So where is it? Well, for reasons this book makes crystal clear, that pill will never exist—but as a result of the research that’s gone into it, scientists in the last few years have learned more about how women’s sexuality works than we ever thought possible, and Come as You Are explains it all.The first lesson in this essential, transformative book by Dr. Emily Nagoski is that every woman has her own unique sexuality, like a fingerprint, and that women vary more than men in our anatomy, our sexual response mechanisms, and the way our bodies respond to the sexual world. So we never need to judge ourselves based on others’ experiences. Because women vary, and that’s normal.Second lesson: sex happens in a context. And all the complications of everyday life influence the context surrounding a woman’s arousal, desire, and orgasm. Cutting-edge research across multiple disciplines tells us that the most important factor for women in creating and sustaining a fulfilling sex life, is not what you do in bed or how you do it, but how you feel about it. Which means that stress, mood, trust, and body image are not peripheral factors in a woman’s sexual wellbeing; they are central to it. Once you understand these factors, and how to influence them, you can create for yourself better sex and more profound pleasure than you ever thought possible.And Emily Nagoski can prove it.

    Much more than the "facts of life" or “the birds and the bees," Sex Is a Funny Word opens up conversations between young people and their caregivers in a way that allows adults to convey their values and beliefs while providing information about boundaries, safety, and joy.The eagerly anticipated follow up to Lambda-nominated What Makes a Baby, from sex educator Cory Silverberg and artist Fiona Smyth, Sex Is a Funny Word reimagines "sex talk" for the twenty-first century.

    They are the stuff of news headlines and vitriolic social media posts. But they also reflect stirrings of the heart in real people with real questions and concerns.Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, once a leftist professor in a committed lesbian relationship and now a confessional Christian, but always the thoughtful and compassionate professor, has written a followup to The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert. This book answers many of the questions people pose when she speaks at universities and churches, questions not only about her unlikely conversion to Christ but about personal struggles that the ques­tioners only dare to ask someone else who has traveled a long and painful journey.Dr. Butterfield not only goes to great lengths to clarify some of today's key controversies, she also traces their history and defines the terms that have become second nature today - even going back to God's original design for marriage and sexuality as found in the Bible. She cuts to the heart of the problems and points the way to the solution, which includes a challenge to the church to be all that God intended it to be, and for each person to find the true freedom that is found in Christ.Chapters include:Conversion: the Spark of a New IdentityIdentity: the Flame of Our Union in ChristRepentance: the Threshold to God and the Answer to Shame, Temptation, and SinSexual Orientation: Freud’s 19th Century Category MistakeSelf-Representation: What Does It Mean to Be “gay”?Conflict: When Sisters DisagreeCommunity: Representing Christ to the World

    In this timely book, award-winning author Kevin DeYoung challenges each of us—the skeptic and the seeker, the certain and the confused—to take a humble look at God's Word regarding the issue of homosexuality.After examining key biblical passages in both the Old and New Testaments and the Bible's overarching teaching regarding sexuality, DeYoung responds to popular objections raised by Christians and non-Christians alike, making this an indispensable resource for thinking through one of the most pressing issues of our day.

    In People to Be Loved, Preston Sprinkle challenges those on all sides of the debate to consider what the Bible says and how we should approach the topic of homosexuality in light of it.In a manner that appeals to a scholarly and lay-audience alike, Preston takes on difficult questions such as how should the church treat people struggling with same-sex attraction? Is same-sex attraction a product of biological or societal factors or both? How should the church think about larger cultural issues, such as gay marriage, gay pride, and whether intolerance over LGBT amounts to racism? How (or if) Christians should do business with LGBT persons and supportive companies?Simply saying that the Bible condemns homosexuality is not accurate, nor is it enough to end the debate. Those holding a traditional view still struggle to reconcile the Bible’s prohibition of same-sex attraction with the message of radical, unconditional grace. This book meets that need.

    As a pastor and as a person with beloved family members living a gay lifestyle, Caleb had to face this issue with courage and grace. Messy Grace shows us that Jesus’s command to “love your neighbor as yourself” doesn’t have an exception clause for a gay “neighbor”—or for that matter, any other “neighbor” we might find it hard to relate to. Jesus was able to love these people and yet still hold on to his beliefs. So can you. Even when it’s messy.

    BUCKLE YOUR SEAT BELT AND GET READY TO RIDE!

    The book jump-started the international “seduction community,” and made Strauss a household name—revered or notorious—among single men and women alike.But the experience of writing The Game also transformed Strauss into a man who could have what every man wants: the ability to date or have casual sex with almost every woman he met. The results were heady, to be sure. But they also conditioned him to view the world as a kind of constant parade of women, sex, and opportunity—with intimacy and long-term commitment taking a back seat. That is, until he met the woman who forced him to choose between herself and the parade. The choice was not only difficult, it was wrenching. It forced him deep into his past, to confront not only the moral dimensions of his pickup lifestyle, but also a wrenching mystery in his childhood that shaped the man that he became. It sent him into extremes of behavior that exposed just how conflicted his life had become. And it made him question everything he knew about himself, and about the way men and women live with and without each other.He would never be the same again.Searingly honest, compulsively readable, this book may have the same effect on you.

    They fall in love, and they marry.For thirty years they share one another's lives.That should have been the end of the story.Luke Livingstone is a lucky man. He's a father and grandfather, a respected solicitor, a pillar of the community. He has a loving wife in Eilish, children who adore him and an idyllic home in the Oxfordshire countryside.But Luke is struggling with an unbearable secret, one that is close to destroying him. All his life, Luke has hidden the truth about himself - a truth so fundamental that it will shatter his family, rock his community and leave him an outcast.Luke has nowhere left to run. He must either end his life, or become the woman he knows himself to be - whatever the cost. His family is tested to its limits, as each of them is forced to consider what makes a person essentially themselves. What do you do when you find that your husband - your father, your son - is not who you thought? Can you ever love him again?A beautiful and dramatic portrayal of a family in turmoil.

    But is it realistic? Isn't it unrealistic and unfair to those who struggle with this issue? Doesn't it condemn them to loneliness, a lack of fulfilment and the loss of basic human satisfactions like sex and marriage? Is what the church teaches a plausible way of life?Ed Shaw experiences same-sex attraction, and yet he is committed to what the Bible says and what the church has always taught about marriage and sex. In this honest book, he shares his pain in dealing with these issues - but, at the same time, shows us that obedience to Jesus is ultimately the only way to experience life to the full.He shows that the Bible's teaching seems unreasonable not because of its difficulties, but because of missteps that the church has often taken in its understanding of the Christian life. We have been shaped by the world around us, and urgently need to re-examine the values that drive our discipleship. Only by doing this in the light of the Bible, can we make sense of its call on the lives of those who are attracted to their own sex.We have so often made Jesus' way sound like a bad deal. Only by reclaiming the reality of gospel discipleship, can we truly see and appreciate that life in Christ is the best way for any human life to be lived - whomever we are attracted to

    And Life Continues is her story: how she became a victim of human trafficking, why she was unable to leave the man who enslaved her for fifteen years, and the obstacles she overcame to heal and rebuild her life after she was rescued.

    But one of the worst is when an innocent gets violated. Why does God allow such things to happen? What Joy Tan-Chi Mendoza went through when she was 15 has been a very public and strong statement of pain, healing, and grace. She has now put her story into a book that she hopes will show people that there is hope, healing, and wholeness for those who have experienced abuse and this kind of pain. What Satan meant for harm, God meant for good.

    Unlike the relationships we are born into, we choose our friends. It is also tenuous—we can end a friendship at any time. But should friendship be so free and unconstrained? Although our culture tends to pay more attention to romantic love, marriage, family, and other forms of community, friendship is a genuine love in its own right. This eloquent book reminds us that Scripture and tradition have a high view of friendship. Single Christians, particularly those who are gay and celibate, may find it is a form of love to which they are especially called.Writing with deep empathy and with fidelity to historic Christian teaching, Wesley Hill retrieves a rich understanding of friendship as a spiritual vocation and explains how the church can foster friendship as a basic component of Christian discipleship. He helps us reimagine friendship as a robust form of love that is worthy of honor and attention in communities of faith. This book sets forth a positive calling for celibate gay Christians and suggests practical ways for all Christians to cultivate stronger friendships.

