Sex Education II: Diagnosis + Consentire

What do women need and want to feel comfortable during sex? How do neoliberal capitalist structures in their patriarchal core oppose this? These are the questions that link the first two lecture-performances in the series.

In Diagnosis, the creators explore vaginismus and painful intercourse, which, as certain studies claim, is experienced by up to 40 percent of women. Decades after the sexual revolution, the majority of people equal a (hetero) intercourse with vaginal penetration. Numerous women find this painful, and some can never even experience penetration. Vaginismus and painful intercourse are connected to the contracture of the pelvic floor muscles. How do social forces contract these muscles and does this leave any room for pleasure?

In the lecture-performance Consentire, its creators dive into sexual consent, whereby the context is most often the lack of consent and rape. Sex education doesn’t go beyond that to concretely and bodily reflect on the sexual practices that are connected to consent. Often, these are full of misunderstandings, doubts, and reflection on (personal) boundaries, and reflect the power relations in society and the (non-)autonomy of women in asserting their sexual rights in consensual sex.

The lectures-performances are based on talks with experts and researchers from various fields and women between the ages of 20 to 40, who shared their personal experience, stories, and difficulties with the creators.