Poly Planet GAIA | ecosexual love | arts of loving | global holistic health | eros | dissidence

Monday, February 7, 2011

3 of 9: Bisexuality, Gaia, Eros: Portals to the Arts of Loving - Preview



"Bisexuality, Gaia, Eros: Portals to the Arts of Loving"

BiReCon: Selected Proceedings from the 2010 Int'l Bisexual Research Conference

Serena Anderlini-D'Onofrio, PhD, Keynote Speaker


Pert 1 - Preamble: Manifesting Bisexuality, Cont'd

The idea of a portal is useful to allude to the socially transformative potential of a certain subcultural group or community.  In my view, bisexuality is strong with this potential when it comes in conjunction with other healthy, fun, cheerful styles of erotic expression that enhance imaginativeness and creativity.  In many ways the conference confirmed this for me.  The Renaissance festive tradition was mentioned in relation to bisexual readings of Shakespeare.[1]  Styles of erotic expression one could observe at BiCon included cross-dressing, gothic, naturism, gender-queer, polyamory, mild BDSM, and others.  Research presented alluded to the need to define styles of love beyond merely functional sexual activity, especially among young people.[2]  In these and many other similar contexts bisexuality is liberating because it makes erotic expression more artistic. 

When I claim that love is an art, I don’t mean to deny its other aspects.[3]  Of course love is a need and an instinct.  In that respect, like sex, it is also an appetite and a drive.  The problem is with a culture that considers it primarily as such.  What I propose is infusing new value in love’s artistic quality.  As a bona-fide Italian, it behooves me to compare appetites.  Another well-known human instinct is hunger.  Food is what notoriously satisfies it.  In relation to this appetite, I’d like to call attention to the fact that most people appreciate the art of satisfying one’s hunger in ways that are healthy, sophisticated, diverse, creative, artistic, and respectful of one’s inclinations.  We ask for menus when we eat out.  When cooking is good, we consider it an art.  We call it cuisine!  More to the point, we tend to respect various styles of eating, including gourmet, country, nouvelle cuisine, fusion, ethnic, healthy, macrobiotic, vegetarian, vegan, locavore (for locally grown foods), and many others.  We value sampling various styles and combining them to meet the pleasure and health needs of those involved.  As an advocate of bisexuality, let me offer here the following food for thought.  If we only did the same with the arts of loving, the result would be a society where Eros, the force of love, is considered amicable.  It would be a society where erotophilia is abundant, erotophobia scarce.[4]  It would be, in short, a more loving, fun, and healthier society. 

By comparison, one can easily get a measure of the damage incurred when the artistic aspect of love is neglected.  Let’s pretend for a moment to apply to hunger the same monosexual, monogamous rules currently in use for sexuality.  What if “experts” about that particular appetite prescribed the same food, cooked in the same style, every time one eats, “until death does one part” from life?  How healthy, how loving, would that prescription be?  And, would anybody even mind “parting”?  Yet, when exclusivity is expected of sexual partners in both gender and number, that’s exactly what’s being asked!  Take “fast food” for example.  The “fast food” industry can be described as a response to hunger notoriously devoid of art.  Fast food tends to encourage what may be termed “monovore” behavior because it is purely functional.  Its dangers to the health and happiness of anyone have been recently documented in Super Size Me, a testimonial film about how one can gain 25 pounds in a month from an exclusive diet of Big Macs, plus various conditions leading to obesity, depression, and heart attacks.  Let me propose for a moment that exclusivity in the practice of love could be just as damaging.  If we can entertain that hypothesis, there is a big role to play for bisexuality.  As a portal to a world beyond the homo/hetero divide, bisexuality can produce a culture that breaks away from gender binaries and welcomes erotic love again as a positive energy in human life. 

The challenge is proving this in the current erotophobic cultural climate.  A quick survey of the kind of research on bisexuality that has taken hold in academe in the AIDS era shows that male bisexuality appears mainly in relation to some impending danger, and often in the context of staving off criminalizing attitudes in the medical and other service professions.[5]  Despite good intentions, the results are dubious.  They seem to perpetuate prevailing myths.  One title sounds especially lurid “Secret Encounters: Black Men, Bisexuality, and AIDS in Alabama” (Lichtenstein 1993).  The Journal of Bisexuality has countervailed this, but have its voices been heard outside of bi circles?[6]  Academe tends to provide a secular counterpoint to illiberal impulses from less culturally aware sectors of society, in a mainstream that can be easily manipulated through the media.  A bevy of more current sources on sex-positive cultures is now available from respected scholars who, by their own admission, appreciate these cultures.  They concur in indicating that early third-millennium societies are deeply divided about what sex is, what should be known about it, who should have it, where, when, and with whom.[7]  The rift seems to be between circles where secular values prevail, and social groups organized around institutionalized styles of religion where fundamentalist fears have had their way. 

