How Orgasm is a Powerful Weapon to Defeat Trumpism
Last night, I cried in numb rage and terrified disbelief watching an administration get voted into office, whose policies and hateful influence directly threaten the lives of already vulnerable minorities, natives, immigrants, and women, and whose values painfully remind us that racism and misogyny persist, not just in one man, but the millions of Americans who supported him despite it all. As a queer first-generation Filipina-American woman born to immigrants, I woke up restless, pissed, and ready to act. So many people in my community are outraged for those most vulnerable in our country, and I vow to increase my efforts to help all fronts of resistance going forward.
My personal revolution against the Trump-Pence administration has already been in motion. This year, I left my role in venture capital to build my next company, O.school, a shame-free platform for pleasure education. Our mission is to help the billions of people, especially women (yes, billions) and gender-diverse people, who struggle with body and religious shame, heal from sexual trauma, develop skill sets to communicate what they want and don’t want, discover new sexual desires in a LGBTQ-friendly and judgment-free space, and most of all — own their desires.
How is orgasm* a powerful weapon?
Because asking for what we want and saying no to what we don’t want is a direct rebellion against the patriarchy, rape culture, and oppression.
Because most people learn about sex and pleasure from porn, which is largely made by and for men.
Because educating women is a form of revolution and changes society. We think this applies to pleasure education as well, perhaps even more so.
Because it’s ours, it always has been, and it’s time to set it free.
Most of all? Because pleasure is a powerful form of self-care, and where we can draw huge amounts of power, we can use to fight injustice and change this country and the world.
We are a team of four women — three of us are queer, two of us are women of color. I did not plan to talk publicly about O.school until the product was ready, but I decided to share this now, as part of my own self care, and also to offer healing to those who are hurting. We are hurting, too, but we are also excited for the future. Things are changing. The next generation is the most sexually open generation ever. Millennials are twice as likely to report being LGBTQ. We are building O.school for the next generation, hoping to provide the sex and pleasure education we all should have had.
When I reflect on feminist and womanist movements that came before us and my ancestors, their struggles and triumphs lift me up everyday. Many battles had to be won before I could wage this one for pleasure education: the right to vote, equal access to basic and higher education, equal protection in the workplace, the right to health care, family planning, and autonomy over our bodies — all of which are under attack with this election. However, as women continue to secure more social, political, and economic power and freedom, one of the last frontiers of this movement is pleasure.
Join us. Have more pleasure, power up, and defeat oppression with us.
Follow us at www.o.school to get notified when we launch.
If you are a sex educator, activist, performer, coach, therapist, OB/GYN, please email us at hello@o.school. We’d love to hear from you.
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Andrea Barrica is the founder of O.school, previously built inDinero.com, and helped hundreds of entrepreneurs internationally at global seed fund, 500 Startups.
*We love all gender flavors at O.school.
*Orgasm, the state and all its forms, not just climax.
