We make sexual activities taboo, naughty, shameful. We want sex, we speak it, and when we get it, we hide it. Plante said people sneak and seek sexual pleasure, knowing they're risking the anger of parents, the dangers public health professionals warn them of and the judgments of gods, prophets or spirits. She said, however, we are given ways out of this shame and risk. Women are lauded or applauded when they just say no, or grasp some born-again virginity, she said.
Pleasure is anarchic.
I think pleasure has few boundaries or rules. Plante waved a condom in her hand and asked her audience if anyone saw it as a source of pleasure. Pleasures are like foods in more ways than one, Plante said. Our pleasures change as well. Following Plante's speech, questions were given to her on index cards from the audience members.