Zorah's story, London
I was raised in east London with parents from Afghanistan, and enrolled in an über conservative mosque at eleven years old. I ended up leaving school early, and my most influential years were spent being indoctrinated with cultish ideas of who I was supposed to be and how I was supposed to behave.I was segregated from the world outside my religion and I adopted fear-based beliefs about almost everything. It left me with no room to develop an understanding of the diverse identity of the real world or mainstream culture. This includes sexuality, which was completely repressed and considered as taboo as sex outside of marriage.
We couldn't even think about or discuss sex – much less sex being for something like pleasure. This was my life until my late twenties. Coming out of this entrenched and highly conservative religious community and announcing that I was a lesbian was not easy.
And this new life came with its own set of challenges; feelings of guilt and shame that attached themselves to sex were just the beginning. Re-learning my world as an adult was a struggle. The relationships I had known before taught me to continue to expect similar patterns of co-dependency, even when I was no longer in the community that demanded it.
This is where Skirt Club came in.
I had been tagged in some photos with some women who had been to Skirt Club and I became a member and went along to an event. The very next one I was a hostess. Skirt Club opened up a safe space to explore women in a casual way.
Being part of this new community that didn’t judge or expect traditional roles to be adhered to, helped me to disassociate sex with relationships while still holding onto a sacredness in the beauty of its experience.
I have felt the enormous release of sexual liberation within Skirt Club. I feel proud of being a woman and continually finding like-minded women to evolve with, where we keep learning that sex is an act to be enjoyed and celebrated.
The events help me to get in touch with my body, and that, in turn, leads me to be able to share my experience with many other women that may not be as body confident as they should be. Being a part of Skirt Club, helping to hostess events, and engage with other members has raised my confidence in my ability to approach beautiful women, who have so many different stories that have led them to Skirt Club.Skirt Club is a place to grow and explore within community that holds no judgement and encourages freedom of love. I continue to find out about myself through this community and am eternally grateful for this platform, what a glitzy way to unfold yourself to the women around you!