Center for Sex and Culture
May 22
The Center for Sex & Culture Blog: Extended Deadline for Art- please reblog
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sexandculture:
Doing Your Dirty Work
Doing Your Dirty Work: a sampler of contemporary art about sex
Open to Artists in the United States
“Doing Your Dirty Work” is the second annual group exhibition at the Center for Sex and Culture in San Francisco, California. We invite all artists that are at…
Mar 22
Institute of Sexworkology
Friday, May 24th at Center for Sex & Culture
1349 Mission St.
Note: The first workshop,11 am is for sex workers only, but all other workshops are open to all.
This location is ADA accessible. Childcare, translation and signing services are available upon request. We also ask you to assist us in making this a scent free environment (see peggymunson.com/mcs/fragrancefree.html ).Email sexworkerfest@gmail.com or call 510-410-4318 to request these or other options. Also see Logistics/Accessibility.
11:00 am: “Tough Language and Tender Wisdoms”
Memoir Writing Workshop for Sex Workers
by Amber Dawn
(sex workers only)
This workshop invites participants to write under-told stories from their personal experience and to develop strategies to creating safe and celebratory spaces for these stories to be heard. Freewriting exercises, small group work and more! Whether participants are interested in formally writing their memoirs or writing is a part of self-discovery, this workshop will offer foundational memoir writing exercises in sex-worker-only space.
12:45 PM: Empowerment & Marketing w/ Media
by Alice in Bondage Land (open to all)
Alice worked for local websites like Kink.com in their start-up days and now has 250 videos and 50,000 photos of her own, documenting lifestyle bdsm. She offers this class to help you explore your true calling in sex work and transform your career through multimedia tools.
2:00 PM Whore Logic: Stripping, Burlesque & Sex Work Politics
by The Incredible Edible Akynos (open to all)
Is it possible for a whore to be a happy, self respecting intellectual? Explore the joys of being a happy hooker, and also the pains of being a socially persecuted woman, choosing to live one’s life outside society’s perceived sexual norms. Don’t miss this workshop which includes a live performance!
3:00 PM Housing Justice = Sex Worker Rights (open to all)
Presenters: Charlie Fredrick: Program Co-Coordinator for the Mission SRO Collaborative: Jeb Creech: Outreach Coordinator for San Francisco’s Women’s Community Clinic, a member organization of the Mission SRO Collaborative
In this workshop we will explore how Housing Justice can be used as a powerful framework for building solidarity with street-based sex workers. We recognize that individuals involved in street-based economies represent a marginalized population of workers who often experience disproportionate levels of violence and exploitation when compared to the larger sex worker community. The lack of stable and dignified housing means that these individuals have far less control over the conditions of their labor, namely the ability to refuse unsafe sexual practices or even the ability to determine when and where they work. The precarious nature of the street-based economy increases workers’ vulnerability to assault, police harassment, and substance addiction. Housing Justice means increased agency and increased agency is the key to achieving sex worker’s rights. (90 minutes)
Amber Dawn
Tough Language & Tender Wisdoms:A Memoir Writing Workshop for Sex Workers
(current and former sex workers only)
This workshop invites participants to write under-told stories from their personal experience and to develop strategies to creating safe and celebratory spaces for these stories to be heard. Whether participants are interested in formally writing their memoirs or writing is a part of self-discovery, this workshop will offer foundational memoir writing exercises in sex-worker-only space.
Amber Dawn will use source material from her new book “How Poetry Saved My Life: A Hustlers Memoir” and select other text to lead participants through a series of freewriting exercises, small group work, and discussion. Participants should come prepared to share and listen, and bring pen and paper.
Learn more about Amber Dawn.
The Incredible Edible Akynos
If you ask anyone that you know, minister, mother, police officer, judge, lawyer etc etc you will find out that outside of what they do they have other talents. And they all have sex too, it’s not just me. I don’t have sex or have an interest in sex because I am a whore with no respect for myself. Those are poor ways of thinking and you should feel free to uplift yourself from that. Particularly when it’s dealing with women, sex is still till this day a hush hush, she should be ashamed she’s doing that kind of thing. Which in turns tells me that if this is your state of mind you have issues. Particularly one with thinking for yourself and analyzing the bullshit that you’ve been fed for so long. I mean gosh, it’s not your fault that you think this way, but it is if you continue to be so biased and so silly. I for one not only love the attention, I love the freedom to express myself this way and in other ways. If you have concerns with how I choose to express myself leave now and check yourself at the door.
