I have a new piece up on the Blowfish Blog. It’s a Year in Review piece, summing up the things I learned about sex (or was reminded of about sex) from writing my column on the Blowfish Blog. It’s titled What I Learned About Sex in 2008, and here’s the teaser:
I learned that sadomasochism is starting — just starting — to be a no- big- deal part of the sexual landscape… at least as depicted in popular culture. Ditto gay sex, sex work, and — to a lesser extent — non-monogamy.
And I learned that, despite all that, mass culture can still have a pretty retrograde idea of what constitutes sexual liberation.
I learned that figuring out what kind of sex you do and don’t like is an ongoing process that lasts a lifetime… because your sexuality can change over time, so you’re trying to hit a moving target.
I learned — or was reminded — that the way people define sex and use language about it can have a huge impact on how they practice it.
I learned that working out is hot.
I learned that it’s really, really, really hard to talk about cheating in a way that doesn’t traffic in black- and- white moral absolutes, without seriously pissing a lot of people off.
To read more, read the rest of the piece. Enjoy!
Greta, I’m gonna be a little off topic but it’s still about sexual liberation. I’m trying to spread the word about the latest article at freethinker co uk. Please, have a look. It’s back to the Middle Ages for someone in the U.S.
Some of the things you mention remind me of the analyses of Herbert Marcuse, like:
“And I learned that, despite all that, mass culture can still have a pretty retrograde idea of what constitutes sexual liberation. ”
It is a good time to read, or re-read, “Eros and Civilization” and “One-Dimensional Man”.
Marcuse uses the term “repressive sublimation” to indicate how our society selectively uses sexuality to maintain the established authority. You can find more at:
http://www.marcuse.org/herbert/
Another book worth looking up is Natalie Angier’s “Woman:An Intimate Geography”.
She is interviewed by Charlie Rose. It is about 28 minutes into this youtube.
In another interview she describes herself as a “radical die-hard atheist”.
ugh, idiotic religious college campus site blocking…. I can’t read you’re blowfish column. 🙁
Anyway, will try later on another connection, I like this blog. Thanks for writing it!