Welcome to the first issue of “Weekly Seeds”! Excited to start sharing more insight into what the Bloom team is reading, thinking, and working on.
Noa’s top of mind
Securing Sexuality conference is happening in October. The conference brings together mental and sexual health providers, policymakers, product people, and technologists to explore how to maintain sexual self-expression in the digital world. It was both heartbreaking and comical to learn that Securing Sexuality is banned from promoting their content on IG because they are flagged for being “sexual” by Meta (without actually offering any sexual content on their channels). If you think sexual self-expression is not something you need to worry about- think again! Read my opinion piece on Reuters.
One way that I’m shifting my thinking about sex positivity:
Bloom will be starting to remove the “ethical” precursor to “nonmonogamy” in our website, app, and our own event descriptions. This is inspired by the smart framing offered by Caroline Rose Giuliani “I just use “nonmonogamy” because I prefer not to reinforce the idea that nonmonogamy is an inherently dirty term that requires a redeeming qualifier.“ Some people proposed that we use “consensual” instead. What do you think?
Data! Data! Data!:
The majority of nonmonogamous people, surveyed by OPEN, reported that they are not fully open about their identity with almost anyone- not with their close and extended family, employer, peers, children, or landlord. What gives me hope is that over 2/3 reported being fully open with their close friends. This feels in line with what I hear every day. Read OPEN's 2023 Community Report.
#Trending:
Zuck vs. Musk wrestling to prove who's winning... in... something.
Given that sex positive people are pros when it comes to wrestling (especially if coconut oil is included), I wanted to offer Zuck and Musk a few words of advice from our community.
Bay Area Mischa Byruck an Darrell Jones run Spirit Fight Club, a 2-hour workshop for men in which they (safely) wrestle, scream, and pound the ground, expressing feelings that are otherwise rejected by society. "Passion, rage, and even violence can be helpful allies in a man's quest to pursue his purpose," says Mischa. "It's important that those of us who have this kind of intense energy inside us find healthy and safe ways to express it in a mindful and supportive environment."
To celebrate the mainstream adoption of kinky-wrestling, Bloom and Lola Jean will be offering a Wrestling for Lovers workshop next month. Can't wait? you can watch it on demand here.
Hosting events for non-monogamous people who want to explore alternative parenting and build non-traditional families.
“I started this mixer a year ago,” Amanda told me. “I was beginning to realize I want to be a parent, but I don’t want biokids and adoption seems prohibitively expensive. I knew my parenting journey would look different from the dominant “mainstream” narrative. This mixer allowed me to connect with people who think outside of the box. Together, we’re discovering more ways to be parents.”
Growing Bloom
We are heads down on building a super-sweeeet membership experience for SuperBloomers. We started this month by hosting our first SuperBloomer Exclusive workshop with Midori (here’s a sneak peek for the voyars in the group). In the next few months we will reveal more features and offers that will unlock more value out of events, dating, and friending on Bloom. I’d love to hear what features you’d like to see us build for our members. Join our “new features for Bloom” topic chat on the app, or just email me.
