Hello and happy February!
I know Valentine's Day is a controversial holiday. Between the consumerism, heteronormativity, and monoganormativity, what's not to hate? But personally, I love Valentine's Day because I love making valentines cards, wearing pink/red for a change (normally I'm all neutrals all the time), and eating loads of chocolate. I choose to ignore the nauseating aspects of the holiday in favor of reclaiming it as a fun, sugary, not-too-serious break from the dreariness of winter. So here's a shout out to all the local folks organizing queer, DIY, and feminist Valentine's events this month. Thank you for helping to reclaim Valentine's Day!
This newsletter is supported by donations. You can donate via Venmo to @Nicole-Mazzeo-1 to help cover the costs of putting this out every month. Thank you to everyone who has contributed!!
Also a big thank you to our February Community Partner Sponsor, New England Leather Alliance (aka NELA), for their support!
With pleasure,
Nicole Mazzeo
pleasurepie.org
P.S. As always, you can give feedback here.
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Local Sexuality-Related Events
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Thurs. 2/6: TRANS: Bridging the Gap: Straight Black Men & Trans Women of Color
7:00 pm / VietAID (Boston) / Free!
A dinner that aims to promote positive coexistence between straight Black men and trans women of color. There will be mythbusting, icebreakers, and small group conversations.
2/6, 13, 20, & 27: MEN: Feminism for Men Small Group Gatherings
6:30 pm / First Church Boston / Free!
A series of four gatherings for men who want to delve deeper into understanding feminism. Open to anyone that was raised male and/or currently identifies as a man.
2/6-3/1: FEMINIST: Gloria: A Life
OBERON (Cambridge) / $25
A play about the life of the famous feminist activist Gloria Steinem.
Sat. 2/8: WOMEN: From Madness to Mindfulness: Reinventing Sex for Women
3:00 pm / Good Vibrations (Brookline) / Free!
A book talk on how women can empower themselves to feel more worthy of love and great sex (and then have it!).
Sun. 2/9: LOCAL: The Luv Buzz Sip & Shop Market
10:30 am - 4:30 pm / ONCE (Somerville) / Free!
A sip and shop event with over 30 local vendors selling vintage and handmade items. Featuring a Pleasure Pie table of sex-positive zines and art, an Athena's pleasure products table, and a taco bar!
Sun. 2/9: LGBTQ: The BIG Gay Valentine Market
12:00 - 6:00 pm / Blend (Dorchester) / Free!
A valentine's market featuring 40 LGBTQ makers, designers, and vintage dealers. Plus special drag performances, card making booth, and cocktails!
Sun. 2/9: POLY: Family Tree Monthly Poly Discussion
3:45 pm / Arlington / Free!
Join local polyamorous folks for schmoozing, snacks, and a discussion.
Sun. 2/9: BURLESQUE: Power to Be: Celebrating Women of Color
7:00 pm / OBERON (Cambridge) / $10-20
A burlesque show featuring performers of color to celebrate the diverse burlesque community.
Mon. 2/10: SEX-ED: Tomfoolery at the Brewery
6:00 pm / Dorchester Brewing Company / Free!
A discussion on orgasms, communication, dating, and gender over beers. Plus condom grams and valentines making!
Mon. 2/10: FEMINIST: Navigating Gender & Money
6:00 pm / Rebel Rebel (Somerville) / $30
A workshop on the gender pay gap, student loan debt, budgeting, investing, and more. Geared toward women, non-binary folks, and LGBTQ+ folks.
Tues. 2/11: BDSM: Rope Bondage 101
7:30 pm / Out of the Blue Too (Boston) / $15
Learn the fundamentals of tying rope on your partner or yourself, and bondage safety. Pre-registration required.
Wed. 2/12: PLEASURE: Naughty Girls Nite Out
6:30 pm / Somerville Brewing Co / $25
An introduction to sex toys and recreational cannabis, featuring giveaways, light bites, and a complimentary beer.