    In this honest book, he shares his pain in dealing with these issues, but at the same time shows us that obedience to Jesus is ultimately the only way to experience life to the full. He shows that the Bible's teaching seems unreasonable not because of its difficulties, but because of missteps that the church has often taken in its understanding of the Christian life. We have been shaped by the world around us and urgently need to re-examine the values that drive our discipleship. Only by doing this in the light of the Bible can we make sense of its call on the lives of those who are attracted to their own sex.

    Relationships, identities, orientations and even seemingly straightforward concepts such as gender have cut battle lines between the church and the world. In the fog of war and the cloud of conflict, it's increasingly hard to see our way clearly. There is hope, however. Debra Hirsch has seen it firsthand in meaningful lifelong relationships with LGBT friends and neighbors, in Christian fellowships and in movements that have held a concern for people created in God's image and a high view of the Bible's teaching on sexuality in constructive tension. When you consider the world from the perspective of God's kingdom mission, it turns out the smoke clears and a redemptive imagination takes root. Discover a holistic, biblical vision of sex and gender that honors God and offers good news to the world."

    Online dating, social media, internet pornography, and the phenomenon of the smartphone generation have created an avalanche of change with far-reaching consequences for sexuality today. The church has struggled to address this new moral ecology because it has focused on clarity of belief rather than quality of formation. The real challenge for spiritual formation lies in addressing the underlying moral intuitions we carry subconsciously, which are shaped by the convictions of our age.In this book, a fresh new voice offers a persuasive Christian vision of sex and relationships, calling young adults to faithful discipleship in a hypersexualized world. Drawing from his pastoral experience with young people and from cutting-edge research across multiple disciplines, Jonathan Grant helps Christian leaders understand the cultural forces that make the church’s teaching on sex and relationships ineffective in the lives of today’s young adults. He also sets forth pastoral strategies for addressing the underlying fault lines in modern sexuality.

    And if you’re a Christian teen, you may feel overwhelmed by the opinions. New York Times bestselling author Dr. Preston Sprinkle has encountered these same questions, and as a theologian and a college professor he has dealt with these issues firsthand. Through honest conversation, real-life examples, and biblical research, Dr. Sprinkle unpacks what we can know to be true, and how Scripture’s overall message to us today allows us to move forward and find answers that align with God’s intent.Living in a Gray World explores with readers:Homosexuality and other related issues, such as what it means to identify as transgender and intersexWhat the Bible says about homosexualityHow to cultivate a heart for peopleDr. Sprinkle shares biblical truth and compassion about this important topic. This book isn't just for straight students, it's for all students looking for information and guidance. Living in a Gray World is also an educational book that parents can read and discuss with their children.

    Princess Kali, a famous former Dominatrix and world-renowned Humiliatrix, throws open the dungeon doors to explore the complex desires that fuel this kind of psychological play for both dominants and submissives. Using both personal experience and extensive interviews she shares advice and detailed ideas for a broad range of embarrassing, humiliating, and degrading ways to enjoy consensual kinky fun. Also covered are important concepts such as communication, negotiation, consent, triggers, aftercare, and so much

    In Faithful, author Beth Felker Jones sketches a theology of sexuality that demonstrates sex is not about legalistic morals with no basis in reality but rather about the God who is faithful to us.In Hosea 2:19-20 God says to Israel, I will take you for my wife forever; I will take you for my wife in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. I will take you for my wife in faithfulness; and you shall know the Lord. This short book explores the goodness of sexuality as created and redeemed, and it suggests ways to navigate the difficulties of living in a world in which sexuality, like everything else, suffers the effects of the fall.As part of Zondervan s Ordinary Theology series, Faithful takes a deeper look at a subject Christians talk about often but not always thoughtfully. This short, insightful reflection explores the deeper significance of the body and sexuality."

    By turns heartbreaking and hilarious, SLUT captures the real lives of teens and young adults as they negotiate sex and the cruel scapegoating that still hobbles female sexuality and power. This groundbreaking play, written in collaboration with New York City high school students, and guidebook offers communities and individuals concrete tools to inspire change and stop slut. The guidebook includes production notes, a guide for talk-backs, and provocative essays by Leora Tanenbaum, Jennifer Baumgardner, Farah Tanis, Jamia Wilson, among others, providing the resources to inspire change within our communities and ourselves.

    The prevalence of low sexual desire ranges from 26.7% among premenopausal men to 52.4% among naturally menopausal women. That is an enormous segment of women who are frustrated about their lack of desire and wonder what's wrong. But in Woman on Fire, Amy Jo Goddard shows us that the more whole we are as sexual beings, the more fulfilled we are as human beings. In this accessible, prescriptive book, Amy Jo reveals her holistic, inside-out approach to developing Sexual Empowerment. Women from 20 to 70 come to her workshops with issues like these: "What am I missing?" "I don't like sex the way everyone else seems to." "How do I maintain desire after having kids?" "How do I build sexual confidence?" In answer, Amy Jo shows us how to master the 9 Elements of a Sexually Empowered Life and includes stories from the thousands of women she has worked with. She shows us how to get (back) in touch with desire, explore vulnerability and play, and push the boundaries of what we think is acceptable. We will not just have better sex, we will have more pleasure throughout life and more intimate relationships, whether we have many partners or one.

    But when they aren't saving lives, they're out on the town exploring their wild sides.After numerous random hookups, the three women realize they want more excitement and arousal. When Vanity is fed up with being a nurse, she seeks other career options—hosting adult parties, and Nadia and Kensington are invited. The nights are filled with intrigue, secrets, passion . . . and then some. Nadia's sexual appetite is satiated, but her relationship is threatened by the shadows of her past. Kensington struggles to balance her work and personal life, while trying to figure out whether she wants to be the teaser or the teased. Searching for a quick sexcapade has now become a bit more complicated, as Vanity, Nadia, and Kensington begin to question their views of life, men, and what they want out of a relationship.

    This collection features enduring essays about sex work around the world, first-person stories that range from deeply traumatic to totally hilarious, analysis of media and culture, and fantastic illustrations and photos produced just for the magazine. The book also features the previously untold story of $pread and how it has built a wider audience in its posthumous years. What started as a community tool and trade magazine for the sex industry quickly emerged as the essential guide for people curious about sex work, for independent magazine enthusiasts, and for labor and civil rights activists.

    In the silence of the church, they are left to sort through harrowing experiences like sexual abuse, exposure to porn, raging temptation, homosexual thoughts, and betrayal in marriage-all on their own.Having nowhere to go to ask the hard questions about sexuality can be spiritually dangerous. Women need the truth.In 25 Questions You're Afraid to Ask About Love, Sex, and Intimacy, Dr. Juli Slattery addresses some of the most common questions women have on sexuality from a biblical perspective, such as:What if I don't like sex?If I'm single, how far is too far?Is ______ok in the bedroom?How do I get past my shame?What if I want sex more than my husband does?These are the type of questions that thousands of women have been asking Dr. Slattery. She answers them with rare candor, grace, and wisdom.We desperately need God's perspective on sexuality. And fortunately, the Bible has a lot to say on the topic. Some of it might surprise you.

    Find out why women pass over nice guys and go for players. Discover the physical and personality traits women find attractive. Learn the methods to generate sexual chemistry. FOR MEN LOOKING FOR FULFILLING RELATIONSHIPS AND THE WOMEN WHO LOVE THEM.

    What does opening your relationship teach you about the nature of life, love and yourself?

    But when it comes to underlying desires, the jury is out. Some Christians view homosexual desire as morally neutral, while others believe it calls for repentance and gospel renewal.Is same-sex attraction sinful, even if it is not acted on? How we answer this urgent question determines how we counsel brothers and sisters who wrestle with same-sex desires. Denny Burk and Heath Lambert challenge misconceptions on all sides as they unpack the concepts of same-sex orientation, temptation, and desire. They show that ultimately a biblical view gives hope for profound personal change, with patterns remolded and rethought in faithfulness to Christ.

