Pleasure Editorial

From The Editor’s Corner

Small pleasures in life are a necessity for us to get by, day by day. These are what make us human. There is pleasure all around us, in the little things we do every day. It is the sugar we add to our morning coffee, the romantic comedy you rewatched for the 10th time this year, the bittersweet kiss goodbye to your significant other at the end of the date. These are all mundane activities, but still make life a bit more pleasurable for us all.

Ovid once said “There is no such thing as pure pleasure; some anxiety always goes with it” .This is unfortunately true and I started to realise that pleasures come with a prejudice almost as if it is a tied package and one will always be self-conscious with what they consider something that they enjoy . We have all done it, we have judged someone for the interest that does not align with your own interests. Does that invalidate their pleasures? It should not matter if someone’s favourite artist is Taylor Swift or if their  favourite movie is The Kissing Booth, (however, I am yet to meet someone who has said that is their favourite movie). If these things give the person small pleasures why does it matter to anyone else?  With this in mind you should relent the anxieties that surround your pleasures and take pride in what satisfies you, because it is nobody else’s life but your own.

A bigger example of this prejudice can be associated with sexual pleasures. The “taboo” side of pleasure to some. If one person likes a man and another person likes a woman and they are able to pursue it happily, why judge them because it does not fit into your small minded ways. Sexuality is a free flowing and unconfined thing. People should explore their own sexual pleasures the way they choose to without anyone sticking their noses into their business. This also involves fetishes, if you don’t like one, there is a simple solution… don’t partake. You don’t have to put down other people for liking one thing just because you don’t. It’s simple, but unfortunately this judgement and guilt that follows kinks and fetishes is a tale as old as time. But that is why we chose Pleasure to be the theme of this issue, so you can share all sorts of pleasures in your life without having the guilt drag you down.

In this issue we will be exploring the vastness of pleasure in art, media and in everyday life. It will touch on different genres that expose different aspects of pleasures including Sexy Drill and Lesbian Songwriters. You can see which songs us Editor’s choose as our favourite love ballads within this issue, co-ordinated by our Entertainment Editor Tess O’Regan.

Pleasure is not always sexual, our Current Affairs editor Adrian Quinn interviews Dr Kathryn Ledden from Trinity College Dublin to discuss medicalised Psychedelic therapy trials, and how it can be used as an aid for overcoming addiction or depression. But all must be done in moderation, and you can read about this in Adrian’s writing.  Also in Current Affairs we explore how pleasure for some is at a cost of others, with a look into Pornography and also Prostitution Laws in Ireland.

We opened this issue to have an inclusion of pleasure through a creative lens as we have published a few contributed poems in our Features and Opinions section.  You can read our Deputy Features and Opinions Editor Luca Oakman’s intimate and romantic poem “Your Writing On My Skin”. We also have other poems by contributing writers Simon Dishlieva and Rebecca Jane Parke. All exploring different takes of the word pleasure through their well-crafted words.

We want Motley to be a place where you can share your pleasures and to not carry the anxiety with it. It is a place for you to share what interests you and to not be judged as we hope we have created an accepting environment where your writing can flourish. So please if you have not yet written for us, feel free to do so before the college year concludes. We have two more issues left so keep an eye out on themes and send us your thoughts, ideas and words. As always I hope you take pleasure in the work we present to you in this month’s issue.

Lisa Ahern