Howdy kinksters - It’s Women’s History Month, and I’m taking a moment to think about some of my idols who inspired me to explore sex-positive thought. It’s intimidating to make a list because there are so many who are so important to me, and I’m positive I’ll leave someone off. (Eeek!) But I’ll do my best, and perhaps there are a few on my list that you’d like to explore as well: Carol Queen, staff sexologist for Good Vibrations and the founder of the Center for Sex and Culture. Joani Blank, who founded Good Vibrations. Annie Sprinkle, self-identified post-porn modernist and ecofeminist sex-positive goddess. Dossie Easton and Janet Hardy, who coauthored some of the most influential books on BDSM, polyamory, and sex-positive culture. Susie Bright, one of the co-founders of On Our Backs magazine, who famously turned the notorious Meese Report into performance art. Morning Glory Zell, an old friend who coined the term polyamory and taught me much about ancient goddesses. There are so many more, and I am certain that the moment I hit “publish” today I’ll think of several I’d wish to list (already they come! Tristan Taormino, for example!) and thankfully we have a full month ahead of us yet. As I write this, I am clearing my desk to participate in a three-day business development conference for creative and coaching businesses like ours. I’ve done my best to catch up on some practical things and go deeply into my creative and planning work for the next few days. I took part in the same conference last year for the first time, and as I take stock of how much we’ve transformed over the past year, I’m slightly humbled by how it’s gone. I’m excited to see what the next year brings. Another thing on my mind? Small ways to stay visible and stay aligned with my values. I bought a “Don’t Tread on Me,” rainbow flag to keep heading out to the weekly pro-democracy and pro-civil liberties protests in my teeny-tiny rural town. I also made the decision a couple of weeks ago to break up with Target over their highly performative and shallow years of rainbow capitalism followed by their nearly-immediate cancellation of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives late last year. For those of you who know me in person, this is no small step: my entire wardrobe for the past ten years has been mostly an interchangeable set of black tanks and t-shirts on top with an interchangeable set of jeans on the bottom, almost all from that store. I have no idea how I’ll stay dressed, but I’m sure to figure something out. My homework this week? Learn more about the nationwide boycott of the store during Lent, initiated largely by Black churches. I am not sure how I’ll manage it, but my goal is to find ways to garb myself by supporting queer, Black, and other minority-owned businesses. We’ll see what I come up with! Speaking of supporting businesses aligned with your values, we’ll be launching our annual membership drive in a couple of weeks. Why not sign up now and be ahead of the game? We have some fun things planned for you this week. Keep reading for details. This week!Friday 3/7No live classes today, but check out our digital download classes on WickedGroundsAnnex.com! Saturday 3/8No live classes today, but check out our digital download classes on WickedGroundsAnnex.com! Sunday 3/9Don’t forget to set your manual clocks – we’re back to daylight saving time today! Join us online at 11am Pacific for Age Play through the Lens of Care and Caution with Draven. This set of age play classes can be taken as a series or individually – there is no prerequisite for today’s class. Get your advance tickets through Forbidden Tickets or Plura. Interested in latex and rubber play? Want to learn more about how it started, and maybe gain some inspiration for your own play? Join us at 2pm Pacific online for Latex: A History with Dolly Diatima and learn all about this unique form of fetish play! Tickets available on Forbidden Tickets or Plura. Monday 3/10Pentacles of Power six-week sex magick intensive wraps up its last live session. Congratulations to all our students from this year’s cohort, and we’ll probably bring this one back in 2027! Tuesday 3/11No live classes today, but check out our digital download classes on WickedGroundsAnnex.com! Wednesday 3/12Want to make some new friends? Join us in San Francisco tonight for Wicked Grounds + Plura Present: Kinky Speed Friending with Psychokitty. This fun format helps lots of tops meet lots of bottoms for camaraderie, allyship, potential play, and maybe even romance! Advanced ticketing required, only through Plura. Get your seat here! Thursday 3/13No live classes today, but check out our digital download classes on WickedGroundsAnnex.com! Friday 3/14No live classes today, but check out our digital download classes on WickedGroundsAnnex.com! Saturday 3/15Curious about what’s going on in the brain when you do kinky things? Whether it’s the fascinating ways that our perceptions change during scenes, the delightful ways that kink can alleviate our stress or mood, or the less-fun ways that drop impacts our lives, understanding the neurochemical impacts of kinky play can help us negotiate better, be more present, and get the most out of our play. Join Miriam Green online at 11am Pacific for This is Your Brain on Kink to learn much more! Advanced ticketing here on Forbidden Tickets or Plura. Sunday 3/16No live classes today, but check out our digital download classes on WickedGroundsAnnex.com! Support. Follow. Share.
Warmly, (Do you find this weekly roundup helpful? If this newsletter has saved you time, or given you a great idea, feel free to leave a little something in our tip jar) |
We are a queer-centered educational and community building space for sex-positive adult education, including relationships, dating, BDSM, kinky, polyamory and more. Posts mostly written by Mir (that dude in the chair) on behalf of the Wicked Grounds team. Welcome aboard!
Hello kinksters - For those of you in the US, I wish you a good holiday weekend full of light, life, love, and liberty. I’m still recovering from two back-to-back weeks of very different Pride experiences. If you’d like my thoughts on a tale of two Prides, I recently wrote them up for my personal Substack. I am also very proud of some of the deep, meaningful explorations we have coming up for you, including two live daylong intensives in San Francisco and Oakland this coming weekend. Let’s...
Hello kinksters - I had a strange and interesting experience last week, tabling for Wicked Grounds at the first ever Mendocino County Pride in coastal Fort Bragg, California. The parade and festival was lovely, with a huge turnout (hundreds of people in a fairly small town), great music, heartfelt speeches, and so much resilience. I tabled among a mostly vanilla crowd, and allowed the folks who recognized our Leather Pride Flag branding to come to me. More than two-dozen times over the course...
Hello kinksters - I personally moderated our class on Pedi Pain last night, and learned a lot of great new material. I laughed, I winced, and you bet I took notes for my own creatively sadistic scenes! That’s the thing about the world of kink: no matter how long you’ve been around, there’s always something new to learn! I’ve been in the public kink scene for thirty years, but there is always a new idea, new technique, or different perspective that changes the way I see myself, my play, and my...