The Window Sex Project in BROOKLYN on Friday!

Join us for

The Window Sex Project cast joins A. Nia Austin-Edwards in her first self-produced concert at Brooklyn Arts Exchange. The evening will be a collaborative effort with work by these dynamic artists:

A. Nia Austin Edwards

Sydnie L. Mosley Dances

Simone Sobers Dance

Tendayi Kuumba

Bong the Genius

Ebonie Smith

Charly & Margaux

and more!

Our cast will be be performing the 12 minute excerpt.

Bold?

TRUTH:  I know it's silly but it just occurred to me that I should post stories like the following, here. I've been so busy wanting every one else to tell their stories, I forgot to tell my own.

Saturday I was wearing my blue flower print dress. Hem length, mid-thigh. Tights, and suede black high heeled booties.

I was headed to a brunch date and knew I was fly with my aviators on and the cold wind whipping through my hair.

"Miss. Excuse me Miss... What do you do for a living?" He said looking me up and down. I looked him over; he seemed earnest. Unassuming. It was the rare occasion that I'd answer, truthfully. "I'm a dancer."

"Uh huh... I knew you'd have to be bold to come out looking like that."

I turned and continued to walk to the train. He continued to call after me. "Nah nah, I don't mean no harm. I actually work for an entertainment agency. Miss Miss! I don't mean no harm." There was that earnestness again.

I called back, "I believe you. I'm not interested. Have a nice afternoon." He kept talking, and I kept walking.

For a second, I pondered if my skirt was too short. I know I've got legs. Was my ass out? I self consciously tugged at the hem.

Then I told myself to stop. You're fine. Just get to the train. But I wondered, am I bold? I looked around, and on a cold winters day there was not a woman in sight showing her legs. Instead, jeans and long down coats abounded.

While waiting on the train platform I pulled out my book and began reading, taking notes with my ink pen. This stuff is so crazy looking back on it. I think I wanted to send a message to whoever was looking: This is not just a body, it's a brain. It was the best accessory to complement my dress.

It's LOVE Day!

Happy Valentine's Day 
from The Window Sex Project!

I hope that everyone takes the time today to not only celebrate their loved ones, but to celebrate themselves. Recognize how wonderful you are, and all that you have to offer. Do something for yourself, something that makes you happy and makes you feel good.  Then go forth and conquer the world with a smile on your face. It's only right.

Leave a comment telling us how you loved yourself today.

[Administrator Post] Reflecting on the Workshops

Editor's Note: This week features a reflection from Blair Hotchner, an administrator who has worked on The Window Sex Project since inception. Here she talks about her summer workshop experiences, as we plan upcoming workshops during International Anti-Street Harassment Week, March 18-24. I most appreciate her analysis of the movement creation portion of the workshop, that really sets this project a part from other anti-street harassment endeavors. As well, as her acknowledgement of the work shops as a safe space for adult women to share wisdom, concerns and experiences.

This summer I worked as the project manager for The Window Sex Project, a community workshop for women designed to address street harassment. Much of the work I did was behind the scenes, organizing and managing. My position gave me a kind of “fly on the wall” perspective. There were three workshops at three different Harlem locations. Each space had a different vibe and different people that affected the overall feel of the event.

Our first event in June was at the Grosvenor YMCA. The group was smaller which lent itself to a more intimate informal experience. During the discussion I was the only one who was a native New Yorker and I talked about be a pre-teen and teenager growing up in an environment with street harassment. Hearing about other people experiences and how they had to adapt their behavior when they moved to the city was eye opening for me.

During the second workshop at Barnard College, I made a point to watch the movement portion - the most unique aspect of our workshop. We ask the participants, mostly non-dancers with little to no performing experience, to translate their personal stories of street harassment into choreography. One instance that stood out to me was a section created by two women. One woman walked and the other stopped her mid-stride, looked her up and down, rearranged her limbs, and looked her up and down again before letting her continue to walk.