Secular people today are much more familiar with styles of erotic expression beyond heteronormativity than when I was a kid, in the early 1960s.  In many secular communities, erotophilia has expanded to embrace gay, lesbian, bi, trans, poly, pan, omni, gothic, BDSM, metro, eco, and many other labels people use to describe their styles of sexual expression.  Free form spirituality, tantra, naturism, paganism, and swinging are also fairly erotophilic.  However, erotophobia has also become extreme (Klein 2006).  While in secular circles the AIDS crisis has promoted more awareness of sexual diversity, the same crisis has been manipulated by conservative political forces to wage what civil rights activist Marty Klein calls a full-fledged “war on sex” (Klein 2006).  Can this war be won?  Not as long as “Eros,” the energy of love, is what makes our hostess planet Gaia alive.  Yet the rift is serious and bisexuality seems to fall through the cracks.  When bisexuality becomes the location of aberrant desire in both mainstream public discourse and LGBT institutions, the artistic quality of love becomes invisible and the homo/hetero divide reigns supreme.  If proactive research can undo this positioning, we can get a sense of how practicing love beyond gender can promote health in human communities.  With renewed attention to the artistic quality of love, a holistic notion of sexual health can be articulated too.


[1] McLelland, in this volume.
[2] Ripley, and Anderson, in this volume. 
[3] The idea that love is an art is not new.  My main sources are Ovid (1957), from antiquity, and Fromm (1956), from the Frankfurt School.  It’s a subtext in many other works too.  The good thing about this idea is that it implies that love can be taught and one’s talents make one a good student. 
[4] My main source on erotophobia is Ince, 2003.  Erotophilia was discussed at the conference in relation to in-progress AIB research.  The word comes from Eros, the name of the Greek god of love. 
[5] Examples include Lever and Kanouse 1992, Lichtenstein 2000, Stokes and McKirnan 1993. 
[6] My main sources are Worth (2003) and Miller (2002).
[7] My sources on this rift include Druckerman 2007, Ley 2009, Barash and Lipton 2001, Ince 2003, and Levine 2003.

Read the article as it continues to appear in Poly Planet GAIA.  Section will be posted every three or four days.  Become a follower of the blog and be notified every time a new posting appears. 

Acknowledgment: This piece is pre-published here with permission of Routledge, New York, a division of Taylor and Francis.   


BiReCon | 28 BiCon | 10 ICB
Bisexuality Research Conference, 28th Bisexuality Conference, 10th International Conference on Bisexuality, London, UK, August 26-30, 2010

BiReCon Proceedings: A forthcoming issue of The Journal of Bisexuality

Friday, February 4, 2011

2 of 9: Bisexuality, Gaia, Eros: Portals to the Arts of Loving


"Bisexuality, Gaia, Eros: Portals to the Arts of Loving"

BiReCon: Selected Proceedings from the 2010 Int'l Bisexual Research Conference

Serena Anderlini-D'Onofrio, PhD, Keynote Speaker

Part 1 - Preamble: Manifesting Bisexuality

It was a pleasure and a privilege to be invited to give a keynote address at BiReCon.  As a scholar of bisexuality who comes from the arts and humanities, and as an author who, admittedly, lives her life as an experiment in traversing sexual cultures, I had been waiting for this conference to happen.  I had been wishing and rooting for it.  I had been wondering what was keeping it from happening--was anything wrong in the Bi movement?  When the invitation came I was overjoyed.  It took me a while to secure travel funds and confirm acceptance.  Thanks to Meg Barker, Christina Richards, Regina Reinhardt and others at the American Institute of Bisexuality for making that trip possible.  I prepared to speak of bisexuality as a portal to a world where Eros, the energy of love, is recognized as the force that makes Gaia, the third planet, alive.[1]  My summer plans got organized around the BiReCon/BiCon appointment in London, UK, beginning August 26th, 2010.

As I said, my intention in giving the address was that of presenting bisexuality as a portal to a world of amorous sensibilities beyond the homo/hetero divide.  I consider sexuality the cultural construct of Western modernity that organizes love as a need or an instinct.  I find this to be reductionist.  Love is of course a need and an instinct.  But it’s also, and perhaps most importantly at this time, an art.  The art of loving is what makes all styles of amorous expression fun, playful, and amusing, including hugging, cuddling, spooning, playing with toys, leather and Jacuzzis, gender-bending, sporting sexy outfits, swinging, threesomes, tantric breathing, and a bunch of other activities that are consensual, inventive, spontaneous, romantic, exciting, intimate, and humorous.  These activities keep artists of love in balance with the amorous communities in which they participate.  The art of loving, in my view, is inspired by the energy of Eros that infuses Gaia with life.  Hence my title: “Gaia and the New Politics of Love: Notes for a BI Planet,” which almost coincides with the title of my latest book.  Gaia, for the web of life that sustains our species on the third planet; the New Politics of Love, that places love, the source of life, at the new center of the political stage; all of which bodes well for a Planet that’s getting BI, with useful Notes provided toward that process. 

