Labour of Love

Aleks Trkulja, Yumi Stynes
Collage with torso in bra, lipstick, pink rose, eggplant, flames, and sticky notes with reminders.
  • Talks and Ideas
  • all about women
  • Run time: 60 minutes Subject to change

When foreplay becomes chore-play

Yumi Stynes leads this engaging conversation about whether keeping the spark alive in long-term relationships is totally hot… or just another unpaid shift women are expected to clock into.

In long-term relationships, is maintaining a sex life a labour of love, or just… labour?

From date nights to lingerie hauls and appointment sex — does anyone else sense that intimacy is just another job on a woman’s roster? Or is admin simply the price we pay for some x-rated adult time?

You might be familiar with the concept of the “second shift” — the domestic burden that awaits a woman when she returns home from work. Then there’s the third shift (emotional labour) and the fourth shift (nighttime caregiving). Now we ask: is sex just the so-called “fifth shift”?

Is it a chore? A choice? A trap? Or simply part of the beautiful mess of loving someone for the long haul? Join us for a delightful conversation about sex and expectations.

Sydney Opera House Presents

Event details

I know we’re told to focus on quality time, physical touch and gaze into each other’s eyes lovingly but actually I am shouting at my husband to turn the eggs off.

Nell Frizzell

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