Evolution's Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People
Joan Roughgarden - 2004
A distinguished evolutionary biologist, Roughgarden takes on the medical establishment, the Bible, social science—and even Darwin himself. She leads the reader through a fascinating discussion of diversity in gender and sexuality among fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals, including primates. Evolution's Rainbow explains how this diversity develops from the action of genes and hormones and how people come to differ from each other in all aspects of body and behavior. Roughgarden reconstructs primary science in light of feminist, gay, and transgender criticism and redefines our understanding of sex, gender, and sexuality. Witty, playful, and daring, this book will revolutionize our understanding of sexuality.Roughgarden argues that principal elements of Darwinian sexual selection theory are false and suggests a new theory that emphasizes social inclusion and control of access to resources and mating opportunity. She disputes a range of scientific and medical concepts, including Wilson's genetic determinism of behavior, evolutionary psychology, the existence of a gay gene, the role of parenting in determining gender identity, and Dawkins's "selfish gene" as the driver of natural selection. She dares social science to respect the agency and rationality of diverse people; shows that many cultures across the world and throughout history accommodate people we label today as lesbian, gay, and transgendered; and calls on the Christian religion to acknowledge the Bible's many passages endorsing diversity in gender and sexuality. Evolution's Rainbow concludes with bold recommendations for improving education in biology, psychology, and medicine; for democratizing genetic engineering and medical practice; and for building a public monument to affirm diversity as one of our nation's defining principles.
Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart
Alice Walker - 2004
In Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart, Alice Walker has created a work that ranks among her ?nest achievements: the story of a woman’s spiritual adventure that becomes a passage through time, a quest for self, and a collision with love. Kate has always been a wanderer. A well-published author, married many times, she has lived a life rich with explorations of the natural world and the human soul. Now, at fifty-seven, she leaves her lover, Yolo, to embark on a new excursion, one that begins on the Colorado River, proceeds through the past, and flows, inexorably, into the future. As Yolo begins his own parallel voyage, Kate encounters celibates and lovers, shamans and snakes, memories of family disaster and marital discord, and emerges at a place where nothing remains but love. Told with the accessible style and deep feeling that are its author’s hallmarks, Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart is Alice Walker’s most surprising achievement.From the Hardcover edition.
The Velderet
Cecilia Tan - 2001
They live in a carefree, utopian society where oppression and inequality have been eradicated, everyone has a say in the government, and everyone has plenty of food, clothing, and sex. The problem? Kobi and Merin harbor secret taboo desires, fantasizing about slavery and sexual domination. Through their computer networks, they begin to seek out others who share their desires. But when their society opens diplomacy and trade with a war-like, domineering culture, suppressed desires burst forth. Is it the end of the world as they know it? First published as a chapter-by-chapter serial in the magazine Taste of Latex, The Velderet left many readers unsatisfied when the magazine folded after only six chapters had appeared. After email entreaties from readers to finish the story, author Tan has brought the tale to a thrilling finish with six more never-before-seen chapters.
Moregasm: Babeland's Guide to Mind-Blowing Sex
Rachel Venning - 2010
Fast- forward to the twenty-first century: taboos continue to fade, and Babeland has opened new stores coast to coast and online. Thousands of men and women have attended Babeland workshops, gleaning details on how to give and get mind-blowing orgasms. Now this core curriculum-with its spirit of open-minded playfulness-is available to everyone.Easing anxiety about bodily pleasure, Moregasm is for women of all ages and the men (and women) who love them. Detailed and comprehensive, it's an exuberant and friendly manual of modern sex, filled with stylish photographs and illustrations, questions, suggestions, personal stories from real people, and easy to follow advice.More fun than any other sex guide and offering the most in-depth, up- to-date information, it's a must-have for anyone who's ever done it, wants to do it, or wants to do it better.
