Profs & Pints DC: The Ethics of Good Sex

Profs and Pints DC presents: “The Ethics of Good Sex,” a philosophical and practical guide to promoting pleasure while ensuring respect, with Quill R. Kukla, professor of philosophy and disability studies at Georgetown University and author of Sex Beyond ‘Yes’: Pleasure and Agency for Everyone.

[Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profsandpints/dc-ethics-good-sex .]

Most discourse around sexual ethics—regardless of political orientation—focuses on how sex can go wrong and how we can avoid bad or harmful sex. Our sexual education emphasizes ensuring consent and taking “no” for an answer.

But as a society we spend almost no time discussing how to have good sex that is pleasurable for everyone involved and respects everyone’s agency. We are told to make sure that our partner says “yes,” but we are given no tools or roadmaps for what to do to have good sex, rather than minimally ethical sex, after that yes is given. We get no lessons on how to figure out what sexual activities we would actually enjoy, or for how to communicate about sex beyond asking for and giving consent.

Gain insights on how to take your discussions with sex partners to the next level with Quill Kukla, a philosopher and long-time participant in queer and kinky alternative sex communities who has written many scholarly and popular articles on sexual consent, communication, and ethics and who consults and gives workshops on safe, pleasurable, and ethical sex in the context of the Berlin club and rave scene.

We’ll examine how we can communicate about and enjoy good, pleasurable sex that respects the agency of everyone involved. Among the topics Professor Kukla will discuss: How to figure out what gives us pleasure; how to safely try out new activities that we’re not sure we will like; how to communicate well about sex with our potential partners; and how to manage power differentials within sex.

Looking ahead to future generations, Professor Kukla also will discuss how to raise children who will be capable of respecting their partners and of understanding and advocating for their own sexual desires and boundaries. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later.)

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