[All] a new way of looking at the Earth

Mon Jan 17 21:34:11 EST 2011

Dear Grennies,

A hot, new perspective on environmentalism for a cold, cold night.. a
Facebook friend posted this today and I had to share it.  Delightfully
well-written. 

Susan K 

http://www.northsimcoenews.com/index.php?option=com_content
<http://www.northsimcoenews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&l
ayout=blog&id=41&Itemid=17> &view=category&layout=blog&id=41&Itemid=17

- Confessions of an ECOSEXUAL

This past Wednesday night I attended an 'ecosexy' lecture which ended in me
blowing Annie Sprinkle's mind and coming out of the forest. Don't worry it
was safe, reciprocal and consenting. Wait, what is ecosex? We'll get to that
soon, but first, who is Annie Sprinkle?

The former prostitute, turned porn star, television host, magazine editor,
writer and film producer, is now a performance artist and sex educator,
being the first porn star to receive her Ph.D in Human Sexuality. I had
first learned about Annie Sprinkle in my Sociology of Health class in
regards to social attitudes of sexuality and health. Specifically we were
introduced to her most famous performance piece known as Public Cervix
Announcement, in which she invited the audience to celebrate the human body,
and where we all came from, by viewing her cervix with a speculum and
flashlight. In essence she is a sex activist/artist who believes that sex is
natural, beautiful, and something to be celebrated and respected in all its
forms. For many in the LGBTQE community, she is a sexpioneer who has been at
the forefront of shifting cultural values towards sexuality for nearly four
decades. By the way, the E stands for "ecosexual".

Annie presented her lecture on the budding field of Sexecology, the place
where sexuality and ecology intersect, to a full capacity room of
approximately 200 people. The lecture covered many different themes
including erotic environmentalism, green porn, 'ecosex', and most
importantly, making love to the earth.

Erotic environmentalism utilizes the mantra "sex sells" and applies it to
environmentalism. Some groups are using sexy or provocative advertising to
bring attention to environmental issues, such as many of PETA's anti-fur and
animal rights campaigns. Other groups are using sex as a way of fundraising,
protesting, and celebration of the environment. A local example would be the
"Ladies of the Lake" and their "Naked Truth" campaign. Here a group of over
one hundred women from around Lake Simcoe, bare all for an annual calendar
to raise funds, education and awareness to support the health of the lake
and surrounding communities.

Green porn is essentially porn with a green twist, which often features
people making love outside! It also showcases the rising tide of nature
fetishes, in which people are quite literally turned on by the environment,
plants and the elements. Water -auqaphelia, wind-aerophelia,
earth-terraphelia, fire-pyrophelia and everything in between. It may sound
weird at first, but the more one thinks about it, the less strange it is.
For instance, how many of us have gone skinny dipping? Have been titillated
by the breeze on our bare body (wind play)? Mud wrestling anyone?

I'm sure many of us have seen advertisements for "green" sex products,
environmentally friendly condoms, toys etc. Or about the "top five ways to
be green while making love" or some such thing; turn off the lights, share a
room. Add to that, the fact that sex is a healthy, natural, eco-friendly and
deeply satisfying activity in and of itself, compared to say watching your
big screen T.V. or going for a drive in your SUV.

EARTH AS LOVER

There are essentially two popular ways of looking at the earth. From one
perspective, the earth is not a living thing, but merely a resource to be
exploited, raped, pillaged and controlled in the service of humanity. This
is the leading paradigm of our time. We see the earth and all non human
life, as not only separate from us, but as deserving none of the same rights
as us humans. This indifference helps to justify ecogenocide, mass global
species extinction, ecosystem destruction, pollution, climate change and the
list goes on.

The second view is of the earth as our mother. In which she is seen as the
provider and source of all life, to be cherished and respected. In many
quarters this perspective is gaining momentum, but unfortunately not quickly
enough. This leads Annie to present a third perspective.

To see the earth as lover, not simply something to love and cherish, respect
and take care of, but to find pleasure within, something to be passionate
about and something to fight for. A revolution without sex isn't going to
get very far, she says.

Some of Annie's recent performance pieces have included marriage ceremonies
between herself, her partner Beth, and the Earth. "Till death brings us
closer together forever" they say. By getting married to the earth, she
publicly and formally commits herself to the planet, just as one would their
spouse. Not only were the ceremonies unique, creative and eco-friendly, but
it gave her and her friends and family an opportunity to develop a deeper
connection with each other and the planet. She notes that ever since her
marriage to the Earth she has been fully faithful to the environment. They
have also married the moon, sky and the ocean, in separate unique
ceremonies.

For the final comment of the lecture I raised my hand and made a provocative
statement. I said: "But we are all nature, we are the earth!" The reason we
are having this discussion about ecosex is because our society has displaced
humanity from nature and placed us above it. We view sex between two human
animals as somehow unnatural, something other than what it is, because we
view ourselves as something other than what we are. In essence, all sex is
ecosex.

Perhaps you may be unwilling to think of your relationship between the Earth
as sexual, but how about sensual? If so, what's the difference? If you are
to think of yourself as one with the earth, the line between sexuality and
sensuality rapidly vanishes. What's the difference between the physical
sensation you get from being under a waterfall, or watching a beautiful
sunset, eating a delicious fruit and the sensations you receive from your
partner? A gust of wind or a gentle breathe of air from your lover? Just the
other day my roommate kissed a girl in a tree! I'm sure we all know that
schoolyard jingle.

Now that the majority of the earth's people live in urban settings, divorced
from nature, they may find it hard to identify with the idea of the earth as
lover. But growing up in the country, I would say that I have had a lot more
opportunities to experiment with nature, which might explain my more open,
liberal attitudes towards ecosexuality.

Should one be embarrassed or ashamed to be an ecosexual? Why are
'treehugger' or 'nature lover' derogatory terms? Annie told me after the
lecture that it is time that we ecosexuals unite and fight for what we love.
So here I go..I am proud to be an ecosexual, and I encouraged all of you
ecosexuals to 'come out of the forest' with me!

pareto2080: The Return of Pareto

by Susan Koswan

Treehuggers. 

The 80/20 Rule. 

One long weekend... 

 <http://www.volumesdirect.com> www.volumesdirect.com or
<mailto:dandelion at gto.net> dandelion at gto.net 

In Waterloo Region bookstores and libraries. Now on Kindle!
<http://www.amazon.com> www.amazon.com

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