CSC Library Highlights
Don’t forget to check us out on Goodreads
photos by library vixen
So glad to be able to work with this collection!
Old library catalog card held at CSC reads: Art, Immoral — See Erotic art
Photo by Marilyn Roxie
Center for Sex & Culture intern Marilyn Roxie shares their experience with CSC! If you have participated in, conducted, or been an audience member at an event at the Center, been an intern, or been otherwise involved with the Center, we would love to hear your stories - submit them here: http://centersexculture.tumblr.com/submit
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My name is Marilyn Roxie and I have been an intern at the Center for Sex & Culture since the summer of 2011. Through doing social media and work with the Center’s library collection, I have come to be even more passionate about my fields of study at City College, where I am pursuing a double major in LGBT Studies and Library Information Technology, and my efforts at education and activism at Genderqueerid.com. I feel I have already learned so much in this short span of time, keeping abreast of the current climate of sexual expression in a variety of arenas, and, importantly, the people involved in bringing about positive openness and change, and through getting familiar with the impressive sexological and erotological library collection. The Center is such a fantastic, welcoming place to explore these topics and although I have only recently become a part of it, I am sure to remain connected and interested beyond the length of my internship.
I first found out about the Center for Sex & Culture from interviewing Carol Queen in March 2011 for my LGBT American History class. Carol was one of the first people that came to mind when this oral history assignment came up, as she has been very inspiring to me. The book PoMoSexuals: Challenging Assumptions About Gender and Sexuality (edited by Carol Queen and Lawrence Schimiel) was instrumental in helping me finally come to accept my own identity as a queer, non-binary trans* person who didn’t fit any of the dominant narratives available. Reading this work was a springboard to exploring her other written works, particularly Exhibitionism for the Shy (I’m still personally working on the “shy” bit, as anyone who encounters me in person will quickly learn!), and finding out about her role as Staff Sexologist at Good Vibrations and founder of the Center for Sex & Culture. When seeking out an internship over the summer, after such a good and insightful experience with Carol and her partner Robert who was also present and participated in the interview, I decided to look into the Center, found out about their internship program, and have been working with the fabulous Library Vixen since.
Since I am in the midst of making an inventory of what’s in the Center’s library that is shelved so far -there are many more boxes of treasures left to uncover!- I thought I would share my top three favorite finds of books in the collection so far that you can look forward to accessing in the future (open hours are not far off!):
- Taschen art and photography books: I was familiar with Taschen’s The Big Book of… series from encountering them at Good Vibes but it wasn’t until recently that I became aware of the scope Taschen has covered, especially the exquisitely packaged multi-volume sets The Complete Reprint of Physique Pictoral and The Complete Reprint of Exotique.
- Gay Sunshine/Leyland Publications: A stack of brightly colored, smuttily titled books stood out to me in particular the first time I shelved books at the Center. LUST introduced me to the Straight to Hell (“S.T.H.”) chapbooks and a world of hot vintage erotica I hadn’t known about before.
- Kate Bornstein - Hello Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks and Other Outlaws: This isn’t so much a discovery since I already knew about and admired Bornstein (My Gender Workbook is on par with PoMoSexuals for the impact it had in my life), but seeing Hello Cruel World on the shelf reminded me that I needed to read it. How warmly, frankly, and often with a dash of humor Bornstein deals with this serious topic! Highly recommended.
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Marilyn Roxie elsewhere on the web:
@MarilynRoxie on Twitter
Genderqueerid.com
All the Lovely Lovelies (Masculine Beauty Tumblr, NSFW)
Center for Sex and Culture Library - unboxing and shelving books!
Picture by Marilyn Roxie.
Spent the evening helping out with this…so many incredible works and very excited to explore more!
This is so interesting! Wish I was lived closer so I could learn more!
We plan to eventually have the catalog searchable on-line and perhaps a Goodreads version of the Center collection as well to integrate the social media aspect and have a visual display. There’s more info about the Center here!: http://sexandculture.org/about-us/our-mission.html
Center for Sex and Culture Library - unboxing and shelving books!
