Last week we selected four documentaries to help you set the stage and understand the influences— from money and power to media and politics— that are negatively impacting our culture of intimacy and wellbeing. (Catch up on last week here!)

This week, we’re gonna give a shoutout to a few changemakers who are on the road to helping us create a healthier culture and conversation surrounding these topics.  There are far too many to fit on one list, but here are a few to start with. 

#TV #SERIES #NETFLIX #NSFW

Love & Sex — a series by CNN, streaming on Netflix  

I really enjoy this show. The host is great, she has no filter, and it has great examples of how language and communication, both verbal and non-verbal, play a huge role in shaping people’s views and behaviors. 

Last week the documentaries largely focused on the culture in the US, which, for better or worse, through media has managed to have negative consequences all around the world through its profound influence. However, obviously other cultures around the world still have very different values, education systems, and taboos than the US. Therefore, with this series, we can begin to learn more about a wide range of other cultures – and conversations surrounding "Love & Sex"! Starting in the cities of Tokyo, Delhi, Beirut, Berlin, Accra, and Shanghai.

I like to download it on my phone to watch on airplane rides, but you might want to be warned that it's NSFW, and perhaps not for airplane rides either, depending on your level of comfort. I'm ok with it simply because it can never get more awkward than the time I unknowingly started watching the opening scene of Y Tu Mamá También (aka what must be one of the most explicit sex scenes of any non-pornographic movie) in the middle seat of an airplane, on a large screen laptop. 

#MAGAZINE #MEDIA #BAYAREA
Anxy Mag

Anxy is a print magazine about “our inner worlds—the ones we often refuse to share, the personal struggles, the fears that fool us into believing that the rest of the world is normal and we’re not.” Check out their first four issues they have published so far: Anger, Workaholism, Boundaries, and Masculinity.

#FILM #MEDIA #BAYAREA

In last week’s book club we gave you two films- Miss Representation, about feminism, and The Mask You Live In, on masculinity- both produced by The Representation Project. Jennifer Siebel Newsom is a filmmaker, CEO, advocate, thought leader, and the founder of The Representation Project, which is based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The goal of the foundation is to use film and media as a catalyst for cultural transformation; to inspire individuals and communities to challenge limiting gender stereotypes and to shift norms.

#WORKSHOPS #EDUCATION #LA

LOOM

“From periods to parenting” Loom in Los Angeles offers workshops covering the sexual, reproductive, and parenting spectrum.