queer erotics

A collection for Andrea Lawlor's Queer & Trans Writing Class Edited by Anna, Halle, Julia, Rachel and Sam

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Dom Orejudos a.ka. Etienne or Stephen started making gay-male erotica in the 50s. Most of which were collaborative efforts with the iconic “Tom of Finland”.  Orejudos did mostly leather inspired erotic comics. He also started some of the first gay erotic themed events, like International Mr. Leather. I find his artwork to be essential to gay culture. What I love about his work is that it was not just art--it was an erotic artistic movement ! I didn’t want to flood this with info from wikipedia but here is more information about him.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dom_Orejudos 

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Made by the Queer Art and Porn Collective.

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Eroticism - Wikipedia

Wikipedia says that “Eroticism (from the Greek ἔρως, eros—"desire") is a quality that causes sexual feelings,[1] as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality and romantic love.”

Perhaps queer eroticism then is actually a queering of what causes sexual feelings. I once went to a queer porn short film screening that included a 5 minute film of a subject reading a book in the stacks of the library. That was it. Queer erotics. I guess that’s why I included Shamir’s music video on this site... queer erotics include experiences/aesthetics that are beyond the sexualized body... and also include the queer body as a body which insights sexual feeling.

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The now out of print Butt magazine was always a favorite of mine. From giving reviews of “cruising locations” to interviewing queer celebrities and porn stars to journalism.  You might recognize this magazine from shopping in American Apparel. What is erotic to me is the photography. I was always stunned when I saw this for sale online and in stores (I wasn’t really “out” at the time). Also the name of the magazine is so (was so, at least) provocative. The best way to describe this would be erotic journalism. Also it seemed to cater to my obscure taste in music. I’d always be surprised to find interviews of bands like Girls and Salem. I attached a link to the now digital version of the magazine for ya’ll to check it out. Also--I attached some sexiness to this post !  http://www.buttmagazine.com/

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Self explanatory :) 

Summary of one of their issues (which you can download online for $3):

“While it’s months behind its own deadline, the WORK issue stands to bring the force of a slow-simmering, well-cooked temptation with it. Our most international array of contributors comes together to dissect and sexify WORK and all its counterparts – from the office to the garden to the construction site to the kitchen.

All work and all play make this an issue worth waiting for.”

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A whole site dedicated to erotics, this page about queer erotics, specifically

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This is just a bunch of people’s opinions on the difference between pornography and erotica

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IMDb summary: “A left-wing terrorist group, consisting of several homosexual men and a female leader, kidnaps the son of a wealthy industrialist.”

Google summary: “A revolutionary (Susanne Sachsse) condemns heterosexuality and demands that her male followers make love to one another.”

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pOO_Zad_aY

This film is said to be satirical... I’m curious about what erotic satire looks like and if it has the same/similar goals as a through and through erotic film. 

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Nomy Lamm is a songwriter and activist who describes herself as a "bad ass, fat ass, Jew, dyke amputee.". Sins Invalid is a performance project that centers artists with disabilities, especially artists of color and queer/gender-variant artists. 

Obviously, the text itself is erotic in nature and queer because the person saying it identifies as such. However, I also really dig her use of the prosthetic leg as a drum. It’s got this erotism to it, as well as a playfulness. It’s very queer.

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IQ: The Sex-zine for Girls who like Girls who wear Glasses

This zine is kinda fun. It has a very playful approach to academia. There is one erotic story called “E=mc2″ which stood out to me, in which the two characters engage in an escalating sexual situation while discussing great 20th century writers. One character gets increasingly aroused as the other struggles to provide an adequate answer to her questions. I felt I could relate to this situation in my academic life, with some professors seeming to take a sort of low-level sadistic pleasure in the failures of their students. Interesting stuff.

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Mel Y. Chen

This is a pretty dense read, but worth it! (I actually can’t confirm 100% if it’s worth it bc I haven’t fully grasped it myself, but I keep coming back to it so there’s gotta be something there.)

The writer talks about potential queer exchanges between animate and inanimate bodies, which I find especially intriguing, especially they bring up this affectionate relationship they have with a couch. Eroticism isn’t discussed explicitly but it is here.

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A Note on Being Ate Out To My 19 Year Old Self, by Danez Smith

Danez Smith is a Black, queer, poz writer who is crushing it rn! In my interpretation, this poem talks about the complex intersections between body and identity and involving other people in that relationship. 

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Nicole Eisenman

Nicole Eisenman, It Is So, 2014, oil on canvas, 65 × 82 inches

Art : Interview : Nicole Eisenman and David Humphrey

http://bombmagazine.org/article/2548612/nicole-eisenman-and-david-humphrey

Note: Nicole Eisenman is my favorite contemporary painter. She makes a lot of work about queer sexuality and I thought I should find something of hers to include here. The link is to an interview between her and contemporary painter David Humphrey. I was really struck by their discussion of the surfaces of paintings. It is distinctly erotic. 

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Darling Nikki

Did I want to be Prince or be with Prince? I think the beauty is, neither.

Here’s a version of Maggie Nelson answering Andrea’s question “do you want them or to want to be them?”. I’m facinated by how we come into being sexualized or identifying as such. In this article Maggie Nelson ruminates on how Prince and specifically ‘Purple Rain’ marks a particular point in her understanding of her own “electric energy”. 

This quote resonates for me: “How does a girl figure out, amidst the crushing misogyny all around her, how to pick out the avenues that will prove most emancipatory, pleasure-giving, and life-sustaining? I’m sorry to say that this skill remains as urgent now as it ever was, so maybe I have “Purple Rain” to thank for that, too.”

I also want to share this because I admire the way that Maggie Nelson is able to weave together personal narrative and cultural criticism into her writing. 

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For me this book was an introduction to erotic literature. Last semester I took a class called “contemporary black women writers” at UMass. Now Lorde isn’t exactly contemporary, but this book serves as a seminal piece in feminist, black and what I would consider queer writing. I don’t think I’ve ever sat and read a book in one sitting before besides this one. What opened my eyes in this book was her use of language to create these beautiful erotic situations. I never took erotic literature seriously (I know, what a shame) until I read this book. 

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What are Queer erotics?

“The erotic is a measure between the beginnings of our sense of self and the chaos of our strongest feelings. It is an internal sense of satisfaction to which, once we have experienced it, we know we can aspire. For having experienced the fullness of this depth of feeling and recognizing its power, in honor and self-respect we can require no less of ourselves.”

Lorde, Audre “Uses of the Erotic”  Sister Outside, Crossing Press, Freedom CA

anna’s note: It’s hard to sum up this essay with one quote, but i’ve been reading and reading this essay for two years now and i resonates even more deeply each time. I am curious how her understanding of “women” includes (or doesn’t) gender queer and trans people. I’m curious if folks think the more “sexy” music videos and such fall into Lordes idea of erotics... I think they do actually... There is something profoundly erotic about seeing another queer (or female) body expressing sexual desire or finding power in their sexiness. Can’t quite put my finger on it though...

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fear of a female planet

tis a scratch. /////// fear of a female planet blood magic ritual female plane no blood let knife make mark on skin Artists Statement: On November 9th I embarked on a durational performance in my bedroom where i smoked 4 grams of indica and carved “FEM PLNT” on my thigh,…

content warnings: nudity, knives/cutting skin