Messy Sex began in Greece with a fig. A zine of erotic poetry by Madison Grace, we share a few of them in this blog.

I was assigned the sex of female at birth and curiously, what ‘type’ of genitalia I have matters. This is because I present as a gender non-conforming person; my appearance confuses you. The rush of eyes is palpable as you scan me from short hair, to flat chest, to ‘birthing’ hips. Curiously it’s also important to mention that I don’t feel that I am a man and I don’t feel that I am a woman. Ergo, I am neither and both. Some days I am more man than woman, and vice versa.

Madison Grace takes us on a vulnerable journey through moments of embracing their queerness. Madi shares through an erotic and heart-centred lens - the nuances of becoming one’s self reflected alongside Foucault’s queer theory.

Activist, feminist, writer, poet, lesbian, mother Audre Lorde’s pivitol text on the innate power of our inherent eroticism. This woman dedicated her life and incredible creativity and talent to the civil rights movement and fought against sexism, classism, racism and homophobia passionately. Read these words, they are not to pass you by.

A poetic meditation on eroticism and the re-culturing of sexuality by Shannon May Powell. They explore the ways that an erotic relationship to the self, to others, and to the world, isn’t just about sex. Instead, they suggest, we might expand our understanding of sensuality and sexuality by becoming sensitive to ‘the small ecstasies we encounter in daily life; the way our bodies open up to the architecture of a beautifully designed room, or the way our skin can sometimes quiver in response to live music.’

Vanessa Muradian, sexologist and founder of Mia Muse, explores the multifaceted benefits of masturbation — whether it alone, or with another person as part of your sex-life.