Picture by Marilyn Roxie.
Spent the evening helping out with this…so many incredible works and very excited to explore more!
Pictures from the CSC Archive Show by Marilyn Roxie
9/25, 11:00am - 7:00pm at 1349 Mission St., San Francisco.
Open all day for Folsom St Fair 9/25/11 with additional historic dungeon equipment for sale!
Goodies from the Archive of the Center for Sex and Culture will be on display in a rare public showing of selections from the collection. The show features posters, photographs, letters, original documents and manuscripts, and other ephemera from a variety of historically, politically and sexologically significant sources. ’70s porn posters, original manuscripts of groundbreaking erotica, bondage toys of famous perverts and famous pervert places, a vibrating Nimbus 2000 Broomstick and more! Come see the beloved detritus of the movements that made San Francisco the Mecca of sexual liberation and libertinism that we know it as today.
Picture from the Center for Sex & Culture Archive show, coming back around again on 9/25 for Folsom Street Fair!
The CSC Archive Show
Sunday, September 25 · 11:00am - 7:00pm
Center for Sex and Culture1349 Mission St. between 9th and 10th
San Francisco, California
Open all day for Folsom St Fair 9/25/11 with additional historic dungeon equipment for sale!
Goodies from the Archive of the Center for Sex and Culture will be on display in a rare public showing of selections from the collection. The show features posters, photographs, letters, original documents and manuscripts, and other ephemera from a variety of historically, politically and sexologically significant sources. ’70s porn posters, original manuscripts of groundbreaking erotica, bondage toys of famous perverts and famous pervert places, a vibrating Nimbus 2000 Broomstick and more! Come see the beloved detritus of the movements that made San Francisco the Mecca of sexual liberation and libertinism that we know it as today.
The velvety, red, leopard-print high-heeled chair at CSC…
Photo by Marilyn Roxie
Center for Sex & Culture intern Marilyn Roxie interviewed Carol Queen, author, sexologist, and founder of the Center, in March 2011 for an LGBT American History class assignment. Here now are the contents of the interview, ranging from youth group organization in the ’70s to sex-positivity, from her involvement with Good Vibrations to the founding for the Center for Sex & Culture, plus a guest appearance from her partner, Robert Morgan Lawrence!:
Marilyn Roxie: In the ‘70s, you had founded a gay youth organization and I wanted to know what was the process for starting that out and how did you get going on that?
Carol Queen: Well, in 1975, actually 1974, I was 17 and I started college a year early, and I wanted to go to college and come out. I was already bi-identified and really there was nothing for me to connect with in my small mountain town that I grew up in Oregon, except figuring out who the gay teachers were and trying to get them to give me support and that, then as now, is dicey because teachers are often a little fearful of reaching out to queer kids. So, I mean I did get some support, but I went to college, and at college it turned out, not only was the bisexuality part a little challenging to people, but, I was too young to go to the bar, which is where all the other people really came together and connected. The bar scene, this was in Eugene, Oregon in the ‘70s, and it was not the only LGBT space in town, but it was almost the only LGBT space.
Carol Queen is someone who I have really admired and respected. If you’re into gender or sexuality studies / sexology / LGBT studies / queer issues / sex-positivity, check out this interview!
Model for upcoming CSC Photo Club shoot (June 12, 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM) Mandi Storm.
Mandi Storm has been modeling for a variety of fine arts classes and artists for the past five years…She is best known for her queer-girl-next-demeanor, with shy big eyes and naughty thoughts.
My first internship! I’m going to be assisting the Center for Sex and Culture with social media and library work - definitely excited about this! You can check the Center out on Tumblr too: http://centersexculture.tumblr.com/
The Mission of the Center for Sex and Culture is to provide judgment-free education, cultural events, a library/media archive, and other resources to audiences across the sexual and gender spectrum; and to research and disseminate factual information, framing and informing issues of public policy and public health.
From our San Francisco home we promote creativity, information and healthy sexual knowledge.