The Eloquent in the Room

Interview with Phoebe Dorin PART 2! As promised here's part two of this fabulously intimate discussion about religion, spirituality, sexuality, gender roles, sexual objectification....oh and yes, and how it dawned on Phoebe a couple of years ago, that she was raised in  RELIGIOUS CULT.   It's hard to sum our interview up in a few words, but let's just say we GO THERE (and there and there and over there). Make sure you check out her podcasts, "Sexuality After..." and "My Messy Lessons". And do follow me on Instagram...It's fun. I've even been partying in my birthday suit this week. 

Phoebe Dorin is a relationship and sexuality coach; a podcaster, and a couple of years ago, she fully realised that the strict religious family she grew up with was actually part of a CULT - which goes by several different names (which members are meant to keep a secret). We swapped notes about how our vastly different childhoods shaped us – but it's fascinating how our similarly curious natures, lead us both away from becoming terminally sexually repressed! We chatted for nearly three hours, I crammed the best bits into 2x1 Hour eps. We continually weave in and out of the hot topics of sex and spirituality. Organised religion and The Patriarchy, are virtually interchangeable when discussing the suppression of women generally, but when diverse women get together to talk, we discover we all possess an innate spirituality - which has a 'twin' connection to our primal, unfettered and unapologetic humanity. Who knows, maybe mere mortals can be 'saved' after all - we just need to find the light within.  Part Two drops July 9. Want to learn more about how to be a better Intersectional Feminist? (this means you too, guys) Follow Evelyn Nam here: @herspectivefeminism  

Welcome Back to the Vent Tent.  We vent, we rant, we groan and moan. And have a few laughs as well. In Part 2 we get to the meat and two veg of it all. Ginny shares some godawful encounters she's experienced on Instagram, being harrassed, and how it has affected her sense of personal freedom and autonomy on her Instagram page @mydisabledsexlife. We also touch on her history with her disabilities, and the medical gaslighting she's encountered. Along the way we both ponder the many ways in which society has become desensitised to what constitutes normal, average, civilised behaviour between sweaty, self-absorbed men and young women on social media. Here's a clue lads: stop sending dick pix. Stop expecting people to respond to your rude advances. As they say in the UK, SOD OFF!  

Meet "Ginny" from @mydisabledsexlife on Instagram. She's a 25 year old, bi-queer, disabled ball of love, wisdom and humour from the UK. She has Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS), Osteo-arthritis, Depression, Anxiety and is Chronically CUTE. I met her on Instagram shortly after she launched her page and I've watched her blossom over the past year. We've been wanting to chat for AGES and finally got together earlier this week when she was needing to have a very big VENT about the level of harrassment she deals with online. As it's PRIDE MONTH, we lead with that fact in this ep - as well learning about her journey to becoming an Insta Goddess. We also talk about our parallel journey towards embracing and embodying intersectional feminism. This chat made me confront my internalised ableism in a much more tangible way - both as an able bodied human and as a person who has mental health issues. If you're not already following her, then maybe you should! And follow all the accounts that Ginny mentions in the podcast!  Stay tuned for Part 2 next FRIDAY! 

It's a Story from the Vault! #6 In 2012, I wrote an article about the tragic farce that is Reality TV. Little did I know just how much worse things would get. The most recent season of Married At First Sight was, by anyone's estimation, an abomination of gross negligence towards the people to whom they had promised a happily ever after. Where was the duty of care? Reality TV is toxic. I don't go into the sordid details about the actual scandals (for that stuff check out the So Dramatic Podcast). I'm not here to share salacious gossip. Instead I'm here confess some details about my short stint as a tabloid journalist and to put shit on the giant pile of shit show that is all reality tv. It's crazy to witness what's happening now and compare it with that which was portrayed in the portentious film NETWORK 1976. This article not only stands up all these years later - it's got me fired up all over again. Let's all get mad as hell! This episode features MY NEW TUNE! "Everybody" by The Eloquent in the Room (c) 2021. That's the video link - HAVE I MENTIONED I HAVE A NEW SONG OUT? It's available on Spotify, itunes and all the streaming services.  GOOD VALUE 'REALITY' PODCASTS:  Behind the Bastards My Year in Mensa WTF with Marc Maron John Safran's Race Relations is available on iTunes NETWORK can be streamed in Australia on STAN        

Adulting Consent...Part 7 Did you hear the one about the Australian Government's Consent Education Program? If only it was funny. Coincidentally this week I have a deep and far reaching conversation with Cheryl M Bradshaw - a Canadian author and psychotherapist who has written critically acclaimed books such as "Real Talk About Sex and Consent." Distributing her book and screening her Youtube Seminars in schools could have saved the Australian Government a shitload of money. But where would the fun of all international ridicule be in that? It's going to be one of the great ironies of our time that this absolute debacle, masquerading as a Consent Education Program for teens could have sparked the most invigorating and productive debate on the topic yet. Not the least of which, I hasten to add, is contained in this THIS EPISODE! LINKS MENTIONED: CHERYL'S TEDx TALK Cheryl's Website. Cheryl's Youtube Mr Weinstein Will See You Now Who is Chanel Contos? Getting Past Your Past and here's my SONG LINK! 

This week's podcast had to be rescheduled for April 13 and, as it's absolutely going to be the most important podcast interview I'll have recorded to date - it deserved a trailer!     (teeny soundbite included from this Channel Nine Interview)

(Adulting Consent P6) Ok, so far in this series we've explored the concept of 'pleasure-forward' conversations around consent (Interview with "Wheel of Consent" founder, Betty Martin - Eps 11&12) AND we've had a titilating conversation with Wyoh Lee (eps 16/17/18) about communicating boundaries with lovers, within the framework of BDSM (which provides a surprisingly straightforward template for all consent discussions, even in vanilla sex)  which is all well and good for those of us who are old enough to know better (but still young enough to enjoy a robust sex life) but what about our children? What are we teaching them about consent and boundaries?  Perhaps a better question to ask, is how would you, as a parent, like this topic to be raised to your children. Let me present Exhibit A - Comprehensive Consent. After listening to this interview with Sarah about her programs, and checking out her website, you might like to recommend this approach where YOUR children go to school. Or your grandchildren. It takes a global village to raise self-aware people!