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”Sense and Sensuality”, written and photographed by Alexia Roussos.

Following her previous collaboration with Bambatha Jones as her subject, this photoset is part of a continued exploration of sensuality and what that entails.

So much of what we do and how we behave adheres to an unwritten social code – certain behaviors and beliefs have become so ingrained that we have begun to see them as common sense. But how much of what we do and how we behave actually makes sense to us as individuals? How different would each of us be if we were left to our own devices in terms of the way we act and conduct ourselves – in private, and in relation to others?

We are taught that the act and feeling of sensuality belongs exclusively to women – men or non-binary people are denied the right to feel sexy and sensual, or to be enjoyed as such by others. Gender roles and expectations only act to hold us back from what we as individuals really want or enjoy for ourselves: we get so caught up in preconceived notions that we just become a shadow of an idea of a person.

“A Natural Seduction” 

Text and images by Alexia Roussos.

This photoset is part of a larger project which aims to explore the nature of sensuality. The project aims to re-imagine the nature of “sensuality”.

Sensuality has always been considered the province of the woman – but how much of what we consider “feminine” has less to do with the female body and more to do with the act and feeling of sensuality as an individual, regardless of gender identification or sexual orientation? How much of ourselves are we able to discover once we let go of what we are expected to be?

This is my attempt to unravel the web of what is natural and what has been forced upon us by a society of expectations and gender roles.

Meet the creative team of the new Black Panther series.

“Starting in 2016, Coates will pen a new yearlong Black Panther series for Marvel titled “A Nation Under Our Feet.” Coates’ story, drawn by Brian Stelfreeze, takes its inspiration from the 2003 Pulitzer Prize-winning history book by Steven Hahn and will begin its run in the spring.” (X)

Brian Stelfreeze,American comic book artist. Stelfreeze is a painter, penciller, inker and colorist and has worked for nearly every major American comic book publisher. He is one of the original members of Atlanta’s Gaijin Studios.

Ta-Nehisi Coates, American writer, journalist, and educator. Coates is a National Correspondent for The Atlantic, where he writes about cultural, social and political issues, particularly as regards African-Americans. Coates has worked for The Village Voice, Washington City Paper, and Time. He has contributed to The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, The Washington Monthly, O, and other publications. In 2008 he published a memoir, The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood. His second book, Between the World and Me, was released in July 2015. It was nominated for a 2015 National Book Award for Nonfiction.

Get Steven Hahn’s A Nation Under Our Feet here.

For the Black Panther books here.