First the Gays had Grindr. And Grindr begat… Yenta? Allow me to explain.
The Jews have given a lot to the gays. A quick search at lgbthistorymonth.com reveals an impressive list of gay Jews who were/are at the forefront of Western cultural zeitgeist. The names include such luminaries as composers Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland and Stephen Sondheim, actor and playwright Harvey Fierstein, comedian Stephen Fry, politicians Barney Frank and Harvey Milk, Record executive David Geffen, Beat poet Allen Ginsberg, photographer Annie Leibovitz, writer Susan Sontag… I could go on and on and on. And of course there are the gay icons that are Jewish like Bette Midler, Barbara Streisand and even Sarah Jessica Parker.
Now it seems that the gays have decided to give a little something back to the Jews. It all began with Grindr, described as “the largest and most popular all-male location-based social network out there.” Grindr is an app that uses your smart phone’s geolocation service to find similarly minded gay/bisexual men in your immediate vicinity, thus facilitating uh… quick, uncomplicated tête-à-tête encounters. Users upload as much or as little information about themselves to the app and then technology and testosterone take care of the rest. Grindr has enjoyed wild success with 4 million users spanning 192 countries and has been described as “the scariest gay bar on earth that is all over the earth.”
Celebrating 10 Years & Marking the End of An Amazing Project
Celebrating 10 Years & Marking the End of An Amazing Project
You may not tell your mom that you’re going to a live Jewrotica reading (or whatever clever name you will dub these events) but you will tell your friends. However, both would be jealous if they find out that they missed it. I think it will only be a matter of time before Jewrotica helps us reclaim the term “Dirty Jew” the way rap music has done for “The ‘N’ Word.” I know I am now proud to be a Dirty Jew!
I’m into Jewrotica. I went in for my second circumcision.
I attended and participated in last month’s Jewrotica event. The engaging performers and Ayo, our inviting host, inspired the audience to feel like one big community. What a great way to inspire our community to embrace sex as a beautiful thing that can be fun, exciting, sacred, sensual, ridiculous, scary and everything in between!
I stepped out of my comfort zone to be a part of this. I was glad to open up the topic of sexuality in my community. We are trying to build a safe space to talk about sex. The result I am most happy about coming from this event is that hopefully now my friends know they can come and talk to me, that I can be their ‘safe space’.
I had a great time deejaying at the Jewrotica event at Columbia University. The live readings were hilarious, informative, and in some cases, deeply moving. I know that I, along with many of my AEPi fraternity brothers, loved being able to connect our Judaism and our sexuality in a way that made all of us feel comfortable and welcome. I look forward to being a part of this again in the future!
Jewrotica is something that the community has needed for a long time so that people can actually learn, express and share and have good relationships without having to stumble through life. Check out the site and learn something. Have fun!
Jewrotica was everything I had dreamed of and more: sexy attendees, tantalizing confessions, and well-written literature to boot! More importantly, it empowers us Jews to reach inside and own our sexy selves and heritage!
The Jewrotica event “Evening of Jewrotica: Bedside Reading” was awesome. As Master of Confessions, I got to read the deepest, darkest secrets of people in the room out loud… It was scintillating, titillating, and – yes – even educational!
What an incredible night Jewrotica was!!!! There was this fantastic moment, in a sea of Jews of all sexualities, ages, backgrounds and denominations, that I realized we were all in this together! I hope that there are many more events coming to Austin soon!
I’m Heshy Fried from Frum Satire and I am very, very frum. And I completely support Jewrotica – it’s doing a service to the frum community. We need some sort of kosher sexual education. Jewrotica even has a system that allows frum filters to filter out certain things to make it PG for us. It’s mamish Torah. It’s like The Little Midrash Says for sex.
Copyright © 2014 Jewrotica.org. All Rights Reserved.
Built with Love and Mischief.
Designed by Ayo Oppenheimer and
David Abitbol
Pingback: Yenta? It’s Grindr for the Jews! | Jewlicious THE Jewish Blog
Pingback: Welcome to Jewrotica – A Note from Jewrotica Editor Ayo Oppenheimer | Jewrotica