Eight Things I Wish I'd Known About Polyamory: Before I Tried It and Frakked It Up
Cunning Minx - 2014
Outside of traditional monogamy, relationship structure options and guidelines are often murky at best. This book seeks to demystify the basics of healthy, consensual non-monogamy by sharing the lessons learned from both Minx and thousands of podcast listeners who have built successful polyamorous relationships. While each relationship may be different, some basic guidelines are helpful in constructing one's own version of polyamory, and the eight discoveries outlined in this book seek to provide just that.
Good Girl
Erica Chilson - 2013
Willow, the wayward, is just another disillusioned teenager with no path in life. She spends her days haunting Revamped and her nights taunting her family. Willow’s high school diploma didn’t make her feel like and adult, nor did the eve of her 18th birthday. Everything changes dramatically on the night of her birthday when her cousin inadvertently takes her to the Playroom. Willow finds something she wants for the very first time in her life, and she’ll stop at nothing to obtain it, even if it means becoming a responsible adult. Ride along as Willow innocently learns everything the hard way with hilarious, heartwarming results, and as she encounters nearly debilitating, painful roadblocks. Will she stay the Willow Monster or become a Good Girl?18+ Good Girl is a dark coming-of-age tale, which begins the Blended series. The series revolves around a Blended family dealing with everyday issues that plague us all: grief, addiction, and finding oneself. The underlying moral is hope. Warning: erotic themes that some may find distressing. Publisher's notice: This 'revamped' edition of Good Girl is different than the original. Expanded to twice the length, 220,000 words: new premise, new series title, new genre, and new story threads. If you previously purchased a copy of Good Girl, you do NOT have to repurchase to get the new edition. Please update your Kindle copy. If unsure how to update Good Girl, please visit the following page: http://ericachilson.wordpress.com/upd...
Post-Porn Modernist
Annie Sprinkle - 1991
Originally published by Art Unlimited (Amsterdam, 1991). 150 photos. Size D.
Submissive Training: 23 Things You Must Know About How To Be A Submissive. A Must Read For Any Woman In A BDSM Relationship (Women's Guide to BDSM)
Elizabeth Cramer - 2013
Submissive training isn’t just a “good idea” when it comes to creating a BDSM relationship. It is essential. "Submissive Training: 23 Things You Must Know On How To Be A Submissive" is designed to help you know what to expect when you go through training with a new Dom. Every couple is unique and every Dom may have different ways of teaching you the systems of service he prefers. However, these are the basics all trained subs and slaves learn and employ in daily life. Rushing into a relationship or service contract with a Dom without training puts the future of your time together at risk. All of the arguments, resistance, misunderstandings and hurt feelings that go with a new submissive’s experiences can be eradicated by a period designated for learning, listening, trial and error. Even if you have been with a previous Dom you will need to go through an abbreviated training time to ensure your patterns and understandings match one another. Training is a way to "get in the same rhythm” and find the perfect groove. If you are a Dom, this guide is the perfect gift to give to your new sub. If you are a sub, this guide will teach you how to go through your submissive training. As you go through these things on the journey to become the woman you were made to be, you will be tested but you will also be proud, joyful and, perhaps for the first time in your life, you will be at peace.
Submitting to Her
Max Sebastian - 2013
But when she grows tired of it, and offers him the choice between the end of his career and submitting to her absolute control, there is nothing he can do but accept her authority.Zoey Schoenberg has had a crush on the company's top salesman ever since she started as an intern on the fast-track programme. Now that she has absolute control over him, she's going to really make the most of it - and show him just how thrilling a truly female-led relationship can be.But Zoey has a dark secret in her past that could threaten everything...
