Lusting For Freedom Exercise

1. “I had sex young and, after the initial awkwardness, loved it. For days and nights, I rolled around in a big bed with my first boyfriend, trying out every possible way to feel good body to body”

Response: The first lines in this essay were very straightforward. I felt uncomfortable reading them at first because since it is not socially acceptable to have sex so young I didn’t know exactly how to response. The imagery was also very intense.

2. “Unfortunately, moral codes and legal demarcations complicate rather than regulate desire. And judgments like "right" and "wrong" only build barriers between people and encourage shame within individuals.”

Response: I had never really thought about sex in this light. I actually like that the narrator focuses on the idea that having regulations only separate people. This makes me think of sex more as making love then a human crave and desire.

3. “Sex can also be power because knowledge is power, and because yeah, as a girl, you can make it do different things: I can give it to you, and I can take it away. This sex is me, you can say. It is mine, take it. Take me. Please keep me.”

Response: I do believe in some aspects sex does represent a sign of power and knowledge. Since she is a girl, I do agree that it is something that can be given or taken away. However, the last line seems ironic because to me I associate her begging with a type of weakness.


4. “It gives you someone to hold on to when you can't feel yourself.”

Response: This particular quote really stood out to me. I do feel like many young girls merge into the world of sex at such a young age because they are insecure and need someone to make them feel loved. In the essay, the girl stated that her mother was away most of the time and there seemed to be no mention of her father. Therefore, this could possibly imply she needed sex to make herself feel better.



5. “The impulse that told me that I deserve to live free of shame, that my body is not my enemy and that pleasure is my friend and my right.”

Response: I really like the usage of the word impulse in the quote. It seems that she had no control and her impulse told her to be okay with her body and use it in any possible way she desires. I like how she suggested her body is not her enemy and she can involve herself with pleasure any way she pleases despite what culture may think.


6. “Hiding in shame or running fast to keep from looking is a waste of what is most precious about life: its infinite ability to expand and give us more knowledge, more insight and more complexity.”

Response: I do agree that must young girls who decide to be sexually active or happen to conceive at such a young age do feel shameful. I never looked at the situation in terms wasting the precious aspects of life. I believe what the narrator is trying to state that most girls should not look at their sexual experiences as regretful experiences but having the power to seek what who they are and what their body has to offer.

Relation to Fledling: When I initially read this article I had Shori in mind. Although Shori is a fifty-five year old woman, she still embodies that of a ten-year-old girl. I want to say that she perhaps could possibly share the same views as the narrator in this essay in relation to the power and knowledge having sex brings to her. In Fledgling, Shori stays strong and healthy by feeding off her symboints. There is an obvious correlation in this essay because the narrator suggests that she understands who she is and the control of desire she obtains by having sex. Far too often the government monitors pleasure and things the human body desires. In fledgling, since Shori is a vampire it is acceptable to break away from all of these regulations and she makes having sex with multiple partners acceptable. She appears to be young but her addictive bite and physical strength for a woman denies any sign of weakness.
The narrator is trapped in a world where hatred among women and their sexual desires are seen in the wrong light. People portrayed her as a whore and a girl who probably grew up in a very unstable home. Her mother was never there and for goodness sake she lost her Virginity when she was eleven. In addition, it is rather hard to feel sorry for this girl does not even regret her sexual encounters having been so young. Yet, simultaneously it is hard not to feel enlightened that she is so proud of knowing and being so comfortable with what her body has to offer. It is a shame that she has to change herself for so many men to feel right or accepted. Then again, it comes in the package of dealing with the emotions and pain of having to grow up and to come to understand her body.
Shori’s may be just as complicated yet her sexual behavior is much more accepted. The two share common lifestyles yet in Shori’s world there is a much more identified balance between her sexual desires and understanding who she is as a woman. She is allowed to be promiscuous and for Ina’s the more partners the stronger she will be. I believe the most incredible aspect about Fledgling is Shori is able to break away from societal values and create a world where sex, race and age is almost nonexistence in reaching the goals of her desires.