Learn more about The Incredible Edible Akynos
Alice in Bondage Land
From the time she was old enough to watch Adam West’s Batman on television and tie up dolls, Alice knew that she was kinky.
In college, she lived in a private dungeon and began moonlighting as a prodom while working as a wedding photographer by day. She also started working for local websites like www.SeriousBondage.com and www.Kink.com in their start-up days. It wasn’t long before this natural born exhibitionist began shooting videos of her own. That grew into a full time calling to document lifestyle bdsm in a sexy and compelling way… plus a lot of collaboration with local dominatrixes!
Before she had a video camera, she was taking kinky 35mm photos and developing them herself. Before that, she used Polaroids. Before the Polaroids, she drew kinky pictures that got her in trouble at school… and before she could draw, she would write BDSM fiction and post it to alt.bdsm.stories. Alice just can’t keep her kinkiness hidden! Now, her exhibitionism has grown into over 250 videos and over 50,000 photos! She teaches classes all over the world to both kinky and vanilla audiences.
Alice is notorious for public bondage “stunts” all over the country and creating flash mobs and whimsical “happenings.” She is well known locally for wearing latex to the opera, cuffing sissies to the Golden Gate Bridge and opening heart chakras with a jewel-encrusted toilet plunger at the Saint Stupid’s Day Parade.
Alice no longer takes private clients, but enjoys auditioning new collaborators if they can sign a model release. Disguises optional on camera!
Whorrific Cabaret with Mariko Passion
May 24th, Friday
7 PM Whorrific Cabaret at Center for Sex & Culture, 1349 Mission St.
9:30 PM On board the Whorrific Popcorn Theatre Bus!
Performance curator and international multi-media artist Mariko Passion brings this San Francisco phenomenon to the Sex Worker Festival with the “Whorrific Popcorn Theater Bus and Cabaret.” Storytellers and performers take riders on a magical adventure with a Happy Ending! Ms. Passion guides the guests as Ana May Tong, (after Ana May Wong, the first famous Chinese actress in the U.S.)
A long running San Francisco tradition, the Popcorn Anti-Theater Bus Tours “encourage audience participation, costumes and general bonhomie. The trips focus on the underground artists and performers who are an increasing rarity in a city where overzealous development and rising housing prices are driving them out.” (SF Gate)
This sex worker ‘show and tell’ edition visits the haunts and landmarks of SF whoredom (like City Hall) where sex workers dish the dirt about what really goes on in “the city that knows how.”
Performers include Scarlot Harlot, Femme 6, Absinthia, Ckiara Rose, Dee Dee Russell, Hernan Cortez, Sister Dana Van Iquity, The Incredible Edible Akynos, Ben Goldstein, Tom Orr, Mariko Passion and more.
“Art is the method for coping and growing beyond cultures barriers and barrio’s,” says Magician, Heran Cortez. “The Art of the Oppressed is triumphant merely in it’s creation and communication. The audiences willingness to witness and honor the oppressed artist is an act of nobility, nurturing, suturing and chain-breaking.”
“In other words, make sure to bring some cash!” explains Scarlot Harlot. “Sex Workers Unite! Outlaw Poverty, Not Prostitutes!”
More about Ana May Tong by Mariko Passion
Anna May Tong is a character inspired by the Chinese American actress Anna May Wong, but with a Chinese Tong gangstress edge. The Tongs were notorious for running gambling and prostitution houses in San Francisco and other parts of the U.S in the 1800s and were the feared power in charge of trafficking Chinese girls into sex slavery during that time in history. Many Chinese girls paid off their debts and married Chinese men who were former railroad workers opening Chinese laundries or went on to continue life in the sex trade as independent and voluntary sex workers. Anna May Wong spoke Chinese but did not have an accent and was born in Los Angeles. She was known for playing stereotypical Asian characters in Hollywood in the 1920-30s such as the villainess, the prostitute (Shanghai Express with Marlene Deitrich) or girl who does not get the guy (because he is white and anti-misegenation was iLLEGAL til the 1960s). As an actress, she earned respect by film studios like Paramount. She was a trailblazer in Hollywood, enjoying a life of privilege beyond the imaginations of most Asian-Americans at the time and is one of the few American born Asians that has a star on the Hollywood walk of fame.