[Re-Blogged] The Sex-Positive Black Woman

Recently, I have seen the term "sex-positive" a lot and was pleased to see a feature from Ebony Magazine not only defining it, but discussing its relevance with black women. Dictionary.com gives the following definition: "pertaining to being comfortable with one's own sexuality and with sexuality in general." After considering this definition I realize that The Window Sex Project may be my personal means to becoming sex-positive. The work has forced me to consider my own sexuality - what I am comfortable with, and what I am not - while encouraging others to do the same. Here's a peek at what author Arielle Loren has to say about it.

From Ebony.com:

I am a "sex-positive" Black woman, and I believe that the sexual empowerment of Black women is essential. Sex-positivity is a movement that celebrates consensual, safer sex and the multiple facets of human sexuality as natural, empowering experiences. As Black women have a complex, unique history of sexual oppression, from the rape of our enslaved ancestors to contemporary double gender standards, it’s important that we main spaces for conversation and affirmation that are created for us, by us.

Commonly misunderstood, sex-positivity is not a movement rooted in liberating what’s between the legs. Rather, it is a framework for expanding consciousness, promoting tolerance, and rebuilding human respect. It’s a tool for reimagining our bodies, pleasures, and desires as healthy, normal, and diverse. It’s an instrument for reclaiming our power, challenging shame-infesting ideologies, redefining our relationships, and fortifying our sisterhood.

Here are a few key things to understand about this way of thinking: 

1. Sex-positivity is advocacy for Black women...

Read More...

The Barbie Army

There's a section in The Window Sex Project that the cast and I have affectionately come to call "The Barbie Army." In short, we are getting at the absurdity of women trying to fit themselves into the cookie cutter images of perfection: in style and movement. Previously I wrote about this absurdity:

Absurd like women as plastic Barbie dolls with limited mobility in their movable parts whose sole purpose is to be manipulated to someone else's satisfaction. Absurd like toy monkeys banging symbols. What "Keep It Moving" needs going forward in the rehearsal process is Rockette-precision. Arms this height. Legs that height. Counting out the 5 AND 6 AND 7 AND 8 AND... That section reads best when it is crispy clean as Auzriel's cheerleader pep song resounds "What you lookin' at? Huh? What you lookin at? Do you like what what you see? Do you like what what you see?"

And then I discovered this fantastic footage of a literal Barbie Army -- video footage of the Rockettes in service to the USO. Oh, America... Rockettes [VIDEO]

[Re-Blogged] Miss Representation: Your Weekly Action Alert, Super Bowl Sunday edition

MissRepresentation.org is awesome. Each week, they send out a weekly action alert to call attention to the misrepresentation of women in the media. I'm a fan because they push for change through individual movements. I'll be re-blogging their weekly actions often.

This week highlights the Super Bowl. Who remembers this 2011 Pepsi-Max ad that had us all in an uproar for perpetuating the angry black woman stereotype? (Kind of like BET's The Game last week...) Both television moments caused a firestorm in social media, and we know those firestorms can affect change. Businesses can be reprimanded, and commercials and television shows can be pulled. Today, the MissRep folks have put out a call to action:   

America's most popular annual entertainment event is a display of male athletic skill, strength and aggression. The commercials take these themes to an extreme by selling products via images of hyper-masculinity. Women, meanwhile, are either hyper-sexualized or entirely absent from the conversation (save the frequent cuts to cheerleaders on the sidelines).

This week's Get Healthy action is centered on being conscious of what we are consuming Super Bowl weekend. Over the past few weeks we've worked to avoid objectifying women and girls and have encouraged each other to be more comfortable with ourselves, but the media continues to present a constant assault on our sense of self. Now is the time to hold them accountable.
  

This Sunday, if you're watching the game, look for differences in the representations of women and men. Point out sexism as it happens and educate those around you by asking questions: who was that commercial directed at? What was the message? Is that a true reflection of the women and men we know?

Read more.