The Sensual Revolution

Dallas is the founder and CEO of FemTech startup Reya Health. Reya makes navigating birth control easy and empowering for people with periods. Reya’s digital platform and smart algorithms utilize in depth member profiles to match people with birth control solutions and help them manage any side effects or symptoms. Reya is a Founder Institute portfolio company of the 2020 Silicon Valley cohort, was featured on CBC Radio, and the FemTech Focus podcast among numerous others.

In this episode, we dive into:

• How Reya Health is changing the game in reproductive health care for people with ovaries
• CEO Dallas’ 5+ year nightmare with doctor’s conventional approach to birth control
• Shifting out of a one size fits all approach to contraception and reproductive health
• Creating space for a more nuanced conversation beyond demonizing all birth control methods
• Trauma-informed contraceptive counselling and how to advocate yourself at the doctor's office
• Different reasons folks may go on birth control or seek reproductive health care beyond pregnancy prevention (ie. PCOS, endometriosis management)
• Birth control inclusion (LGBTQIA+) and accessibility and how this relates to abortion

Links/Resources:

Learn more at https://www.reyahealth.ca/

Follow @ReyaHealth and @marleeliss

Attend Marlee's Free BOUNDARY BREAKDOWN training May 30th: https://www.marleeliss.com/boundaries

Join the F*ck Comphet Support Club: 2SLTBQIA+ Community by Marlee Liss and @whatsmybodydoing at: https://www.patreon.com/fckcomphetsupportclub

Learn about the Sensual Wholeness Academy & book your 1-1 call with Marlee: https://www.marleeliss.com/SWA

Lisa Dawn Hamilton is an associate professor of Psychology at Mount Allison University. She is a sex educator, sex researcher, and total sex geek. She hosts a podcast called Do We Know Things? that digs into research and interviews experts about things we often misunderstand about sex.

In this episode, we dive into:

• How we can use sex education to reduce sexual violence
• Do men have higher sexual desire than women?
• How do hormones like testosterone actually play into sexual desire and consent
• How different cultures and historical periods associate sexuality with gender dynamics
• Expansive consent education and the importance of no means no vs. yes means yes
• Communicating desires and limitations beyond our gendered conditioning
• A pleasure-positive approach to consent education

Links/Resources:

Follow us on IG: @doweknowthings and @marleeliss

Follow Lisa Dawn's podcast Do We Know Things here: https://www.doweknowthings.com/episodes

Join the F*ck Comphet Support Club: 2SLGBTQIA+ Community Space: https://www.patreon.com/fckcomphetsupportclub

Claim your free 1-1 call with Marlee & learn about her somatic coaching programs for Sensual Reclamation here: https://www.marleeliss.com/SWA

Dr. Rhea Ashley Hoskin is an interdisciplinary feminist sociologist whose work focuses on Critical Femininities, Femme Theory, and femmephobia. Her work examines perceptions of femininity and sources of prejudice rooted in the devaluation or regulation of femininity. Dr. Hoskin is an Ontario Women’s Health Scholar and an AMTD Global Talent Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Waterloo, where she is cross-appointed to the departments of Sociology & Legal Studies, and Sexuality, Marriage, & Family Studies. She completed her MA in Gender Studies and her PhD in Sociology from Queen’s University. In 2019, she was awarded the Governor General’s Academic Gold Medal at Queen’s University for her doctoral work. 

In this episode, we dive into:

• What led Dr. Hoskin to this work of studying femme theory and challenging femmephobia
• How femininity is regulated, devalued and informed by power structures
• Unpacking the assumption that femme expression exists for men's attention
• Defining femmephobia and the role that it plays in gender-based violence and rape culture
• The radical nature of queer femme identity and challenging femme invisibility

LInks/Resources:

• Follow Dr. Hoskin on IG: @femme_research & Marlee at @marleeliss
•  Dr. Hoskin’s recent book entitled “Feminizing Theory: Making Space for Femme Theory” (Routledge, 2021) - see publications at https://www.ashleyhoskin.ca/rah
• F*ck Comphet Support Club: 2SLGBTIA+ Community Space: https://www.patreon.com/fckcomphetsupportclub
• Learn about Marlee's signature group coaching program the Sensual Wholeness Academy + book your Free Consult Call: https://www.marleeliss.com/SWA
• Book/inquire about Marlee's speaking: https://www.marleeliss.com/speaking

Arielle D’Angelo is an LGBTQ+ self-love and empowerment coach. Arielle’s mission is to help LGBTQ+ humans live their most empowered and liberated lives rooted in radical self-love and authenticity.

