Written by Sarah Tuttle-Singer. Sarah is Jewrotica’s social media guru.
Every Thursday night during my last two years at UC Berkeley, my friends and I would drive across the Bay Bridge from Berkeley to San Francisco for a night of revelry and bacchanalian experimentation at Cat Club. The venue was renowned in the area for playing the best assortment of ’80’s music, and for attracting a goody bag of club-hoppers including the Euro-Fabulous, the Body-Modified, the Hells Angels, the Boys-into-Boys and Girls-into-Girls, the prerequisite college students, and even a few folks who danced to ’80’s music before it became kitsch — you know, back in the actual ’80’s. I loved Thursday nights: I would shimmy into black pleather pants so tight they squeaked when I tried to sit down in them, and line my eyes with heavy kohl.
I fell madly in love with ’80’s music during my time at Cat Club. The perky, upbeat songs were addictive, and unlike most clubs, which take themselves way too seriously, Cat Club was always fun. And, given the close proximity of the youth hostels to the club, there was a true international flavor on the dance floor: When “Come on Eileen” began to play, the Irish would whoop and holler. When the first few bars of ‘Land Down Under’ filled the club, the Australians bulldozed their way into the center of the action. And as soon as ’99 Luft Balons’ came on, a gaggle of screaming Germans would flock to the middle of the dance floor.
My girlfriend, K, knowledgeable in all things alcoholic, introduced me to the best club drink, “Bull in a China Shop,” a concoction of Red Bull, Grenadine, raspberry-flavoured Vodka, and lots of those sweet red cherries. As soon as we got to Cat Club, I would saunter up to the bar, flirt with the incredibly beautiful tattooed bartender, and order my new signature drink. Warmed by the vodka and fueled by the Red Bull, I’d get up to dance, and usually, after another Bull in a China Shop chased by a few free beers, I would end up with my girlfriends in the cage, bumping and grinding and attracting a lot of attention.
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!
Learning about sex and what’s right and wrong when it comes to sex from a Biblical standpoint was an eye opening experience. I completely enjoyed it and think something like this could be a very cool thing to bring to even high school aged Jewish youth groups.
Jewrotica is awesome. It expands the mind and for people who were raised with narrow views on sexuality. Whether you are Jewish or not, or in different sects of Judaism like Orthodox, Conservative or Reform, no matter what your background or where you’re from, Jewrotica gets you to see Judaism and how it relates to sexuality in new ways. I really appreciate Ayo being here and helping us learn different ways to connect with our sexuality.
I’m so glad that Jewrotica is represented here at Jewlicious! It’s bringing voices that need to be heard in the Jewish discussion and Jewish climate environment.
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!
Jewrotica is inspiring Jews and erotica with holiness and coolness, and is the pride of progressive Judaism. Jewrotica – awesome!
Such an amazing experience! The Sarah Lawrence Jewrotica workshop was more than I could have ever expected – a comfortable, safe, sultry environment where participants clearly felt good about sharing or listening to each other’s intimate experiences and relating them to sexy stories from the Torah. From the moment the workshop began, Ayo had a sweet presence that was kinetic and spread around the room; her storytelling abilities had everyone enraptured and made the conversation topics relata…
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’.
At Jewrotica’s Evening of Bedside Readings, students declaimed monologues on sexual encounters that had a Jewish twist. At Columbia/Barnard Hillel, the speakers pushed their own boundaries by performing a range of explicit narratives that challenged how the audience thought of the relationship to Judaism and sex. During the speakers’ preparation, the arguments about which narratives would be appropriate forced students to take a stand and voice their opinion on their own beliefs about Judaism an…
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