    You may have tried everything from taking a romantic vacation to buying a drawer full of feathers, candles and sex toys you still haven’t used. You may have even gone to couples therapy and learned some tools for good communication. Making Love Real will help you take your relationship to the next level, one that includes both your emotional and your sexual connection. Written by two pioneering sex therapists and relationship coaches who have worked successfully with countless individuals and couples helping them improve their relationships and sort out their sexual challenges, this comprehensive guide offers you an in-depth understanding of sexual desire and relationship dynamics as well as a highly practical set of tools that will help you have deep and lasting transformation in your relationship. You will learn why you have the same fight over and over again and how to break the cycle to repair and heal old resentments. You will find out what actually turns people on psychologically and physically and how to have an honest, supportive conversation about your desires. You will learn how to handle the day-to-day ups and downs of relationship and how to use challenges in your relationship to deepen intimacy instead of eroding it. You will create the passionate connection you’ve always wanted.

    Professor Coakley is as familiar with the Bible and the Early Fathers as she is with the writings of Freud and Jung, and she draws heavily on Gregory of Nyssa's theology of desire in what she proposes. She points the way through the false modern alternatives of repression and libertinism, agape and eros, recovering a way in which desire can be freed from associations with promiscuity and disorder, and forging a new ascetical vision founded in the disciplines of prayer and attention.

    The masculinity that pervades our church and culture often demands that men conform to a macho ideal, leaving many men feeling ashamed that they’re not living up to God’s plan for them. Nate uses his own story of not feeling “man enough”, as well as sociological and historical reflections, to help men see that manhood isn’t about what you do, but who you are. It’s not about the size of your paycheck, your athletic ability, or your competitive spirit. You don’t have to fit any masculine stereotype to be a real man.In our culture and churches more thoughtful, quieter, or compassionate personalities, as well as stay-at-home dads, are often looked down upon; and sermons, conferences, and publications center on helping men become “real men”. This pressure to have one’s manhood validated is antithetical to Gospel living and negatively affects how men relate to each other, to women and children, and to God.Man Enough roots men in the Gospel, examines biblical examples of masculinity that challenge the idea of a singular type of man, and ultimately encourages men to conform to the image of Jesus—freeing men up to be who they were created to be: a son of God who uniquely bears His image.

    Coming Out Like a Porn Star presents over 50 first-hand accounts peppered with wit and wisdom about "coming out” (or not) to loved ones and community. While some denounce pornography as immoral and others praise its sex-positive liberation, the ways in which performers “come out” about doing porn — or the great lengths they take to avoid it — say a lot about how society views those at the public frontline of sexuality. "This revealing, moving, and often surprising collection lets you go deep inside the lives of generations of porn stars and explicit performers. It’s an absolute must-read for anyone interested in sex industry politics, sex-positive culture, and porn studies — and for anyone whose friend, lover, or family member has taken their pants off in front of a camera. One after the other, these memoirs add up to a powerful, if ironic, conclusion: Porn stigma is the biggest problem many adult performers face, and it is at least as likely to come from our feminist moms as from prudish conservatives. Once you’ve heard the clear, articulate voices of these porn stars, you’ll never look at a sex movie, or the people who make it happen, the same way again."— Carol Queen, PhD and author of Real Live Nude Girl: Chronicles of Sex-Positive Culture

    Louis. Then he met someone who he thought was his friend. This man was no friend. Instead, he coerced Kevin into child prostitution.During this difficult time, Kevin befriended two boys also trapped in the thinly concealed underworld of sex trafficking. What he found surprised him - these friends gave him a gift that nearly forty years later has continued to shape his life.Co-written by Rev. R.K. Kline and author Daniel D. Maurer, this book is not only Kevin's memoir, but also a tribute to friendships that can shape a person's faith and worldview in the worst of situations. Dr. Ric Curtis and Dr. Anthony Marcus from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City offer an analysis on how underage prostitution has changed over the years and what remains the same.*****Narrative Hook:Haunted by his past, Kevin bravely retells his story of human trafficking as a child prostitute in urban St. Louis. Despite the tragedies endured, he discovers that the presence of a loving God was with him all along. Selling of boys continues to be a problem, despite the fact that access to them has changed through technologies such as the internet, boys today endure the same pain Kevin experienced in 1975.Short Overview:In a world where people still purchase human beings for sexual gratification and abuse, Kevin (the co-author of the book) tells his side of human trafficking in the mid-1970s in urban St. Louis.

     In this intensely personal account, Staci Sprout traces her journey from the painful world of sexual intrigue and addiction into a life of healing and purpose. She was an honors student and cheerleader, and later a gifted young social worker. But her life had a dark twist that even her closest friends didn’t suspect. Childhood sexual abuse and exposure to pornography had ignited a drive to be sexual that eventually threatened to unravel her sanity and her life. Desperate for relief, she tried psychotherapy, hypnotism, bodywork, and traditional and pagan spirituality. Nothing helped until a near-death experience became a turning point and she found her way into the rooms of 12-Step recovery for sex addiction. With sensitivity and compelling detail, Sprout writes as a compassionate insider about a world most have never seen: intimate gatherings of men and a few women determined to heal from the sickness that was ruining their lives. Eventually free of compulsive sexual behavior, Sprout concentrates on making things right with those she’s harmed, and on discovering what healthy romance and sexuality might look like. What she eventually finds is beyond her wildest dreams. This book is for all those who wonder if their story will ever have a happy ending. Naked in Public is a gripping account of a woman who refuses to give up in her fight for dignity and freedom. The wisdom that emerges will be both a roadmap and an inspiration to anyone, male or female, who struggles with sexual addiction — and to their loved ones. "Naked in Public is a powerful and inspiring story that speaks to the courage that underlies recovery from childhood sexual abuse, sexual shame and sex addiction. In this memoir, Staci Sprout truly 'leads with vulnerability.'” — Claudia Black, Ph.D., author of "Intimate Treason" and “It Could Never Happen to Me!" "With this work, Staci Sprout has provided a much-needed voice for female sex addicts, who far too often are shamed into silence. Her highly personalized account of sexual addiction and the process of recovery is incredibly powerful. Sex addicts of both genders will easily identify with her story. Most importantly, Staci provides a clear example of how sex addicts, especially female sex addicts, can and do heal from this debilitating disorder. Family members of sex addicts and those who treat sex addicts will also benefit from reading this book. Highly recommended!" — Robert Weiss LCSW, CSAT-S, author of "Always Turned On: Sex Addiction in the Digital Age," "Cruise Control: Understanding Sex Addiction in Gay Men," and "Sex Addiction 101: A Basic Guide to Healing from Sex, Porn, and Love Addiction"

    Unlike other books that simply present God's design for human sexuality, Freedom guides a young man on his journey to sexual purity and freedom in Jesus Christ.Topics include:The crisis of manhood facing our modern cultureWhy true masculinity is rooted in sexual purity, virtue, and sacrificial loveHow to heal from sexual addiction through a deeper relationship with the Holy SpiritA step-by-step process for developing the disciplines needed to win the battle against temptationCast off the shackles of impurity and find freedom by pursuing authentic love. Learn to become a man of virtue and the man God created you to be.

    Sex has its own administrative unit. It is a bureaucratic progression. —from Campus Sex, Campus SecurityThe psychic life of the university campus is ugly. The idyllic green quad is framed by paranoid cops and an anxious risk-management team. A student is beaten, another is soaked with pepper spray. A professor is thrown to the ground and arrested, charged with felony assault. As the campus is fiscally strip-mined, the country is seized by a crisis of conscience: the student makes headlines now as rape victim and rapist. An administrator writes a report. The crisis is managed.Campus Sex, Campus Security is Jennifer Doyle's clear-eyed critique of collegiate jurisprudence, in the era of campus corporatization, “less-lethal” weaponry, ubiquitous rape discourse, and litigious anxiety. Today's university administrator rides a wave of institutional insecurity, as the process of administering student protests and sexual-assault complaints rolls along a Möbius strip of shifting legality. One thing (a crime) flips into another (a violation) and back again. On campus, the criminal and civil converge, usually in the form of a hearing that mimics the rituals of a military court, with its secret committees and secret reports, and its sanctions and appeals.What is the university campus in this world? Who is it for? What sort of psychic space does it simultaneously produce and police? What is it that we want, really, when we call campus security?

