A Mind of Its Own: A Cultural History of the Penis


David M. Friedman - 2001
    Here, in an enlightening and entertaining cultural study, is a book that puts into context the central role of the penis within Western civilization. Deified by ancient pagan cultures and demonized by the early Roman church, the penis was later secularized by pioneering anatomists such as Leonardo da Vinci. After being measured 'scientifically' in an effort to subjugate some races while elevating others, the organ was psychoanalysed by Sigmund Freud. Now, after being politicized by feminism and exploited in countless ways by pop culture, Friedman shows how the arrival of erection industry products such as Viagra is more than a health or business story. It is the latest chapter in one of the longest sagas in human history: the story of man's relationship with his penis.

Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality


Helen Joyce - 2021
    In just ten years, laws, company policies, school and university curricula, sport, medical protocols, and the media have been reshaped to privilege self-declared gender identity over biological sex. People are being shamed and silenced for attempting to understand the consequences of redefining ‘man’ and ‘woman’. While compassion for transgender lives is well-intentioned, it is stifling much-needed inquiry into the significance of our bodies.

Sex is a Funny Word: A Book about Bodies, Feelings, and YOU


Cory Silverberg - 2015
    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.

The Psychology of Human Sexuality


Justin J. Lehmiller - 2013
    The text highlights psychological research and theory on human sexuality whilst also considering the biological, evolutionary, social, and cultural factors that influence our sex lives.Features comprehensive coverage of topics including gender and sexual orientation, relationships, sexual behaviors, sexual difficulties and solutions, prostitution, and pornography Offers more in-depth treatment of relationships than comparable texts, with separate chapters dealing with attraction and relationship processes Written from a sex-positive perspective, and is inclusive and respectful of a diverse audience Includes numerous activities to facilitate a dynamic and interactive classroom environment

The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women


Jessica Valenti - 2009
    In The Purity Myth Jessica Valenti argues that the country’s intense focus on chastity is damaging to young women. Through in-depth cultural and social analysis, Valenti reveals that powerful messaging on both extremes — ranging from abstinence curriculum to Girls Gone Wild infomercials — place a young woman’s worth entirely on her sexuality. Morals are therefore linked purely to sexual behavior, rather than values like honesty, kindness, and altruism. Valenti sheds light on the value — and hypocrisy — around the notion that girls remain virgin until they’re married by putting into context the historical question of purity, modern abstinence-only education, pornography, and public punishments for those who dare to have sex. The Purity Myth presents a revolutionary argument that girls and women are overly valued for their sexuality, as well as solutions for a future without a damaging emphasis on virginity.

The Penis Book: A Doctor's Complete Guide to the Penis--From Size to Function and Everything in Between


Aaron Spitz - 2018
    Aaron Spitz has that answer--and many more. Let Dr. Spitz--clinical professor at UC Irvine's Department of Urology and a regularly featured guest on The Doctors--become your best friend as he fearlessly guides you through the hairiest and the scariest questions in The Penis Book. An unflinching, comprehensive guide to everything from sexually transmitted infections to the science of blood flow, The Penis Book prominently features an easy-to-follow holistic five-step plan for optimum penis health, including plant-based eating recommendations, information on some penis-healthy foods, and suggested exercises for penis wellbeing. Useful to men and women alike, The Penis Book is a one-stop-shop for the care and maintenance of the penis in your life.

