• About
  • Schedule
  • Community Involvement
  • Book Reviews
  • Ermilia Books
    • Request a Free Copy
    • Blind Sight Series
      • Praise for Blind Sight
      • Blind Sight Blog Tour
    • Poisoned Waters
      • Poisoned Waters Blog Tour
    • Picture it & Write Publications
  • Free Book Covers

Ermilia

~ Blind Sight Coauthors

Ermilia

Tag Archives: journalism

Book Review: The Feminist Porn Book

19 Thursday Feb 2015

Posted by Ermilia in Ermisenda, Reviews

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

feminist porn, feminist porn wars, human sexuality, journalism, non-fiction, pornography, psychology, sexology

The Feminist Porn Book: The Politics of Producing Pleasure

edited by Tristan Taormino, Constance Penley, Celine Parreñas Shimizu, and Mireille Miller-Young

genre: non-fiction, psychology, sexology, journalism, human sexuality

There were so many great essays in here, but I found some repetitive. Find out why I gave it 4 out of 5 stars!

Summary

(Taken from Goodreads)Feminist-Porn-Book

The Feminist Porn Book brings together for the first time writings by feminists in the adult industry and research by feminist porn scholars. This book investigates not only how feminists understand pornography, but also how feminists do porn—that is, direct, act in, produce, and consume one of the world’s most lucrative and growing industries. With original contributions by Susie Bright, Candida Royalle, Betty Dodson, Nina Hartley, Buck Angel, and more, The Feminist Porn Book updates the debates of the porn wars of the 1980s, which sharply divided the women’s movement, and identifies pornography as a form of expression and labor in which women and other minorities produce power and pleasure.

Review

I was excited to read this book because I wanted to hear the debate about pornography from an open perspective that would talk about the issues on both sides. Unfortunately, this book isn’t so much about the debate about pornography, but more about feminist pornography. Although the book talks about how feminist pornography differs for some, it is more or less ethically produced pornography that emphasises genuine sexual pleasure on screen (particularly the womans and other oppressed sexual minorities). I had heard about feminist pornography and this book really filled me in on the history and big debates in the field. For that, I found it fascinating, but I also wish there was more talk about mainstream pornography.

My favourite essays were from porn-stars-turned-directors and a psychologist. It helped me work through ingrained beliefs I didn’t believe I had. For example, that female sex workers are always victims or have somehow been ‘damaged’. Even though there is most definitely exploited women in pornography, there are also women (hopefully not a small minority) that genuinely love what they do and have not experienced any kind of trauma in their upbringing. Even though I had accepted that idea, I hadn’t really processed it as well until I read some of these essays. As a psychology student, I really enjoyed the essay from the psychologist and learning how pornography was able to help her clients through their identity and self-esteem troubles. It was an eye-opener because I had never considered pornography as a possible tool for counselling.

Continue reading →

Book Review: Secret Sex Lives by Suzy Spencer

05 Thursday Feb 2015

Posted by Ermilia in Ermisenda, Reviews

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

bdsm, book review, case studies, interviews, journalism, living on the fringes of american sexuality, psychology, secret sex lives, sexology, sexuality books, sociology, suzy spencer, swingers, writing

Secret Sex Lives: A Year on the Fringes of American Sexuality

by Suzy Spencer

genre: non-fiction, psychology, sexology, journalism, human sexuality

An oddly intimate book that is quite confronting. Find out why I gave it 3 out of 5 stars!

Summary

(Taken from Goodreads)ssly

Suzy Spencer set out to investigate sex in America—to go beyond the talk and find out what people are really doing in their private (or not so private) lives. What she discovered online, at sex clubs, and elsewhere was truly eye-opening.She started talking to men and women—from across America of all ages and sexual orientations—who make no apology for how they fire their imaginations and satisfy their desires. Soon she found herself invited to be a voyeur—listening in on phone sex, reading e-mails describing sexual encounters in graphic detail, and attending BDSM mixers and workshops. It was all astonishing… and enticing. At every turn she felt herself pulled deeper into people’s secret lives and began questioning her own choices about relationships and sex. Secret Sex Lives is an intimate account of a journalist who is seduced by her subject; a woman who sets out to look behind closed doors but ends up on a personal, revealing journey to find herself…

Review

I thought this book was going to be a collection of scientific case studies. Instead, it was a memoir with Craigslist interviews thrown into the mix. Coming from a science background, I felt myself cringing at HOW subjective this was. When I finished the book, it took me a while to process what I read and what I gained from it. Even though it was very subjective, I feel like it was still a decent read. But I was disappointed at the lack of objectivity.

I think the strongest aspect of the book were the interviews she did. We met many interesting, confronting, and good-natured people. I feel like there were two main ‘kinks’ that she explored through the people who messaged her. Swingers and BDSM-ers. I found it interesting to learn more about these worlds and how they exist (in the context of America). I liked how some of the characters in the book received quite a lot of attention, showing how complex each and everyone of us is. Society often likes to shun ‘sex deviants’ and make them out to be one-dimensional, to define them by their kink, but I liked that this book showed them as normal people with normal lives. Although, in saying that, I disliked how often Suzy referred to her interviewees as ‘sex freaks’. I think she used it endearingly at times but… it’s still not cool. Continue reading →

Ermilia

Ermisenda and Eliabeth are coauthors blogging about books, life, and everything in between. May Ermilia Blog inspire you today!

Grab this title!

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Ermilia

Ermilia

Blind Sight

Blind Sight

Categories

  • Announcements
  • Blind Sight: Aniela [Novel]
  • Blind Sight: Leocardo [Novel]
  • Character Galleries
  • Eliabeth
  • Ermisenda
  • Free Book Covers
  • Listen & Write!
  • Picture it & Write!
  • Reviews


Creative Commons License
Ermilia Blog by Ermisenda Alvarez and Eliabeth Hawthorne is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Ermilia
    • Join 1,797 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Ermilia
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...