About the artists:
THE 2013 LIVE MASTURBATE-A-THON
Saturday, May 25, 7pm-11pm
Arrive by 10pm
Mark your calendars and get ready to drop your pants (or skirts). All genders, all orientations welcome to explore self-pleasure in a supportive group environment. Come for a Cause! All donations and pledges support CSC’s operations and programs. By hosting this annual event, The Center for Sex & Culture strives to break the silence and shame that clouds masturbation. Come for us, loud and proud.
Bring sponsorship form with pledges (form will be available soon at
www.sexandculture.org), or attend for $30.
Participation can be done either at the CSC (1349 Mission Street, San Francisco) or at home. Anyone striving for longest masturbation record (record currently set at near 10 hours) must be done at home.
Girl Gasms: Art of the Female Orgasm
Sunday May 26, 2 pm
$20 in advance and for members, $30 at the door
Oh la la! Women are a deep pool of pleasure and Ducky Doolittle is here to teach you how to swim. She will demystify the female body, from erogenous zones, to the vulva, clit, G spot, female ejaculation, pelvis muscles and even anal pleasure. Together we’ll compare ancient Eastern knowledge, current scientific data, personal discoveries, tips & techniques and send you home with a wealth of orgasmic knowledge and resources. Walk away understanding why some touches deliver amazing stimulation and how to draw deeper orgasmic responses. This workshop is for women and lovers of women. Expect to learn how to have (give) a better orgasm that very night, how to expand your (her) orgasms, have multiple orgasms or how to orgasm if you never have, the truth about the G-spot and female ejaculation, why a lot of women feel like they have to pee during sex and how to stop that and he truth about which sex toys will take you (her) over the edge, plus which products are the healthiest, highest quality and have the best price.
Ducky DooLittle is a sex educator and author from New York City. She has appeared in the New York Times, HBOs Real Sex, The Morning Show, MTV, NPR, The Howard Stern Show, Playboy TV, to name a few.
www.duckydoolittle.com
SF Jacks - now in our 27th year of Pubic Service!
Monday May 27th, 7:30-8:30
Center for Sex and Culture: 1349 Mission St. San Francisco, CA
* Just dik… desire… and lots of naked guys in a room!
* SF Jacks meat the 2nd and 4th Monday of each month.
* Doors: 7:30 - 8:30 PM only, play until you’re finished.
* $7 Donation Suggested; no one turned away for lack of funds.
* 13th Jacks Virgin is our guest!
* For more info, call: 415 267-6999
sfjacks.com
Burlesque 201
May 28th 7:00-9pm at Center for Sex and Culture 1349 Mission st, SF CA
Getting an Act together:
Students are encouraged to come with an act or character in mind. We will develop personas and discuss song choice, prop use, costume selection and techniques for coming up with acts; as well as some basic movement. This class will include discussion and group work bring 3 items that inspire you.
LGBTQ Salsa Dance Lesson & Social with Alexandria
May 30th, 6:30pm - 10:00pm
Center for Sex and Culture: 1349 Mission St. (between 9th and 10th), San Francisco
All genders and all orientations welcome!
All bodies and all ages welcome!
All skill levels welcome!
Doors open at 6:30pm. Lesson is 90 mins, starts at 7:30pm.
Mingle, socialize, dance, and get one-on-one coaching with the instructor both before and after the lesson.
My plan is to get a bunch of SF queers into salsa dancing so we can then schedule some Rainbow Guerrilla Salsa nights! For anyone who doesn’t know, a rainbow guerrilla night is when queers take over (without much/any advance notice to the establishment) an otherwise heterosexual event/club/bar/restaurant/etc.
Please pay online using paypal athttp://www.meetup.com/SFLGBTQ-SalsaDance/ OR bring cash to the door (exact change is appreciated).
Half of the money from every class goes to The Center for Sex and Culture, which is a VERY cool queer-run non-profit. For more on them check out www.sexandculture.org
If you want to give them some extra $, as a thank you for giving us their space for these classes, that’d be nice too!
