I confess to an overwhelming curiosity and an adolescent "Heh heh!" in my head that made me linger at the "erotica" section at Borders this weekend and buy my first ever book in this genre. I don't know what I expected from an anthology of short stories on "women's erotic fantasies," but nothing prepared me for the enthusiastic and "in-your-face" form of uber-feminism that I encountered.
This was a far cry from sleaze and perversion that I was half-expecting (one wonders where those notions came from)--these were 19 expertly crafted stories by obviously intelligent women authors. Among them are doctors, poets, a medievalist, a comedy writer, and one who thinks it's her "civic duty to write smut!" And as the editor puts it, "These fantasies are fierce, fearless, unapologetic..."
The editor is more fascinating--Violet Blue (not to be confused with a porn star of the same name) appears to be a celebrity (I saw her picture on forbes.com.) She is a professional sex educator, sex columnist, and claims to be pro-porn, and supports "sex-positive." She's been featured in the Newsweek, Wall Street Journal and Wired!
More than anything else I've read or seen so far, this little book showed me the prejudice of the term "permissiveness" and the celebration in the phrase "expression." It brought me face-to-face with an array of self-destructing prejudices I've unconsciously assimilated over the years.
It is difficult to judge whether sexual freedom/expression is the last bastion of feminism. Isn't all form of oppression--from dress restrictions to female genital mutilation--ways to suppress and control the feminine sexuality? On the other hand, is female sexual expression the foundation of all crimes against women across ages, across continents?
Whatever it is, I'm not sure whether it is ironical or a reflection of my circumstances that I was blissfully unaware of the "sexual revolution" until 2006 October, when I came across it in that semi-profound, society-lady rant called "Are Men Necessary?" by Maureen Dowd. And I realized to my chagrin that I encountered it 40 years too late.
It looks like in spite of my turbulent and rebellious, if anachronistic, journey along the perilous and often misunderstood road of feminism, I missed a few milestones. When my sisters in the west were exploring the freedom of choice the birth control pill gave them, I was fighting a losing battle to be allowed to ride the bicycle. When single motherhood was becoming a norm, I was struggling to be allowed to wear something/anything other than a saree to college.
Important struggles, precious successes--but I haven't yet got to the stage of feminism on steroids which the west has obviously gotten to. Is erotica the ultimate in feministic self-expression? Well, if these bold, sometimes shocking, and thoroughly exciting fantasies are anything to go by, it certainly is! And the sanctimonious societal sanctions be damned!
This was a far cry from sleaze and perversion that I was half-expecting (one wonders where those notions came from)--these were 19 expertly crafted stories by obviously intelligent women authors. Among them are doctors, poets, a medievalist, a comedy writer, and one who thinks it's her "civic duty to write smut!" And as the editor puts it, "These fantasies are fierce, fearless, unapologetic..."
The editor is more fascinating--Violet Blue (not to be confused with a porn star of the same name) appears to be a celebrity (I saw her picture on forbes.com.) She is a professional sex educator, sex columnist, and claims to be pro-porn, and supports "sex-positive." She's been featured in the Newsweek, Wall Street Journal and Wired!
More than anything else I've read or seen so far, this little book showed me the prejudice of the term "permissiveness" and the celebration in the phrase "expression." It brought me face-to-face with an array of self-destructing prejudices I've unconsciously assimilated over the years.
It is difficult to judge whether sexual freedom/expression is the last bastion of feminism. Isn't all form of oppression--from dress restrictions to female genital mutilation--ways to suppress and control the feminine sexuality? On the other hand, is female sexual expression the foundation of all crimes against women across ages, across continents?
Whatever it is, I'm not sure whether it is ironical or a reflection of my circumstances that I was blissfully unaware of the "sexual revolution" until 2006 October, when I came across it in that semi-profound, society-lady rant called "Are Men Necessary?" by Maureen Dowd. And I realized to my chagrin that I encountered it 40 years too late.
It looks like in spite of my turbulent and rebellious, if anachronistic, journey along the perilous and often misunderstood road of feminism, I missed a few milestones. When my sisters in the west were exploring the freedom of choice the birth control pill gave them, I was fighting a losing battle to be allowed to ride the bicycle. When single motherhood was becoming a norm, I was struggling to be allowed to wear something/anything other than a saree to college.
Important struggles, precious successes--but I haven't yet got to the stage of feminism on steroids which the west has obviously gotten to. Is erotica the ultimate in feministic self-expression? Well, if these bold, sometimes shocking, and thoroughly exciting fantasies are anything to go by, it certainly is! And the sanctimonious societal sanctions be damned!
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