Mathilde Friis - Purity, Monstrosity, Her PhD and Slut Shaming

This week on the #teakink Podcast, Eva Oh sits down with Mathilde Friis, curator and PhD researcher of art, sexuality, and sex work. We follow Mathilde into her early days, researching in a sex shop, and delve into the creative process behind sex work. We discover the contradictions in how society commodifies creativity while stigmatizing sex, and explore topics like slut-shaming on social media and the range of artistic interpretations of sex work. Mathilde also reflects on purity, danger, cultural etiquette, and why sexuality continues to spark controversy, challenging societal notions of monstrosity and taboo along the way. Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/evaoh More on Eva Oh: https://eva-oh.com HIGHLIGHTS: Here are the timestamps for the video episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time. (00:00) - Welcome. What is #teakink (00:23) - Mathilde Friis, Curator and PhD Researcher on Artwork, Sexuality and Sex Work (01:40) - Mathilda's Interest in the Contradictions of Sexuality (03:40) - Doing Research in a Sex Shop (05:12) - Slut Shaming Research and Social Media (06:00) - Returning to Sexuality after a Commercial Art Gallery (08:00) - The 'Working Girls' Exhibition (10:15) - The Creative Practice of Sex Work (17:00) - How Society Allows us to Define and Commodify Creativity (20:30) - Sex Worker Honesty and Range in Artistic Interpretation (24:15) - How to Work with Sex Workers When You're Not One (31:00) - Purity, Danger ad Cultural Etiquette (35:00) - Why Does Sexuality Attract Controversy? (39:10) - What is Considered a Monstrosity in Current Society? (40:18) - Commodifying the Space Around Sexuality but not Sex Itself, on Meta (43:40) - Mathilda's Ambitions for Art and Sexuality