The Big O: How to Have Them, Give Them, and Keep Them Coming


Lou Paget - 2001
    In her second book, How to Give Her Absolute Pleasure, Paget showed men how to please the woman they adore. In this, her third book, Paget shows both sexes how to bring each other to unimaginable heights of sexual excitement—together.In her first two books, Paget has proven herself to be not only a source of both the most provocative and useful techniques and technical information about sexuality but also an honest and candid voice that men and women have come to rely on. In her nine years of giving Sexuality Seminars, the questions most commonly posed are about orgasms: "Are simultaneous orgasms really possible?" "What can I do if I've never had an orgasm?" "Do only certain types of orgasms 'count'?" In The Big O she answers these questions by debunking the myths and demystifying the questions and confusion surrounding orgasms that can wreak havoc on your sex life, your relationship, or your self-esteem.In The Big O Paget provides the most essential and cutting-edge information that will explain and show—with explicit step-by-step instructions—all you want to know about having an orgasm and giving one, including:—The ten different ways that women and the seven different ways men are known to orgasm—Tips on how to control the timing and frequency of orgasms —Exercises to increase your body's sensitivity and suggestions for women who have never experienced an orgasm to explore and practice privately—The real scoop on aphrodisiacs and other orgasm enhancers—Emotional enhancers and inhibitors: the psychology of orgasms—Physical obstacles to orgasms, including medications, diet, alcohol, and recreational drugs—Historical and hysterical facts about orgasms—The Kama Lou-Tra: Lou's own look at Tantric sex and the spiritual side of orgasmsEach chapter contains elucidating and entertaining anecdotes based on research and interviews with thousands of men and women that show readers how the techniques work and what obstacles to avoid.The Big O is a book for men and women of all ages—from the time you want to start experiencing the crscendo of an orgasm to the time in your life when having one might not be such an easy feat. With her signature style of fresh information and clear detail, Paget shows you and your partner how to have and give more pleasure than you ever thought possible.

The Ultimate Guide to Sex and Disability: For All of Us Who Live with Disabilities, Chronic Pain, and Illness


Miriam Kaufman - 2003
    For sufferers of ailments from chronic fatigue syndrome and spinal cord injury to multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, and others, the book provides encouragement, support, and expert information on sex positions, orgasm, and sex toys. It also features illustrations, a resource guide with hundreds of books, websites, and organizations.

Screw the Roses, Send Me the Thorns: The Romance and Sexual Sorcery of Sadomasochism


Philip Miller - 1988
    We made it light-hearted and fun to read because SM is fun to do. That's why we do it. But fun is only SM's overture; for those who grasp its message, SM is sexual magic. The right blend of trust, fantasy, and sensuality creates an intensely erotic and deeply intimate stew. We take away our lovers' freedom and lead them to profound liberty. We peer into the dark together, transforming it to light. In these pages you will find clear explanations for the curious, and solid advice, safety measures and steamy suggestions for the adventurous. Allow us to guide you through the captivating realms of sensuality, dreamed of by millions, realized by few, and understood by fewer still.

Drawn to Sex Vol. 1: The Basics


Erika Moen - 2018
    Using comics, jokes, and frank communication, they're here to demystify the world of sex and answer your questions—including ones you might not even know you had!In this first book of the Drawn to Sex series, they explore the practical side of sex, from the basics of what defines sex, to barriers and testing, masturbation, and the ins-and-outs of having sex with other people.Pick up this fun book if you’re looking to learn something new, understand sexuality better, or know someone (maybe you!) who might benefit from some judgment-free education. Erika and Matthew are here to help you out

Solitary Sex: A Cultural History of Masturbation


Thomas W. Laqueur - 2003
    Masturbation may be the last taboo. But this is not a holdover from a more benighted age. The ancient world cared little about the subject; it was a backwater of Jewish and Christian teaching about sexuality. In fact, solitary sex as a serious moral issue can be dated with a precision rare in cultural history; Laqueur identifies it with the publication of the anonymous tract Onania in about 1722. Masturbation is a creation of the Enlightenment, of some of its most important figures, and of the most profound changes it unleashed. It is modern. It worried at first not conservatives, but progressives. It was the first truly democratic sexuality that could be of ethical interest for women as much as for men, for boys and girls as much as for their elders.The book's range is vast. It begins with the prehistory of solitary sex in the Bible and ends with third-wave feminism, conceptual artists, and the Web. It explains how and why this humble and once obscure means of sexual gratification became the evil twin -- or the perfect instance -- of the great virtues of modern humanity and commercial society: individual moral autonomy and privacy, creativity and the imagination, abundance and desire.

