Do girls know that they can never have sex? Do girls know that they can have sex with women? Do girls know their first time isn’t supposed to hurt? Do girls know that they’re not supposed to bleed? Do girls know that vaginas becoming ‘loose’ with more sex is a myth? Do girls know that you can stop halfway through? Do girls know that if they have a mediocre first time, it doesn’t mean it’ll feel like that forever? Do girls know that they don’t have to prove they’re not boring or prudish? Do girls know it’s okay to demand a condom? Do girls know they don’t have to ever ‘give in’ to demands, even a little? Until teenage girls and women know every way they can say ‘yes’ or ‘no’, sexual liberation isn’t complete.

Femme Fatale Guide: How To Decenter Men In Your Life

Consider the values, goals, and desired lifestyle that feel most authentic to you if social scripts/stigmas didn't apply to you

Take time to become radically honest with your desires as an individual – outside of the perception of men, your family, boss, teachers, peers, etc.

Cultivate a sense of personhood and identity established in your interests, hobbies, skillsets, learning capabilities, creativity, and desire for growth in all aspects of life

Act in your own best interests. Speak up for your needs, and advocate for yourself. Be more "selfish." Don't apologize for what you want and go after it. Act in your own best interests

Become confident in negotiating, assertive communication, and standing on your own two feet. Establish relationships in all aspects that are based on mutual benefit and equitable exchange

Unlearn your self-sacrificing & people-pleasing. Stop shrinking yourself or suppressing your needs to make others feel better or more comfortable

Validate yourself: your needs, desires, goals, dreams, preferences, and opinions. You need to choose yourself every day. Your appeal to others means nothing if you don't like the person you are or are becoming to satisfy the needs or desires of others

Consider the ways you're consciously and subconsciously confining your self-expression and belief system to fit the mold/appease the patriarchy. Actively work to deconstruct this mentality and way of being

Be honest with yourself about how men enrich your life. Not the other way around. Do they fulfill you romantically, sexually, both, or neither? There's no right or wrong answer, except the one that requires you to put on a performance rather than live in alignment with your true self

More resources including book recommendations/creators to follow HERE.

Ancient moon priestesses were called virgins. "Virgin" meant not married, not belonging to a man—a woman who was "one-in-herself." The very word derives from a Latin root meaning strength, force, skill; and was later applied to men: virile. Ishtar, Diana, Astarte, Isis were all called virgin, which did not refer to sexual chastity, but sexual independence. And all great culture heroes of the past, mythic or historic, were said to be born of virgin mothers: Marduk, Gilgamesh, Buddha, Osiris, Dionysus, Genghis Khan, Jesus—they were all affirmed as sons of the Great Mother, of the Original One, their worldly power deriving from her. When the Hebrews used the word, and in the original Aramaic, it meant "maiden" or "young woman," with no connotations of sexual chastity. But later Christian translators could not conceive of the "Virgin Mary" as a woman of independent sexuality, needless to say; they distorted the meaning into sexually pure, chaste, never touched. When Joan of Arc, with her witch coven associations, was called La Pucelle—"the Maiden," "the Virgin"—the word retained some of its original pagan sense of a strong and independent woman.

-Monica Sjöö and Barbara Mor. The Great Cosmic Mother: Rediscovering The Religion of the Earth.

Request for anon.

prehistoric lesbian couple

(mixing many periods and cultures)

Sources:

Sources for this one are sadly incomplete because I made the base of it a long time ago and lost the list I made while making it... so the only sources I have are the ones I added just now. If I find them I will add them here later and will share them as their own post tagged ‘sharing the sources’ and ‘prehistory’ too.

I may also remake it entirely someday -- I felt out of my depth trying to find good resources. If I find more stills of the Lady Sapiens film (I think it’s a film) I will use those for example.

1. https://queenfredegund.tumblr.com/post/663947794562924544/lady-sapiens-searching-for-the-women-from-the  “Lady Sapiens | Searching for the women from the Upper Paleolithic“

2. https://jeannereames.tumblr.com/post/646421235960512512/did-prehistoric-women-hunt-new-research-suggests “Did Prehistoric Women Hunt? New Research Suggests SoThis idea goes against a hypothesis, dating back to the 1960s, known as the “Man-The-Hunter model.”“

3. https://www.tumblr.com/accumulastation/661444867264823296/studying-prehistoric-art-right-now-heres-my “The Venus of Brassempouy, France.”

