Resources for sex education and positivity often leave trans people out of the conversation, so let’s have a chat amongst ourselves! Stitched and strapped: sex, pleasure, and trans joy. Here we focus on the most important relationship there is—with the self.
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Please note this episode contains discussions of sex and masturbation, mentions of transphobia, and discussion of medical transition.
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Host bios:
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Pete MacHale (he/him) is a creative from Bristol, based in London. He trained at the AUB, and acts and writes for stage and screen. Recent credits include Dungarees (2019), Gangs of London (2020) and his debut solo show Dear Young Monster, currently in development with The Queer House. Instagram: @peteyparty_
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Kenya Sterling (he/him) is an actor and creative, studying at Rose Bruford. He has experience with the Royal Exchange Young Company and ALT Actors. Recent credits include ‘Liam’ in TUC’s trans awareness film, and I AM at Ovalhouse. His debut poetry collection ‘19 Years Of Skin’ is out now. Instagram: @abstractkid_
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Guest bios:
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AJ (they/he) is a Black non-binary queer multidisciplinary artist, and founder of ‘Beat For The Gxds’—a creative make-up space for Black non-binary people. Instagram/Soundcloud: @Non_binoiry
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ZAND (they/them) is a non-binary recording artist and producer. Their Ugly Pop EP is available for streaming across Spotify, iTunes, and more. Instagram: @ihatezand
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Instagrams of visual artists mentioned: @vinksart, @mypinkyourpink, @nancy_boy_erotica
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Produced by Arden Fitzroy (they/them) @ArdenFitzroy
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The RISE Collective
Website: www.therisecollective.org.uk
Twitter: @RiseAmplify
Instagram: @therisecollectiveuk
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Music: Pembroke
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Transcript:
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INTRO MUSIC 0:00
(Intro music plays, soft and jazzy)
Arden Fitzroy 0:09
Everybody welcome! You’re listening to the AMPLIFY podcast, brought to you by The RISE Collective. We champion creatives and build collectives at the forefront of social change.
I’m Arden Fitzroy, Lead Producer, and this is Queer Joy, the second series of AMPLIFY.
This series was created by the next generation of creative leaders and changemakers.
These are our own stories, on our own terms.
Pete MacHale 0:58
Hi, I'm Pete, I use he/him pronouns.
Kenya Sterling 1:00
Hi, I'm Kenya. I also use he/him pronouns.
Pete MacHale 1:03
And this is our segment of the rise amplify podcast. And today we're bringing you a cool good trans sexy podcast…
Kenya Sterling 1:11
Called Stitched and Strapped!
Pete MacHale 1:13
Yeah! So on this episode, which is our first episode, we're looking at "the self" as in yourself, feel yourself, love thyself, the one to one, the solo experience.
Kenya Sterling 1:24
And in this episode, we're going to be talking about our trans bodies and our relationships to them.
Pete MacHale 1:30
Yeah, so we're gonna be talking about things like masturbation. toys, pornography, which reminds me Kenya, we do have a content warning.
Kenya Sterling 1:37
Oh, yeah, we do. So we want this to be like informative and feel accessible, but we're talking about sex. And there might be some potentially graphic content since it's sex. So just a heads up with all that I'm not looking to get a phone call from anyone's mom and dad, because-
Pete MacHale 1:56
I'm not trying to get a phone call from anyone's mom and dad, Unless, unless it's a hot dad, in which case, please tell your dad my number and tell them to give me a call.
Kenya Sterling 2:05
Moving on! Much as we want this podcast to kind of like be for all trans people. And we're going to try and make it as inclusive as possible with the resources and topics but we the host both identify as trans mascs so.
Pete MacHale 2:18
Yeah, so our personal knowledge and insight based on our experiences will probably lean towards the trans masculine camp. In this episode, we'll be highlighting some great trans creatives, discussing some art sharing some poetry, and then we'll be finishing off with a sexy trantham to send you all off into the night! But before we get into all that good stuff, Kenya, why are we doing this? Why is this podcast important?
Kenya Sterling 2:43
Basically, I didn't have it, you know, and sex is confusing for cis people. For that it's important to have these resources and this information out there so that it can help to empower yourself, as trans people. You know, a lot of the trans narrative, it's not negative, but like, we often see trans people being told the sexy so I kind of want to change that.
Pete MacHale 3:01
As well, I think as a general populace, as the human race has started to work past the stigma around things like sex and masturbation, you know, all the resources that I've seen for those things, they never seem to be trans friendly. But trans people are sexy, too. We like having sex too. We fart during sex to know those other things.
Kenya Sterling 3:22
Just you're on that one mate, just you.
Pete MacHale 3:24
YEAH OKAY, What I'm trying to say is trans people deserve sex positivity, it's really hard sometimes to feel like you can engage with, generally, sex positivity, when all of the people leading those conversations don't look like you or live like you or talk about the body parts that you have. So this is trans sex
Kenya Sterling 3:43
By the trans,
Pete MacHale 3:44
For the trans, all trans all good all go! Okay, so the first thing I think that we were going to talk about in this podcast is we just kind of wanted to set the tone with a bit of a chat about our relationships to our bodies, and whether that has kind of changed throughout transition. I don't know about you, Kenya, but I feel like my relationship to my body kind of pre medical transition was a pretty classic trans trope of... I hated it?! Um, I don't think connecting with my body was something I was very interested in prior to having access to things like hormones and surgery. The kind of simple answer to the question like, has my relationship to my body changed throughout transition would be ah-yes. Yes, as much better. I think, as my body gets closer to aligning with the way that I saw myself in my head through things like hormones and surgery, it feels a lot better,...
