SINGLE? SETTLED? WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED
Yes, ecosexuality is a thing. So could bringing environmentalism between the sheets improve the earth and your sex life? Well, if it’s good for the planet, who are we to refuse…
Earth Day lands on 22 April
AND, IF YOU’RE INCREASINGLY LOOKING FOR WAYS TO LEAD A MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY LIFESTYLE, YOUR SEX LIFE CAN PLAY ITS PART. YEP, THERE’S A GROWING GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO ARE DEFINING THEMSELVES AS ECOSEXUALS, USING THEIR SEX LIVES AS A WAY TO CHANGE THE WORLD. BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? HOW HARD (AHEM) IS IT? AND IS IT FOR YOU? WELL, READ ON…
Outdoor sex is already up my street, so am I basically an ecosexual already?
You’re not alone in enjoying getting to it outdoors. Whether it’s a spot of skinny-dipping, a tent tumble during festival season or some foreplay in the local foliage (IMO the only interesting part of a date in the park), a new study has found that one in three of us are comfortable with the idea of alfresco sex. But ecosexuals take it that one step further and actually believe in getting their rocks off with nature.
Okay, so instead of hugging trees, we’re humping them now?!
Not quite. Though there were two activist-artists, Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens, who ‘married the earth’ in 2008… and what they got up to on their wedding night will remain between them.
Their ceremonial wedding performance (not legally binding, FYI) influenced an emerging facet of eco-feminist thought: one that encourages us to take pleasure in the sensations and sights of nature, take stock of our place within the ecosystem and ultimately take more of an active stance against climate change. The main message: that we treat the earth as our lover, not our mother.
And I thought my ex had mummy issues… But seriously, what do they mean?
As any parent knows – hell, as anyone who’s been a child knows – mothers are perennially taken for granted, whether it’s shouldering all the emotional labour or cooking and cleaning for the entire household. So, when we apply the metaphor of the mother to the environmental world, it suggests a one-sided relationship, one where humans feed off the planet but don’t do much in return. And, in short, eco-sex thinking suggests that we reframe this. By thinking of the earth as a lover, we’re encouraged to actively cherish it and enter into a reciprocal partnership based on give and take.
But where does the sex come into it? Do I have to get frisky with the flower trellis?
Well, not exactly, but obviously you could if that’s the kind of thing that turns you on.
Feminist pornographer Madison Young is a selfproclaimed ecosexual. For her, ‘eco sex is the practice of connecting intimately with the earth or natu