    It is multisensory and multidimensional philosophy used in conjunction with the erotic, eroticism, and black erotica. It is the affect that shapes film, performance, sound, food, technology, drugs, energy, time, and the seeds of revolutionary ideas for black movements. But funk is also an experience to feel, to hear, to touch and taste, and in Funk the Erotic , L. H. Stallings uses funk in all its iterations as an innovation in black studies. Stallings uses funk to highlight the importance of the erotic and eroticism in Black cultural and political movements, debunking "the truth of sex" and its histories. Brandishing funk as a theoretical tool, Stallings argues that Western theories of the erotic fail as universally applicable terms or philosophies, and thus lack utility in discussions of black bodies, subjects, and culture. In considering the Victorian concept of freak in black funk, Stallings proposes that black artists across all media have fashioned a tradition that embraces the superfreak, sexual guerrilla, sexual magic, mama's porn, black trans narratives, and sex work in a post-human subject position. Their goal: to ensure survival and evolution in a world that exploits black bodies in capitalist endeavors, imperialism, and colonization. Revitalizing and wide-ranging, Funk the Erotic offers a needed examination of black sexual cultures, a discursive evolution of black ideas about eroticism, a critique of work society, a reexamination of love, and an articulation of the body in black movements.

     For Maree Krystek, the pharmaceutical mind-wipe that ushered in the New Order failed, a fact she manages to conceal, but which makes her service as the Prophet’s concubine unendurable. But endure she does — until her sister Zophia is identified as a breeder, a soul-destroying fate of birthing infants, only to surrender them to wet nurses to expedite the next breeding. Maree escapes with Zophia, but once outside the Compound, they must elude not just soldiers, but the roaming bands of Reprobates, violent criminals loosed into the wild to discourage such escapes. The Prophet wants the women returned to face his wrath, but he also knows that if anyone can locate Society Three, the whispered-about haven for non-believers, it’s Maree. He tasks Kallem Marsh, Captain of the First Guard, to follow the women to the rebel base before apprehending them. When Reprobates menace the women, Kallem intervenes to save them. To salvage his mission, he tells the two he was cast out in disgrace over their escape and has no loyalty to the Prophet. Maree doesn’t trust him an inch, but she knows they’ll need his help to survive the quest for Society Three. Yet Maree remembers something from “before”, something Kallem does not—a shared desire that once scorched her teenage soul.

    It’s reached epic levels and is threatening the very fabric of generations—grandfathers, dads, sons, and grandsons. This war is affecting you and your family. Landmines planted strategically by the enemy that are knocking our men out, destroying their souls, ruining their futures, causing destructive marriage issues, jeopardizing relationships, and taking our sons and daughters captive! The war is an all-out attack on the purpose and pleasure of sexuality as God designed it.The Fight of Your Life offers weapons that help you overcome sexual addiction, resist the danger of pornography, enjoy healthy sexuality, and save your marriages, relationships, and families from the enemy’s assault. To win the war, you must fight the battles. Don’t give up. Don’t lose hope. And don’t think for a moment that you have disqualified yourself from the fight. You have not failed too many times—you can still win!

    Yet Nichelle knows charming ladies' man Wolfe too well to want anything more. Until wooing a lucrative new client requires them to masquerade as husband and wife. And with one heated glance across a Parisian hotel room, "strictly platonic" explodes in an inferno of long-denied desire. For years, Wolfe has kept sexy, ambitious Nichelle on a pedestal. Suddenly she's in his bed, and for the first time he's the one wanting more. Playing at man-and-wife is all too satisfying—until a business rival plants seeds of mistrust. Wolfe knows he and Nichelle can never be just friends again. Is this the end, or a smoldering new beginning?

    But what about access to the private realm of desire and sexuality? How can one also facilitate access to that, in ways that respect the integrity of disabled adults, and also of those people who work with and care for them?Loneliness and Its Opposite documents how two countries generally imagined to be progressive engage with these questions in very different ways. Denmark and Sweden are both liberal welfare states, but they diverge dramatically when it comes to sexuality and disability. In Denmark, the erotic lives of people with disabilities are acknowledged and facilitated. In Sweden, they are denied and blocked. Why do these differences exist, and how do both facilitation and hindrance play out in practice?Loneliness and Its Opposite charts complex boundaries between private and public, love and sex, work and intimacy, and affection and abuse. It shows how providing disabled adults with access to sexual lives is not just crucial for a life with dignity. It is an issue of fundamental social justice with far reaching consequences for everyone.

    Set in New York City in 2001, we follow Phillip—a gender subversive drag king in search of grace and magic—through rich, sad, humorous language that is singularly Shelley Marlow's. Kevin Killian writes, "I've been dying for something first rate and innovative and have found this in Marlow's writing. Her hero, Phillip/Philomena...is the most enchanting and elusive central character in a novel since Cassandra in Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle. While many have compared Marlow to the late Jane Bowles, I would agree if only there was a loving and empathetic Jane Bowles, and now there is and here is her book.

    From spurned lovers to love letters pleading for a long-forgotten romance, this lovely book will remind you of your favorite literary couples and introduce you to new ones. Sometimes a heroic action is in itself a love declaration, or the story ends with the realization that love was there all along –these excerpts from masterpieces of classic and modern literature are as diverse as they are entertaining. Easily read, they will make you laugh, cry and fall in love all over again.All the passionate love scenes we have adored and reread until the pages of our books curled with time are now collected in this beautiful volume to be perused over and over again.Whether you’ve fallen in love with Mr. Darcy, Heathcliff, Captain Wentworth, Theodore Lawrence, Gilbert Blythe or Newland Archer, this book is for you.

    Bondage artist and educator Lee Harrington takes you on a journey through easy step-by-step ties and exercises for bringing you and your partner closer together through this beautiful art form. The second book in the Shibari You Can Use series, More Shibari You Can Use picks up where the first book left off, with all new ties in a playful, down-to-earth, and engaging voice. But it’s about more than the bondage. This time you also get a chance to connect more with your partner through a variety of exercises that explore touch, dominance and submission, intimacy, and trust. With beautifully shot images by RiggerJay, this guide offers intermediate techniques for those ready for a challenge, broken down into clear directions for new and experienced “riggers” alike. Find techniques for learning rope bondage negotiation, speed restraint (Texas handcuffs and speed-release corsets), intricate confinement (the reverse box tie and the woven head cage), beautiful erotic rope (from the Triskelion crotch rope to the floral chest harness), and much more. Are you ready to have fun? To deepen your connection with your partner? To create beautiful artwork woven on the human form? To add some spice to your erotic life? Now is your chance. Set aside your concerns about tying someone up, grab this book and some rope, and learn passionate rope bondage for an intimate connection.

    The contributors to this ground-breaking book not only record the continuing relevance of traditional culture and practices, they also explain the emergence of homonormativity within the context of contemporary settler colonialism.Colouring the Rainbow is a real, searing and celebratory exploration of modern culture in post-apology Australia.

    The pain he feels inside is almost too immense to bear, and he only knows of one way to drown it out. Sex is quickly becoming not enough, though. He needs something more. Something darker.

    Now, take your knowledge to the next level with The Mind Play Study Guide. Are you looking to learn more about erotic hypnosis? The Mind Play Study Guide contains 27 lessons, complete with exercises to use in practicing the skills from each chapter. From the very basics of how to do inductions, deepeners, triggers, and suggestions to an expanded menu of his well-known “Kinky Human Tricks” to advanced topics like transformation play, dual inductions, and mutual hypnosis, Wiseguy's lessons are direct, clear, and detailed enough to have you enjoying mind play at any level you desire. Have you already found a local erotic hypnosis group to play and practice with? Each chapter in the Study Guide contains everything you need to teach the lesson's content to a group, including discussion questions, exercises, and even notes on effective ways to present that topic. There is even a lesson on how to give presentations, in which Wiseguy reveals some of the techniques that he uses to make his classes so entertaining and effective. Whether you enjoy hypnotizing, being hypnotized, or just want to know at a deep level what erotic hypnosis is all about, The Mind Play Study Guide is the most comprehensive handbook you'll find. And it's written in Wiseguy's clear, direct, and often humorous style.

