Would the label Sapho’s Muse say more about an Exploration of Intimacy, Sex & Desire?

The point to Seminars at Chicago SexFest is to explore possible alternatives to academics reading papers a nonacademic audience would snooze through. I’d prefer my symposium be an opportunity for dialogue between academics and community activists around what Dr. David Rodemaker would call “marginalizing sexual minorities.”  The problem with dialogue, however, is language and how we understand words and what they mean.  This is a huge problem and we need academics to develop that language.  Even within an academic context, one word could mean something different dependent on the discipline.  That’s also true in community.  Raise any child to find their social crowd and see how quickly language changes even within a family unit.

So with that said, define a “SexFest?”  The term Chicago SexFest was designed to help diminish the affects of sexual marginalization.  We wanted Chicago to unite and put its own stamp on a term that institutions like the Olympics too often associates with an orgy.  Even though we were attempting to explain how the term contributes to our general society, too often discussions around a public sexual enlightenment were stopped by the term “SexFest.”  More than once I was told the label sounded like a convention of porn and debauchery and they would not be attached nor sanction such activity.  One person’s opinion was that the idea of SexFest was difficult to embrace, but what was  more important, they didn’t see anything suggesting “intimacy” here and I had to admit they were right.

There are a great many who want to make the point that sex is a personal matter while I’m saying personal response to intimacy is not the problem.  I’m saying that when one faction prefers a communication style they should be free to self define in their own terms.  There must be slots allotted for all people to feel heard in their own voice, not one prescribed by an outsider.  It may seem obvious, for example, that more often than not, the population would choose less extreme approaches to sexual expression.  Only a few are subversive — and if this were not so, it would not be labeled ”extreme.”   But then if you think about it, if one stance is extreme, so is the any reaction.  The reaction to sexual extremes might be extreme asceticism.  Both have a place on a spectrum of a society’s norms.  So maybe there should be a larger umbrella?  Ironically, if we didn’t use the term SexFest, perhaps we could us the title “Sapho’s Muse.”  The acronym for Sapho’s Muse after all is SM which could satisfy those feeling we’re just another “sell out” to the mainstream.

Language is important.  Words mean something.  If you listen to a person communicate, you can generally tell whether or not they’re educated, their economic status, in some cases their religion, how old they are, their race and even their sexual orientation.

Jim Cobb said it.  Every agency lives in its own world independent of anyone else around them.  They need to organize into an alliance and combine their dreams.
So let’s find cross-roads.
Let’s pull together.
When was there a better time when “United we stand.  Divided we fall.” had more relevance?
We have 7 world class universities; we are a world leader in commerce; we have thriving businesses supporting diverse communities; Chicago has resources to accomplish anything we set our mind to.

There’s no excuse for there to be ANY marginalizing minorities — sexual or not.

So what are we waiting for?  There’s  a lot of work to be done!  Let’s get crackin’!!!