Sacred Secrets
Roxy Harte - 2009
She plans to write a first-person exposé, but after she’s purchased by Garrett Lawrence, the most eligible gay bachelor in town, her story becomes an insider peek at the man whose lover was brutally murdered five years before. Garrett still mourns the loss of his beloved, but the past is hard to let go when it’s stalking him. The killer is obsessed with Garrett, and becomes incensed when his target claims a slave. When Celia’s ruse is discovered, Garrett sends her away. The killer decides she may not be as hated as Garrett claims and will be the perfect route to lure out his prey. Thomás Stephanopoulos, one of Garrett’s closest friends and confidants, recognizes something special in Celia, a darkness that mirrors his own. After Garrett abandons her, will she accept the lure of self-discovery, he dangles before her? Or will she cling to the man who christened her Kitten? Author's Note: 150 K words Revised and expanded from previous edition
On Sex and Human Loving
William H. Masters - 1986
Masters, Virginia E. Johnson, and Robert C. Kolodny produce here for the first time for a general audience a comprehensive, warm, and highly readable survey of their most current findings on the remarkable range of complexities--biological, psychological, and social--that make up human sexuality.With the insight and authority that have made them leaders in this field, Masters, Johnson, and Kolodny suggest that by being well informed about sexual matters, people can better contribute to their own sexual satisfaction. Through the voices of hundreds of people they interviewed, complemented by their own practical advice, they introduce and update the issues that can help sexually active adults of the 1980s enhance their own personal relationships. They explore current research on the nature of love, the meaning of sexual fantasies, and common problems people have in attaining and maintaining intimacy. They also address topics as diverse as sexual burnout, sex education, sexual victimization, and low sexual desire, offering numerous, easy-to-follow suggestions about such anxiety-provoking dilemmas as how to deal with sexual boredom, how to prevent sexually transmitted disease, how to communicate with your lover about sexual matters, what to do if you're the victim of incest or sexual harassment, how to evaluate a contraceptive's safety and effectiveness, and how to find a sex therapist.Best of all, the authors discuss how to use the information in this guide to heighten the quality of your own intimate relations. Finally, they provide fascinating--and sometimes startling--forecasts about trends that will define our sexual attitudes and behavior as we move into the twenty-first century.
Sex Tips for Straight Women from a Gay Man
Dan Anderson - 1997
Grunting males have offered little help or guidance for their eager-to-learn companions, instead occupying themselves with chest thumping, sports on cable and other testosterone-driven posturing. It took eons of Darwinian development for women to realize that the answers to their many questions were as close as the nearest telephone. Who better to unveil the mysteries of the he-man psyche that a woman's best friend, the master of clever and refined thinking, the gay man? He knows exactly when, where and how to elicit that ultimate ooh-ooh, because he knows all too well what he wants.Enter Dan Anderson and Maggie Berman, whose biologically determined friendship transcends the battle of the sexes, freeing them to dish and compare notes. Their guide to male pleasure, Sex Tips for Straight Women from a Gay Man, is the culmination of their intensive lifelong survey on the subject. Two fearless and dedicated scholars, Dan and Maggie bucked the system, at times even descending into the trenches themselves. Now the wisdom gained from the years of devoted scholarship can finally be divulged to the heterosexual public.Sex Tips contains such highly classified man-pleasers as:The Flying Wallenda PositionThe Upstanding CitizenThe Princeton Belly RubTinglersBackslidersCombo PlattersSo, if you hunger to be the most dazzling lover on the planet, Sex Tips for Straight Women from a Gay Man will give you the inside track on how to drive your man to new heights of ecstasy. Double your pleasure, double your fun—and double the new ways he'll find to thank you.What the man in your life won't tell you . . . but wants you to knowHe knows what he wants . . . now you will too!Foolproof First Moves!"Wait a second . . . let me get that thread off your pants" or "Wow, you've been working out. Make a muscle."Tips on Grips! You want to hold a Diet Coke, but you don't want to crush the can and why you should have refrigerated cookie dough on hand the next time the girls come over.Powerful Discoveries! "The Princeton Belly Rub"—what they really teach you in the Ivy League.Magic Techniques! Up, Twist, Over and Down . . . The stroke that'll have more men fighting for you than for Helen of Troy"You'll have the confidence of knowing that you were the best thing in bed he's ever had and, remember, it's the toe-tingler that gets the tennis bracelet."
