Sex Militant
Sex Militant is a collective of artists and activists dedicated to liberating bodies from sexual oppression. Good Trouble talked with co-founder Jex Blackmore about transcending traditional activism, the power of spectacle and taking sexual expression to the streets.
Words by Tess Gruenberg / Images by Alex Austin
Immersed in the intersectional worlds of performance art, sex rights activism, and the occult, Jex Blackmore is one of the critical figures transforming public spaces into educational spectacles. Her public advocacy is wide-ranging. She’s hijacked anti-abortion rallies with gallons of milk, disrupted the public speeches of alt-right leader Richard Spencer with a group of protesting clowns, and live-blogged the seventeen days surrounding her abortion procedure. As a Satanist, she empowers radical theory by cultivating a diverse practice of nontraditional direct action. Jex has been characterized as a both religious heretic and a feminist icon. Duly noted is her role as a prime disruptor.
Late last year, the Detroit-based artist presented her newest manifestation, an experimental sex-rights activism project called Sex Militant. Simultaneously a coalition, conviction, and direct-action collective, Sex Militant makes a live-spectacle out of the oppressive and sticky tension between state violence and eroticism.
Their two-night September 2019 premiere in Chicago constructed an immersive space out of durational performances, participatory rituals, sound, and protest art. The result was a live-spectacle that forced viewers to consider unacknowledged acts of resistance and submission. Inevitably, the local Catholic Church protested the installation. They responded by holding a banner up to the protestors that read: “Castrate The Clergy.”
Networked for action and committed to the fight for sexual rights for all, there is no predicting how Sex Militant will manifest next.
When was Sex Militant cooked up and why?
We started thinking about Sex Militant in 2017. Many of us were organising projects in Detroit and wanted to start something focused specifically on sex rights. We had spent a long time thinking about the ways we could use collective action to implement change and empower each other in a way that was transformative, while avoiding the trappings of traditional activist organisations… To create a platform for liberation, play with direct action and spectacle-creating, and [provide] a space for people to be creative with their resistance.
For Sex Militant, what is the distinction between visibility—a historic tool of resistance— and creating a 'spectacle?
Visibility is a tool of resistance within the framework of oppression – it’s about truth-telling. Should we eliminate the violence of erasure, visibility becomes a haughty word for people simply living their lives. Of course, the truth does not always reveal itself by virtue of being the truth – it must often be told in a way that motivates people to open their eyes.
We recognise the role spectacle plays in our lives. In advertising, news, entertainment and social media, our culture is formed on the basis of symbols, myths and fantasies disseminated through a series of viral moments that capture our attention for just a moment. However, those who control the spectacle are almost exclusively companies and individuals who enjoy a great deal of wealth and power. We believe that activists must enter the realm of spectacle to be politically effective and that these spectacles ought to be emancipatory, ethical and aid in manifesting action. The truth itself can be radical to those who it’s unknown to – similarly, a system can be radicalised if it’s seized by those it’s intended to dominate.
How does the Sex Militant photo-essay subvert the spectacle for good?
The photo-essay was an action in and of itself. Rather than casting professional models, the people who participated were stakeholders and collaborators who have been directly impacted by sexually repressive legislation. The production team, the organisers and the participants worked together to explore ways of visually representing the values and mission of Sex Militant through play and experimentation. Having the space and freedom to produce a visual work, supported by a production team that donated their time and resources to the cause, was a testament to how collective action can support our community. Building strong relationships with one another through creative efforts is a revolutionary action that is often overlooked but is critical to the movement.
“Society’s discomfort with public expressions of sexuality is a symptom of moral tyranny, and we threaten this tyranny through visibility, performance and political confrontation.”
Liberation is as physical as it is psychological. Can an individual achieve liberation alone or is being part of a collective necessary?
The individual is interwoven into the collective. None of us can be liberated until all of us are free. The concept of ‘individual liberation’ in the US often takes the form of white colonisers hiding behind a thin liberal veneer, using superficial performative lifestyle changes to soak up their guilt – or, worse, individuals who believe they are liberated because they have embraced the oppression of others as a result of mistaking their proximity to power for freedom.