In this episode we dive into:

• Arielle’s coming out journey and work as an LGBTQIA+ self-love & mental health coach 
• Going viral on Tik Tok through gay memes and working through fear around being out, loud and proud
• We discuss some of the barriers to coming out both circumstantial and internal
• Navigating heteronormativity in the media and unlearning shame
• Encouragement for folks navigating shame, questioning sexuality or moving through a coming out journey
• Working through fear of rejection & abandonment as we claim our authentic selves 
• De-fluffing and defining self-love and ditching people pleasing
• Validating queerness & authentic identity in our inner world and through prioritizing self-love
• Reckoning with labels and the pressure or relief that can come from claiming a word

Links/Resources:

• Follow Arielle on IG and TikTok: @arielledangelo & Marlee at @marleeliss
• Follow Arielle's org We the Rainbow: @wetherainbowofficial
• F*ck Comphet Support Club: 2SLGBTIA+ Community Space: https://www.patreon.com/fckcomphetsupportclub
• Learn about Marlee's signature group coaching program the Sensual Wholeness Academy + book your Free Consult Call: https://www.marleeliss.com/SWA
• Book/inquire about Marlee's speaking: https://www.marleeliss.com/speaking

Rivkah Reyes is a queer Filipina Jewish actor, comedian, writer, musician and witch. They’ve been acting on stage and screen since they were 10 years old and are the host of the podcast Where Are We Now?

In this episode we dive into:

• Rivkah shares their journey with sobriety and the roots of their addiction
• Rivkah’s experience being featured in School of Rock and how growing up in the acting industry shaped them
• The catalyst for Rivkah’s recovery journey after battling addiction to substances, disordered eating, drama, love, hypo + hypersexuality
• Breaking down the illusive before and after binary on the healing journey
• Shifting out of spiritual bypassing and challenging the glorification of extreme independence 
• Shedding shame around needing people, solidarity and sobriety 
• Connecting with spirituality in a way that feels genuinely empowering and authentic for ourselves 
• Navigating perfectionism and embracing ourselves as works in progress

Links/Resources:

-Follow @rivkah.reyes and @marleeliss on IG

-Book a session with Rivkah: https://rivkahreadings.as.me/schedule.php

-Join the F*ck Comphet Support Club: 2SLGBTQIA+ Community Space: https://www.patreon.com/fckcomphetsupportclub

-Get the Sensual Wholeness Academy details & claim your free 1-1 call with Marlee: https://www.marleeliss.com/SWA

Maximus Skaff is a New York City/Puerto Rico based Transmasculine writer, director, cinematographer, & editor who’s visual talents have been featured in New York Magazine, Huffington Post, NPR, New York Times, among others. His films have been screened globally and won awards at festivals such as SIFF and NewFest. His latest documentary, Sex(ual) Healing is now on exhibit at The Museum of Sex until February 8th, 2022 in the 3rd floor exhibit, ‘Reclaiming & Making: Art, Desire, Violence’. His full service production company, 422Luxe, specializes in works that range from narrative short films, to documentaries, to branded content, and to music videos. 422Luxe focuses in offering diverse LGBTQ+ and responsible sex industry perspectives through their work.

In this episode we dive into..

• Max journey claiming identity & sexual empowerment as a transmasculine person
• Destigmatizing & decriminalizing sex work through filmmaking and the Sex Workers Project
• Navigating gender dysphoria and healing relationship to our bodies
• The need for trans bodies in ethical porn and empowering representation
• Second adolescence and the queer experience; grieving + making up for authentic younger years

Resources/links:

Follow us on Instagram @unclemaxieboy + @marleeliss and learn more at www.maxskaff.com

Sex Workers Project and Doc: https://swp.urbanjustice.org/sexual-healing/ 

Join/get details on the F*ck Comphet Support Club 2SLGBTQIA+ Community Space here: https://www.patreon.com/fckcomphetsupportclub

Claim your free 1-1 call with Marlee & learn more about the Sensual Wholeness Academy here: https://www.marleeliss.com/SWA

Melanie Cristol is the founder and CEO of Lorals, which makes ultra-thin, silky latex underwear that helps more people say yes to oral sex & pleasure! She studied Sociology at Columbia University and received her JD from Columbia Law School. Prior to creating and patenting Lorals, Melanie was a healthcare and consumer products attorney, and she was part of the legal team that secured gay marriage rights for the western United States. Melanie also fought for LGBTQ rights in California and Ohio as a field organizer with the National LGBTQ Task Force. As inventor and CEO of Lorals, Melanie holds 4 patents, and has been featured in the NYTimes, Fast Company, and Cosmopolitan, and has been a speaker at SXSW, Lesbians Who Tech, and the Sex Expo.

In this episode, we dive into:

• Melanie’s work with Lorals revolutionizing and enhancing access to oral sex
• What holds folks back from oral sex beyond STI prevention 
• Breaking down stigma, myths and misconceptions around oral sex
• The ways that cis-heteronormative reproductive values of sex are still woven into the modern world of advertising
• Oral sex as an avenue for embodied presence, trauma-informed intimacy and shifting out of dissociation
• Diversity in pleasure and reasons barriers during oral sex can feel important and empowering (navigating trauma, genital shame, menstruation and boundaries, and gender dysphoria) 
• The balance between transforming sexual shame and being patient/gentle with ourselves & our limits 
• Queering sex, letting go of sexual scripts and how unlearning compulsory heterosexuality can shift everyones sex life 
• Navigating censorship around sexual wellness on social media

Links/Resources:

-Check out Lorals here: https://mylorals.com/

-Follow Lorals on IG @mylorals and @marleeliss

-Get the details or join the F*ck Comphet Support Club here: https://www.patreon.com/fckcomphetsupportclub