No one turned away for lack of funds! Please NEVER avoid class just because you can’t afford it. I believe in our community and I know times are hard all around. I teach because I love it, and I know dance lifts us up. When in doubt, come dance. :-)
If you have any suggestions or requests about classes, or our group, or anything else, please shout out!
Lessons are alcohol-free events.
“Come Find Me” Screening and Release Party
June 1st, 8pm-10
Queer Female Pornographer Courtney Trouble’s new DVD Come Find Me is a Straight Film!
Collaboration with real life couple behind Bike Smut is TROUBLEfilm’s fourth release
The next film from the growing TROUBLEfilms adult film empire is Come Find Me, slated for VOD and DVD release on June 1st, 2013.
There will be an exclusive screening and release party at Carol Queen and Robert Lawrence’s Center for Sex and Culture on June 1st, 8pm-10.
Purchase Tickets from Brown Paper Tickets:
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/385527Come watch Courtney Trouble/TROUBLEfilm’s BRAND NEW MOVIE at the incredible Center for Sex and Culture in SF on June 1st! Cost: $6, or upgrade to donate to the Center for Sex and Culture and get signed DVDs or digital downloads!
We teamed up with the incredible BIKE SMUT to make a steamy straight porn film with a little romance, a little humor, and a LOT of passionate sex.
The film’s stars and co-directors Poppy Cox and Gasper Johnson will be in the crowd and giving us a sweet performance after the film. Courtney Trouble will be hosting, with a few surprises along the way!
hashtag #ComeFindMeXXX
The film will also be released as a
limited editionof only 300 professional-grade DVDs with handmade packaging, available for purchase on tour with Bike Smut, or online at
TROUBLEfilms.Com.
With an adorable, romantic, and kinky storyline, Come Find Me is a Courtney Trouble first: This heterosexual porn incorporates a female point of view, kink and consent, authentic sex, and a personality-driven storyline that doesn’t end with ejaculation.
Gasper sends his girlfriend Poppy on a bike-powered scavenger hunt ending at an empty house with a gorgeous man ready to ravage her inside out. He binds her with bike tubes, spanks her, and taunts her until she’s too wet to stand - and then with an HD cam in hand, Poppy (and award-winning director Courtney Trouble) document an afternoon full of lustful oral sex, fingering, and finally - some deep, desperate, hard core fucking that makes both of them come hard - at last!
Come Find Me is a true collaboration, with a narrative shot by Bike Smut real-life couple Poppy Cox and Gasper Johnson – and a gorgeous, high definition, high art sex scene shot by Courtney Trouble, director of 14 full-length films and the recipient of 5 Feminist Porn Awards and countless AVN nominations.
Courtney Trouble and Bike Smut have created a straight porn flick that stands out from the rest. Challenging the formulaic male gaze of mainstream heterosexual pornography, Come Find Me is a fine example of independently-made, female-foward pornography. Come Find Me features spoken and visual consent patterns, a focus on female pleasure as well as male, and an altruistic approach to character development that allows you to fall in lust with the woman, and the man. It strays from the stereotypical “porn for women” trope by offering up hard core close ups, rough sex, and HD cinematography along-side it’s romantic authenticity.
It’s clearly a winner for all genders, couples, solo men, solo women, bisexuals, bikesexuals, kink lovers, amatuer porn afficianados, and indie porn experts!
TROUBLEfilms is a porn production company that focuses on sex-positive, diverse, and authentic representation headed by award-winning pornographer Courtney Trouble. TROUBLEfilms also serves as a distribution point for other great porn projects, like James Darling’s
FTMFuckers.Comwebsite and the films of Handbasket Productions/Tobi Hill-Meyer.
How to Fuck Better: Practical Applications for Good Sex
Class 2: Greasing The Wheel
June 2, 2013
12-3 pm
Announcing How to Fuck Better: Practical Applications for Good Sex - a new series of classes for men who love men, beginning June 2, 2013 at the Center for Sex and Culture. San Francisco based Sacred Intimates, TTBaum and Todd Brennanhave teamed up to bring you a new approach to sex education. How to Fuck Better is a monthly series of classes dedicated to giving men who love men the opportunity to learn about their bodies, their partners bodies and all the ins-and-outs of what it takes to have really good sex!