According to Gaia science, the web of life that sustains our species on the third planet is interconnected.  Our first ancestors, bacteria, are four billion years old.  They have sex with their neighbors to rejuvenate themselves--regardless of gender or reproduction—and to exchange genes.  As artists of love, their behavior is—to say the least—orgiastic.  Yet it has been evolutionarily rewarded!  We humans, the “new kids on the block” among earthly species, have been at war with Gaia now for quite a while--which has resulted in climate change and other assorted environmental disasters.  We could be extinct tomorrow while bacteria are still around.[2]  Why?  There is one simple explanation: Unlike humans, bacteria, our most resilient ancestors, allow the energy of Eros to circulate among them free of needless fears.  Gaia is blue, and green, and white.  It teems with life.  Without our ancestors, it would be as brownish as its neighbors Mars and Venus: A rock where nothing moves.  Given this scientific perspective, there is no reason why human bisexuality should not be the most natural, the healthiest thing on the planet. 

So the idea of a portal seemed fine.  It would open new horizons.  It would resonate with the work of Robyn Ochs, another keynote speaker, whose book, Getting Bi, registers voices of bi people across the planet.  Yet it felt a bit off and perhaps not quite in tune with what was out there in the melee of early third-millennium bisexual life.  After all, I came out in the early 1990s, I’ve organized my personal and professional life largely around bisexuality, and I’ve had plenty of time to select extraneous influxes out of it.  Attendance in BiReCon and BiCon combined provided a unique standpoint to get the pulse of where bisexuality is at in a variety of geo-cultural locations and from the multiple perspectives of research, scholarship, theory, creative expression, advocacy, and community building.  (For insights on those dynamics I refer readers to “BiReCon,” in this volume, a contribution by the organizers.)  The context was perfect for producing knowledge in action.  At the time of this writing, I’ve had a chance to reflect on my own keynote remarks, on the experience of participating in the two events combined, and the process of creating the present volume from contributions thereof.  I choose this as an opportunity to offer the wisdom of what I learned in the process, along with a written elaboration of my keynote remarks.


[1] Gaia is the ancient Greek name for the Earth/fertility goddess central to the matrifocal civilizations of the Neolithic (Gimbutas 1989, 2001).  Thanks to James Lovelock and Gore Vidal, it is now also used in science (1979, 1988). 
[2] My sources in Gaia science are Margulis and Sagan, 1991 and 1997.  Their work as a team shines a significant light on the connections between sexuality, symbiosis, and the evolution of life from bacteria to humans.  It falls within the aegis of Gaia theory, respected yet still controversial in many scientific circles.  I also refer to my own work (2009), and to Lovelock’s classics (1979, 1988, 2001, 2006).
  
Read the article as it continues to appear in Poly Planet GAIA.  Section will be posted every three or four days.  Become a follower of the blog and be notified every time a new posting appears. 

Acknowledgment: This piece is pre-published here with permission of Routledge, New York, a division of Taylor and Francis.   

BiReCon | 28 BiCon | 10 ICB
Bisexuality Research Conference, 28th Bisexuality Conference, 10th International Conference on Bisexuality, London, UK, August 26-30, 2010

BiReCon Proceedings: A forthcoming issue of The Journal of Bisexuality

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

1 of 9: Bisexuality, Gaia, Eros: Portals to the Arts of Loving


"Bisexuality, Gaia, Eros: Portals to the Arts of Loving"

BiReCon: Selected Proceedings from the 2010 Int'l Bisexual Research Conference

Serena Anderlini-D'Onofrio, PhD, Keynote Speaker
Abstract

This article presents bisexuality as a portal to the arts of loving where Eros, the energy of love, is recognized as what makes Gaia, the third planet Earth, alive.  It is a reflection on the author’s experience as a keynote speaker at BiReCon, and as a participant in both BiReCon and BiCon.[1]  The article is organized into three sections.  The “Preamble” muses about how bisexuality manifests today, the current status of the bisexual movement, and how bisexuals (bis) are positioned within LGBT communities, their institutions, and in mainstream society.  In this first section the author reflects upon her experience at the events.  “Addressing the Audience” is a rendition of her actual keynote address.  This second section focuses on why it’s key at this time to see bisexuality as a portal to a world that is more eco-friendly and erotophile.  By way of Annie Sprinkle’s evolving work, the section establishes continuity between bisexuality and ecosexuality.  The author also uses her own experience of bisexual erasure at the French libertine resort of Cap d’Agde in order to encourage more research and education about bisexuality and the multiple contexts where it manifests.  The address also invites readers to imagine the world behind this portal, where a paradigm shift has already occurred.  Love is considered an art, Gaia is recognized as the “gay” planet, the homo/hetero divide has disappeared, and the energy of Eros circulates beyond socially constructed binaries.  The third section or “Conclusion” suggests ways to initiate this shift by considering “organic bisexuality” and “holistic sexual health.” 

