CLAGS Presents: Racialized Erotics of Pleasure in Leather

Leathersex is always racialized. For leatherpeople of color, the performative nature of leathersex can open up space for, ”not only playing with race, but demonstrating the play of race – how we play race and even how race plays us” (Cruz 2016). Mama Vi Johnson knows this well. She has long advocated for what Ariane Cruz might call a “politics of perversion” when writing about Black radical pleasure in leathersex. Through both her writing on leathersex and her experiences in M/s dynamics, Johnson embodies the “play of race” in her life and kinship. Cruz draws on Johnson in her scholarship to help her understand the “contradictory dynamics of racialized pleasure and power via the eroticization of racism and racial alterity,” particularly as they relate to Black female sexuality. 

This is a hybrid event. Ariane Cruz and Johnson will participate in a virtual dialogue, with an in-person screening at the CUNY Graduate Center. After the virtual dialogue, leatherperson and artist Ze R. will moderate an open discussion with in-person attendees, centering BIPOC queer and leather people.

RSVP:

RSVP is required for in-person and virtual attendance. Tell your friends, students, study group members, Doms, subs, pups, kittens, toys, Mommies, and Daddies and invite them all to join. In-person capacity is limited, so please arrive early! 

ACCESSIBILITY: 

• There is a ramp and electric door to enter the building. There are wheelchair accessible bathrooms on every floor.
• Only some bathrooms are gender neutral. 
• Microphones and a sound system will project audio for in-person attendees.
• ASL interpretation will be provided for all attendees (in-person and virtual). Live captioning will also be available on our virtual livestream. 
• Chair and floor seating will be available, as well as space to stand. Chairs will be moveable and have backs. 
• Wearing masks is encouraged. Attendees are also encouraged to test beforehand and stay home if they are feeling unwell. 

ABOUT THE SERIES:

This event is part of Power of Leather, a series of in-person dialogues, interactive performances, and community events exploring leathersex, sadomasochism, and leather culture. The series is presented by CLAGS: The Center for LGBTQ Studies at CUNY, and organized by Laura Westengard and Kassandra Sparks. 

You can find the full lineup here.

BETWEEN LEATHER & ACADEMIA: 

These events straddle two worlds that are often kept separate, despite their many unspoken overlaps: the leather community and academia. Our goal is to create a space that is welcoming to those with experience in academia, leather and queer communities, or all of the above.

• If you are a leather or queer person with little (or no) experience in academic settings, we hope these events offer you a different forum to discuss leather culture. We will do our best to keep language accessible, and we invite you to ask questions and/or participate in discussions.
• If you are an academic or student with little (or no) exposure to leather culture, we hope these events introduce you to new frameworks for understanding queerness, queer publics, identity, and desire. We will do our best to flag explicit or controversial conversations. We encourage you to sit with discomfort that might arise and remain curious about it. 

SPEAKER BIOS: 

Ariane Cruz is an Associate Professor in the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the Pennsylvania State University.  She holds a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in African Diaspora Studies with a Designated Emphasis in Women, Gender, and Sexuality.  Her manuscript, The Color of Kink: Black Women, BDSM, and Pornography is published with New York University Press. Her publications appear in journals such as differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies, Camera Obscura, Feminist Studies, Hypatia, Women & Performance, Sexualities, The Journal of American Studies, The Black Scholar, and Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture, and Society, and Syndicate. Her writing also appears books such as The Feminist Porn Book: The Politics of Producing Pleasure, Black Female Sexualities, The Philosophy of Pornography: Contemporary Perspectives, Black Sexual Economies: Race and Sex in a Culture of Capital, and Women’s Lives, Multicultural Perspectives. 

Viola Johnson affectionately known as Mama Vi, is a leatherwoman, activist, motivational speaker and author who has been active in the leather BDSM scene for well over four decades. Mama Vi is a firm believer in preserving leather history. She has served as a mentor to countless individuals, and was dubbed "Mom" by several generations of Leathermen and women, and is delighted to now be “Grandmom” and Great Grandmom to a whole new generation of “kinklings”. Mama Vi is the wife of the first Black International Ms Leather, Jill Carter, IMsL1996. They have been together 50 years.

Ze R. is a writer, performance artist, sexual anarchist, and pleasure activist whose philosophy of subjectivity and individualism is threaded in all of their work. Provocation, eccentricity, and erotic neurosis are shown through visual representation. Ze performs in text, film, and via chanting rituals in the music duo Zoid^ and is a part of the Kink Out team. New work: performance installation called Daymares. @ze.royale

If you have any questions or need any support, email us at info@clags.org.