4. https://treasure-of-the-ancients.tumblr.com/post/707010838655008768/gold-sheet-votive-axe-minoan-16th-15th-century “Gold sheet votive axe, Minoan, 16th-15th century BC“

5. https://ammonitetestpatterns.tumblr.com/post/689637045362130944/detail-of-a-woman-thought-to-be-engaging-in-robe “detail of a woman thought to be engaging in “robe ritual,” carrying garments for ceremonial use, in the house of the ladies fresco at akrotiri, seventeenth century BCE. according to suzanne peterson murray, there is a fragment of a woman, possibly a priestess or initiate, believed to be standing upright beside her as the recipient of the garments and focal point of the fresco.”

Not appearing in the moodboard but something I read all parts of while researching and looking for references that I found interesting:

https://jessicalprice.tumblr.com/post/704223993175179264/you-got-your-known-minoans-and-your-unknown

You literally don’t need to have sex with men, ever. It is not a requirement for anything. If you’re lesbian, giving men “a try” or having a phase before you realize you’re lesbian doesn’t have to happen. You can only touch, date, and have sex with women your whole life. If you’re bisexual, you can prioritize relationships with women. You don’t have to have sex with men to have proof of anything or to have a fulfilling love and sex life. If you’re straight, you don’t need to be with men to live a full life, either. You are complete on your own. If the thought of having sex with men disgusts you, you don’t have to do anything to fix that or change yourself. Your sex life is your business. If something isn’t right for you, listen to that voice.

Femme Fatale Guide: Pleasure-Centric Sex Ed. Facts Every Woman Should Know

Some basic sex education: Decentralized from men and heteronormative perceptions of sexual pleasure.

Important for everyone AFAB with any sexual orientation: heterosexual, bisexual, lesbian, asexual, trans, non-binary, etc. Here are some ways to reclaim your sexuality from the patriarchy and heteronormative gaze.

Understand your anatomy, seriously. The clitoris is the female sex organ responsible for pleasure, not the vagina. While you may think of the bean as an isolated love button, it is actually anatomically analogous to an inverted penis and extends internally through the inside of your vaginal wall and the inner lips of your vulva. If you want to more aptly gauge your state of physical arousal, evaluate for hardness in addition to wetness (yes, it looks like a mini boner, lol).

All female (genital-induced) orgasms are clitoral orgasms. Whether they're external, internal, or both. Like its male anatomical equivalent, every clitoris has its own unique shape and size, which can be best stimulated in different ways externally and internally depending on your personal anatomy. Common pleasure zones include the external head "the clit," the "G-spot" (around 2-3 inches deep on the front of the vaginal wall), the "A-spot" (around 4-6 inches deep on the front of the vaginal wall), and anal region (stimulates clitoral legs for some AFABs).

Remember your brain is one of the most important sex organs. Sex is as (or more) mental as it is physical. According to Dr. Emily Nagoski, it is more common for AFABs to have a responsive desire style (aroused by their external environment/erotic cues that stimulate the 5 senses) versus a spontaneous desire style ("heat of the moment" sexual desire that requires minimal foreplay/build-up for pleasure and gratification).

The cervix height and density changes (and can affect how you experience sexual pleasure) throughout your cycle. If a certain position hurts sometimes and is pleasurable at others – whether alone or partnered, know this is normal. Your cervix tends to sit lower with a firmer texture from the end of your cycle and progressively raises/gets softer (thanks to rising estrogen levels) until it reaches its peak height & softness around ovulation. The cervix opens slightly during ovulation and right before/during menstruation (haven't seen a study researching the correlation between cervix opening and higher libido, but I would love to see one on this due to the correlation here for so many women). Learn what positions and techniques are most enjoyable for you during different times of the month (consider this practice as cycle syncing for your sex life).

The shame we attach to female sexuality is about control. Many cultures and religions control women's bodies in one way or another. If the justification for controlling women's bodies were about women themselves, then it would be understandable. If, for example, the reason was "women should not wear short skirts because they can get cancer if they do." Instead the reason is not about women, but about men. Women must be "covered up" to protect men. I find this deeply dehumanizing because it reduces women to mere props used to manage the appetites of men.

-Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Dear Ijeawele, or, A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions

Johanna Hullár (Hungarian b. 1989), N & T, 2012.

Pauline Boty

Pauline Boty  was a British painter and co-founder of the 1960s' British Pop art movement of which she was the only acknowledged female member. Boty's paintings and collages often demonstrate a joy in self-assured femininity and female sexuality, as well as criticism (both overt and implicit) of the "man's world" in which she lived. Her rebellious art, combined with her free-spirited lifestyle, has made Boty a herald of 1970s' feminism

1938-1966