Collective struggle is necessary because this struggle will span generations, because individualism is a white supremacist fantasy, and because we all have so much to learn, and so little time to learn, that we must teach and support one another. Simply opting out of the hegemonic power structure isn’t enough. We must dismantle it, which will leave a vacuum. Something will fill that void, and it must be liberatory from the ground up.
Social media personas can be an uplifting tool for folks to find their voice. Is there room for the individual beyond the realm of superficiality?
The individual has the right to express themselves in a way that fits best for their needs, interests and desires. We need healthy individuals who support collectives so that we can all experience a level of individual freedom and expression. There are queer people who live in rural areas now able to connect and feel safe through conversation and expression online – but you also have a bunch of aggressive young men who have found the same exact platform. Social media has grown to be such a monolith of social interaction and organising that we forget that the real experience between people on the ground is the true form of liberation. We’ve seen this time and time again in creating live spectacles and public performances. People are transformed by actually having to confront the reality.
One of the collective’s goals is to engage younger generations. How do you inspire kids to storm the streets when much of their time is spent in virtual spaces?
The youth are often the driving force in many revolutionary movements, and social media has successfully disarmed would-be activists by creating a platform for participation that’s exclusively relegated to expressions of virtual and performative dissent, rather than direct engagement. Social norms tell people that they don't have the power to organise, or to impact the news cycle, or to have their voice be heard unless they participate in actions that are prescribed as appropriate activism. Our goal is to get our community on the street and experimenting with arbitrary regulations imposed upon free expression and political advocacy.
Street art is an easy access point in this way. We have organised many banner-drops and wheat-pasting campaigns, and encourage people to target visible and strategic public spaces. It seems like a very minor action, but it is actually quite liberating if you've never done something like that before. A message from the people for the people directly challenges powers who would prefer us to stay hidden behind our screens, panicking over which information can be trusted. Get on the street and talk to each other by any means necessary!
The pillars of Sex Militant concern a wide spectrum of sociopolitical issues, all connected under a larger umbrella that holds state power as its natural enemy. How do coalitions of resistance resist dogma?
Simply put, we believe that the state does not have the power to regulate our bodies – dogma is bad when it is static, oppressive or otherwise flawed. Passionate adherence to truth will be called dogma by its detractors (by those it threatens), and the answer is not to betray the truth.
“The betrayal of truth” almost reads like the truth is a lover, a human with a body. Is that a helpful way of looking at an idea like truth, or is anthropomorphizing the truth a dangerous cause?
Describing truth as something to be desired is a very reflective of the way that society talks about truth. We idealize Truth to such an extent that we can no longer wrap our heads around it. That is one of the biggest tools that power uses is to make us believe there is no way of knowing truth. Now, people think there is no truth because you can no longer discern what's real and what’s fake. Truth is actually very concrete. Humans deserve dignity.
“It is essential to enjoy life, to celebrate each other, to love, and fuck and play. These are basic human needs. It is imperative that what we fight against does not overshadow what we are fighting for.”
The photographs feel like they could have been shot any time in the past thirty years. Is the aesthetic symbolic for our current regressive sex-related legislation?
We acknowledge that the fight for sexual liberation and sex rights has been a multi-generational and historic struggle. Current legislation may feel regressive, but progressive policies often uphold structural hegemonic norms. Without changing the structures which coddle sexual oppression, we will always be one breath away from being back where we started. Our aesthetic is mindful of the legacy and continued struggle for sex rights across many generations.
The imagery of Sex Militant also incites playfulness. What is the role of play in the culture of resistance?
It is essential to enjoy life, to celebrate each other, to love, and fuck and play. These are basic human needs. It is imperative that what we fight against does not overshadow what we are fighting for.
Check out sexmilitant.com for more detailed philosophy of their work, including more videos and images of the September installation & jexblackmore.com for past/present/future updates on Jex’s radical performance art
An edited version of this article appeared in Beauty Paper’s Revolution Issue (March 2020)
