BERLIN GEIST LITERATUR ISSUE 4 | JAN. 2023 ON PHYSICALITY
“Part of it, of course, is simple curiosity in bondage and sadomasochistic sexuality (BDSM). That part is simple to explain: The pain and fear that comes with sadomasochistic sex causes the brain to shunt blood flow away from its executive “decision-making” areas (frontal cortex), which results in an altered state of consciousness in both the giver and the receiver. Like autoerotic asphyxiation or cocaine, experiencing fear and pain can heighten sexual gratification, but at some cost…”
Our latest issue of Berlin Geist Literatur, similar to our issues in the past, explores a single theme or topic relevant to the New Left from various perspectives and in various contexts.
phys·i·cal·i·ty
/ˌfizəˈkalədē/
noun
the fact of relating to the body as opposed to the mind; physical presence. “there’s an emphasis on the physicality of the actors”
involvement of a lot of bodily contact or activity. “the intense physicality of a dancer’s life”
Image from Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s art studio, 1918
With the recent and continued regression in the United States (and abroad) of women’s rights and protections, the continued attacks on our LGBTQIA+ allies, specifically the trans community, and the questioning of freedom of physical expression and body autonomy in general, our latest issue is centered on PHYSICALITY, a thoughtful discussion of physical connection and attraction, the nature of desire, and the power of human expression.
“It seems to me that we do live in two worlds… there is this physical one, which is coherent, and there is the spiritual one, which to the average [person] with [their] flashes of religious experience, is very often incoherent. This experience of having two worlds to live in all the time, or not all the time, is a vital one, and is what living is like.”
― William Golding
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