    Closet doors have burst open in business, entertainment, and even major league sports. But as longtime advocate Michelangelo Signorile argues in his most provocative book yet, the excitement of such breathless change makes this moment more dangerous than ever. Puncturing the illusion that victory is now inevitable, Signorile marshals stinging evidence that an age-old hatred, homophobia, is still a basic fact of American life. He exposes the bigotry of the brewing religious conservative backlash against LGBT rights and challenges the complacency and hypocrisy of supposed allies in Washington, the media, and Hollywood. Not just a wake-up call, It's Not Over is also a battle plan for the fights to come in the march toward equality. Signorile tells the stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans who have refused to be merely tolerated, or worse, and are demanding full acceptance. And he documents signs of hope in schools and communities finding new ways to combat ignorance, bullying, and fear. Urgent and empowering, It's Not Over is a necessary book from one of our most electrifying voices.

    In the fog of the culture war, complex issues like gender dysphoria are reduced to slogans and sound bites. And while the war rages over language, institutions and political allegiances, transgender individuals are the ones who end up being the casualties. Mark Yarhouse, an expert in sexual identity and therapy, challenges the church to rise above the political hostilities and listen to people's stories. In Understanding Gender Dysphoria, Yarhouse offers a Christian perspective on transgender issues that eschews simplistic answers and appreciates the psychological and theological complexity. The result is a book that engages the latest research while remaining pastorally sensitive to the experiences of each person. In the midst of a tense political climate, Yarhouse calls Christians to come alongside those on the margins and stand with them as they resolve their questions and concerns about gender identity. Understanding Gender Dysphoria is the book we need to navigate these stormy cultural waters.

    For five years, Cooper S. Beckett has written for Life on the Swingset. The website was born out of the feeling that he’d learned enough in his whole year of swinging to tell other people how to live their non-monogamous lives. His hubris can be seen from space. Here he has collected personal essays, stories, erotica, and prescriptive “how-tos” into this memoir of his life on The Swingset. He may be biased when it comes to swinging, polyamory, and other forms of ethical non-monogamy (in fact, he most certainly is) but he doesn’t sugar-coat it. He speaks honestly and earnestly about a unique way to live life, one that allows for sexual and loving growth and experimentation, a strong sense of community, and the ability to do what we all crave whether we know it or not: Be honest with ourselves and others about what we want sexually. And out of life.

    Inside the palisade, women fall in love, marry and raise daughters, relying on an artificial insemination process known as the Procedure. But something goes horribly wrong. One day, Omega comes face to face with a mythical monster – a man – within the society’s walls. Men had been eradicated long ago to protect women from the threat of violence. But this boy is not what Omega has been led to believe. And he needs her help. She soon finds herself embroiled in a manhunt headed by a vigilante Protector, Commander Theta. When she falls into Theta’s clutches, Omega realizes that there’s more to the banishment of men, and to her own past, than she’s ever known. Ultimately, she is forced to make a choice between betraying the lost boy and betraying her society, a decision complicated by the realization that she has more in common with him than she cares to admit, and the fact that she is developing feelings for him.

    Get advice on whether demisexuality is the right label for you. All About Demisexuality was carefully written and researched to address a variety of topics related to this orientation. With expanded content and more in-depth discussions on topics covered on this website, All About Demisexuality is a comprehensive, valuable resource for demisexuals and their allies. Features include: ‣ Affirming, gentle advice on understanding your identity ‣ Advice on being a kinky or polyamorous demisexual ‣ An exploration of intersectional demisexual identities ‣ Rebuttals to common misconceptions of demisexuality ‣ Chapters to share with family, friends, and partners ‣ And more!

    DeFranza argues, from a conservative theological standpoint, that all people are made in the image of God -- male, female, and intersex -- and that we must listen to and learn from the voices of the intersexed among us.

    Petro brings ecumenical Protestants, Roman Catholics, biomedical officials, and ACT UP protestors into view alongside their evangelical compatriots and in doing so creates a richly polychromatic picture of American religion, sexuality, and moral debate in the wake of the AIDS epidemic." --Leigh Eric Schmidt, Edward C. Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor, Washington University in St. Louis "The AIDS crisis was not an epoch that we survived. It is a battle that we are still fighting. In this remarkable work of historical intervention Anthony Petro explores the extraordinary religious ferment that accompanied the emergence of AIDS in the United States. Petro shows that when Americans talk about AIDS they are rarely just talking about a scientific problem or a pharmaceutical solution. They are instead offering a sociology of suffering and a plan for spiritual warfare. After the Wrath of God is required reading for anyone interested in the way this powerful religious past will shape our political future."--Kathryn Lofton, Professor of Religious Studies, American Studies, History and Divinity; Chair, Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Yale University "Anthony Petro's novel account of the role of American Christianity in the AIDS crisis moves beyond expected narratives of the rise of the right to encompass a diversity of religious responses across the 'long 1980s.' Illuminating and important." --Margot Canaday, Associate Professor of History, Princeton University

    It’s been undermined, criticised and ignored and yet the message of the Bible is liberating and practical – and sex the way God intended is not only the best sex, but also the safest!Revolutionary Sex, based on talks by William Taylor, is a no–nonsense look at one of the biggest issues of our day. William walks us through what the Bible says and then with honesty, sensitivity and grace he teaches how it applies in the areas of singleness, marriage, same–sex attraction and the church community.The book concludes with a helpful question and answer section with contributions from Amy Wicks and Charlie Skrine.

    The home of the world s first gay rights movement, the republic embodied a progressive, secular vision of sexual liberation. Immortalized however misleadingly in Christopher Isherwood s Berlin Stories and the musical Cabaret, Weimar s freedoms have become a touchstone for the politics of sexual emancipation.Yet, as Laurie Marhoefer shows in Sex and Weimar Republic, those sexual freedoms were only obtained at the expense of a minority who were deemed sexually disordered. In Weimar Germany, the citizen s right to sexual freedom came with a duty to keep sexuality private, non-commercial, and respectable.Sex and the Weimar Republic examines the rise of sexual tolerance through the debates which surrounded immoral sexuality: obscenity, male homosexuality, lesbianism, transgender identity, heterosexual promiscuity, and prostitution. It follows the sexual politics of a swath of Weimar society ranging from sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld to Nazi stormtrooper Ernst Rohm. Tracing the connections between toleration and regulation, Marhoefer s observations remain relevant to the politics of sexuality today."

    It has been waiting for our ears to see these poems, for our eyes to listen to them. Yesenia Montilla's poems cross fertilize space and time; linking the wilderness, the city, and an otherworld like a subway ride from uptown to downtown, cross town and back. Along the way, we don't just switch trains, we switch stations of desire: the Dominican Republic is the blues, Ayiti/Haiti is jazz, hip hop is abuelita. New York City begins on Hispaniola. Is it longing we hear? Or is it the crash of one island against another? Yes, there is yearning in these poems; for touch, for visibility, for a tongue not forgotten though not spoken, for bachata and merengue. And there is spirit; something unseen, called forth, like Dominican Gaga rooted in the bateyes, the sugar cane fields, of memory. Not only does Yesenia Montilla make a weaving of magic in these remarkable and tender poems, magic is its own holiness here." Alexis De Veaux, author of Warrior Poet: A Biography of Audre Lorde

    She explains the basics of gender identity, sexual orientation, puberty, puberty blockers, hormone treatments, and gender affirming surgeries. She shares years of her patients’ wisdom and practical information on getting through every day in the best way possible—from coming out to parents, to school issues, to coping with depression, to love and sex. Why is this book important? We know that transgender kids and their families need specialized information. Alarmingly, the suicide attempt rate among trans youth is close to half! This book is intended to give gender non-conforming kids some of the information they need to grow to be happy, productive, loving and loved. It’s intended to provide the information we need as parents, educators, and health care providers to do better with and for our kids.

