Sex and Society · Sharing Circle · The Portal
Holding the Tension Between Sex and Gender
A monthly sharing circle where personal experience meets philosophy and psychoanalysis
Why This Circle Exists
A question the moment demands
Our moment is defined by conflicting ideas around the relationship between sex and gender, becoming central talking points in larger socio-political debates; thus it seems more important than ever to think critically and carefully about where we are as a society and what we think we know versus what knows us.
No Dogma nor Party Line
The circle rejects two common traps of capitalist politics: the conservative reduction of gender to mere biology, and the progressive total decoupling of gender from sex. Rather than collapsing one into the other, the focus shifts to the “split-one” in exploring the “non-relation” between the two through themes of embodiment, sexuality, identity, performativity, social reality, and politics.
It is an intimate logical space for sharing and reflecting personal experiences, and how they shape and are shaped by the sexuated world in which we are situated.
What it actually is
Before the theory: the format, as it runs today.
A place for both deep contemplation and personal exploration
This circle provides an environment to unpack your personal narrative: Participants bring a unique history, and those histories become part of a broader philosophical conversation.
Free Association as Method
The circle draws on the Freudo-Lacanian psychoanalytic method of free association: speaking without a prepared argument to defend, and following thought where it actually leads rather than where we think it is supposed to go. What surfaces unplanned — hesitations, contradictions, the things said almost by accident — matter as much as what's originally intended. It's a method built for exactly the kind of subject sex and gender turn out to be: one that resists being pinned down into a single, coherent account.
Theorical backbone of the circle - Alenka Zupančič's What Is Sex?
Alenka Zupančič's What Is Sex? provides the theoretical backbone for this circle. Conceptual prompts drawn from the book are used to provoke reflection on the intersections between sexuality/libido and social contradiction — treating impossibility and non-relationality not as obstacles, but as the very ground on which gender identity is constructed. The circle seeks the space in between: neither the conservative collapse of gender into sex, nor the progressive separation of gender from sex entirely.
Meet The Circle Facilitator
Rebecca Rose Prentice
Rebecca Rose Prentice is a philosopher and silly goose living in Southern California. Her primary influences are existentialism, German Idealism, and Lacanian psychoanalytic theory. With a keen interest in the intersections of metaphysics, phenomenology, psychoanalysis, and critical theory, her thought explores questions of subjectivity, desire, and the structures that shape human experience. Whether through writing, research, or discussion, she seeks to challenge assumptions, hold open the space of not knowing, and provoke deeper reflection on the nature of human existence. She also enjoys cooking, occasionally writing poetry, and stealing her lover’s food.
Two ways to join the circle
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Purchase as a stand-alone sharing circle
Price : See Patreon
Access : Sex and Society circle only
Other circles / courses : -
Couple's deal : -
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Become a Portal member
Price : €50 / month or €500 / year
Access : Sex and Society circle + the whole Portal’s content
Other circles / courses : Access to every live event hosted at The Portal (up to 7 per month) and their recordings
The complete Member Courses from 2024, 2025 and 2026 (live)
Philosophy of the Unconscious
What Is Sex?
Deleuze and Analysis
Marxist Politics for Undead Millennials (live)
Zizek Lecture Series (live)
Sex and Society (live)
School of Thinking
New courses and recordings are added continuously.
Couple's deal : 2-for-1 available on request