The Lesbian Wall

Photo taken from topnews.in
By: Chris Valletta

In Pat Califia's book "Public Sex: The Culture of Radical Sex", she discusses breaking the boundaries of sexual discussion in her time. She describes this time as "fuming and fussing about sexual repression and censorship, bragging about my search for an ever more forbidden way to have an orgasm" (pg. 11). As one can deduce, Califia touches upon the repression of sex, illustrating an orgasm as an almost secretive desire. Califia identifies herself as a sex radical, where she is both defiant and deviant. She has understood that there is something that is not right about the way sex is talked about in our society. She also notes the fact that society seems to turn all sexual matters into an issue of morality.

Califia takes us through her initial stage of writing about lesbian sex. She was tired of what she heard and wanted to take a stand. She was tired of hearing that people like her did not exist; yet she had these very feelings that people condemned. In regards to pornography, people around the United States have condemned it. On the other hand, Califia see's pornography as a problem simply because there is not enough of it. In her writing, Califia focuses on lesbian sex as a way that two women could give pleasure to each other, rather than just another paradigm of a female relationship. Lesbians were not given their due in the public sphere, and it was time for someone to step up and show the world who they really were.

Califia describes here fellow lesbians as not wanting to be directed away from new ideas for sexual pleasures. Lesbians clearly want to explore their sexual options, trying to enhance their fun and to make it less scary for them. Another important fact Califia notes is that contrary to popular belief, no lesbians are all the same and there is no average lesbian. Most often the diverse community of lesbians is left out of the picture, due to the writers ashamed attitude of portraying these individuals in our society. This leaves us with no room for advancement and assimilation of lesbian culture into society as a whole.

Califia also looks to examine why sex is talked about in society with such secrecy and shamefulness. She compares sexual talk to almost that of speaking of a disease, such as cancer, where no one wants to acknowledge that fact. It is not an option in this society to even come close to celebrate the natural act of sex itself. In regards to homosexual activity, it is ironic that the pleasure of this cannot be spoken of, for it was this very pleasure that spread HIV to so many of its participants. These people don't even have a chance to describe anything good about this pleasure; rather they are forced to deal with the negative and deadly impact of HIV. As a result, Califia believes "this hypocrisy and prissiness robs the gay press of much of its old feistiness, earthiness, and power to rock the world" (pg. 21). This has kept gays down in society, but working together through adversity and breaking barriers one step at a time will eventually lead to its dismantle.

The most interesting part of Califia's book came with her analysis of the relationship between gays and drugs. These two entities actually go hand in hand, because drugs can help ease the pain of being different. Drugs, in fact may even help ease the pain of being different, even more than an orgasm. However, there has never been a gay civil-rights organization that has done anything for drug prevention. It seems as though we don't want to take responsibility for our own pleasures, as this illustrates, which appears to be a trend among all of our desires. The gay community is guilty of being queer as a result of our society and the propaganda that comes along with it, which in effect has kept a seemingly impenetrable barrier.