-Get the details for the Sensual Wholeness Academy and/or book your free 1-1 consult call with Marlee here: https://www.marleeliss.com/SWA

-Book/inquire about Marlee's speaking for Sexual Assault Awareness Month: https://www.marleeliss.com/speaking

Brea Baker is a writer and freedom fighter who has been working on the frontlines for almost a decade first as a student activist and now as a national and global strategist. In that time, she has contributed to dozens of electoral and advocacy campaigns including the 2017 Women’s March (where she served as the youngest national organizer), the 2018 student walkouts against gun violence, Jumaane Williams’ successful bid for NYC Public Advocate, and more. Brea has been recognized as a 2017 Glamour Woman of the Year (Women's March), and 2019 i-D Up and Rising. She has a B.A. in Political Science from Yale University where she held internships with the U.S. Department of State, Public Defender Service DC, and served as President of Yale’s NAACP Chapter and Co-Director of AIDS Walk New Haven.

In this episode, we dive into:

• Brea's journey to finding abolition and waking up to the injustice of the criminal justice system
• Avoiding burnout in activism and claiming faith in humanity 
• Defining transformative justice and putting harm in context
• The parallels between gentle parenting and restorative principles
• The history of the police rooted in racism and slavery, going beyond reform and focusing on transformation
• How believing in other people’s transformation contributes to our own well-being
• Weaving principles of abolition and transformative justice into our interpersonal relationships and communities

Links: Follow Brea on Instagram at @freckledwhileblack and Marlee at @marleeliss

Details and/or join F*ck Comphet Support Club: 2SLGBTQIA+ Community Space here: https://www.patreon.com/fckcomphetsupportclub

Details and/or claim your free 1-1 call with Marlee for the Sensual Wholeness Academy here: https://www.marleeliss.com/SWA

Learn more about Marlee's speaking offerings at www.marleeliss.com/speaking

Emily Shoyer is the Consulting Curator at the Museum of Sex in New York City while she pursues her PhD in the History of Art at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania where she focuses on the intersections of contemporary art and traumatic experience through a decolonial and psychoanalytic lens. In November she opened "Reclaiming & Making: Art, Desire, Violence" at the Museum of Sex, an exhibition confronting the complex relationship between sex and violence through the artwork of 15 living female and non-binary artists and organizations. She holds a B.A. in Art History from Barnard College, Columbia University and an M.A. in Art History from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University and has held curatorial positions at the Museum of Modern Art, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum and the Jewish Museum.

In this episode, we dive into:

• The intersections of contemporary art and sexual trauma
• Art as terrain for marginalized folk to share voice & story
• Art as window into lived experience and stories you may otherwise not hear
• Art as an avenue for healing and processing trauma 
• Addressing female genital mutilation and imagined violence for marginalized communities through art
• The role that art and writing played in Marlee’s healing after sexual trauma
• Conversations around sexuality that reflect wholeness: from violence to beautiful erotic experience
• Social media censorship and the harmful impact of suppression
• Defining resiliency in the survivor community
• Empowered choice when it comes to how we do or don't share our stories; overcoming shame around ‘sensationalizing’ our stories

Follow the Museum of Sex on Twitter: https://twitter.com/museumofsex?lang=en and at https://www.museumofsex.com/

Follow @marleeliss and @emmshoyy

Learn more about Marlee's group coaching program the Sensual Wholeness Academy: https://www.marleeliss.com/SWA

Claim your free 1-1 connect call with Marlee: https://itssessiontime.youcanbook.me/

Join/learn more about the F*ck Comphet Support Club: 2SLGBTQIA+ Community Space: https://www.patreon.com/fckcomphetsupportclub

Reva Wild is an Embodied Desire Coach specializing in guiding fem folks to feel alive in their bodies, connecting with the full spectrum of their sexuality and feel confident flirting, dating and communicating in relationship. She has over 10 years of experience in academic, experiential, community and underworld fields of what it deeply means to heal the shame, trauma and fear around sexuality, desire and pleasure. Queer, kinky and polyamorous, she jokes about loving to play relationship on expert level.

In this episode, we dive into:

• How Reva realized and claimed her polyamorous, queer and kinkster identity
• The intersection of body-based bullying, fatness and sexuality 
• Defining polyamory and questioning monogamy as the default
• Navigating jealousy in relationships and varying attachment styles
• How trauma weaves into relationships and how we can bring more sense of safety into that connection
• Defining kink and BDSM and how Reva’s experiences with kink have helped transform body shame
• Defaulting into normative identities vs. empowered choice

Check out Reva's Masterclass on Embodied Desire:  https://www.embodieddesire.com/Embodied-Desire-1hr-masterclass

Follow Reva on IG @eroticembodied and Marlee at @marleeliss

Learn more about Marlee's coaching program the Sensual Wholeness Academy & claim your free 1-1 call at: https://www.marleeliss.com/SWA

Join the F*ck Comphet Support Club: 2SLGBTQIA+ Community & Connection Space here: https://www.patreon.com/fckcomphetsupportclub