The How to Fuck Better eight-part, monthly series includes: Body Mechanics and Basics; Foreplay and Other Erogenous Zones; Oral Play - Your Mouth is a Sexual Organ Too!; Good Top/Bad Top; From the Bottom Up;Fantasies: BDSM, Fetish Play, and more…; Sex Etiquette and Scenarios; Wrap UP and Chill Out(Private Play Party for practicing technique). All classes offer anatomy lessons, body mechanics and demos from our LIVE MODELS.
The first class
Body Mechanics and Basics will cover basic anatomy, embodiment, good-sex fundamentals and an overview of upcoming classes and takes place on
Sunday, 6/2, 2013,
12-3PM at The Center for Sex and Culture, 1349 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103For more information go to:
http://www.sexandculture.org/event or contact
how2phuckbetter@gmail.com
Sex Worker Outreach project
Thursday, June 6, 4-6pm
Sex Worker Outreach Project’s peer based sex worker support group is a place for sex workers to talk and share support, information, wisdom, feelings, and stories with each other. Talk about your good days at work and your bad days at work, and find others who will understand without judging you. Share your own strategies and hear how others navigate stigma, self-care, relationships, out-ness, racism/sizism/transphobia/ageism/ableism within the industry, healthcare, parenting, and more. We will meet on the first
Thursday of every month from
4 to 6 pm, beginning on
April 4th. Please arrive on time- doors will close at
4:15. A facilitated discussion will be followed by time to mingle. This group is FREE and open to all current and transitioning sex workers. Light refreshments will be provided. If you have any questions, please contact Luna at
swopstreetoutreach@gmail.com or by calling 415-320-SWOP.
Fairoaks Project: Photographs by Frank Melleno
Open Reception June 7, 2013 7-10 pm
Polaroids from a San Francisco bathhouse in 1978
Curated by Gary Freeman
Center for Sex and Culture
1349 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
A Rare Look inside a SF Gay Bathhouse in 1978
Frank Melleno’s Polaroid photography captured an extraordinary glimpse into pre-AIDS gay sexual culture. Melleno was part-owner and night manager of The Fairoaks Hotel, a unique San Francisco bathhouse operating from 1977 to 1979. His candid images are remarkable, documenting the social and sexual behavior with celebration and no apology.
The Fairoaks was owned and operated by a gay commune, lending a counter-culture approach to the establishment. There were monthly theme parties including costume and “Open Door” parties, when room doors would be removed from hinges. Many images contain nudity and erotic scenes.
The restored images, known as The Fairoaks Project, were well received at Los Angeles venues Highways and drkrm/Gallery. The Advocate and Lambda Literary have written articles on The Fairoaks Project.
The Boyfriend, a singing trio tracing its origin to performance artist Vaginal Davis, will perform at the opening.
Sex Workers’ Writing Workshop
Saturday, 6/8, 2-4pm
(usually 2nd Saturday of Every Month), 2-4pm
Sliding scale $10-$20 (more if you can, less if you can’t, **nobody turned away** — if you’re broke you should still come write with us!)
Workshop facilitated by Gina de Vries
This is a writing workshop for current and former sex workers to share their writing and get honest, non-judgmental feedback. Workshop participants are not obligated to write exclusively about sex work, but writing about work in the sex industry (as well as writing about other topics) will be welcomed. This is a place where people can write and share about their sex work experiences without having to censor themselves or explain every detail. Beginning writers are encouraged to attend along with more seasoned wordsmiths.
Sex Workers’ Writing Workshop is all-genders. We define the term “sex worker” broadly, as people who have exchanged erotic labor for money/food/shelter, including but not limited to:
+Street and Survival Sex Workers
+Escorts and Personal Companions
+Sensual Massage and Sensual Body Work Providers
+BDSM workers; pro-dommes, subs, and switches
+Adult Film Actors; Porn Models and Performers; Nude Models; Cam Girls and Boys
+Exotic Dancers; Strippers; and Peep Show Workers
+Phone Sex Operators
+And many other Sex Workers and Adult Entertainers!
(If we’re forgetting your area of the industry in this definition, tell us!)
**While we can’t guarantee a scent-free space, we ask that all attendees please refrain from wearing scented products to ensure that workshop members with chemical sensitivities can attend.
