Empathy, Equity, and Sex/Tech at the Margins

Presented at HOPE 2020 Virtual Rescheduled, July 27, 2020, 10 p.m. (50 minutes).

When we think about hacking or building sex/tech, it's easy to focus primarily on how we, as individuals, relate to it: "Am I and/or my partner(s) having fun with this?" Whether we're thinking about toys, apps, websites, or something else entirely, it's also important to consider the perspectives of people who aren't just like us. In what ways does sex/tech act to keep people in the margins? How can we, as individuals and organizations, build empathy for people with (potentially multiple) marginalized identities that we don't share? Join Kit "where did this b!tch get [their] doctorate" Stubbs of the Effing Foundation for Sex-Positivity and SX Noir, host of the *Thot Leader* podcast, for a conversation about the opportunities and challenges that sex/tech offers us. This session will provide a space to talk about the intersections of two topics that many people don't have the opportunity to discuss: sex and marginalization (including thinking about people who may be one or more of: sex workers, gender/sexuality/relationship minorities, disabled, or poor, to name a few), in the context of issues surrounding tech which HOPE and the hacker community have been interested in for years, including data ownership; privacy and security; and digital, economic, and social mobility. This talk is for folks who are interested in sex/pleasure, enjoy geeking out about that, and are curious about human sexuality, its intersections with tech, and who are interested in gaining more empathy for folks from (multiple) marginalized communities. Kit is proud to have spoken since HOPE X in 2014 to large crowds, and they are excited to bring SX Noir's expertise and perspective as a queer Black woman to the HOPE community.

Presenters:

  • Dr. Kit Stubbs
    **Dr. Kit Stubbs** is a non-binary/queer/femme maker and entrepreneur who's more interested in people than in tech. After earning their PhD in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University, Kit is now the founder and executive Director of the Effing Foundation for Sex-Positivity (effing.org), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has awarded over $150,000 in grants to sex-positive artists and educators across the U.S. Kit has spoken on gender, sexuality, and sex/tech at events across the U.S. They blog about technological empowerment for sexuality and pleasure (toymakerproject.com) and co-organize teasecraft, a meetup group for sex/kink-positive makers and hackers (teasecraft.com).<br>
  • SX Noir
    **SX Noir** is a self-proclaimed "thot leader," leading the conversation on the intersection of sex work and sex tech. SX has created a podcast (*Thot Leader Pod*) in an attempt to hack the conversation on sex, love, dating, and tech. Creating more empathy in digital space is the key to intimacy. SX is from Missouri and is very into Frank Sinatra and adult animation. SX aims to de-stigmatize the conversation regarding sex in digital space.

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