What I Learned About Sex in 2008: The Blowfish Blog

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!

Comments

[mn]

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.

[bernarda]

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/

[bernarda]

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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkS9o8RAGfk&feature=related

In another interview she describes herself as a "radical die-hard atheist".

[jemand]

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!