**We ask that our non-sex worker friends, lovers, partners, allies, and clients respect that this space is FOR SEX WORKERS ONLY.
INSTRUCTOR BIO: Gina de Vries is a genderqueer femme, a queer Paisan pervert, and a writer, performer, and activist with a long history doing political organizing in and with queer, trans and gender-variant, intersex, and sex worker communities. She co-edited the queer youth anthology [Becoming] with Diane Anderson-Minshall in 2004, and her publications include The San Francisco Bay Guardian, $pread, Curve, Coming & Crying, Take Me There: Trans & Genderqueer Erotica, and The Revolution Starts at Home. Gina is the founder and co-curator (with Elena Rose and Julia Serano) of “Girl Talk: a trans & cis woman dialogue,” a spoken-word show fostering and promoting dialogue about relationships of all kinds between non-trans and trans women. She has performed, taught, and lectured everywhere from chapels to leatherbar backrooms, and university appearances include Harvard University and Yale University. She is the founder and facilitator of Sex Workers’ Writing Workshop, a writing class for current & former sex workers at San Francisco’s Center for Sex & Culture (where she also serves on the Advisory Board). A graduate of Hampshire College, Gina is currently pursuing her Master of Fine Arts in Fiction Writing at San Francisco State University, where she is working on a book of short stories. Find out more at
ginadevries.com, and keep track of her on the daily at
queershoulder.tumblr.com
Beth Stephens & Annie Sprinkle’s EARTHY—AN ECOSEX BOOT CAMP
World premiere of a new performance piece
Directed by Patty Gallagher
Graphic Design by Kern Toy
When Beth and Annie learn more about the environmental crisis, they see red and go green! They come out as “ecosexuals,” act up, get dirty, do a bondage inspired protest, marry the Earth, and make eco-activism a little more sexy, fun, and diverse. You might realize you are ecosexual too. Cameras welcome. Wear boots!
8 shows only! June 13-16, 20-23 (Thursdays through Sundays) 8:00 PM
Center for Sex & Culture, 1349 Mission Street (Btwn 9th & 10th)
$12-$25 Sliding Scale
This project is made possible with grants from the San Francisco Arts Commission, the Arts Research Institute, Visual Aid, Theater Bay Area, Cash Fund, UCSC Committee on Research, and with sponsorship from the Center for Sex & Culture and the Queer Cultural Center.
Twitter: @sexecology, #ecosexbootcamp
3-hour Introduction to Full Force Self Defense
July 14, 2013 at the Center for Sex and Culture, 4-7 pm
Learning a new physical skill requires practice. You cannot learn to ride a bicycle by reading about bicycles or talking about riding. You have to ride. Impact style self defense is the only type of self defense training that allows students to learn what it feels like to hit someone full force, in an adrenalized state. Learning in this way creates “muscle memory” so that in the event of an attack, students do not need to think, but can act quickly and effectively.
Impact Bay Area has been teaching full-force self defense since 1985. We have taught thousands of students, many of whom report successfully using the skills they learned even many years after taking the class. Our students tell us that they move through the world with greater confidence and success knowing that they have the physical skills at hand, even if they never use them.
Our instructors received hundreds of hours of training to keep students physically and emotionally safe. All of our classes are limited to 16 students.
In this introduction to Impact-style self defense, participants will practice using intuition, awareness, body language, and voice to deescalate and deter attacks. Students will learn multiple physical techniques that they can practice full force in simulated fight scenarios. Scenarios include front and rear attacks as well as an introduction to fighting from the ground. People leave even this short introduction class feeling empowered and often surprised by their own power and courage.
$125 (Scholarships are available. Contact
Lisa@impactbayarea.org)
“I wanted to thank you for sending Annabel on Friday. Her class was amazing and she was inspirational, patient, smart, kind. 3 of the gals who were in the Intro class were together this weekend for a work engagement. One of us left and before she got to the corner she was groped and assaulted. She did a great job of defending herself and because of the training we received from Annabel we were able to take the upper hand and know that this person is now jailed.” -Dottie Lux, Red Hot Burlesque
Impact Bay Area does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, age, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical ability, financial circumstances or abuse history. We are a 501c3 non-profit dedicated to providing self-defense and empowerment training to Bay Area and Northern California communities. We welcome everyone who wants to learn personal safety and self-defense.