Keywords

Eros, Gaia, bisexuality, ecosexuality, erotophilia, gay planet, art of love, Annie Sprinkle, Cap d’Agde, bisexual men and women, organic bisexuality, holistic sexual health

Read the article as it appears in Poly Planet GAIA.  Section will be posted every three or four days.  Become a follower of the blog and be notified every time a new posting appears. 

Acknowledgement: This piece is pre-published here with permission of Routledge, New York, a division of Taylor and Francis.   

BiReCon | 28 BiCon | 10 ICB
Bisexuality Research Conference, 28th Bisexuality Conference, 10th International Conference on Bisexuality, London, UK, August 26-30, 2010

BiReCon Proceedings: A forthcoming issue of The Journal of Bisexuality


[1] BiReCon: Bisexuality Research Conference, BiCon: Bisexuality Conference: 10 ICB: Tenth International Conference about Bisexuality.  These three events took place at the University of East London, Dockland Campus, on August 26-30, 2010, in a coordinated, almost simultaneous way, with BiReCon on opening day, the 26th.  

Monday, January 31, 2011

Ecosessualità: Un corso sulle arti dell’amore consapevole


Ecosessualità: Un corso sulle arti dell’amore consapevole 

Solo 500 Euro fino al 30 giugno!



Robert Silber, M.S., LMT e    
Serena Anderlini-D’Onofrio, PhD 
insegnano il primo corso interamente bilingue 
sull'ecosessualità e le arti dell'amore condiviso


Desideri che ti accompagni quella persona del cuore?
Offri un certificato regalo di 50 Euro




Descrizione


Desideri espandere la comunità di persone con cui condividi amore, fiducia, rapporto, intimità e piacere?  Hai voglia di sviluppare i tuoi talenti di artista dell’amore?

Siamo convinti che l’amore sia un’arte.  Se sviluppata consapevolmente, quest’arte dell’amore può apportare creatività, gioia e pace alle nostre vite e al mondo.  Desideriamo condividere con te le nostre conoscenze delle arti di amare e guidarti a sviluppare le tue.  Portare più fiducia, allegria, e abbondanza nella tua vita amorosa fa bene a te, agli/e altri/e e al pianeta.

Il corso facilita il tuo sviluppo come artista dell’amore consapevole.  Aumenterà il tuo potenziale come risorsa d’amore per le tue comunità e reti di amicizie.

Iscriviti con noi per cinque giorni di esercizi e attività che ti stimoleranno la mente, il corpo, e il cuore.  Pratica le tecniche di comunicazione che aiutano a sentirsi più presenti e legati agli/e altri/e.   Esperimenta le modalità di tatto e massaggio che portano all’estasi.  Condividi profondamente con coloro che come te risuonano con passione per la verità, la comunità, e la bellezza delle relazoni autentiche.  Impara ad apprezzare i tuoi talenti per l’espressione erotica e ad usarli piacevolmente e rispettosamente.  Sii presente alla tua natura di risorsa d’ amore.
 
Dove: Casa di Fervento - Boccioleto
Via Val Sermenza 18, Varallo (Vercelli)
Quando: 16-21 luglio, 2011
Costo del corso: 500 Euro per persona
POSTI LIMITATI!  Iscriviti ora per solo 
500 fino al 30 giugno



Pensione completa con 
opzione vegetariana:
350 Euro da pagarsi all'arrivo
Per la cucina genuina della famosa Stella Procopio 
Ora sono anche disponibili appartamentini 
al vicino Residence Pineta


Alcune delle questioni che intendiamo affrontare includono:

Come può una sensualità consapevole migliorare le proprie relazioni sessuali e agire come forza di pace e giustizia nel mondo?  Come possiamo pienamente apprezzare e sviluppare i nostri diversi talenti per l’amore e l’espressione?  È possible vivere in uno stato di maggiore intimità (non necessariamente di tipo sessuale) con un’intera comunità invece che solamente con un’altra persona?  Che ruolo può avere nello sviluppo personale e globale una rete espansa di amicizie amorose che condividono questi desideri?  Come possiamo soddisfare le nostre necessità di contatto e intimità anche in relazioni che non siano sessuali?  Come possiamo dar sfogo alle nostre emozioni ed esprimere la nostra verità personale in modo da rafforzare la fiducia, costruire rapporto, e creare comunità?

Tu ci porti i tuoi unici talenti.   

Noi ti appoggiamo nella scoperta delle arti dell’amore consapevole.

Proprietà intellettuale condvisa di 3WayKiss e Conscious Sensuality

Desideri iscriverti con chi viene con te?  Offriamo sconti speciali per due o tre partecipanti che si iscrivono insieme! 
POSTI LIMITATI!  Approfitta ora!