    Rita Lakin was a pioneer a female scriptwriter in the early 1960s when Hollywood television was exclusively male. For years, in creative meetings she was literally "the only woman in the room." In this breezy but heartfelt remembrance, Lakin takes readers to a long-forgotten time when women were not considered worthy or welcome at the creative table. Widowed with three young children, she talked herself into a secretarial job at Universal Studios in 1962, despite being unable to type or take dictation. With guts, skill, and humor, she rose from secretary to freelancer, to staff writer, to producer, to executive producer and showrunner, meeting hundreds of famous and infamous show biz legends along the way during her long and unexpected career. She introduced many women into the business and was a feminist before she even knew she was one. The general public did not know her name, but Lakin touched the lives of millions of viewers week after week, year after year. The relevance of her personal journey charming yet occasionally shocking will be an eye-opener to present-day who take for granted the abundance of female creative talent in today's Hollywood.

    In her vast experience in sexual undergrounds, Tina has befriended pro-dommes, porn stars, kinky fetishists, rent boys, and more. Instead of writing a sex worker memoir, she opted to tell the stories of the people she met along the way. Illuminating human issues of desire, gender, beauty, and ultimately friendship, the stories in this book will do no less than alter the way you think about modern sexuality in America.Tina Horn is a writer, educator, and interdisciplinary media-maker. She co-created, produced, and directed QueerPorn.Tv, which has won two Feminist Porn Awards and was nominated for an AVN. Her writing has appeared in several Cleis Press anthologies, including Best Sex Writing 2015. She has blogged for Vice, Nerve, and Fleshbot and published articles in the Believer, AORTA, Up and Coming, and Whore! magazines. She holds an MFA in creative nonfiction rriting from Sarah Lawrence College. Originally from Northern California, Tina now lives in Manhattan.

    The experiences represented here pivot around a central theme -- finally finding language to understand one's identity, and then discovering we were never the only ones. Revealing a vibrant cross-section of Southerners, the writers of these narratives have in common the experience of being Southern and different, but determined against all odds.

    Contributors bring the wisdom of their various faiths and cultures to bear on this timely issue, examining, celebrating, and illustrating the natural union of man and woman in marriage as a universal cornerstone of healthy families, communities and societies.With broad global representation, Not Just Good, but Beautiful uses fresh language and images to highlight the beauty and benefits of marriage. Contributors do not represent political parties, but speak from their religious, intellectual, and cultural knowledge and experiences.

    That got her hooked on science early and provided an opportunity for her to find herself. In The Sky Detective, Azadeh shares her life story--one that includes an insider's look at life during the Islamic Revolution and Iraqi War and details how one little girl grew up to become a gifted scientist. Set inside Iran in the final years of the monarchy, the author narrates a true story of friendship between two girls growing up in the same household in Tehran: Azadeh, the daughter of an affluent engineer, and Najmieh, a child servant who arrives from a small village in northern Iran to live with Azadeh's family. When the girls are teenagers, political turmoil interrupts their lives, sending them down different paths. This memoir recalls friendship and faith, the bonds between parents and daughters in a paternalistic society, and the clash of values among relatives from different generations in a family. The Sky Detective describes the rich culture of a beautiful but deeply troubled land undergoing radical transformation. In spite of the hardship that comes along with the establishment of a theocratic regime, Azadeh shows her will and determination as a young woman to persevere and realize her childhood dream of becoming a world-renowned scientist.

    . . is everything else fair game?· What about same-sex relationships? Since when does God deny any kind of true love?Great questions . . . but who has the answers?Our culture creates a lot of confusion about sex. Honestly, sometimes it's difficult to know who's telling the truth. On one hand, when we read our Bibles or go to church, we hear how God's design is to wait for sex and save that kind of intimacy for marriage. But on the other hand, when we go to school, turn on the TV, or listen to many of the songs on our favorite playlists . . . they say quite the opposite. Naturally, this makes many of us wonder.Who's right? Sex seems fun. How can something so natural be off-limits?In Sex Matters, Jonathan McKee tackles all of these questions, giving you the frank, unvarnished truth about sex--regardless how awkward or embarrassing.

    Analyzing legal discourses, sex education materials, and news stories going back to the 1970s, he shows, for example, that the intense focus on “stranger danger” in sex education for intellectually disabled individuals disregards their ability to independently choose activities and sexual partners—including nonheterosexual ones, who are frequently treated with heightened suspicion. He also examines ethical issues surrounding masturbation training that aims to regulate individuals’ sexual lives, challenges the perception that those whose sexuality is controlled (or rejected) should not reproduce, and proposes recognition of the right to become parents for adults with intellectual disabilities.A powerfully argued call for sexual and reproductive justice for people with intellectual disabilities, Already Doing It urges a shift away from the compulsion to manage “deviance” (better known today as harm reduction) because the right to pleasure and intellectual disability are not mutually exclusive. In so doing, it represents a vital new contribution to the ongoing debate over who, in the United States, should be allowed to have sex, reproduce, marry, and raise children.

    At first, Ciara thinks that Bart is just a guy with a quirk, but as their relationship deepens, she starts to realize and love Veronica for who she really is.

    Renowned blogger and sex columnist Jon Pressick has collected the year's most challenging and provocative nonfiction articles on the endlessly evocative subject. Best Sex Writing 2015 is a direct survey of the contemporary sexual landscape. These literate and lively essays explore the role sex plays in present-day society. People - including those beyond the sex community - are finally learning about and considering sex from unique angles.

    White challenges the usual picture of perennial adversaries with a new narrative about America's religious and sexual past. White argues that today's antigay Christian traditions originated in the 1920s when a group of liberal Protestants began to incorporate psychiatry and psychotherapy into Christian teaching. A new therapeutic orthodoxy, influenced by modern medicine, celebrated heterosexuality as God-given and advocated a compassionate "cure" for homosexuality. White traces the unanticipated consequences as the therapeutic model, gaining popularity after World War II, spurred mainline church leaders to take a critical stance toward rampant antihomosexual discrimination. By the 1960s, a vanguard of clergy began to advocate for homosexual rights. White highlights the continued importance of this religious support to the consolidating gay and lesbian movement. However, the ultimate irony of the therapeutic orthodoxy's legacy was its adoption, beginning in the 1970s, by the Christian Right, which embraced it as an age-old tradition to which Americans should return. On a broader level, White challenges the assumed secularization narrative in LGBT progress by recovering the forgotten history of liberal Protestants' role on both sides of the debates over orthodoxy and sexual identity.

    Always a step ahead of the zeitgeist, this award-winning editor knows your private fetishes a lot better than you do. Now that 2 million readers are bondage curious, thanks to the runaway popularity of the Fifty Shades series, Rachel can help them explore their fantasies and realize their deepest desires.

    In the beginning, God made mankind, male and female, and blessed their lives with a big YES: Yes, have a fulfilling, abundant life! Yes, have lots of sex! Yes, make lots of babies! Yes, fill the Earth! "The only time God said no to sex was when sex was not protected, or maybe we should say, when we were not protected. God never designed sex to be experienced a la carte. It is part of a package deal..." We were made to build connections-- body to body, soul to soul, and spirit to spirit. Since Adam and Eve left the Garden, mankind has been trying to understand and define what healthy sexuality looks like. This shame-free, hope filled, entertaining and informative resource will answer your questions about sexuality including: What does God have to say about sex? Why did God give us a sex drive? Where is the line? Why is porn so addictive? How does sex affect us: body, soul, and spirit? Why do we feel so attached to the people we've been involved with? What do we need to live healthy, vibrant, abundant lives? The Naked Truth About Sexuality is a practical, Biblical guide to understanding God's original design for sexuality.

    

    A uniquely thrilling book that features striking images of and probing words by the most American whore there is!

