Book Review: The Feminist Porn Book

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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)

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.

Book Review: Secret Sex Lives by Suzy Spencer

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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)

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.

Book Review: Perv by Jesse Bering

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book review perv, human sexuality, jesse bering, non-fiction, psychology, science, sexology, sexuality books

Perv: The Sexual Deviant in All of Us

by Jesse Bering

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

A great book exploring big topics in human sexual deviancy. Find out why I gave it 5 out of 5 stars!

Summary

(Taken from Goodreads)

Combining cutting-edge studies and critiques of landmark research and conclusions drawn by Sigmund Freud, Alfred Kinsey, and the DSM-5, Bering pulls the curtain back on paraphilias, arguing that sexual deviance is commonplace. He explores the countless fetishists of the world, including people who wear a respectable suit during the day and handcuff a willing sexual partner at night. But he also takes us into the lives of “erotic outliers,” such as a woman who falls madly in love with the Eiffel Tower; a pair of deeply affectionate identical twins; those with a particular penchant for statues; and others who are enamored of crevices not found on the human body.Moving from science to politics, psychology, history, and his own reflections on growing up gay in America, Bering confronts hypocrisy, prejudice, and harm as they relate to sexuality on a global scale. Humanizing so-called deviants while at the same time asking serious questions about the differences between thought and action, he presents us with a challenge: to understand that our best hope of solving some of the most troubling problems of our age hinges entirely on the amoral study of sex.As kinky as it is compassionate, illuminating, and engrossing, Perv is an irresistible and deeply personal book. “I can’t promise you an orgasm at the end of our adventure,” Bering writes, “but I can promise you a better understanding of why you get the ones you do.”

Review

This book on sexual deviancy caught my attention and I’m glad it did. I love that it focused so much on the psychology of sex and desire and also morality/ethics of sexual desire and behaviour. It covers a great range of sexuality topics from sexual orientations, chronophilias (desired age ranges), paraphilias, and partialisms. Fascinating and weird fetishes were discussed (there was a case study of a man who sexually obsessed over used boots) but so were to the uncomfortable and confronting chronophilias: pedophilia and hebephilia.

Jesse, the author, shares his experiences as a homosexual man who was a closeted gay child in the 80s. He often compares the treatment of the homosexuals then to how we treat other sexual deviants today. I think using homosexuality in this way was smart because culture in developed nations has been changing its attitudes towards homosexuals and for the better. Will the disgust we hold for other sexual deviants also disappear in time with social change?

Book Review: Bonk by Mary Roach

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book review bonk, curious coupling of sex and science, human sexuality, mary roach, non-fiction, psychology, science, sexology, sexual physiology, sexuality book

Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex

by Mary Roach

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

A decent book that covers a little bit of everything in the realm of sex science. Find out why I gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars!

Summary

(Taken from Goodreads)

The study of sexual physiology – what happens, and why, and how to make it happen better – has been a paying career or a diverting sideline for scientists as far-ranging as Leonardo da Vinci and James Watson. The research has taken place behind the closed doors of laboratories, brothels, MRI centers, pig farms, sex-toy R&D labs, and Alfred Kinsey’s attic.Mary Roach, “the funniest science writer in the country” (Burkhard Bilger of ‘The New Yorker’), devoted the past two years to stepping behind those doors. Can a person think herself to orgasm? Can a dead man get an erection? Is vaginal orgasm a myth? Why doesn’t Viagra help women or, for that matter, pandas?

In ‘Bonk’, Roach shows us how and why sexual arousal and orgasm, two of the most complex, delightful, and amazing scientific phenomena on earth, can be so hard to achieve and what science is doing to slowly make the bedroom a more satisfying place. 16 illustrations.

Review

I grabbed this book hesitantly. As someone who wants to learn a lot about sexology in a scientific and critical way, I was worried that this book would have too much pop-science. It was surprisingly enjoyable and I learned quite a bit.

The good: I really enjoyed the sexology history. There was a lot of content dedicated to sex researchers (like Kinsey and Masters) and their contributions to sexology and science. Even though I knew of the famous ones like Kinsey, I was happy to learn the details of their careers and achievements. I love reading research that is serious about sex. There is so much we have yet to learn because of how sex often makes people feel uncomfortable. And I’m grateful I learned more about these great researchers. I also liked how the author talked about the difficulties and barriers these researchers ran into as they tried to conduct their work.

Book Review: Sex at Dawn by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethá

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cacilda jetha, christopher ryan, evolutionary theory, great sex books, human sexuality, monogamy, non fiction books, open relationships, psychology, sex at dawn

Sex at Dawn

by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethá

genre: non-fiction,  sexuality, evolutionary theory

A controversial book with lots of great points. Find out why I gave it 4 out of 5 stars!

