SEX BEYOND "YES"

Philosopher Quill R Kukla reimagines fulfilling sex through an exploration of sexual agency, communication, and pleasure.

Today's conversations about sex often focus on consent - who has given it, when one has it, and how to get it. However, good, fulfilling sex requires much more than securing a "yes" from a partner. It requires a wide variety of kinds of communication, as well as social circumstances that support rather than undermine sexual agency and pleasure. In Sex Beyond "Yes," Georgetown philosophy professor Quill R. Kukla explores what sexual agency is and how it can be enabled or hindered. Kukla reimagines pleasurable, ethical sex beyond the constraints of commodification, patriarchal and heterocentric social scripts, ableism, and puritanical and stigmatizing attitudes toward sex. Centering pleasure and agency rather than sex gone wrong, this book encourages conversations and social changes that can make good sex accessible to all. It addresses the complexities of desire and the importance of creating an environment that prioritizes respect, communication, and joy.

Quill R Kukla lives in Washington, DC, and Berlin. They are professor of philosophy and disability studies at Georgetown University, and a research fellow at Leibniz University Hannover and the University of Johannesburg. They compete in boxing and powerlifting.