Faking It: The Lies Women Tell about Sex--And the Truths They Reveal


Lux Alptraum - 2018
    Women lie about orgasms. Women lie about being virgins. Women lie about who got them pregnant, about whether they were raped, about how many people they've had sex with and what sort of experiences they've had - the list goes on and on. Over and over we're reminded that, on dates, in relationships, and especially in the bedroom, women just aren't telling the truth. But where does this assumption come from? Are women actually lying about sex, or does society just think we are? In Faking It, Lux Alptraum tackles the topic of seemingly dishonest women; investigating whether women actually lie, and what social situations might encourage deceptions both great and small. Using her experience as a sex educator and former CEO of Fleshbot (the foremost blog on sexuality), first-hand interviews with sexuality experts and everyday women, Alptraum raises important questions: are lying women all that common - or is the idea of the dishonest woman a symptom of male paranoia? Are women trying to please men, or just avoid their anger? And what affect does all this dishonesty - whether real or imagined - have on women's self-images, social status, and safety? Through it all, Alptraum posits that even if women are lying, we're doing it for very good reason -- to protect ourselves ("My boyfriend will be here any minute," to a creep who won't go away, for one), and in situations where society has given us no other choice.

Good Sex: Getting Off Without Checking Out


Jessica Graham - 2017
    Graham shares her own gradual transformation from checked out and sexually traumatized to present and joyfully recovered in all aspects of her life as she offers simple mindfulness tools and techniques to improve your sex life and romantic relationships. Her story of sexual healing, awakening, and exploration weaves together with a meditation manual and down-to-earth suggestions for how to bring mindfulness into the bedroom. Not only a tool kit for creating a rich and deeply satisfying sex life, this fun, explicit, and transformative book conveys the deeper message of how combining meditation with sex can bring about profound spiritual awakenings.Good Sex begins with basic meditation instructions from a variety of techniques, followed by mindfulness exercises delving into communication difficulties, and the fear, attachment, and shame that can come up around sex. The book's matter-of-fact and inclusive perspective borrows from Buddhism, Hinduism, and Christianity, but is accessible to the secular community and those with no spiritual or meditation background at all. Graham discusses everything from open-eyed orgasms to threesomes to how to deal with a partner with a low sex drive. From a sex-positive and nontraditional stance she explores nonmonogamy, the benefits of pornography, sexual trauma, consent, and much more. Anyone feeling stuck or stunted in their sex life, unable to communicate their needs or desires, will find strategies for approaching difficult subjects and connecting more intimately with partners. They will discover ways to trust their own personal wisdom, to know themselves better, have better sex, and embrace the spiritual dimension in their sexuality.

The Heart of Dominance: A Guide to Practicing Consensual Dominance


Anton Fulmen - 2016
    If you are new to dominance, still figuring out just what it’s all about or what you want it to mean to you, then this book will provide you with a solid foundation from which to start. If you already practice dominance and are interested in improving your ability to create deep and lasting power dynamics then you’ll find many advanced concepts and concrete techniques to integrate into your own personal style. What consensual dominance means here is any kind of intentional, mutually desired, mutually fulfilling exercise of power and control between partners. There are a lot of different kinds of connections that fit that broad definition, and the fundamental principles that this book explores can be applied to any of them. So it should be just as valuable whether you practice dominance in occasional intense evenings within an otherwise egalitarian relationship, in a full-time power exchange relationship, in long distance or online relationships, in pick-up play with strangers at BDSM clubs, or anywhere else. This book also doesn’t assume that you fit any stereotype about what a person who dominates should look or act like. It looks at dominance as a practice -- as something that any person can learn to do, rather than something that some people are -- and it is meant for anyone with a desire to learn to practice dominance well. It is written to be accessible to absolute beginners, as well as to switches and primals and tops and mommies and daddies and bigs and masters and trainers and Goreans and heads-of-house and owners and label-defying powerplayers. (And don’t worry if you have no idea what any of those labels means – dominance has nothing to do with labels.) If you have an interest in the bedrock principles of inspiring, deepening, maintaining and enjoying control over a person who dearly, desperately wants you to control them, then this book is for you.

Period Repair Manual


Lara Briden - 2015
    Half the population will menstruate in their lifetime, and 1 in 2 women will struggle with their period health. Lara's book, previously self-published, has already garnered rave reader reviews because of its willingness to deal with this important aspect of women's health openly and compassionately. Containing invaluable advice for women of every age and circumstance, and detailing natural treatments from nutritional supplements to a healthy diet, this book promises to help women change their relationship with their menstrual cycle. Topics include how to come off hormonal birth control; what your period should be like; what can go wrong; how to talk to your doctor; treatment protocols for all common period problems, including PCOS and endometriosis. Thoroughly researched and written in clear and accessible language, Period Repair Manual is the ultimate guide to better periods.