It’s true. In life and in work, I’m a brat through and through. Attention-seeking. Rebellious-streaking. But most importantly, pleasure-seizing.
My brattiness has put me at odds with some branches of feminism. Let me give you some examples.
I don Halloween costumes that sexualize serious professions or issues
I oppose censoring hardcore porn or sexually violent videogames
I groove to music with coercive and misogynist lyrics
I don’t think Roman Polanski should be cancelled
I usually enjoy suggestive office banter
I devour no-means-go love stories
I like being catcalled sometimes
I defend clients of sex workers
I laugh at some rape jokes
I’m into being exotified
I’m kinky
Don’t get me wrong. I’m committed to feminism, broadly speaking. I recognize that cis straight white able-bodied financially-secure men are often privileged, and the rest of us are frequently marginalized. I know - on a cellular level - that gender oppression intersects with broader systems of domination and subordination.
It’s not just theory for me.
I’m a brown queer Muslim post-menopausal spinal-fused high-femme. I’ve dealt with unpleasant stuff including stigma, pain, marginalization, belittlement, harassment, nonconsensual interactions and hate crimes. These harsh experiences have triggered anger, fear, sadness and shame. And thanks to critical race feminism, I’ve learned to use these difficult emotions to theorize and fight oppression.
I’ve also learned from unexpected arousal, joy, sympathy, laughter or curiosity. However, when these embodied pleasures are sparked by something deemed “deviant” by the mainstream, or “problematic” by radicals, I’ve been told to be wary. I’ve been told it’s because I’m abnormal, brainwashed or insufficiently politicized.
I take these objections seriously, and once in a while, I’m convinced and try to redirect my interests. But I also investigate alternate meanings. Could my joyful response be evidence the maligned person, thing or activity is actually benign, ambivalent, cathartic or even liberatory? Or at least more complicated than the naysayers would have us believe?
If you browse this website, you’ll find my scholarship, fiction and blogging often reflects this bratty impulse to question prohibitions. To honour pleasure as a source of solace, resistance, inspiration and unique knowledge.
Although I’m not advocating total hedonism, you might still disagree with -- or despise -- the stances I take. Nonetheless, I invite you to consider what is made possible when we speak pleasure to power.
xoxo Ummni
PS If you want to know more about my pleasure-centred praxis, check out my chapter on the “Kinky Brat.”
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