Discharging Sexual Distress to Help Change the World
In our Region we have worked regularly and systematically for many years on early sexual memories. My original motivation for doing this work was Community building. Big Swedish cultural patterns of isolation and distance make it difficult to build close, committed Co-Counseling Communities, and I thought that working regularly on early sexual memories, and building that into the ongoing functioning of the Community, would help us move against those distresses. So every two years the whole Region works on early sexual memories for six to eight weeks—in classes, support groups, and sessions—with workshops at the beginning and end of this period.
As I was preparing to lead the most recent workshop, I thought of another reason for doing this work. I was re-reading articles by Tim Jackins, Joan Karp, and Diane Balser about the role of the sex industries, including pornography, in the world today—how they reinforce sexism, male domination, and men’s oppression and keep us separate and preoccupied with our distresses. Since these industries are so hugely profitable, sexual exploitation will probably be pushed at us even more as our societies become more unworkable. Thus as we move in the direction of a new kind of society, we will need to be able to listen to others as they work on their distresses about sex.
Our work on early sexual memories is not just for our individual re-emergence or for Community building. It is also for building the counseling resources that will help us move toward a world without sexual distresses or exploitation.
Vaxholm, Sweden
(Present Time 192, July 2018)