Monday, March 9, 2015

Why Innu men have a hard time making erotic art

I finished "Me Sexy" by Drew Hayden Taylor.  I usually don't like anthologies but in this case it worked.  The book is funny and thoughtful.  I enjoyed the variety of perspectives straight/two-spirited. erotica/fear of sex, man/woman.  I liked the call for indian erotica and the discussion of why Innu men have a hard time making erotic art.  I found a lot to think about in how many of my ideas of sex and sexuality were shaped by the church and the idea of woman as nature (to be conquered).  I was inspired to hear how others were working to overcome those ideas in their lives.

I particullarly liked the following quote from Daniel Heath Justice in his essay "Fear of a Changling Moon."

"To take joy in sex isn't just about enjoying the bump and grind, suck and squirt, lick and quiver of hot moist flesh on flesh.  It's about being beautiful to ourselves and others.  And such a loving self-awareness is a hard thing to come by in a world that sees Aboriginal peoples as historical artifacts, degraded vagrants or grieving ghosts.  To take joy in our bodies - and those bodies in relation to others - is to strike out against five-hundred -plus years of disregard, disrespect and dismissal."

The author obviously took these essays as they came, some are dense acedemic pieces and some less formal however, it works together as a narative and ultimately all the writers are working to shine a light on something unspoken for many years.

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