Corso Ecosex - for 2 or 3



Who we are and why we teach this:
 

Robert Silber, M.S, LMT: Since entering the realm of conscious sensuality, he has studied and taught with the Network for New Culture, One Taste, Essensual Evolution (co-founder), and worked with many sacred sexuality and tantra teachers. He practices ashtanga yoga, is a licensed massage therapist, and loves to give massage incorporating the elements of lomi lomi, thai, cranial sacral and pelvic release techniques in a process that is deeply empowering and transformative.  He also provides conscious sensuality coaching via phone/email/in person.
He is a nature lover, master gardener, and was appointed by Robert Kennedy, Jr. as a Riverkeeper. He has worked in the fields of environmental activism, political organizing with Sierra Club, is a certified permaculture designer and co-founded an intentional community and environmental education center in Hawai’i.
He brings these two aspects together in the Kipuka Temple Community, where he has provided a framework of sensual living involving beautiful spaces, permaculture gardens, sustainable living, spiritual cultivation, and perhaps most importantly - a community grounded in conscious communication and intimacy building.
From this location, Robert travels to the mainland and internationally to lead workshops and events.  He is currently finishing a book on conscious sensuality, community and sustainability.
Serena Anderlini-D'Onofrio, PhD, is a writer, professor, leader, healer, and activist in the paradigm shift toward a Gaian future where humanity makes peace with our hostess planet. She is a successful coach and workshop leader working on polyamory and bisexuality issues. She believes that the Sacred Sex Movement, the Global Ecology Movement and the Holistic Health Movement are part of this paradigm shift. She is currently active in the global Polyamory, Bisexuality, Ecosexuality, and AIDS Dissidence movements and communities. Her latest book, Gaia & the New Politics of Love: Notes for a Poly Planet, was released in September 2009, from North Atlantic Books, Berkeley. It is now available digitally in Kindle edition, and is a Silver Winner in Cosmology and New Science for the Nautilus Book Awards. Serena is a world class keynote speaker and workshop leader who has presented in California, Washington State, New England, the United Kingdom, and Greece. She also coaches clients on ecosexuality and relatedness issues.
Serena offers coaching sessions to participants interested in healthy, sustainable inclusive relationships.
Robert offers conscious sensuality sessions to interested participants.  

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Polyamour | Toward a New Sexual Love Ethic - by Tinamarie Bernard

It is so great to hear Tinamarie Bernard, a muse of love in modern times, be moved by Deborah Taj Anapol to think of her own self as polyamorous. Yes, Tinamarie, we all have something to learn from Taj's wisdom. 

"Polyamour | Toward a New Sexual Love Ethic"

A review of Polyamory in the 21st Century by Tinamarie Bernard 


"When one is young, the idea of a real and abiding love tends to resemble a fairy tale, and there is little room in the predictable lines of a storybook romance for the messy truths that adults sometimes find themselves in. That is because love, by its very nature, surprises. It thrills and moves us in ways unimaginable, and sometimes that means our heart is tugged in two directions; without any mal-intent, it pulses to the melancholic pop melody, ‘torn between two lovers, feeling like a fool…”

Once upon a time, I might have misjudged a person in this predicament as suffering a lack of moral fortitude (the lothario, the tart…must have fallen out of the cheatin’ tree and hit every branch).  But that was before musing over modern love and the provocative words of Deborah Anapol, PhD, author of Polyamory in the 21st Century: Love and Intimacy with Multiple Partners (2010).

Her insights have wrecked my notions of sexual ethics and classifications. If I had to identify myself – and the more I explore sexuality, the more I find them restrictive, problematic and injurious, but for the purposes of this contemplation will offer it up – I’d describe myself as a monogamous and heterosexual woman.  I believe in soul mates, long-term committed love and marriage, and practiced serial monogamy my whole adult life.

Thanks to Deborah, I may also be polyamorous."




Read the complete article on Modern Love Muse, Tinamarie's blog.

Monday, December 20, 2010

3WayKisses from Gaia - Will the Chrisalys Turn into a Butterfly Soon? Reflections & Season's Greetings

Hi lovely Earthlings!

Gaia sends 3WayKisses and warm wishes to all of you.  Happy Solstice, Eclipse, Holidays, and 2011!
We are amazed at the forces acting on the transformation of the third planet.  Will the chrysalis turn into a butterfly soon?  Many feel that today's coincidence of solstice and Lunar eclipse begins the paradigm shift.  Watch it tonight at 2:40AM EST!  The current crisis could be just an opportunity for opposites to meet.  Eros and Gaia, matter and energy, the Earth and the sky, water and fire, sex and love, humans and nature, the Sun and the Moon: aren't these just mental energy fields that come together in a sensual communion the minute we accept the interconnectedness of all being?  More at Gemini Astrology, Hawaii

This Means Everything to Me 5 - Toby Mott
The power of knowledge keeps moving yours truly.  At this time the very existence of the institution that has sustained her for the past 13 years is in question.  The University of Puerto Rico is under siege by a new governor who wants to sell it to those who fund his career.  Yet yours truly has never been as excited to be in class as this year.  With students' awareness enhanced by the strike last spring, teaching has become more in-the-moment, more real!  Their appetite for knowledge makes up for all difficulties.  Now it's time for professors to be in action about the accreditation of the institution.  Rallies, meetings, negotiating solutions, reviving organizations are our daily activities.  You can get a peak from our videos.  The situation has resonated across regions.  Many US-based scholars originally from Puerto Rico have pitched in.  Their letter to the Attorney General is moving.  It bears seventy-four signatures!  Full text here!  UPR is not alone.  May this be the tip of a tidal wave that honors the desire for knowledge honest people harbor within.

