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The Woodhull Freedom Foundation's sex-positive mission, to affirm sexual freedom as a fundamental human right, goes international next week when its board member, author and Good Vibrations Staff Sexologist and Chief Cultural Advisor, Dr. Carol Queen, visits Oxford as a guest of the Oxford Union Debating Society.
Invited to speak "in proposition" on a team of four notable sex-positive feminists, Queen will address the topic of the evening, "This House Believes That Promiscuity Is A Virtue Not A Vice," on Thursday evening, February 18, at the Oxford Union's historic debating hall. Joining her will be Good Vibrations founder Joani Blank, MA, MPH, Hite Report author Shere Hite, and former stripper and artist Stella Vine. Opposing this team (and the very notion of promiscuity) will be US authors Inga Muscio and Wendy Shalit (whom Dr. Queen has debated before, upon the release of Shalit's book A Return to Modesty in 1999), as well as the Right Reverend Andrew Burnham, Anglican Bishop of Ebbsfleet.
Full details about Oxford Union and this debate can be found below. The debate will be videorecorded by Oxford Union's media team and Queen has received permission to rebroadcast it at a date TBA.
Dr. Carol Queen began working at Good Vibrations in 1990 when she was still working on her doctorate in sexology, the academic study of human sexuality. She is an award-winning author and editor of essays, sexual self-help, opinion, and erotica, with eleven books in print (including her essay collection Real Live Nude Girl: Chronicles of Sex-Positive Culture; the Lambda Literary Award-winning PoMoSexuals; the Firecracker Alternative Book Award-winning The Leather Daddy and the Femme; and Exhibitionism for the Shy, currently in press in a revised and expanded second edition). Dr. Queen speaks widely on behalf of Good Vibrations, and frequently serves as an expert lecturer about sexuality at colleges, universities, and academic and community-based conferences; as a media commentator on television and in film documentaries; and as an expert witness in legal cases having to do with sexuality.
Dr. Queen is co-founder and executive director of the Center for Sex & Culture in San Francisco, which offers sex education classes and workshops to people of diverse sexual interests; maintains a library and archive; presents cultural events on a regular basis; and supports community-based and academic research about human sexuality. CSC is the originator of the live Masturbate-a-Thon, held annually in May as an educational, consciousness-raising event and major fundraiser for the nonprofit. Journalists and others who would like to be on CSC's email press list can contact Dr. Queen at carol@sexandculture.org for inclusion.
Dr. Queen serves on the board of directors of the Woodhull Freedom Foundation, whose mission is to affirm sexual freedom as a fundamental human right. (www.woodhullfoundation.org). Named after nineteenth-century feminist icon Victoria Woodhull, free love advocate and first female candidate for president of the United States, WFF is a national organization based in Washington DC which monitors legislation, sponsors informational events about sexuality, and liaises with other organizations working to advocate in varying locales and contexts for sexual freedom.
To join Woodhull's press list please contact Ricci Levy.
ABOUT THE OXFORD UNION DEBATE:
Phone: +44 (0)1865 241353
Fax: +44 (0)1865 250092
E-Mail: enquiries@oxford-union.org
This House Believes That Promiscuity Is A Virtue Not A Vice
19th Feb 2009 8:30pm
In Proposition:
DR SHERE HITE is an American-born German feminist and sexologist whose research focuses primarily on the female sexual experience, in particular our understanding of and social attitudes towards it. Her works include the acclaimed "Hite Report on Female Sexuality" and "Sexual Honesty, by women, for women". Hite is sure to bring her substantial research experience (Hite's research utilises studies of individual sexual experiences) to bear on this debate.
CAROL QUEEN is an American author, editor and sexologist, and a leading figure in the sex-positive feminism movement. Through her writing, videos and public speaking engagements, Queen's practical advice and sense of enthusiasm for sex has reached tens of millions worldwide. The success of her book "Real Live Nude Girl: Chronicles of Sex-Positive Culture" is testament to the popularity of her message.
STELLA VINE is an artist and ex-stripper, who is most famous for her portraits of Kate Moss and Princess Diana. She has her own gallery in Soho and her paintings have been bought by the likes of George Michael and Charles Saatchi.
JOANI BLANK knows a lot about sex. Hailing from Oakland, California, she is an entrepreneur, editor, writer, educator and inventor of all things sexual. Her interest in this field has been expressed in numerous fields. She founded Down There Press, a publisher of sex-related books and opened Good Vibrations, a woman-oriented sex toy business. Having invented the Butterfly Vibrator and served on the Board of Directors of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, she is more than qualified to elaborate on the wonders of sexual adventure.
In Opposition:
WENDY SHALIT is an American author who sees promiscuity as a vice rather than a means of female liberation and empowerment. Her writings include "A Return to Modesty: Discovering the Lost Virtue" (1999) and "Girls Gone Mild: Young Women Reclaim Self-Respect" (2007). She is sure to make a strong case for exercising restraint in sexual activity.
THE BISHOP OF EBBSFLEET, the Right Reverend Andrew Burnham, is a bishop who fulfils the role of a provincial Episcopal visitor for the whole of the Anglican Province of Canterbury. The position was created in 1994 and has been held by Andrew Burnham since 2000. We look forward to his staunch defense of chastity grounded in the teachings of the Christian faith.
INGA MUSCIO, feminist and public speaker, is the author of the widely acclaimed "Cunt: A Declaration of Independence". Through her writings, she seeks to promote a woman-positive society. We look forward to her sharing her strongly held opinions on womanhood with us in this debate.
The Woodhull Freedom Foundation
Affirming Sexual Freedom as a Fundamental Human Right
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