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A review by jess_k_reads
Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good by adrienne maree brown
3.0
After reading only the book description and seeing the book cover, I really didn’t know what to expect but I leaned heavily on the description to guide my expectations. After reading the book, I would say the cover bears more weight in how you should prepare your mindset for the content of the book as a whole. I would say this book is less about activism or social justice in the traditional sense and more about a frame of reference or way of life that may lead some to greater access and agency to carry out works dedicated to activism, etc. for the long haul. In the book description, it specifies, “drawing on the black feminist tradition, [brown] challenges us to rethink the ground rules of activism,” to which I wholeheartedly agree is a main component carried throughout the book.
I didn’t understand how Section three was necessary in the book and how it tied back in to the main thesis - or maybe it’s more accurate to say, what I thought was the main thesis based on the book description. However, I did really appreciate its sub-section dedicated to sex positivity held in tandem with the aftermath of the #metoo movement. That section felt very relevant to the message of the book as a whole. Brown writes, “part of transformative justice is getting to the root of harm, and so much sexual harm is rooted in sexual shame and repression.” I was also skeptical about section four but with its focus on harm reduction, I was won over to being open-minded.
Ultimately, section one was the most impactful for me. I particularly liked Audre Lorde’s essay, Uses of the Erotic, for how it righted the very narrow usage of the word erotic: “The very word erotic comes from the Greek word eros, the personification of love in all its aspects - born of chaos, and personifying creative power and harmony. When I speak of the erotic, then, I speak of it as an assertion of the lifeforce of women; of that creative energy empowered, the knowledge and use of which we are now reclaiming in our language, our history, our dancing, our loving, our work, our lives.”
I didn’t understand how Section three was necessary in the book and how it tied back in to the main thesis - or maybe it’s more accurate to say, what I thought was the main thesis based on the book description. However, I did really appreciate its sub-section dedicated to sex positivity held in tandem with the aftermath of the #metoo movement. That section felt very relevant to the message of the book as a whole. Brown writes, “part of transformative justice is getting to the root of harm, and so much sexual harm is rooted in sexual shame and repression.” I was also skeptical about section four but with its focus on harm reduction, I was won over to being open-minded.
Ultimately, section one was the most impactful for me. I particularly liked Audre Lorde’s essay, Uses of the Erotic, for how it righted the very narrow usage of the word erotic: “The very word erotic comes from the Greek word eros, the personification of love in all its aspects - born of chaos, and personifying creative power and harmony. When I speak of the erotic, then, I speak of it as an assertion of the lifeforce of women; of that creative energy empowered, the knowledge and use of which we are now reclaiming in our language, our history, our dancing, our loving, our work, our lives.”