Winter Solstice is a special time for hostess Gaia.  She remembers the Saturnalia, a festival of joy and abundance that celebrated the Reign of Saturn in ancient Rome at this time of year.  In the age of Titans, when the forces of nature reigned supreme, Gaia, the earth, and her lover Uranus, the sky, conceived Saturn, the state of being sated, abundant  He presided over the happiest age in the life of our species.  This Golden Age was known as Saturnia Regna in Antiquity.  It was a time when pleasure was an ally of nature and sexual abundance was revered.  Gaia would like to see us revel as did our pagan ancestors this time of year.  Join yous truly in wishing the third planet a joyful holiday season.  When you prepare your gifts, make sure they align with your most authentic beliefs.  Want a new age of love?  We provide the politics--the practice is up to you!  This is the best time for 3WayKisses! You can donate here!

At the October ecosexual gathering in LA, yours truly's latest opus found its true crowd.  Ecosexuality is in!  On the 23 and 24 of that momentous month, it was amazing to feel the vibration of this new style of love where pleasure and nature marry each other.  The occasion was the 3WayWedding of a highly Saturnian couple, ecosexual artists Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens, and Gaia's favorite satellite, the Moon.  Befitting HoneyMoon was the world's first Symposium on Ecosexuality.  The brides shared wisdom with a crowd of imaginative Earthlings gathered for this momentum meeting.  Is nature an enemy, a mother, a lover?  Imagining the Earth as a lover can bring lots of fun into the global ecology movement.  But Gaia is a hostess too!  Shall we learn to respect her before we begin to woo her?  Yours truly was invited to deliver a Message from Gaia.  She gave the Symposium's Opening Remarks too!  Her featured book, Gaia, resonated with authentic meaning in the neighborhood of this inspiring group.  The quest for the meaning of ecosexuality is open and many voices are pitching in.  The movement swarms with the Saturnian energies of the season. 

This Means Everything to Me 5 - Detail
Gaia also attracted a whole bunch of new readers.  The big push-up back in September helped a great deal.  Thanks to all who pitched in!  Around the 26th, sales ranks rose into the 11,000 for general Kindle, 85,000 for paperback list.  They stayed there for quite a while.  Not stunning yet encouraging.  The title rose much higher in specialized lists: Up to top 4th in Feminist Theory, next to Betty Friedan, Mary Wollstonecraft, Judith Butler, and Naomi Wolf.  What a delightful City of Ladies.  How very exciting to be admitted!  Most astounding of all, the title rose to top 1 for the Mind/Body, Diseases, Aids list.  It's still there, top 31st.  Yours truly is honored to be part of this group.  Good scientists pursue the truth even when they don't like it.  Poor scientists are afraid of controversial issues.  Unbiased perspectives should be available to people who are able to make their own responsible choices.  When it comes to knowledge, the true enemy is fear.  Look at what's happening with Wikileaks!  If you've liked the book, you can vote for it in Goodreads.  Check the Choice Awards and the Books on Love lists.  There's a whole range of good reads from yours truly.  Look up her author's page here!  We wish we could share actual sales figures with you.  Unfortunately, the digital giant Amazon.com won't even disclose them to yours truly! 


"What about teaching?" you may ask.  Yes, we are doing it, with a Course in Ecosexuality starting at UPR Mayaguez in January.  Find out how to enroll here!  We also got a sense of how interested people are in what we have to teach from the social media, as in Facebook.  Polyamory is big hit!  And we see it as part of the arts of conscious loving.  So we are looking for a hospitable facility in Italy.  If you're aware of one, please let us know soon!  We have a fantastic team: Yours truly, whose talk about polyamory has been a highlight of Italian TV; and Robert Silber, from Hawaii, who specializes in conscious sensuality, communication and community.  We are putting together the first bilingual course on the arts of conscious loving, with simultaneous translation on the floor as we teach!  We plan to teach it in July and will announce the location as soon as we have one for sure.  English, with its scientific specificity; and Italian, with its passion and romance.  Stay tuned for specific time and place for this groundbreaking experience!

On this note, we wish a joyful holiday to the entire planet and all of you.  The climate change summit in Cancun has not yielded great results.  But we at 3WayKiss have solutions.  The new politics of love we propose is ecological and sexy too.  Vive ecosexuality!  Stop third planet abuse!  As a new year resolution, can we pledge to practice love and respect for our lovely hostess?  Let's hope Gaia finds  more patience within.  Meanwhile, thanks to Toby Mott for his inspiring paintings.  Check him out here!

Namaste,

Serena Anderlini-D'Onofrio, PhD
University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez

Sunday, December 19, 2010

SWATS Units in UPR: 74 PR Scholars in the US Write Attorney General

Never Thought it Would Get This Bad!  Thanks to all those who've signed!