Summary

(Taken from Goodreads)

Since Darwin’s day, we’ve been told that sexual monogamy comes naturally to our species. Mainstream science–as well as religious and cultural institutions–has maintained that men and women evolved in families in which a man’s possessions and protection were exchanged for a woman’s fertility and fidelity. But this narrative is collapsing. Fewer and fewer couples are getting married, and divorce rates keep climbing as adultery and flagging libido drag down even seemingly solid marriages.

How can reality be reconciled with the accepted narrative? It can’t be, according to renegade thinkers Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethá. While debunking almost everything we “know” about sex, they offer a bold alternative explanation in this provocative and brilliant book.

Ryan and Jethá’s central contention is that human beings evolved in egalitarian groups that shared food, child care, and, often, sexual partners. Weaving together convergent, frequently overlooked evidence from anthropology, archaeology, primatology, anatomy, and psychosexuality, the authors show how far from human nature monogamy really is. Human beings everywhere and in every era have confronted the same familiar, intimate situations in surprisingly different ways. The authors expose the ancient roots of human sexuality while pointing toward a more optimistic future illuminated by our innate capacities for love, cooperation, and generosity.

Review

Yep! We’re talking about SEX! So look away if you don’t like it.

As soon as I saw this book online, I knew that I had to read it. One of my personal interests is human sexuality, so much so that I am genuinely considering doing a masters in Sexology (or Human Sexuality) at one point in my life. I find it fascinating, and I find it even more fascinating that no one seems to talk about it openly.

Along with my personal interest in this field, I have a lot of strong personal beliefs about sexuality. This book supported a lot of these open, non-judgmental perspectives that I hold while also challenging me in a number of different ways. While I feel like there are definite holes in some of their arguments, this book is great food for thought and I’d encourage everyone to read it.

__books don’t take you anywhere

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article, books, Harry Potter, imagination, psychology, reading, the onion, travel, writing

Books Don’t Take You Anywhere – Excerpt from article

“For years, countless educators have asserted that books give readers a chance to journey to exotic, far-off lands and meet strange, exciting new people,” Education Secretary Richard Riley told reporters. “We have found this is simply not the case.”

According to the study, those who read are not transported to any place beyond the area in which the reading occurs, and even these movements are always the result of voluntary decisions made by the reader and not in any way related to the actual reading process.

This is an excerpt from the ‘Books Don’t Take You Anywhere’ article. An enthralling article written by The Onion. It’s brilliant, isn’t it?

__picture it & write

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angst, books, fiction, forest, lonely, photography, picture it and write, poetry, psychology, talk to the hand, teenager, writing

I urge people to join in, comment with your paragraph of fiction to accompany the image. It doesn’t have to follow my story or reflect the same themes. It can be a poem or in a different language (provide a translation please :)). Anyone who wants to join in, is welcome. This photograph has been reblogged under Ermisenda on tumblr.

Tears streamed down my face, I didn’t wipe them away. I could still hear the incessant bickering between my parents. Plates broke and glasses shattered. When their furious eyes turned to me, I left. The gloomy woods scratched my skin as I forced myself into it’s frigid embrace. Anywhere was better than home. “He’s your son!” The screech of my step mother echoed amongst the trees. I tripped and fell. My blurred gaze rose, I saw someone. It was her: the girl. The light illuminated her but shadowed me. I wanted some of that light, the light she took from me. “Do you hear him at night? He talks to himself.” I tried to force my step mother’s voice out from my mind but it only grew stronger. I rose. The girl stared at me and blinked slowly. My hand reached out to touch her, to take back what was mine. The chilling air bit at my fingers. “Please,” I begged. “You’re all I have.” The girl smiled. The voice of my step mother maliciously hissed from the foliage beneath our feet. “Schizophrenic.”

– Ermisenda Alvarez

__what’s in a dream?

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dreams, freud, interpretation, psychology, writing

Reblogged on Ermisenda's tumblr

“Already the dream was coming apart, its bright silk strands unwinding into nebulous emotions, little coloured clouds of feeling being dispersed by the movement of my waking-up mind.”
– Steven Hall

I believe dreams reveal a lot. Studying psychology has put focus on Freud and his beliefs. Although he is acknowledged, much of what he believed is disregarded such as the interpretation of dreams. I do not think that we can decipher everything from our dreams because at least for me I have some of the strangest, bizarre and often demented dreams that I do not believe reflect my mind. If so, I am definitely insane (maybe I am?).

__sensitivity

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avatar, books, emotions, feelings, humanity, psychology, sensitivity, stability

BORN SENSITIVE by Aurora Morealist triggered a rant within me (she has a lovely blog, I reccomend it). Well, a rant would be wording it wrong, I’ll call it a discussion.

What is sensitivity to you? It is such a broad concept that many things could be described as sensitivity.

Most people, society in general, would consider me not very sensitive. I rarely cry and do not become terribly attached to most of my friends. I think that kind of sensitivity is referring to neurotiscim, how emotionally stable you are, of which I am very stable. Does this mean I am not sensitive?