Panel Idea time for WisCon: Kink Bingo / Being Politically Sex Positive

[sasha_feather]

j00j and I are doing idea generation for a proposed WisCon panel on kink. Please comment! We need to come up with a description, and possibly suggest people for the panel and things to discuss.

Being politically sex positive: Kink Bingo, Fandom, and understanding Kink through fiction

Points to indclude:
kink is a lens through which you can see the world
it can be an oppressed identity
No kink-bashing, everyone's kink is OK, kink as an umbrella that includes infinite things
define terms: squick, BDSM, others
Intersectionality

ETA: Thank you for leaving comments; I may not respond to all comments. This panel is being planned partly in response to a disappointing panel at Think Galacticon entitled "Dangerous Sexuality".

Comments

[amadi]

Also within that discussion: if the "content notes" field is specifically limited to mentions of potentially problematic content, then doesn't "content notes" just become a euphemism for "warnings" and within the specific fannish context of KB, tie author's hands in their efforts to be more, rather than less, forthcoming about the nature of what they've written? (This is one of my many issues with KB which have led me to eschew it.)

Also: What makes kink kink? Does the label have a meaning when the most basic acts can be said to be kinks based upon the context or the participants or their intent?

[sasha_feather]

This has been said elsewhere, and I don't mean to rehash the discussion here, but part of the idea of content notes is that they are also advertisements: If I am looking for pon farr fic, it's easier to find; if others want to avoid pon farr fic for any reason, it's easier for them to avoid. I've written extensively about the nature of emotionally weighted language, and having neutral language appeals to me. ETA: The label acknowledges that people are different, that while this might be a problem for some people, it's not a problem for everyone, and that it is in fact an enticement for some people. I really don't understand how having neutral language ties anyone's hands in any way. (They also require certain content notes at KB, so the issue of being more or less forthcoming shouldn't be relevant here... unless I am misunderstanding something.)

I totally agree about defining kink, however; that is an excellent point. It might be entirely subjective but it still needs to be defined!

[wrdnrd]

Speaking purely as someone involved in other difficult discussions at Wiscon:

Yes! Definitions!! At least lay out the boundaries so everyone has a general idea of what everyone else is talking about. How can we talk about something if we don't even know what we're talking about??

[j00j]

These are all good questions. Defining kink is hard! Re content notes: Personally, I also find "content notes" to be helpful in its neutrality. But possibly I am missing something?

[amadi]

My understanding (per my last participation) is that putting "pon farr fic" in your content notes for KB is not permitted, that field is specifically only about problematic content or the lack thereof. (Or so I interpreted the scolding I got from the mods in my last post when I had other information in the "content notes" field.) Thus my concern that it's a euphemism; the wording may be different, and put in less negatively declarative terms, but if it's only for specific notes, and not whatever an author wants to advertise about their story, or their process or what have you, it's tantamount to the same thing.

[chagrined]

From the KB rules post for content notes: After you've include the required information, you can also include any other information in this space that seems appropriate.

[amadi]

So now I need to go back and figure out why I was publicly dressed down. Or has this rule changed from last round?

[sasha_feather]

One can usually quite easily find this sort of info out from the KB community info posts, or by asking the generally very helpful moderators, eruthros and thingwithwings.