Copy of Signed Letter to US Attorney General Sent via E-mail and Certified Mail

December 16, 2010

Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr. Attorney General of the United States The United States Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530-0001

Dear Mr. Holder:

As Puerto Rican scholars teaching in the United States we have decided to write to you in order to express our deep concern with regard to recent developments at the University of Puerto Rico (UPR). For the past months, the University has experienced a continuing conflict that began last semester with a call for a strike by the students in response to an increase in academic tuition and related to fears about the future of public higher education on the island. Unfortunately, university administrators, professors, and students have not been able to negotiate a satisfactory agreement. The whole process has recently culminated in the intervention of Governor Luis Fortuño and the deployment of a massive police presence on the main university campus at Río Piedras and on other campuses in the system, including a private security contractor and fully armed SWAT units.

On December 13, Chancellor Ana R. Guadalupe banned all meetings, festivals, manifestations, and all other so-called large activities on the Río Piedras campus for a period of thirty days. In our view, this represents a clear breach of fundamental constitutional rights. The justifications given by the Chancellor are that this measure is required in order to keep the campus open and to return it to normal operations. Furthermore, professors and workers are being asked (under the threat of punishment) to continue working despite the intense volatility caused by the police presence on campus.

We remain very concerned that such use of force may in fact increase the potential for violence and continued tension, especially if the guarantees of freedom of speech, association, and assembly have been revoked. Both the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico guarantee these rights. Moreover, this week the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico (which, without the opportunity for serious public debate, was recently restructured by the government of Luis Fortuño in order to ensure a clear majority of judges in his favor) declared, in a disturbing resolution, that strikes will be prohibited at all UPR campuses effective immediately.

We the undersigned write to you as scholars and citizens because of the potentially lethal conditions that we have described and that prevail at the UPR. That is why we urge you to intervene in order to:

1.    Guarantee the constitutional rights of freedom of speech, association, and assembly as stipulated by both constitutions and to see that the conflict is conducted under the strictest observation of human and civil rights for all parties involved.
2.    Procure the immediate withdrawal of all state and city police, private contractors, and other non-UPR security personnel from the University of Puerto Rico system currently under occupation.
3.    Call all parties to meet and have a truly productive dialogue.