Thurs. 2/13: DRAG: Heartbreakers & Heartthrobs: A Drag King Valentine's Day
7:30 pm / Museum of Science / $15-20
Celebrate the most heteronormative holiday of all with a romantic one-night-only drag king show!
2/14-16: KINKY: Fetish Fair Fleamarket
Warwick, RI / $20-70
The largest fetish event in New England, bringing together nearly a hundred top vendors, craftspeople, and local community groups, dozens of presenters, and 3,000 attendees.
Sat. 2/15: BDSM: SinOmatic
10:00 pm / Machine (Boston) / $10-15
This long-running kinky fetish night is coming to an end! This will be the last SinOmatic, so if you've been wanting to go, now's the time.
Sun. 2/16: KINKY: Boston Kinky People of Color Munch
6:00 pm / Boston / Free!
You'll never be the only POC at the Boston Kinky People of Color Munch!
Sun. 2/16: FEMINIST: BLOWW: Nether Regionals 2020
7:00 pm / ONCE (Somerville) / $20-30
The Boston League of Wicked Wrestlers is here to show you what empowered queer consensual skin to skin punchies look like. Featuring wrestling, drag, and altruism (proceeds go to Youth on Fire, a drop-in center for homeless and street-involved youth).
Tues. 2/18: PLEASURE: Full Body Fellatio – More than just a Mouthful!
7:30 pm / Good Vibrations (Brookline) / $30
There’s more to sex than just “Tab A into Slot B”… and there’s more to fellatio than deep-throating! This workshop will explain how to use full-body sensations to enhance the blowjob experience.
Wed. 2/19: LGBTQ: Queer Secrets of the MFA
6:15 pm / Museum of Fine Arts / $17-30
A two hour tour of the MFA exposing all the queerness you never knew was there.
Wed. 2/19: KINKY: CineKink: Boston - the kinky film festival!
7:30 pm / Somerville Theater / $8-11
An evening of films that celebrate and explore a wide diversity of sexuality. Films range from mildly spicy to quite explicit.
Wed. 2/19: PLEASURE: Hitting the Hot Spots: G-Spot & Prostate Play For All!
7:30 pm / Good Vibrations (Brookline) / $30 (sliding scale available)
A multi-gender, all-body class about how to find & stimulate sexual hot spots, as well as how to explore different kinds of orgasms.
Fri. 2/21: PLEASURE: Love at Fist Sight: Fisting 101
7:30 pm / Good Vibrations (Cambridge) / Free!
A mini lesson on how to explore the world of fisting (both vaginal and anal).
Fri. 2/21: PARTY: Houseboi
10:00 pm / OBERON (Cambridge) / $10
Boston’s original genderqueer dance party for humans (and their friends) featuring friendly dancing people, great music, and spectacular gender-bending drag and burlesque performances.
Fr. 2/21: TALK: Women's Center Symposium: Sex & Accessibility
12:00 pm / Tufts University (Medford)
The theme of the Tufts Women's Center's 9th annual Gender & Culture Symposium will be Sex & Accessibility. Featuring keynote speaker Andrew Gurza. Andrew, an award winning disability awareness advocate.
Sat. 2/22: NUDE: Naked! Saturday Afternoon Yoga
2:00 pm / Charlestown / $15-30
A clothing-free Vinyasa yoga class followed by a relaxing meditation. All levels and genders welcome.
Sat. 2/22: BURLESQUE: Get You A Babe Who Can Do Both
6:30 pm / OBERON (Cambridge) / $20-30
A night of five-minute lightning talks and live burlesque — by the same people — proving that you can be both a sexual object and an intellectual.
Sat. 2/22: COMEDY: Awkward Sex...and the City
9:30 pm / The Rockwell (Somerville) / 15
A night of comedic storytellers reliving their most embarrassing sexual experiences on stage.
Sun. 2/23 & Thurs. 2/27: BURLESQUE: Can You Feel Me Now?
