Introduction to Episode

Yael Rosenstock Gonzalez teaches about sex, reproductive rights, and sexual pleasure. She wants a world full of sex positive relationships. Living her polyamorous, queer life, and also holding many other identities, she is uniquely poised to hold a safe space for these stories. Here is a little bit of hers. 

Podcast Episode Summary

Yael wants a world where we don’t have sexual violence. The under-reported number is that one in four or one in five women have experienced sexual assault. After finding a drive to teach on reproductive rights, after having experienced sexual trauma, Yael moved to wanting to help heal people through the trauma and eventually to sexual pleasure.

In this episode, she shares her story about living life as a polyamorous queer cis-gendered woman. Ultimately, she shares a story of how love is the one thing that can tie us all together and help us to break down these barriers we have created. In one vein, her travels to find her polyamorous identity that broke open another vein of holding a safe and accepting space for everyone. 

She has a vision of a world where there is no sexual violence and no shaming, where we all experience a full body-positive experience. Though, we have a lot of work to do. So, sharing and hearing stories different from our own is one way that we get there.

Quotables

[From Yael’s website under Sex Coaching] “Communication, boundary setting, sex education, and pleasure are rarely talked about in a useful way in schools and parents often don't have the resources they need to have these conversations. As we get older, it feels harder and harder to figure out skills and values that we missed out on as kids.”

[On one thing that can get us to open up about other people’s stories] “Tell me more…”

Recommended Resources

• See Yael’s work online, https://www.yaelrosenstock.com.
• Check out her book, An Intro-Guide to a Sex Positive You: Lessons, Tales, and Tips, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43607130-an-intro-guide-to-a-sex-positive-you.
• Visit Yael on Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/yaelthesexgeek/.
• For publishing and the Diverse Bodies Project visit https://www.instagram.com/yaelthesexgeek/. 
• OPB Think Out Loud, February 2, 2015, “At Home with Two Polyamorous Couples,” https://youtu.be/F9SkZ1TBJNE 

For more information about Michelle, Balance Shared, events, and projects, please visit www.michellelasley.com.