We’ve published a lot of about sex over the years, and for the fake occasion that is Valentine’s Day (thanks a lot, Chaucer), we’re opening the vault. From the dildos of whalers’ wives to the Magic Mike Live XXX revue, with pit stops at foot fetishes and BDSM and a productive detour into the craft of writing, this is your guide to sex in the 21st century.
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SEX, the HISTORY OF
How people wrote about sex in the Middle Ages ♥ There once was a dildo in Nantucket ♥ How John Donne learned to write love poetry ♥ Centuries before Fifty Shades, a runaway hit about kinky sex ♥ A steamy letter from Henry Miller to Anais Nin ♥ Hosting an orgy? This 1970s cookbook has you covered ♥ Writing desire in the Regency years ♥ Group sex therapy at the local synagogue (or, reading the sexy bits of the Bible) ♥ Why are we so afraid of female desire? ♥ Everything I know about sex I learned from Edna St. Vincent Millay ♥ One man’s literary crusade to uncensor sex in America.
SEX, the STUDY OF
Here’s the quick and dirty on foot fetishes.
What pornographic literature shows us about human nature.
Learning about BDSM—by doing it myself.
How capitalism created sexual dysfunction.
How does focusing on the self affect a woman’s sex life?
Conceptualizing the vagina, a “dark and vicious place.”
SEX, the WRITING OF
Some fundamental principles for writing great sex ♥ Melissa Febos on what a sex scene should do ♥ The best sex I ever had was (also) a narrative structure ♥ The ways in which writing may or may not resemble sex ♥ Writing sex for money is hard f*cking work ♥ In praise of sex writing that’s about more than being sexy ♥ Why sex scenes are not only feminist, but necessary ♥ The literature of bad sex.
SEX, I’VE HAD IT
The under-celebrated erotic power of… hamantaschen.
The disorientation and relief of owning my submissiveness.
Moved to tears at the Magic Mike Live XXX revue.
Learning about sex from Samantha Jones.
On phone sex, first writing jobs, and unexpected teachers.
My job writing custom erotic love letters.