     Mike Cernovich is considered one of the most controversial men on the Internet, as he tells the truth without fear of offending the politically correct or weak-minded. Cernovich has been attacked by Gawker, Newsweek, and other anti-men publications. MSNBC had a guest on to discuss Cernovich’s “offensive” views on how men want to live. Danger & Play, Cernovich’s flagship website, has been read by millions of people worldwide and his book Gorilla Mindset became an immediate best seller. In Danger & Play: Essays on Embracing Masculinity, you’ll learn how to eliminate slave emotions like guilt and shame. You will begin – perhaps for the first time ever – living life on your terms. Be forewarned. While you will agree with one essay, you will disagree with another. No one agrees with everything Cernovich writes, which is a point of pride for him. Cernovich does not write for the slow or the weak. He writes for independent men (and even some women) who aren’t afraid to have their ideas about the world challenged. Find out what millions of others have learned by reading Danger & Play: Essays on Embracing Masculinity by Mike Cernovich.

    His perpetual state of denial is interrupted by a disturbing string of horrific murders, thrusting him into a very bizarre case. Dex struggles to bring justice to the murdered women because every lead uncovered is tied to the women in his life. As the bodies pile up, Dex realizes his life will never be the same when he has an unexpected run-in with Trina Hayes, a snarky blonde who possesses the potential to break down the walls of his hardened heart. She alone can bring Dex face to face with two things he fears most—love and death. For the first time in years, he finds himself concerned about someone else, but she could be next on his killer’s list. Dex knows he needs to find the killer even if he isn’t prepared for what unfolds next.

    A man pregnant with a kangaroo, a woman raising a baby dragon. A twenty-first century Virgin Mary reimagined as a queer single mother giving birth in a petting zoo. In this collaborative short story collection, Carol Guess and Kelly Magee magically and playfully subvert assumptions about gender, sexuality, parenting, and family. These lyrical fictions bare teeth and spare no claw. They'll leave you questioning the lines between human and animal, parent and child, love and dominion.

    It is also an inviting book for readers who are intellectually playful and up for a challenge, written with verve, and full of stories thoughtful persons will find to be mirrors of their own erotic selves. Drawing on Greek myth, Plato, Shakespeare, and a wide range of modern literature and movies, the book gets Aphrodite talking with the young lovers in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and lets us listen in on Woody Allen arguing with Othello. The author’s account of how we seek, fear, avoid, and sometimes destroy love, is astonishingly fresh and engaging. Throughout its pages, one hears the voice of an engaging teacher and the conversation of a wise friend. In short, this is a work of practical philosophy, not scholarship, though only a scholar could have written it. It invites readers into a deep appreciation of timeless ancient wisdom through reflecting on their own powers for love and their susceptibility to desire. A distinctive feature of the book is the interweaving of two guiding threads in Plato’s conception of erotic experience: androgyny, that is, the integration of masculine and feminine; and creativity, in both a sexual and a spiritual sense. These two aspects of Plato’s erotic vision, androgyny and creativity, lead readers to a sense of grateful wonder and sacred awe at our own erotic powers. Our natural experience of romantic love, articulated so well by Plato, points toward a more explicitly religious interpretation of love’s commitments and pleasures. The author brings out some surprising and delightful connections between Plato’s pagan eroticism and the Adam and Eve story, Jesus’s teaching in the Gospels, and Catholic views about marriage.Plato’s Bedroom will be the first book to tap into the perennial curiosity about love and sex through the enduring interest of the general reader in philosophical reflection on contemporary culture.

    80 pages of ill-advised imagery, plus letters, notes from the poet, and a few pictures, too. Includes all the great poems, plus more than in the first edition, all contained in one easy-to-pitch-into-the-fire volume. Very nice to bu​st out at a prayer circle.

    Mickey and Al were left behind. In a bid to recapture the past, they hope to reunite on stage at Madison Square Gardens, before Mickey’s shady past and bingo dauber heroin send them on trip they can’t come back from.Flight 505 is bloody, bleak, meditative, funny, and, on one level or another, all about music, musicians, and the glory and damage of their world.

    And as the former president of the largest ex-gay ministry, Alan knows all the arguments, the concerns, the scriptures, and the heartaches. My Exodus encourages us to look for and affirm the image of God in everyone. It’s a reminder that God is still at work and deeply loves his creation. And it’s a book for everyone who wants to be welcoming and loving to all people without compromising their faith or their biblical theology.Through personal and powerful stories and opening the scriptures, you will come to understand how to love all people and positively engage our culture in the red hot conversations and topics surrounding LGBT and the Church Ultimately, My Exodus equips us all to be better and do better in God-honoring ways. By embracing the idea of loving well because we want to and not because we have to, we will find hope for ourselves, for the Church, and for our world.

    Some of the stories are magical; some are more realistic and the “magic” comes through in language and lyricism. Some protagonists are teens and some are adults. There is romanticism and eroticism and even horror. What unites the stories is that the writers have boldly faced love’s shadows in unique and gripping ways.

    In this book he addresses and explains all the issues and concerns that you might have about sex and sexuality. From understanding your body to teenage troubles, from the first night to safe sex, from infancy to sixty years and beyond, he gives advice and solutions for all these and more. Plus, with classic wit and humour, he deals with hundreds of queries from his readers across the country. It's Normal!, a comprehensive guide to sex, is an essential read.

    The book covers the biggest questions and smallest concerns of every would-be dater, including:Who is an appropriate dating partner & who is notHow to read signals & judge whether the interest is mutualHow to ask someone out on a dateHow to turn down a dateHow to handle rejectionWhat sexual feelings areHow to work through problems in a relationshipWhat to do when a relationship is not workingWritten and illustrated for a hi/lo reader, Boyfriends & Girlfriends is perfect for anyone who is already in a relationship, ready to start one, or still only dreaming about it. The guide is also an informative read for parents, counselors, and other support providers.

    Glitter & Grit showcases writing by writers, artists, and organizers who have worked with or in Heels on Wheels, a working-class led and multiracial queer femme-inine spectrum DIY arts organization who produces cultural works, tours, salons, and community events in Brooklyn and beyond.

    But isn't the same true for masturbation? Just like a familiar sexual relationship, where you fall into a pattern using the same moves and positions, masturbation can become routine and frankly boring. Just because you're only getting yourself off doesn't mean you don't deserve an exciting, satisfying experience.Sex Yourself teaches women how to reach orgasm and how to have better orgasms by themselves. Learn how the amazing experiences you have alone can be re-created with a partner, helping to enhance your sexual relationships. Try new techniques and accessories to have mind-blowing sex in brand new ways.Sex educator Carlyle Jansen provides a modern look at masturbation, self-love, and orgasm that features fun yet informative full-color illustrations throughout.

    Her older, more experienced boss, Mr. Weller, is more than willing to help her achieve the goal. The exploration leads the couple down a dangerous path of destruction as they attempt to push each other's boundaries to new sensual heights. Afraid he will never be enough, Mr. Weller surprises Leoanny with a special VIP party invite to a brand new swinger's club from New Orleans. The catch? The party is hosted in a haunted house on Halloween night. Together Leoanny and Mr. Weller undergo an erotic adventure filled with sex, power, and mystery that threatens to drive them both insane.

    Livia is a Vestal Virgin, a priestess of the goddess Vesta sworn to keep Rome safe through the obligations of duty, dedication, and chastity. In just a few months she will end her vows and marry her childhood companion. But the High Priestess’s collapse extends Livia’s duties and thrusts her into the unwanted role of leadership. As summer heat and the threat of Hannibal descend on Rome, Livia dares to fall for Gaius, a married man and equestrian commander, who has loved her secretly for many years. When his wife Justina refuses to surrender the security of her privileged life, Gaius and Livia are caught in a sticky web of deceit and forbidden love that threatens both their worlds.

    In Love's Refraction, Jillian Deri explores the distinctive question of how and why polyamorists - people who practice consensual non-monogamy - manage jealousy. Her focus is on the polyamorist concept of "compersion" - taking pleasure in a lover's other romantic and sexual encounters.By discussing the experiences of queer, lesbian, and bisexual polyamorous women, Deri highlights the social and structural context that surrounds jealousy. Her analysis, making use of the sociology of emotion and feminist intersectionality theory, shows how polyamory challenges traditional emotional and sexual norms.Clear and concise, Love's Refraction speaks to both the academic and the polyamorous community. Deri lets her interviewees speak for themselves, linking academic theory and personal experiences in a sophisticated, engaging, and accessible way.

