The Uses of the Erotic In Science Communication
Hi! Long time no talk! I’m going to be sending out weekly posts this year to practice sharing more publicly about the work I do.
What will these weekly posts explore? Science and science communication are not currently places of belonging for everyone. An overemphasis on objectivity and rationality may even perpetuate this. That is, we might not be able to “science” our way out of oppressive systems. But art-based methods have the potential to disrupt and make visible injustice and cultivate a radical space for reclaiming, repairing, and reimagining science communication as a space of belonging. Join me as I explore the potential of the arts to humanize and liberate science communication spaces through this newsletter and STEMprov happenings.
I help scientists communicate their science without excluding people. Book a workshop with me.
Shout Out:
Education for Racial Equity puts on anti-racist workshops that explore how racism lives and is acted out through our bodies. I’ve spent the last year diving deep with this group on my own somatic abolition work, and I highly recommend checking out their trainings.
What I’m reading/watching/listening to:
- Towards the horizon of abolition: A conversation with Mariame Kaba
- Murmurations: Accountable to Earth
- Neptune Frost
- Record of a Spaceborn Few
- Octavia’s Brood
- Because Internet
- Joyful Militancy
The Uses of the Erotic In Science Communication
Hot take about science communication…it’s okay to do science communication just for the fun of it….just for the pleasure of it. I interview so many early career scientists who confess to me that they do science communication because it’s fun…they like the feeling of…it is pleasurable. And that comment is usually preceded by “And I know this is selfish, but I like how it feels.”
And I will probably have a lot of other posts about how important strategic science communication is or promising practices for inclusive science communication. But what I really want to say is it’s okay to do this thing because you love it!
So many folx come into this with internal motivation. They do it not because they’re getting gobs of pay or accolades, and the research shows that this sort of internal motivation is going to be way more sustainable in the long run.
I think there’s kind of a myth in science communication that it is something that we do out of a sense of service. And–of course, we do–but there’s a lot of power in doing something just for the sheer pleasure of it. Audre Lorde in The Uses of the Erotic as Power and adrienne maree brown in Pleasure Activism both make way more elegant and compelling arguments, but what it all boils down to is that it is way more sustainable to tap into your own desires. And there is something very resistant about showing up and doing something for your own pleasure. It bucks up against structures of oppression when you show up as your entire self in full pleasure, which is not often welcome in STEM spaces. So, go ahead–do something just for the pleasure of it.
Speaking of doing something for the pleasure of it, I’ll be performing a fungus-themed burlesque routine that I’m workshopping at Jammie Jams–Monday, January 9th at Kick Butt Coffee for Happy Nude Year! Tickets here.
I’d love to hear from you. What are you doing these days just for the sheer pleasure of it? Feel free to email nichole.lynn.bennett@gmail.com with your answer.
Much love (and desire),
Nic Bennett
I help scientists heal themselves to heal science culture. Book a workshop with me.