Respectfully yours,

[Institutional affiliations for identification purposes only. Please respond to primary contacts.]
1) Agnes Lugo-Ortiz, The University of Chicago [Primary contact] lugortiz@uchicago.edu
2) Ivette N. Hernández-Torres, University of California, Irvine [Primary contact]
ivetteh@uci.edu
3) Luis F. Avilés, University of California, Irvine [Primary contact]
laviles9631@sbcglobal.net
4) Aldo Lauria-Santiago, Rutgers University [Primary contact]
alauria@rci.rutgers.edu
5) Arcadio Díaz-Quiñones Emory L. Ford Professor, Emeritus, Princeton University adiaz@princeton.edu
6) Aníbal González-Pérez, Yale University
anibal.gonzalez@yale.edu
7) Luis Figueroa-Martínez, Trinity College Treasurer, Puerto Rican Studies Association (PRSA) Luis.Figueroa@trincoll.edu
8) Roberto Alejandro, University of Massachusetts, Amherst ralejand@polsci.umass.edu
9) Harry Vélez-Quiñones, University of Puget Sound
velez@pugetsound.edu
10) Ismael García-Colón, College of Staten Island, CUNY
Ismael.Garcia@csi.cuny.edu
11) Áurea María Sotomayor-Miletti, University of Pittsburgh
aureamariastmr@yahoo.com
12) Antonio Lauria-Perricelli, New York University al71@nyu.edu
13) Wanda Rivera Rivera, University of Massachusetts, Boston Wanda.Rivera-Rivera@umb.edu
14) José Quiroga, Emory University jquirog@emory.edu
15) Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor lawrlafo@yahoo.co.uk
16) Daniel Torres, Ohio University torres@ohio.edu
17) Pablo Delano, Trinity College Pablo.Delano@trincoll.edu
18) Denise Galarza Sepúlveda, Lafayette College
galarzad@lafayette.edu
19) Richard Rosa, Duke University
rr49@duke.edu
20) Eleuterio Santiago-Díaz, University of New Mexico esantia@unm.edu
21) Ilia Rodríguez, University of New Mexico ilia@unm.edu
22) Ramón H. Rivera-Servera, Northwestern University r-rivera-servera@northwestern.edu
23) Gladys M. Jiménez-Muñoz, Binghamton University-SUNY gjimenez@binghamton.edu
24) Luz-María Umpierre Poet, Scholar, Human Rights Advocate LUmpierre@aol.com
25) Sheila Candelario, Fairfield University
candelariosheila@hotmail.com
26) Edna Acosta-Belén, University at Albany, SUNY eab@albany.edu
27) Efraín Barradas, University of Florida at Gainsville barradas@LATAM.UFL.EDU
28) Kelvin Santiago-Valles, Binghamton University-SUNY
stgokel@binghamton.edu
29) Víctor Figueroa, Wayne State University an7664@wayne.edu
30) Juan Duchesne Winter, University of Pittsburgh juanduchesne@yahoo.com
31) Pablo A. Llerandi-Román, Grand Valley State University llerandp@gvsu.edu
32) Irmary Reyes-Santos, University of Oregon irmary@uoregon.edu
33) Arnaldo Cruz-Malavé, Fordham University cruzmalave@fordham.edu
34) Ileana M. Rodríguez-Silva, University of Washington imrodrig@uw.edu
35) César A. Salgado, University of Texas, Austin cslgd@mail.utexas.edu
36) Jossianna Arroyo, University of Texas, Austin jarroyo@mail.utexas.edu
37) Francisco A. Scarano, University of Wisconsin, Madison fscarano@wisc.edu
38) Jaime Rodríguez Matos, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor jaimerod@umich.edu
39) Cecilia Enjuto Rangel, University of Oregon enjuto@uoregon.edu
40) Elpidio Laguna-Díaz, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey elplag@optonline.net
41) Lena Burgos-Lafuente, SUNY, Stony Brook
lenabu@nyu.edu
42) Ramón Grosfoguel, University of California, Berkeley grosfogu@berkeley.edu
43) José Francisco Buscaglia Salgado, SUNY, Buffalo Director of Program in Caribbean Studies jfb2@buffalo.edu
44) Francisco Cabanillas, Bowling Green State University fcabani@bgsu.edu
45) Lisa Sánchez González, University of Connecticut lisa.m.sanchez@uconn.edu
46) María M. Carrión, Emory University mcarrio@emory.edu
47) Yolanda Martínez-San Miguel, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey Director Institute for Research on Women yolandatrabajo@optonline.net
48) Agustín Lao-Montes, University of Massachusetts, Amherst oxunelegua@yahoo.com
49) Jason Cortés, Rutgers University-Newark jasoncor@andromeda.rutgers.edu
50) Nelson Maldonado-Torres, Rutgers University President, Caribbean Philosophical Association nmtorres7@gmail.com
51) Daín Borges, The University of Chicago dborges@uchicago.edu
52) Edna Rodríguez-Mangual, Hamilton College emrodrig@hamilton.edu
53) Ricardo Pérez Figueroa, Eastern Connecticut State University
PerezR@easternct.edu
54) Licia Fiol-Matta, Lehman College, CUNY lfiolmatta@earthlink.net
55) Frances R. Aparicio, University of Illinois at Chicago franapar@uic.edu
56) Luis E. Zayas, Arizona State University lezayas@asu.edu
57) Hortensia R. Morell, Temple University hmorell@temple.edu
58) Milagros Denis-Rosario, Hunter College mdenis@hunter.cuny.edu
59) Víctor Rodríguez, California State University, Long Beach vrodrig5@csulb.edu
60) Madeline Troche-Rodríguez, City Colleges of Chicago mtroche05@yahoo.com
61) Carmen R. Lugo-Lugo, Washington State University clugo@wsu.edu
62) Jorge Luis Castillo, University of California, Santa Barbara castillo@spanport.ucsb.edu
63) Rosa Elena Carrasquillo, College of the Holy Cross rcarrasq@holycross.edu
64) Juan Carlos Rodríguez, The Georgia Institute of Technology juan.rodriguez@modlangs.gatech.edu
65) Susana Peña, Bowling Green State University susanap@bgsu.edu
66) José R. Cartagena-Calderón, Pomona College
Jose.Cartagena@pomona.edu
67) Amílcar Challu, Bowling Green State University achallu@bgsu.edu
68) Carlos J. Alonso, Columbia University calonso@columbia.edu
69) Carmen A. Rolón, Providence College CROLON@providence.edu
70) Amy Robinson, Bowling Green State University arobins@bgsu.edu
71) Consuelo Arias, Nassau Community College ecarias@att.net

Puerto Rican Scholars in Canada Who Also Subscribe to this Letter
72) Rubén A. Gaztambide-Fernández, University of Toronto rgaztambide@oise.utoronto.ca
73) Néstor E. Rodríguez, University of Toronto nestor.rodriguez@utoronto.ca
74) Gustavo J. Bobonis, University of Toronto gustavo.bobonis@utoronto.ca

cc: Thomas E. Pérez, Assistant Attorney General, United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division
Luis Gutiérrez, Congressman, Illinois 4th District Nydia Velázquez, Congresswoman, New York 12th District
José Serrano, Congressman, New York 16th District American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
Luis Fortuño, Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Pedro Pierluisi, Puerto Rico’s Resident Commissioner in Washington
José Ramón de la Torre, President of the University of Puerto Rico
Ygrí Rivera de Martínez, President of the Board of Trustees (Junta de Síndicos), University of Puerto Rico
Ana R. Guadalupe, Chancellor of the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus