Front cover for Erotica Grotesque

by Anonymous
Published in 1972 by Color Climax Corporation

I know it is cliché, but I really do read dirty magazines for the articles.  Ordinarily I would not have much time or use for a magazine that lacked articles or other text.  However, “Erotica Grotesque” is anything but ordinary.  Presented in its pages are images of labial piercing, lactation, pregnancy sex, extreme vaginal stretching, and more in all their genital hair glory. Though it is only 32 pages long  (each page consists of a single picture), this thin digest-sized volume packs more of a wallop than the average fetish magazine packs in 100+ pages.

It serves as a good reminder that all manner of dirty sex existed long before the internet.  If you come across a copy, do yourself a favor and buy it.

Front cover for First Hand: An Erotic Guide to Fisting

By Tim Brough
Published in 2005 by the Nazca Plains Corporation

First Hand begins with Jack Fritscher’s fantastic introduction which is a history that discusses how fisting entered the “homo-masculine” mainstream in the 70s and early 80s.  Fritscher mentions numerous books and magazines some of which I had never heard of, but now hope to add to my collection someday.

Tim Brough begins First Hand with a brief introduction to the anatomy of the anus.  Following the anatomy lesson is an interview with a physician and his partner as they discuss fisting. While the discussion touches on a few medical aspects of fisting play, the conversation is mostly high praise for the virtue of fisting.

The third section is the most straightforward as it is a how-to on anal fisting.  Beginning with the things one needs to have in their toybag for a fisting scene, the section talks about the fisting from the perspective of the top and bottom (or as the book describes it “pitching” and “catching”).

Following the how-to section are interviews with fisting fans and short blurbs where respondents describe their favorite scene and/or the appeal of fisting.  Finishing out the book is a 45 page piece of fiction that I frankly did not bother to read.

The how-to section mentioned above consisted of only nine pages making First Hand the textbook example of BDSM writers’ tendency to pad their works, turning pamphlet length discussions into book length tomes.  Unfortunately, this practice not only drives me nuts, the extra padding is a disservice to readers who want to learn more about a particular topic.

I have a suggestion for addressing this problem that I hope some enterprising BDSM publisher will steal and put into practice.  Rather than having one author write a book devoted to a topic that can be covered in the space of a few pages, create an anthology where different writers can cover various topics using only the length necessary to discuss the topic.  Not only would such a work solve the padding problem, the resulting book would become far more useful and indispensable.   Alas, based on what I have seen of the BDSM publishing industry the only way such a book will ever see the light of day is if I do it myself.

As I try to review this book, I find myself stumped.  On the one hand (pun intended), the book, especially Fritscher’s introduction, was fun to read, save for the fiction.  On the other hand (pun intended), for a book subtitled “an erotic guide to fisting” it was not particularly informative and seemed lacking as a guide.  Taken as a whole, while I enjoyed the enthusiasm evident in First Hand, there is not much else to recommend about it other than Fritscher’s introduction.

Front cover for Weird Sex Photos

Edited by M.A. Sirk
Published in 2010 by Pandora Press

When I checked my mail, I did not expect to find this gem waiting for me.  In the interest of full disclosure, my copy came compliments of Pandora Press.

There is virtually no text in this zine other than the title and the short blurb about how to contact Pandora Press.  It is exactly as the title describes it – weird sex photos.  Amazingly simple and more amazingly brilliant, this zine is charming and entertaining instead of titillating, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.  My best advice to you is to drop whatever you are doing and contact Mr. Sirk at pandora_press@hotmail.com to find out how to get a copy of your very own.

Front cover for Daughters of Joy, Sisters of Misery

By Anne M. Butler
Published in 1987 by the University of Illinois Press

Butler’s Daughters of Joy, Sisters of Misery survey of Old West prostitution begins by examining the prostitutes themselves.  Who were the women who became prostitutes?  The short answer to this question is much the same then as now: poor women without reliable friend or family networks.

The book continues by examining prostitutes’ cohorts such as colleagues and family.  Contrary to the popular notion of prostitutes forming a tight sisterhood, Butler paints a portrait of prostitutes as being almost singularly selfish.  While a casual observer might expect prostitutes to band together to improve their lives collectively, given the poverty and chaos that marked prostitutes’ lives it is hardly surprising that they valued short term interests instead of long term thinking.

Butler continues her analysis by examining the complex and contradictory relationships prostitutes had with police officials, the court system, and the US military.  These officials often tolerated, if not actively encouraged, the practice of prostitution while simultaneously forcing prostitutes to live on the haggard existences on the fringes of society.

My only lament is that there was not enough information about non-prostitutes to allow for any sort of comparative analysis.  Nor does Butler give any time to discuss how societal attitudes have changed over time.  By failing to consider prostitutes’ status and place in society was not the result of prejudices against the poor, women, or particularly poor women, it is difficult, if not impossible to conclude that the difficulties prostitutes faced were not the result of those biases.

For instance Butler mentions that rapes of prostitutes were rarely prosecuted.  Since Butler did not supply more information about society as a whole, I was left to wonder how often rape was prosecuted regardless of the victim’s social, economic, or occupational status.  Were rapes more likely to be prosecuted if the victim was affluent? Simply poor but not a prostitute?   A resident of a big city in the northeastern US?  While Butler devotes lots of time to the awkward relationship that prostitutes had with police and governmental officials, she does not stop to examine if prostitutes simply did not report the crime of rape to officials.

In a similar vein, it is difficult to discern whether the difficulties prostitutes endured in the Old West were the result of their occupation or a general animosity towards poor women.

Despite this shortcoming, the book serves as an interesting spotlight into the Old West generally as well as the prostitutes of the time.

First comes a story from South Africa that takes the notion that “she was asking for it” to a new absurd low. According to the article from the Independent Online, Anthony Julies, arrested for bestiality, told police, “…the dog mustn’t flaunt herself like that…” You can read the entire article http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=iol1279700444989D122.

Not to be outdone by the South African, England’s entry courtesy of news.com.au contains a cross-dresser and a dog. You can read the article at http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/cross-dressing-man-caught-having-sex-with-dog-at-english-castle/story-e6frfku0-1225895330430.

You can read the item at http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/florida-man-accused-of-572614.html.

Front cover for The Contemporary Dictionary of Sexual Euphemisms

By Jordan Tate
Published in 2007 by St Martin’s Press

I came across this book at a sidewalk sale of one of my favorite local booksellers.  Having read it, it is easy to see why it didn’t sell well at full price.  The Contemporary Dictionary of Sexual Euphemisms begins on a bad note with E. J. Collins’ introduction.  Collins claims that the euphemism began “from society’s inability to accept sexuality as a normal part of existence.”  He further claims that the euphemism exists in modern times as a “shield and weapon” against the fragility of masculinity and bemoans that masculinity cannot define itself “independent of feminity.”

Collins misses the mark badly. He fails to acknowledge that the euphemism is a linguistic conceit.   Though they can be used to obscure, they can also be used to illuminate a subject.  Also, the euphemism is often employed to add humor to a subject.  Unless you’re doing it wrong, sex should be fun (among other things).   If all discussions about sexuality were somber and clinical, would it not be reasonable to assume that sexuality is likewise somber and clinical?

Unfortunately, the book never recovers from Collins’ introduction.  Every entry in The Contemporary Dictionary of Sexual Euphemisms is presented in a disjointed, but consistent, fashion.  Entries are presented in alphabetical order and typically have with three definitions – two absrurdist literalisms followed by an explanation of the euphemism’s real meaning.  For example, the entry for “makin’ bacon” consists of:

1. To prepare the salted and smoked meat from the back and sides of a pig.
2. To cook or prepare salted and smoked meat from the back and sides of a pig by heating.
3. Coitus (slang)

This dictionary style information is then followed by etymological information, a usage example, and a brief commentary about a euphemism’s origin.   Some of the entries are photo-illustrated.  But don’t get too excited, these illustrations are pictorial depictions of the literal absurdities being described.  For example, the illustration for “hiding the salami” shows a girl on her knees sneakily putting a salami under a carpet.

Taken as a whole, the entries  leave the reader puzzled as to the book’s intent.  Is it intended to be a work of humor?  A serious exploration of the change of language? A joke perpetrated on the reader?  If Tate knows the answer, he never bothers to inform the reader.  Had Tate had chosen any one of these ideas and fleshed them out, the book would not only have been more cohesive, it would have been entertaining.  Instead we are left with a meandering mess that neither informs nor entertains. These major problems aside, Tate does deserve credit for including euphemism that are both humorous and vulgar.

The first installment of Perversion in the News features, is a commentary by Jesse Bering that appeared on Scientific American’s discussing whether zoophilia is a fourth sexuality (after hetero, homo, and bi-sexuality).  I always thought the fourth sexuality was asexuality, but that is neither here nor there.  To read the commentary visit http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=animal-lovers-zoophiles-make-scient-2010-03-24.

Front cover for Toybag Guide to Dungeon Emergencies and Supplies

By Jay Wiseman
Published in 2004 by Greenery Press

One thing about BDSM books that often frustrates me is that they often present a pamphlet-length topic in book-length form.  The result is books that are bloated with asides, awful fiction, wordy prose, and the like that are not only annoying to read, they are also unnecessarily expensive.

In some ways, it is easy to understand why publishers would contribute to this situation given based on their not wholly unreasonable belief that book buyers are more likely to shell out the extra money for an entire book than purchase what might appear to be a flimsy pamphlet. I also think that the book length format appeals to the egos of BDSM authors given that, not only does a book seem a more impressive accomplishment than a pamphlet, but also a book writer is more likely to receive perks such as invitations to speak at BDSM events.  I know for a fact that “so-and-so wrote a book” carries considerable cachet in someone’s stature within the larger BDSM community.  Unfortunately, whether said book is any good is given scant attention.

In my view this is all very backwards.  I would much rather spend $10 on a smaller pamphlet that contains only meaningful pragmatic information than shell out $16 for four times the verbiage and one-eighth of the utility.  Also, why on earth would I be excited to hear an author speak when his book is meandering and self-important?

All of which is why I enjoy Greenery Press’ Toybag Guide books so much.  Not only are do they distill a topic to the parts that are important to learn, they do away with much of the awfulness that all too often plagues BDSM-related books.

Despite the fact that I was annoyed and distracted by his excessive safety admonitions in SM 101, it is hard to imagine any author who is more suited to write a BDSM safety guide than Jay Wiseman.  Here, Wiseman presents most everything a person needs to consider before, during, and after play in a concise easy to read manner.  Not only is this is an enjoyable read before an accident, it remains a handy reference to have on hand after a situation arises that requires attention (though not every emergency situation lends itself to “wait let me read this book for  five minutes before I act).

In fact this is so enjoyable, I have only one complaint which is that one of the folios, pages 27-58, where inserted into my copy upside down.  But this printing error is a minor annoyance that can easily be overlooked.