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Uses of the Digital Erotic Storytelling Project Main Menu About Key Terms Background Sexual Health Rooted in Eroticism History of Sexual Oppressions Timeline of Non-Digital Erotic Resistance Digital Erotic Resistance among Black Women Meet Digital Erotic Cultural Producers The Sexual Health Influence of Digital Erotic Resistance The Future of Black Feminist Digital Erotic Resistance Conclusion: Uses of the Digital Erotic as Black Feminist Resistance and Its Influence on the Sexual Health Behaviors of Black Women References

Resistance Example

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Example of Resistance Shawna Shipley-Gates
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1. Resistance Example

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Resistance Resistance is defined as “the act of fighting against something that is attacking you, or refusing to accept something” (Cambridge Dictionary). Some Black women digital erotic cultural producers agree that resistance is an act of fighting or pushing back against silence, erasure, and societal norms.

For instance, Kharyshi—who has specialized in body image at the intersection of size and sexuality for 21 years—understands that unapologetically sharing her voice is a form of resistance against forces that try to silence Black women, especially in digital spaces:
“As a woman who speaks up and speaks out loudly unapologetically already is a form of resistance...to be a Black woman who dares to do that...what I'm doing is saying that you don't own who I am and how I show up to do that. You don't get to control that” (Kharyshi, May 21, 2022).

There is another form of resistance that fights back against the erasure of Black women. A participant uses her existence as a form of resistance:
...just being here is fighting the good fight...like being a model of like I can be a mom. I can be a really, really good mom. I can be a really good business owner. I can unfold all of my personal ethics and personal values and I can still do this work. I could be a spiritual being and I can still have sex and sexuality and pleasure and all of my desires. I can have a loving long term committed marriage and relationship and be open and have other relationships and sexual experiences. I can do all of these things... (Jasmine, July 29, 2022).
Additionally, Black women who engage in digital erotic cultural production resist against societal norms that force them to behave in socially acceptable ways.

For instance, Madam Carmen--a self-taught educator who has specialized in consensual BDSM, kink, and fetish for the past 15 years—shares how she resists against oppressive structures that attempt to control her erotic narrative:
...I'm a very sexually expressive person. I've always been so being 33 years old, I didn't know what that was because, like I said it was so taboo. You shouldn't do that you are a woman. Close your legs. I'm like everything else makes me uncomfortable, so why can't I be my comfortable self. Right? If I wanted to show cleavage because I'm a nudist. So if I wanted to have my breast out why is it so hypersexualized? I had to really look at it, as it's not me. It's not my fault at all. I'm not doing thing wrong. It's just about the society that we live in and resisting all of that, and being able to control my own narrative regardless of what this outside world thinks, or feels, or sees. I don't seek the validation of those people, the only validation that I see is for myself. And that is a resistance to the normalcy of this world that we live in. They don't want you to think for yourself. They don't want you to have your own mindset. They want to make sure of that (@madamcarmen, August 1, 2022).
Defined by participants, resistance is the act of fighting or pushing back against systems that perpetuate harm including silence, erasure, and societal norms that prevent Black women from freely expressing themselves.