Jaclyn Friedman, Jessica Valenti: CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape

Description:
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

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.

About Your Editors

Jaclyn Friedman

Jaclyn Friedman is a queer Jewish writer, performer and activist. In her work as the Program Director for the Center for New Words she produces 50 plus events per year, including author discussions, writing workshops, open mics, political discussions, music concerts, book groups and special  events.  She is Co-Founder and Co-Chair of WAM!,  CNW's conference on Women, Action & the Media. Friedman's work has been published in many outlets including Bitch, AlterNet, Women's eNews, PW.org. She performs and agitates with Big Moves, a national size-diverse dance and performance troupe. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College and has received a 2001 Cambridge Poetry Award, a 2004 Somerville Arts Council Artist Grant, and a recent fellowship from the Vermont  Studio Center.

Jessica Valenti

Jessica Valenti, 29, is the founder and Executive Editor of Feministing.com and the author of Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman's Guide to Why Feminist Matters. Jessica has a Masters degree in Women's and Gender Studies from Rutgers University and has worked with national and international women's organizations, including Planned Parenthood, NARAL Pro-Choice America and the Women's Environment and Development Organization. She is also a co-founder of the REAL hot 100, a campaign that aims to change the perception of younger women in the media, and a contributing author to We Don't Need Another Wave and Single State of the Union.