opportunity to celebrate love and romance, I more love Valentine’s Day as a celebration of eroticism.

When I say eroticism, sexual connotations may come to mind. But eroticism extends far beyond sex — as lesbian feminist poet Audre Lorde argues in her 1978 essay (one of the most important of the 20th century), “Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power.”

While associated with all things sex, true eroticism is rooted in pleasure: it’s the deep well of enjoyment and divine satisfaction that exists within each of us (as Lorde argues, particularly women — or rather, this erotic pleasure is rooted in that which is labeled feminine) that is accessed through feeling. While sex can inspire the erotic, sex in and of itself is not necessarily erotic; it’s the openness and release of orgasm, the sensation of physical connection, the feeling of skin against skin. As Lorde puts it, “… the erotic is not a question only of what we do; it is a question of how acutely and fully we can feel in the doing.” Sex that is nonerotic, that denies and disempowers feeling and divine pleasure, is the pornographic. It is the pornographization of sex (extending beyond the literal porn industry to the ethos of hookup culture, rape culture, and the feminization — and therefore subjugation — of emotion) that is weaponized against women.

Anything that can be done with present, uninhibited, somatic, and divine joy is erotic: eating a delicious meal, feeling the sun on your face, writing poetry, dancing. The erotic is everywhere, in everything that makes us feel not only good (as merely hedonistic pleasures do) but fulfilled, embodied, and at peace. Regardless of if and how we have sex, the erotic is available to us all, a divine power resting within that, when set free, connects us to our truest selves.

“Another important way in which the erotic connection functions is the open and fearless underlining of my capacity for joy,” Lorde writes. “In the way my body stretches to music and opens into response, hearkening to its deepest rhythms, so every level upon which I sense also opens to the erotically satisfying experience, whether it is dancing, building a bookcase, writing a poem, examining an idea. That self-connection shared is a measure of the joy which I know myself to be capable of feeling, a reminder of my capacity for feeling. And that deep and irreplaceable knowledge of my capacity for joy comes to demand from all of my life that it be lived within the knowledge that such satisfaction is possible, and does not have to be called marriage, nor god, nor an afterlife. This is one reason why the erotic is so feared, and so often relegated to the bedroom alone, when it is recognized at all.”

This erotic pleasure, though undefined and undervalued by most, is not only our birthright, but our natural inclination. The way we choose to celebrate love during Valentine’s Day inclines toward a celebration of pleasure: the richness of chocolate and wine, the delicate beauty of lingerie and flowers, the intimacy of a bubble bath and candlelit dinner. Whether we consciously know it or not, erotic satisfaction is something we all pursue and are capable of experiencing. However, when we do consciously acknowledge and pursue it — and don’t diminish it, as we (especially women) are taught to — it can be a source of empowerment.

“We have been raised to fear the yes within ourselves, our deepest cravings,” Lorde says. “… As we begin to recognize our deepest feelings, we begin to give up, of necessity, being satisfied with suffering and self-negation, and with the numbness which so often seems like their only alternative in our society.”

Whether you’re single or just cynical, you love love or think it’s overrated, or you’re aromantic or asexual and don’t think V-Day is for you, the power of eroticism is for all of us. When we build a life around genuine, life-affirming pleasure, we build a life that is loving, joyful, present, emotive, and above all else, empowering. That is what each of us deserves.

Staff reports

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The U.S. Supreme Court on January 22, 1973, issued its Roe v. Wade ruling that ensured the constitutional right to an abortion for all American citizens. The Supreme Court last June overruled this landmark decision.

Fifty years later, LGBTQ activists are among those who have commemorated Roe, despite the fact the Supreme Court has overturned it. The decision, which has since caused tension between liberal and conservative groups, prompted federal and state lawmakers to act upon the sudden revocation of what many consider to be a fundamental right.

Roe’s legal premise relied heavily upon the right to privacy that the 14th Amendment provided; however, legal experts argued that it was a vague interpretation of the amendment.

Vice President Kamala Harris delivered remarks on Roe’s anniversary in Tallahassee, Florida, saying how most “Americans relied on the rights that Roe protected.”

“The consequences of the Supreme Court’s ruling are not only limited to those who need reproductive care,” Harris said. “Other basic healthcare is at risk.”

The overruling of Roe put into question the security of other long-held precedents, such as Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 case that legalized same-sex marriages, and Loving v. Virginia, the 1967 decision that legalized interracial marriages, because they rely on the same right to privacy that upheld Roe.

In that same speech, Harris announced President Joe Biden would issue a presidential memorandum to direct all government departments to ensure access to abortion pills at pharmacies.

“Members of our Cabinet and our administration are now directed, as of the president’s order, to identify barriers to access to prescription medication and to recommend actions to make sure that doctors can legally prescribe, that pharmacies can dispense, and that women can secure safe and effective medication,” Harris affirmed.

LGBTQ organizations and other human rights groups continue to work to protect reproductive rights.

Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson said she found it intolerable that “an extremist set of judges” had taken away an important right not only for women, but also nonbinary people, trans men, and the entire LGBTQ+ community.

“Because we know that reproductive rights are LGBTQ+ rights, and that so many in our community rely on access to abortion care and other reproductive health services,” said Robinson in regards to Roe’s 50th anniversary. “The ripple effects of this decision will impact the most marginalized among us the most, and we cannot stand for that.”

“Overturning Roe v. Wade was the first time in history that the Supreme Court has taken away rights, and we know that they will not stop there,” added Robinson. “This is a dangerous turning point for our country, and we have to affirmatively defend against this assault.”

Robinson said HRC is working with coalition partners to fight the roll-back of abortion rights at the state and federal level.

Last year, more than 400 anti-LGBTQ bills by Republican-controlled state legislatures, setting a record for anti-LGBTQ legislation. Just weeks into 2023, more than 100 anti-LGBTQ bills have already been filed in 22 states.

The Equality Federation, a coalition of state LGBTQ organizations that works collaboratively on critical non-partisan issues has cataloged the bills. Equality Federation data shows that state legislators pre-filed bills where possible in eight states. The states with the most bills are Texas (36), Missouri (26), North Dakota (8), and Oklahoma (6).

The bills mirror those in 2022, including restrictions on gender-affirming care for trans youth and on participation by trans youth in school sports. There are also more “Don’t Say Gay” style bills curtailing access to LGBTQ books and history in schools — a pledge newly elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy alluded to in his acceptance speech when he said, “We’re gonna pass bills to fix the nation’s challenges” like “woke indoctrination in our schools.”

New areas outlined by some states include bills that would restrict access to genderaffirming health care for trans adults and bills that would restrict or ban drag shows, particularly Drag Story Time programs that some legislators claim are pornographic and the same as taking children to strip clubs.

More than two dozen bills focused on restricting health care access for trans people have been filed for the 2023 legislative sessions in 14 states: Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia.

For more info on individual bills, visit the Equality Federation state legislation tracker at https://www.equalityfederation. org/state-legislation/.

HIGH MUSEUM OF ART ATLANTA | FEBRUARY 24—MAY 21 | HIGH.ORG

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