An intimacy support group centering disabled and immunocompromised folx in the era of COVID-19
Monday October 12, 2020 // 6:00-7:30pm PST
Hosted by Margaret Andersen
with special guest Andrea Gutiérrez-Glik, LMSW
Max Participants: 30
$0- $5 Suggested Donation
Member price accessed with discount code at checkout. Are you a member and don’t know your code? Email [email protected]! Not a member but interested in these perks? Join here!
The term “skin hunger” refers to the biological need for human touch, and throughout the pandemic we’ve all felt starved for physical contact at some point. But even though quarantine restrictions have eased for the general public, many disabled and immunocompromised community members must continue to physically isolate until there is a viable treatment or vaccine available. Skin Hunger is a peer support group centering anyone with a disability or chronic illness who is experiencing an intimacy deficit now or prior to COVID-19. Through sex-positive discussion, writing exercises, and guest speaker presentations, we’ll explore how we can redefine intimacy at a time when physical closeness has become a high risk activity, and learn how the principles of disability justice can foster mutual support and connection now and beyond this time of social distancing.
This month, host Margaret Andersen welcomes guest speaker Andrea Glik, LMSW who will offer Somatic coping strategies for isolation and present how Polyvagal Theory can help us calm our nervous systems and manage stress responses.
About Skin Hunger:
This peer support group is guided by disability justice principles and the message, “Only universal, collective access can lead to universal, collective liberation.” —Sins Invalid, sinsinvalid.org
Margaret Andersen (she/her) is a freelance graphic designer and journalist based in Los Angeles. She writes about design and technology and its intersections with gender, sexuality and disability. She has contributed to Wired, Bitch Media, Gusher Magazine, Future of Sex, Communication Arts, Adobe XD and AIGA’s Eye on Design. Margaret has worked as a designer for a range of cultural and commercial clients, including the immersive entertainment company Meow Wolf; USC’s World Building Media Lab; and Common Field, a national network of independent visual arts organizations that connects and advocates for the artist-centered field. She received her MFA in Graphic Design from the California Institute of the Arts.
Accessibility information for this event: ASL interpretation will be provided for this event.
*All members get 20% off paid programming. A limited number of free spots are also available for Warrior & Goddess level members. Email [email protected] to inquire about free tickets.
Our program costs go directly towards compensation of the instructors and staffers who work the event. We want to make programming as accessible as possible to anyone who is interested, however, so we offer volunteer opportunities in exchange for membership, as well as free community tickets to each program (number varies depending on capacity of the class). Email [email protected] for more info or to find out more about these opportunities for a specific event.