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
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… Read more
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!
My opinion on Jewrotica is: It’s sexy. It’s awesome. It’s Judaism to the next level. It’s what we should all be getting into!
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.
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… Read more
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!
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!
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’.
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!
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