Album: Welcome to the Age of My Body

This month’s theme is all about sexuality. It is about embracing it, feeling comfortable with it, and valuing it. Mary Lambert’s Welcome to the Age of My Body offers a nice start to the theme. The album was released in 2014 by Mary Lambert, a Seattle-based singer-songwriter who often deals with the topic of gay rights. Her Christian upbringing had made her struggle with her lesbian sexuality. But in her song “She Keeps Me Warm,” she speaks out powerfully and courageously by completely admitting to and embracing her sexuality. Songs with strong voices and messages as such are needed in a conservative society like South Korea. Another song in the same album, “Body Love” teaches women how to love and appreciate their individual bodies, despite the unrealistic image that the media portrays.

Movie: Young and Beautiful

   Before going into the details of this movie, viewer discretion is advised as the movie contains many explicit scenes. The French movie, “Young and Beautiful” is a work of the world’s renowned director François Ozon who is famous for his expression of human sexuality. Released in 2013, the movie has been nominated for the award Palm d’or in the Cannes Movie Festival and has received wide acclamation from critics worldwide. This movie focuses on a young and beautiful teen named Isabelle who, after losing her virginity at 17, starts a surreptitious career of prostitution. The movie excludes any explanations on what exactly had happened or the true message behind the scenes; the interpretation is up to the viewers. Readers must know that the intention of recommending this movie is not to condone the act of prostitution in any way. However, the movie teaches that sexuality is something to be valued and sex without responsibility ensues danger, a message worth exploring.

TV show: The L word

   The L word is a Canadian/American show that had been broadcasted on Showtime from January 18, 2004 to March 8, 2009. The story centers on Jenny, a character who moves to Los Angeles, to be closer with her boyfriend. Her life drastically changes when she steps foot into a neighborhood of a closed lesbian society. She is invited to a party where she meets a captivating individual named Marina who leads her to question her sexuality. The show has received ongoing love from the viewers for six years, but has failed to gain applause in conservative societies. The show not only deals with lesbianism but also bisexuality, transgenders and multiple characters with distinct personalities. The show contains a penchant depiction of love and sexuality unrestricted by social norms. Viewer discretion is also advised for this show for the contents may be explicit.

Book: So wild nach deinem Erdbeermund ein Aufklrärungsbuch für Jugendliche

   Christine Wolfrum is a German psychotherapist who frequently published books about sex and human relationships. She spent three years interviewing adolescents, and accumulating their questions, comments, and concerns about sex. She answers all of those concerns in this one book, with a long German title that translates into “So wild your lips, a sexual book for teenagers.” This book is great for teenagers or people who are newly engaging in sexual relationships. It deals with adolescent relationships, covering topics like safe sex, contraceptive methods, how to deal with unhealthy emotions in relationships, and sex for gay and lesbian couples. Korea has a knack for forcing on the ineffective sex education of abstinence. This book will prove to be useful for people with various concerns about sex but lack a respectful figure to talk about this topic in a healthy way.

Play: The Kiss of the Spider Woman

   The play The Kiss of the Spider Woman is based on Manuel Puig’s queer novel released in 1976. It deals with the intimacy between two men, Molina and Valentin, who are cell inmates. They develop a romantic relationship until the audience finds out that Molina has been a spy to find out the details of the revolutionary organization that Valentin is engaged with. The story is considered one of Puig’s most successful novels and has been re-made into a movie in 1985 and a Broadway musical in 1993. Now it’s coming to Korea in the form of a play, enwrapped in all its glory. The first time it was featured as a play in Korea was 2011, when critics and the audience madly raved about this groundbreaking love story. It’s a beautifully tragic piece, shattering social norms that all love stories should be based on traditional male and female couples.

Place: Shinyeon Art hall in Daehakro

Date: Nov. 7, 2015~ Jan. 31, 2016

Price: 40,000 (25% discount for students with student IDs)