93. Pleasure, Power, and the Vote: Joy Is Resistance (with Dr. Nan Wise and Natasha of Voting Shoes)
The Feminine Rebellion: Pleasure, Power + Unapologetic Living for Midlife WomenSummary
As the midterm elections approach, the urgency for women to engage in the electoral process intensifies. The conversation centers on the importance of reclaiming power through voting, emphasizing that every woman's voice matters in shaping the future. The hosts encourage listeners to make a voting plan, reach out to friends and family, and ensure that they are prepared to cast their ballots, highlighting the significance of down-ballot races that directly impact daily life.
Dr. Nan Wise, a licensed psychotherapist and behavioral neuroscience researcher, joins the discussion to underscore the connection between community engagement and emotional well-being. She advocates for "pleasure activism," which involves finding joy and connection in the act of voting and community organizing. The conversation also touches on the need for women to support one another, share resources, and create a collective movement to drive change.
The episode concludes with practical advice for voters, including researching candidates, understanding polling locations, and utilizing voter protection hotlines for any issues encountered at the polls. The hosts emphasize the power of collective action and the importance of celebrating the voting process, encouraging women to embrace their agency and participate actively in shaping their communities.
Show Notes
Four days, loves. This episode is the pre-game: me, Dr. Nan Wise (sex therapist, neuroscientist, and the woman who taught me the phrase healthy hedonism), and Natasha, the former legal aid attorney behind @votingshoes, one of the most joyful voting accounts on Instagram. Nan reached out to Natasha and Natty and the Women Take Charge Collective was born. This conversation is what happened when the three of us got in a room: a complete voting plan for Tuesday, a crash course in the down ballot races that touch your daily life most, and the neuroscience of why joy, connection, and pleasure are not a distraction from the work. They ARE the work.
What you'll hear: 🔥 Why these midterms are Congress's two-year job evaluation ("Congress works for us, and we can fire them") 🔥 Down ballot 101: school boards, state legislators, local judges, county commissions, and how to research yours fast before Tuesday 🔥 The voting plan, step by step: find your polling place today, vote early, what to do if anything goes wrong at the polls, your rights in line, and how to track your ballot 🔥 Dr. Nan on co-regulation and the seeking system: why overwhelm freezes voters, why curiosity breaks the freeze, and why talking to your neighbor is a political act 🔥 Pleasure activism and its lineage, from Audre Lorde's "Uses of the Erotic" to Toni Cade Bambara's charge to make the revolution irresistible to adrienne maree brown's Pleasure Activism, and what joy as resistance looks like four days before an election
The framework: This episode lives in The Rise. Three women met on a Zoom and became a collective. That's how it starts.
Make your plan (do this today): Find your polling place and early voting locations: visit your Secretary of State's website (google your state + secretary of state) or from your phone: 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683)
If you're in line before polls close, you have the right to vote, no matter how long it takes
About half the states offer same-day or Election Day registration; check yours
Tuesday: wear shoes that mean something, take the photo, tag @votingshoes
Join us: the Women Take Charge Collective is live on Instagram; DM the word "JOIN" to Dr. Nan [https://www.instagram.com/askdoctornan/] and you're in. One goal a week, together, with pleasure. And our free community is always open: https://thefemininerebellion.com/community
About the guests: Dr. Nan Wise is a sex therapist, neuroscientist, and author. Natasha of @votingshoes is a former legal aid attorney and voter protection volunteer whose account turns voting into a celebration
Loved this episode? Send it to your voter buddy right now, and a 5-star review is how another woman finds this show. Thirty seconds, and it matters.
More from The Feminine Rebellion: Pleasure, Power + Unapologetic Living for Midlife Women
Bootstraps. Power through. Chin up. Show no weakness. Nobody ever sat me down at the kitchen table and read me the rules of my house. Nobody had to. I knew them in my bones, and so did you. This week's solo episode is about those rules: the ones you absorbed from your mom's face when the doorbell rang, the ones you're still obeying at 45, at 50, at 62, and the ones I was still obeying this past March, fifty years old, feet throbbing in ski boots I had hated for three seasons, because somewhere in me a little girl still believed that if it hurts, it's probably good for you.
This episode contains frank discussion of porn culture, sexual assault, and child sexual abuse, approached with care and for educational purposes. Listener discretion advised. If you or someone you love needs support, please reach out to a licensed mental-health professional or a crisis resource in your area.
This episode discusses psychedelics for educational and storytelling purposes only. Nothing here is medical advice, and nothing is a recommendation to use any substance. Psychedelics remain illegal in most jurisdictions and are not safe or appropriate for everyone. The experiences described took place in legal, clinically guided settings. Please consult a licensed medical or mental-health professional before making any decisions about your health.
There’s a reason trees drop their leaves before the frost. They’re not failing. They’re f*cking wise. They refuse to carry dead weight into winter.
At midlife, rupture is inevitable. A child leaves home. A marriage shifts. A career stops fitting. An identity starts cracking.