7:30 pm / OBERON (Cambridge) / $25
A Britney Spears themed burlesque show!
Tues. 2/25: TALK: Breaking the Cycle of Shame: A Reproductive Justice Forum
6:30 pm / Framingham Public Library / Free!
A conversation about the reproductive challenges that people with vulvas from adolescence to adulthood, and some of the current legislation aimed at addressing these challenges. Registration recommended.
Wed. 2/26: KINKY: February Book Club: “The Fifth Season”
7:00 pm / Cambridge / Cost of food
This month's kinky book club will be discussing The Fifth Season, a novel that deals with themes like power, gender identity and sexuality.
Thurs. 2/27: RELATIONSHIPS: Race and Polyamory
7:30 pm / Good Vibrations (Brookline) / $10
A place to brainstorm ways to make the polyamorous community more racially inclusive.
Fri. 2/28: PLEASURE: Hot Sex, Period!
7:00 pm / Good Vibrations (Cambridge) / Free!
A mini lesson on how to enjoy sex while on the rag.
Sat. 2/29: POLY: Coffee & CatFest 2020 with Polyam Collaborative Community of NE
12:30 pm / Lowell / $5-12
Join your local polyamorous collective to attend a cat video festival! There will be a time to get coffee together before the festival. Kids are welcome.
Sat. 2/29: LESBIAN: Lit Libations - "Honeypot: Black Southern Women Who Love Women"
5:30 pm / Soleil (Boston) / Free!
The Lesbians of Color Symposium (LOCS) is launching a book club to ignite thought-provoking conversations that foster community and connectedness.
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The Fetish Fair Fleamarket® is an internationally-known and well-respected semi-annual event with presenters and attendees from around the world. The Winter Flea is the largest leather/fetish event in New England, bringing together over 100 vendors and presenters for a weekend of classes, shopping, socializing, and skills sharpening with 3,000+ of your kinkiest friends.
Sponsored event
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These events aren't related to sexuality, but they looked so great that we couldn't NOT recommend them.
Sun. 2/9: COMMUNITY: 12th Annual Souper Bowl
2:00 - 6:00 pm / Haley House / $40
Haley House is back with their annual Souper Bowl to raise funds for their food pantry, soup kitchen, and live-in community. Enjoy soups made from locally sourced ingredients by over a dozen phenomenal chefs, and go home with a handcrafted ceramic bowl.
Mon. 2/24: RACE: Professionals of Color Career Summit
10:00 am - 4:00 pm / Boston Marriott Copley Place / Free!
A day of networking, empowerment, and insights from world-class professionals in Boston’s diverse workforce.
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Community Partner Spotlight
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New England Leather Alliance (NELA) was founded in 1991 to support practitioners of kink, s/m, leather, and fetish lifestyles through education, advocacy, and charitable giving. They rely solely on volunteers to manage the organization and run our events and would love for you to join them!
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Jobs in the Sexuality Field
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Boston Area Rape Crisis Center offers free counseling for people who have been sexually assaulted (and their loved ones).
The Network / La Red provides support for people experiencing relationship abuse.
Planned Parenthood's Sexual Health Counseling & Referral hotline is 877-686- 5772, option #3.
Fenway Health offers walk-in STI testing on Wednesdays.
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Harbor Health Services offers free walk-in HIV & Hep C testing on Wednesdays and Thursdays in Dorchester.
The Sexual Freedom Legal Defense and Education Fund helps people with alternative sexual lifestyles.
Here's a list of culturally competent local resources for LGBTQ survivors.
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Call for Workshops: The Woodhull Sexual Freedom Summit is seeking proposals for their 2020 conference, which will be on August 6-9 in Alexandria, Virginia. It's not local, but people attend from all over the country, and it's a good place to connect with sexuality professionals.
Want to support this newsletter? You can make a donation to Pleasure Pie here. Donations start at $1 a month. There are perks!
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