Making Sex: Body and Gender from the Greeks to Freud
Thomas W. Laqueur - 1990
It tells the astonishing story of sex in the West from the ancients to the moderns in a precise account of developments in reproductive anatomy and physiology. We cannot fail to recognize the players in Thomas Laqueur's story--the human sexual organs and pleasures, food, blood, semen, egg, sperm--but we will be amazed at the plots into which they have been woven by scientists, political activists, literary figures, and theorists of every stripe.Laqueur begins with the question of why, in the late eighteenth century, woman's orgasm came to be regarded as irrelevant to conception, and he then proceeds to retrace the dramatic changes in Western views of sexual characteristics over two millennia. Along the way, two "master plots" emerge. In the one-sex story, woman is an imperfect version of man, and her anatomy and physiology are construed accordingly: the vagina is seen as an interior penis, the womb as a scrotum, the ovaries as testicles. The body is thus a representation, not the foundation, of social gender. The second plot tends to dominate post-Enlightenment thinking while the one-sex model is firmly rooted in classical learning. The two-sex story says that the body determines gender differences, that woman is the opposite of man with incommensurably different organs, functions, and feelings. The two plots overlap; neither ever holds a monopoly. Science may establish many new facts, but even so, Laqueur argues, science was only providing a new way of speaking, a rhetoric and not a key to female liberation or to social progress. Making Sex ends with Freud, who denied the neurological evidence to insist that, as a girl becomes a woman, the locus of her sexual pleasure shifts from the clitoris to the vagina; she becomes what culture demands despite, not because of, the body. Turning Freud's famous dictum around, Laqueur posits that destiny is anatomy. Sex, in other words, is an artifice.This is a powerful story, written with verve and a keen sense of telling detail (be it technically rigorous or scabrously fanciful). Making Sex will stimulate thought, whether argument or surprised agreement, in a wide range of readers.
Gay, Straight, and the Reason Why: The Science of Sexual Orientation
Simon LeVay - 2010
Since then, an entire scientific discipline has sprung up around the quest for a biological explanation of sexual orientation. In this book, LeVay provides a clear explanation of where the science stands today, taking the reader on a whirlwind tour of laboratories that specialize in genetics, endocrinology, neuroscience, cognitive psychology, evolutionary psychology, and family demographics. He describes, for instance, how researchers have manipulated the sex hormone levels of animals during development, causing them to mate preferentially with animals of their own gender. LeVay also reports on the prevalence of homosexual behavior among wild animals, ranging from Graylag geese to the Bonobo chimpanzee.Although many details remain unresolved, the general conclusion is quite clear: A person's sexual orientation arises in large part from biological processes that are already underway before birth. LeVay also makes it clear that these lines of research have a lot of potential because--far from seeking to discover what went wrong in the lives of gay people, attempting to develop cures for homosexuality, or returning to traditional explanations that center on parent-child relationships, various forms of training, or early sexual experiences--our modern scientists are increasingly seeing sexual variety as something to be valued, celebrated, and welcomed into society.
The One Worth Finding
Teresa Silberstern - 2012
But the Domme inside her has to take the reign when the club’s owner asks her to do a public scene of anal fisting, knowing when it comes to anal play, Tara’s the expert.Looking for the perfect sub to partner her, Fever Pitch’s owner Jack Malcolm borrows Aaron Harte from a friend’s club in L.A…Harte is sweet, submissive and has a definite preference for backdoor sex, so he seems to be the ideal candidate. He’s a natural charmer, but at the age of 38, he finds himself looking for true love. Playing around just isn’t the fun it used to be anymore. But since he’s not that keen on pain, finding a Domme isn’t all that easy.When Tara and Aaron meet for the first time, both know they might have found what they’ve been looking for. Unfortunately, Tara isn’t truly free to love again…WARNING: this book contains explicit sex, very light BDSM-elements (D/s) and sex acts some readers could find offensive: anal fisting f to m, pegging, rimming, enema, rough sex, public sex.This story is for ADULTS ONLY!!!!43,643 words