Lets talk about sex, baby
LAST Saturday I attended the YOH! Sex
Education party, the latest in a series of monthly events held at The Assembly. The YOH! parties, which are run by Patrick Visser and Raees Saiet, were started in 2012.
According to Visser and Saiet: “The initial idea was to combine film and music with a screening at the beginning of the night followed by DJs and bands. The whole event and acts are themed according to a film.”
At the party, the central film was Larry Clark’s 1995 ode to hormonal New York teenagers, Kids. With a script written by controversial film-maker Harmony Korine, Kids is known for its unabashed take on the sex lives of a particular group of young people.
This movie proved a perfect introduction to the Sex Education party, which looked as though it was full of extras from the film. The party also showed 1993’s
Groundhog Day, which seemed less suited to the theme.
The importance of pop culture re
ferences to the YOH! parties felt clear at
Sex Education. Next to the main stage, two screens played sex-themed GIFs (graphics interchange format) on repeat while guests danced and mingled.
The relevance of social media to the party and the party-goers also felt strongly emphasised. At one point, the host, comedian Schalk Bezuidenhout, joked that he had previously thought the word “selfie”, which describes a picture taken of oneself usually with a cellphone camera, was another term for masturbation.
Although party-goers are encouraged to dress according to the theme, there seemed to be little sex education costuming at the party except for a few people who used packaged condoms as accessories.
In terms of decoration, there were
Even though the party was framed as celebrating ‘Sex Education’ it was, for the most part, a heteronormative celebration
large pieces of white chalk left everywhere for patrons to scrawl on The Assembly’s black walls and floor with. When Seferino took to the stage, I saw someone drunkenly write “Seferino is kak hot” on the nearest pillar. A few more songs into the set, another person used their jacket to erase the word “hot”.
It was apparently Seferino’s debut gig and the project’s newness translated awkwardly in contrast to the two acts he was sandwiched between, Umlilo and Beatenberg.
Even though the party was framed as celebrating a general sense of sex education, it was, for the most part, a heteronormative celebration.
Umlilo proved an excellent antidote to that, opening the evening’s line-up with his engagingly glitzy gender-bending brand of pop.
The other highlight of the evening was a performance by popular local band, Beatenberg. If Umlilo was lecturing the crowd about self-acceptance and confidence, then Beatenberg gave a class about the appealingly self-deprecating side of sexual attraction. At one point, feeling that he should share a sex-themed, story lead singer Matthew Field admitted that as a child he was convinced that the lyrics to Salt-n-Pepa’s seminal hit, Let’s talk
about Sex were actually “Let’s talk about pests, baby”.
The Sex Education party marked the 23rd YOH! event since its creation two years ago.
“There have been quite a few memorable ones, but some standouts have been the birthday party, as well as the Sad Body party at The Manilla Bar and the last party, YOH! Back 2 School at The Assembly,” the organisers said.
“These parties have been fun because of various reasons, including a general positive reaction, interaction with decor and all-round craziness.”
The two decided on the latest party’s theme as a follow up to their Back 2 School party and a reaction to Valentine’s Day.
“We didn’t want to do an obvious Valentine’s theme,” they said. “And its a few days before UCT goes back to school.
“We thought it would be fun to incorporate a sex element ,but also take it seriously by actually educating people in some way.”