    Riotous Flesh explores women’s leadership of those movements, with a specific focus on their rhetorical, social, and political effects, showing how a desire to transform the politics of sex created unexpected alliances between groups that otherwise had very different goals. As April R. Haynes shows, the crusade against female masturbation was rooted in a generally shared agreement on some major points: that girls and women were as susceptible to masturbation as boys and men; that “self-abuse” was rooted in a lack of sexual information; and that sex education could empower women and girls to master their own bodies. Yet the groups who made this education their goal ranged widely, from “ultra” utopians and nascent feminists to black abolitionists. Riotous Flesh explains how and why diverse women came together to popularize, then institutionalize, the condemnation of masturbation, well before the advent of sexology or the professionalization of medicine.

    For 25 years, Steinberg has documented the American sexual landscape from teenage sexuality to Viagra, swingers’ parties to erotic spirituality, lap dancing to women’s sexual liberation, fine art sexual photography to pornography, homophobia to BDSM. He calls on readers to question their sexual assumptions and fears, and to embrace sex as an opportunity for intimacy, self-understanding, and psychic adventure. Rejecting sensationalized rhetoric rooted in shame and fear, Steinberg offers an emotionally grounded understanding of a topic that is endlessly debated but rarely approached with depth and calm awareness. Whimsical, philosophical, unapologetically political, and revealingly personal, This Thing We Call Sex will take you into sexual worlds that include Marco Vassi, the Marquis de Sade, 19th-century feminist Victoria Woodhull, erotic photographer Jan Saudek, and porn producer Kink.com, exploring the spectrum of human sexuality with an unflinching eye, a compassionate heart, and a keen mind. After reading this book, you will find yourself doing the same.

    In the blood soaked days that follow she learns how strong the bonds of family can be. A twisted fantasy of terror, erotic desires and decadent hunger, and maybe even true love at the end of it all

    This book accompanies the British Museum exhibition Defining Beauty: the body in Ancient Greek art.

    Covering everything from sexual identity to relationships, sex through the lifespan to pregnancy and health issues, disability to sex and tech, and tons of information about sexual practices, positions, and of course toys!THE Sex & Pleasure Book: Good Vibrations Guide to Great Sex for Everyone draws on Good Vibrations’ 38-plus years of diverse and informative customer interactions, plus Staff Sexologist Dr. Carol Queen’s academic training and community experience, to deliver the most informative and empowering sex information book bar none. This book is for people of many identities, experience levels, and interests. Covering sexual changes across the lifespan, the identity spectrum, sexual anatomy, and of course sex toys and products, this ambitious compendium aims to inform and inspire sexual comfort and exploration! Co-Authored and Edited by Shar Rednour.

    We are given first-hand insight into the experiences of eight couples with varied relationship styles, D/s interests, and gender preferences. We see how they applied Ms. Rika’s “Dominant-centric” approach to their long-termed, committed relationships. Ms. Rika invites us into her world. The personal stories in “Uniquely Us” come from people with whom Rika has had direct influence: as a mentor, advisor, and as a dominant. Through the accounts of Robbie, Jen, Liz and John, Rhonda and Karl, Sean and David, Jeremy and Sarah, Lia and Jessica, and Melanie and Paolo, Rika encourages the reader to recognize similarities to their own path and find insights to how they might apply her approach to their own lifestyles.

    Q 2 features moving, inspiring, sad, funny, dark and light-hearted tales of love and lust by:NM Harris, Beck Mitchell, Matthew Lang, Isabelle Rowan, JJ Carroll, Lou Kohler, JFR Coates, Renae Kaye, May Wilson, Marion Adams, Scott Thornby, Nicole Field, EE Montgomery, Dominica Malcolm and Victoria Brown.

    Learn about the type of men whom divorce lawyers call 'rat-bastards' and why. Learn the dirty little secrets in the rat-bastard playbook. Learn about the racket known as custody evaluations and about the cronyism among the judges, lawyers and court experts who work in family court and often blur the lines between their professional and personal lives to the detriment of the unsuspecting public. Follow the story of Josie Blume as she cuts short her overseas engineering career to get married and start a family when she thought she’d found the perfect man. Richard is ten years her senior, tall and athletic with thick black hair and piercing green eyes and the successful scion of a wealthy San Francisco family. After a decade of marriage and two children, Josie finds herself alone in her suburban Bay Area house, her career gone and her husband using his family’s money to destroy her. She enters an alien world and is thrown into the ravenous jaws of the divorce industry. Shaken to the core by what she discovers on her sojourn through our family courts, she emerges as a resilient and resolute warrior for justice and finds friendship and humor along the way.Experience the deeply spiritual visionary dreams that guide Josie through her ordeal and meet the colorful tribe of friends she finds when she returns to her hometown in Montana to begin a new life with her children. There's Iggy the former pirate who lived a daring and dramatic life on his sailboat, Alice the world-weary and wise cracking middle school math teacher who grew up the daughter of an Admiral, and Francine the free-spirited fun-loving bohemian artist. You will be entertained and enlightened by this powerful, moving and profound new book!Order your copy today!

    Taking a critical/cultural approach, Wendy Hilton-Morrow and Kathleen Battles weave together theory, synthesis of existing research, and original analysis of contemporary media examples in order to explore key areas of debate, including:an historical context for contemporary GLBTQ representations;the advantages and limitations of media visibility, including a discussion of the strengths and limitations of stereotype research and the quest for positive representations;the role of consumer culture in constructing GLBTQ identities;strategies of mainstream media resistance by GLBTQ community members, including oppositional/queer reading strategies and the production of media products by and for the GLBTQ community;the complexities of comedy as a popular narrative device in GLBTQ portrayals;the closet as a structuring metaphor in both GLBTQ identities and engagement with media;media representations of GLBTQ bodies as sites of non-normative desires and gender identities. Featuring an enormous range of discussion questions and case studies--from celebrity coming-out narratives, transgender models, and slash fiction writers to Glee and Modern Family--this textbook offers a timely, informative, and demystifying introduction to this vital intersection in contemporary culture.

    Now Sabel Young's order wants her to answer for her actions. All Sabel wants is the freedom to love the woman she rescued, Ana Khoury. Nearly killed-and worse-in a world of magic she didn't know existed, Ana is nursing new scars and old. Her brother wants to journey to South Dakota to confront their shared past before that opportunity is lost forever. Sabel's feud with demons and witches isn't going to stop her from going with him. Sabel knows there's nowhere that Ana can go that evil won't follow and she fears their newest ally, the Demon Gabriella, is a more profound danger than their enemies

    Thus she leans only on her own understanding as she navigates her independence, sexuality, and belief, or lack thereof. The Fire-Starter introduces us to Desi at different stages in her life, until finally, at the precipice of what looks like success, she finds herself with a foot in two worlds, unable to reconcile the ghosts of her past with the demands of her future. It is there where we find, as she finds, that much of who you are is who you always were.

    Attentively discerning the manifestations of God's Spirit in and through the body is essential for theology to recover its nature as an inductive art rather than — as traditionally conceived — a deductive science. Willingness to risk engaging actual human situations — as opposed to abstract conceptualizations of those situations — is required of the theologian, Johnson argues. He celebrates the intimations of divine presence and power in such human experiences as play, pain, pleasure, work, and aging, showing how theology can respond faithfully to the living God only by paying due attention to human bodily experience.

    Written for anyone who wants to understand unhealthy patterns and how to change them, IRRELATIONSHIP will help readers develop interpersonal skills, creating a new opportunity to heal and restore loving relationships.

    In the months that followed, readership grew to over 4,500 subscribers who followed her candid, unstinting, sometimes heartbreaking meditations. Word spread quickly, garnering the project recognition from outlets such as The Washington Post and NPR.This intimate investigation is one young woman’s best attempt at understanding her own rich, conflicted life, and the forces that act upon it. The collection is a thoughtful serial memoir about love, sex, money, and identity—how those forces can break us, and how they can make us whole again.