Ashley Cobb Discusses Her New Book And Leaps Of Faith

Ashley Cobb is an award-winning intercourse knowledgeable, HIV activist, author, speaker, and social media influencer. She is thought for her no-holds-barred strategy to sexual freedom, particularly for Black girls, by means of her on-line platform, Intercourse With Ashley. The sexpert has a brand new title so as to add to her repertoire — writer. Her new e-book, Pleasure, Please!: The Black Girl’s Information to Unapologetic Pleasure and Confidence hit bookshelves on Feb. 17.

Cobb lately sat down with BLACK ENTERPRISE to debate the e-book and her ever-evolving model, Intercourse With Ashley.

The intercourse educator first gained consideration in 2015 along with her Intercourse With Ashley weblog, a platform she created not as a result of she had all of the solutions, however as a result of she was looking for them. Earlier than changing into a intercourse educator, she as soon as served as a “purity-culture chief,” encouraging girls to abstain from intercourse till marriage. On the time, she embraced messaging that framed sexuality by means of inflexible spiritual ideology as an alternative of her personal autonomy.

“I form of felt like I used to be doing that as a result of that’s what I used to be instructed to do, however it actually wasn’t what I wished to do,” Cobb instructed BE.

Stepping away from these teachings allowed Cobb to discover her sexuality extra truthfully. Cobb, who grew up within the small city of Raeford, North Carolina, says that speaking overtly about intercourse was thought-about a sin in her family, making her path to changing into a intercourse educator particularly taboo. Cobb stated that she knew that different Black girls, particularly those that shared her  Black Southern church roots, in all probability had related trepidations round their very own sexuality. She was right. Her weblog resonated with hundreds of readers who had been additionally unlearning disgrace and in search of extra affirming conversations about intercourse.

Whereas working as a center college instructor through the day, Cobb blogged about all issues intercourse in her free time. The Intercourse With Ashley weblog noticed important development early on, not solely gaining Cobb on-line fame but in addition incomes her the nickname “the intercourse woman” when individuals acknowledged her in public.

However the reputation got here with penalties. One in every of her college students’ mother and father reported the net platform to the college administration. Cobb explains that though Intercourse With Ashley was informational, focused at adults, and contained no specific pictures, her employer nonetheless discovered it inappropriate.

College officers gave Cobb an ultimatum: both delete the weblog and maintain her job, or maintain the weblog and resign.

“I selected the latter,” Cobb stated.

The author states that she knew Black girls wanted an area that centered them and the complexities of the Black expertise. She determined to discover a new job and proceed writing. Her new employer additionally ultimately let her go after studying in regards to the weblog. She skilled the identical destiny at her subsequent job.  

After three consecutive dismissals, Cobb knew she was at a crossroads: she needed to both cease running a blog or go “full throttle” with the Intercourse With Ashley model. 

As a part of her leap of religion, the sexpert started instructing sex-focused courses and have become a Bed room Kandi intercourse toy guide. She says she didn’t got down to develop into a social media influencer, however when she began sharing instructional movies on Instagram, she naturally took on that position.

Cobb shifted her focus from running a blog to content material creation. In 2021, she launched a podcast. The Intercourse With Ashley Podcast is a weekly present providing “unfiltered conversations about Black sexuality.”

The content material creator returned to high school to earn a level in Public Well being, which led to a shift in her platform. She started incorporating sexual well being subjects into her sex-positive house and began discussing topics like STIs, HIV, and fertility. Moreover, she started writing articles and columns for Black girls’s life-style publications.

Pleasure, Please! 

In 2023, her profitable on-line model gained the eye of a e-book editor who reached out to Cobb with a e-book proposal. The 2 started growing concepts that led to the creation of Pleasure, Please!: The Black Girl’s Information to Unapologetic Pleasure and Confidence. Cobb says that the e-book presents sensible recommendation for Black girls of all ages who need to unlearn unhealthy concepts about intercourse which are usually rooted in patriarchy, faith, and social conditioning. 

“This e-book is for any Black lady who needs to discover ways to have higher intercourse, needs to really feel extra assured in her physique, and needs to have the ability to discover ways to make pleasure a precedence of their life,” the writer tells BE.

Moreover, Cobb shares her private journey to sexual liberation. Within the e-book, she recounts a number of eye-opening experiences, together with internet hosting a nude yoga class. She recollects watching girls arrive shy and hesitant, solely to develop into extra assured of their our bodies as they noticed different girls doing the identical. 

Launched on Feb. 17: Pleasure, Please!: The Black Girl’s Information to Unapologetic Pleasure and Confidence is obtainable for buy on-line and at most main e-book retailers.

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