| Thank
you for making me welcome at tonight's All
Dyke Open Myke. Before I came to this monthly
reading for the first time, I phoned the
organizer of the event to find out exactly
who could participate, as I did not want
to endanger any all-womon spaces. She replied
that all women who had sex with women were
welcome, and that males could attend if
accompanied by bisexual female partners
or lesbian friends and could listen although
not read. So I sailed in with my boy-toy
in tow and was made to feel quite warm and
fuzzy. I was not at that time informed of
any limitations on subject material.
After six months of
my reading here, the organizer tactfully
and kindly e-mailed me that several people
had complained about an Erotica Night reading
in which I described sex with a man, and
she asked me not to do it again. Describe
sex with a man here in this venue, I mean.
I imagine that who I actually have sex with
is still at my discretion. At the same time,
I have been assured that "it is okay
to read aloud about being bisexual and read
about the effects of bisexuality and all
of that -- and identify as bisexual at the
readings." It is not actually completely
clear to me how I can do all of that while
concentrating on never mentioning sex with
a man. Being the adventurous sort, however
(which is no doubt what got me into this
awkward position in the first place), I'm
willing to give it a go. Since it is not
consensually defined what constitutes sex
with a man or even what constitutes a man,
or what other literary portrayals might
make women here feel offended or unsafe,
I would like to ask in the future that you
actually tell me (i.e., personally, to my
face) what, if anything, bothers you. You
might also wish to help the organizer rethink
the advertised inclusion of bisexual women
in these readings, or make the guidelines
for subject matter more explicit. In order
to guide you in your prohibitions, I would
like to make the following disclaimer. |
 |
In
my life, I have had sex with fourteen people,
one at a time. I am not able to define precisely
what constitutes sex, but, like the judge
said about obscenity, I think I know it
when I see it. Some of these people have
inserted body parts or inanimate objects
into various orifices of mine, some of them
I have inserted objects or body parts into,
and with some there was no insertion of
any kind, but a good orgasm was had by all.
These fourteen people have belonged to the
following groups capable of practicing identity
politics: women, men, various racial and
ethnic backgrounds, rich, poor, upper class,
middle class, working class and those who
ain't got no class, Jews (Orthodox, Reform
and Reconstructionist), Christians (Catholic,
Presbyterian and Episcopalian), Oregonian
cultists worshipping an Indian guru-cum-greengrocer
or Avatar of the Age named Meher Baba, atheists,
straight, lesbian, gay-but-so-deep-in-the-closet-even-he-didn't-know,
bisexual, polymorphous perverse, intellectuals,
dyslexics, the fat, the skinny, the monogamous,
the polyamorous, the pretending-to-be-monogamous-but-just-plain-cheatin'
(by far the most numerous group on the planet,
if you ask me), youth, young adults, the
middle-aged, the nearly-twice-as-old-as-I,
the physically handicapped, the mentally
unstable, the sexually abused, blind men,
diabetics, women with colostomies, Democrats,
Independents, Socialists, people who had
voted Republican in their repudiated past,
and even smokers.
I have not had the pleasure
of sex with transgendered folk, foreigners
(do Canadians really count?) or sex workers,
though I think it would be a hoot. In the
future, I reserve the right to fantasize
about (though not actually to have) sex
with or between animals, minors, space aliens
and people who currently vote Republican.
I hope that if graphic descriptions of sex
with Republicans make any of you feel unsafe,
you will let me know. Thank you.
|
