CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape
Co-editors Jaclyn Friedman and Jessica Valenti are seeking submissions for their anthology on sex, rape and power, Yes Means Yes!, to be published by Seal Press in Fall 2008.
Imagine a world where women enjoy sex on their own terms and aren’t shamed for it. Imagine a world where men treat their sexual partners as collaborators, not conquests. Imagine a world where rape is rare and swiftly punished.
Welcome to the world of Yes Means Yes.
Yes Means Yes! will make the world safer for women to say yes and no to sex as we please. We are looking to collect sharp and insightful essays, from voices both established and new, that explore how creating a culture which values genuine female sexual pleasure can help stop rape.
Potential essay subjects could address:
How public sex education is taught, and to whom.
Self-defense and creating the kind of safety required for meaningful consent and pleasure
The new backlash against rape survivors (e.g., media obsession with female drinking and slutty “Girls Gone Wild” being to blame for assault.)
Analyzing and eradicating sexual shame in American culture
Bringing men back into the conversation, making men co-leaders in the movement to dismantle the cultural dynamics which support and encourage rape
How queer rape is reinforced by patriarchy, heteronormative stereotypes and the commodification of sexuality, and how centering female sexual power can combat queer rape
Thoughts on “enthusiastic consent”
Taking Back the Porn: How changing the pornography industry can help stop rape
Combating the hypersexualization of women of color to make way for genuine refusal and genuine consent
The power of language (naming rape for what it is, or the new myth of “gray rape”)
A primer for men on sexual assault
How a society that values good sex (where women’s pleasure is central) can undermine rape culture and make it e asier to identify and prosecute rapists.
Rethinking sexual interaction as a collaborative performance, as opposed to as an exchange of a commodity or service
Who owns our pleasure? An analysis of the economics of female sexual alienation/oppression, and an economic model for resistance
Holding the mainstream media accountable for torture porn, kidnapping crusades and faux feminism.
Overcoming commercially enforced sexual stereotypes to organize across race, class, gender, and difference
Homophobia, compulsory masculinity, and why genuine male pleasure matters, too
Creating accurate media representations of rape
Beyond consent: state-sanctioned and institutional rape that even the healthiest sexual culture won’t stop
People of all all colors, cultures, genders and preferences, published and unpublished authors, are all encouraged to submit essays. Be creative, be visionary, be outraged, be passionate, be funny! Perhaps most importantly, we are seeking essays with a pro-active bent that offer new and insightful thoughts and actions on how to dismantle rape culture. “No Means No” is not enough — let’s think “Yes Means Yes!”
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
Please submit your essays to yesmeansyes2008@gmail.com no later than March 1, 2008.
Essays should be from 2000 to 5000 words, double spaced and paginated. Please include your address, phone number, email address and a short bio.
We will pay $100 for each essay published in the final book.
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