The Clitoral Truth: The Secret World at Your Fingertips (21 page)

voyeurism
(voi-YUR-iz-em): The practice of obtaining or enhancing sexual stimulation by watching the sexual performance of another

person, either with his or her consent, or secretly. Watching erotic movies alone or with others could also be considered voyeuristic.

vulva
: The vulva is variously defined, but the essential meaning of the word is “covering.” Often, definitions of vulva include most of the visible structures of the clitoris and even occasionally the bulbs, but this definition evolved in the absence of a complete definition of the clitoris. The vulva correctly includes the pubic mound and the outer lips.

vulvovaginal
(vul-vo-VAJ-I-nal) glands: Two small glands located beneath the vaginal opening. These glands produce a small amount of viscous mucous during sexual response, which helps to lubricate the vaginal opening. Also called Bartholin’s glands.

In the last decade, there has been an explosion of books on every aspect of sexuality and, thanks to the proliferation of online booksellers, such books are almost universally available for purchase. To include more than a representative selection would be a book in itself, so I am listing books that I found interesting or that informed my understanding of sexuality in one way or another. For a wider selection of topics and points of view, check out my suggestions at the end of each section, the numerous Web sites, as well as the online booksellers. For a concentrated library of lesbian works, refer to the Naiad press catalog and Web site.

NONFICTION

Anatomy of Love: The Natural History of Monogamy, Adultery, and Divorce
, Helen Fisher (W.W. Norton, 1992).

Annie Sprinkle: Post-Porn Modernist
, Annie Sprinkle (Cleis Press, 1998).

Beyond Definition: New Writing from Gay and Lesbian San Francisco
, Marci Blackman and Trebor Healey, eds. (Manic D Press, 1994).

Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out
, Loraine Hutchins and Lani Kaahumanu, eds. (Alyson Publications, 1990).

Boston Marriages: Romantic but Asexual Relationships Among Contemporary Lesbians
, Esther D. Rothblum and Kathleen A. Brehony, eds. (University of Massachusetts Press, 1993).

Changing Bodies, Changing Lives: A Book for Teens on Sex and Relationships
, Ruth Bell (Times Books, 1998).

Couples, Sex, and Power: The Politics of Desire
, S. Dallos and R. Dallos (Open University Press, 1997).

Defending Pornography: Free Speech, Sex, and the Fight for Women’s Rights
, Nadine Strossen (Scribner, 1995).

Different Loving: The World of Sexual Dominance and Submission
, Gloria G. Brame,William D. Brame, and Jon Jacobs, eds. (Villard, 1996).

Disorders of Desire: Sex and Gender in Modern American Sexology
, Janice M. Irvine (Temple University Press, 1990).

Dyke Life: From Growing Up to Growing Old, a Celebration of the Lesbian Experience
, Karla Jay (Basic Books, 1997).

The Erotic Impulse: Honoring the Sensual Self
, David Steinberg, ed. (Tarcher, 1992).

ESO
(Extended Sexual Orgasm), Alan P. Brauer and Donna J. Brauer (Time Warner, 1983).

ESO Workbook
, Alan P. Brauer and Donna J. Brauer (Time Warner, 1983).

Eve’s Secrets: A New Theory of Female Sexuality
, Josephine Lowndes Sevely (Random House, 1987).

Femalia
, Joani Blank, ed. (Down There Press, 1993).

Feminism and Sexuality: A Reader
, Stevi Jackson and Sue Scott, eds. (Columbia University Press, 1996).

Forbidden Flowers: More Women’s Sexual Fantasies
, Nancy Friday (Pocket, 1993).

Full Exposure: Opening Up to Your Sexual Creativity and Erotic Expression
, Susie Bright (HarperSan Francisco, 1999).

Getting It On: A Condom Reader
, Mitch Roberson and Julie Dubner (Soho Press, 1999).

Going All the Way: Teenage Girls’ Tales of Sex, Romance, and Pregnancy
, Sharon Thompson (Hill and Wang, 1995).

Hearts of Men: American Dreams and the Flight from Commitment
, Barbara Ehrenreich (Anchor, 1984).

Heterosexual Politics
, Mary Maynard and June Purvis, eds. (Taylor

& Francis, 1995).

The Hite Report on Male Sexuality
, Shere Hite (Ballantine, 1981).

The Hite Report on the Family: Growing Up Under the Patriarchy
, Shere Hite (Grove Press, 1994).

The Hite Report: A Nationwide Study of Female Sexuality
, Shere Hite (Dell, 1976).

How to Persuade Your Lover to Use a Condom... And Why You Should
, Patti Breitman, Kim Knutson, and Paul Reed (Prima Publishing, 1994).

Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America
, John D’Emilio and Estelle B. Freedman (University of Chicago Press, 1997).

Lesbian Erotic
, Karla Jay, ed. (New York University Press, 1995).
The Lesbian Love Companion
, Marny Hall (Harper San Francisco, 1998).
Lesbian Sex: An Oral History
, Susan Johnson (Naiad Press, 1997).

Making Sex: Body and Gender from the Greeks to Freud
, Thomas Liqueur (Harvard University Press, 1990).

The Mismeasure of Woman: Why Women are Not the Better Sex, the Inferior Sex, or the Opposite Sex
, Carol Tavris, (Touchstone, 1992).
My Enemy, My Love: Women, Men, and the Dilemmas of Gender
, Janice Levine (Anchor/Doubleday, 1993).

My Secret Garden: Women’s Sexual Fantasies
, Nancy Friday (Pocket, 1998).

The Mythology of Sex: An Illustrated Exploration of Sexual Customs and Practices from Ancient Times to the Present
, Sarah Dening (Macmillan, 1996).

A New View of a Woman’s Body, The Federation of Feminist Women’s Health Centers
(Feminist Health Press, 1991).

Nymphomania: A History
, Carol Groneman (W W. Norton, 2000).

Pleasure and Danger: Exploring Female Sexuality
, Carole S. Vance, ed. (Routledge, 1995).

Powers of Desire: The Politics of Sexuality
, Ann Snitow, C. Stansell, and Sharon Thompson (Monthly Review Press, 1983).

The Prehistory of Sex: Four Million Years of Human Sexual Culture
, Timothy Taylor (Bantam Books, 1997).

Queer Looks: Perspectives on Lesbian: and Gay Film and Video, Martha Geyer, Pratibha Parmar, and John Greyson, eds. (Routledge, 1993).

The Reign of the Phallus: Sexual Politics in Ancient Athens
, Eva C. Keuls (University of California Press, 1985).

Re-Making Love: The Feminization of Sex
, Barbara Ehrenreich, Elizabeth Hess, and Gloria Jacobs (Anchor, 1986).

Sacred Pleasure: Sex, Myth, and the Politics of the Body-New Paths to Power and Love
, Riane Eisler (HarperCollins, 1996).

Sex and Sensibility: Reflections on Forbidden Mirrors and the Will to Censor
, Marcia Pally (Ecco Press, 1994).

Sex Exposed: Sexuality and the Pornography Debate
, Lynn Segal and Mary McIntosh (Virago Press, 1992).

Sex for One: The Joy of Self-Loving
, Betty Dodson (Crown, 1987).

Sex Is Not a Natural Act and Other Essays
, Leonore Tiefer (Westview Press, 1995).

Sex, Power and Pleasure
, M. Valverde (The Women’s Press, 1985).
Sex: Real People Talk About What They Really Do
, Harry Maurer (Penguin, 1994).

Sex: The Most Fun You Can Have Without Laughing and Other Quotations
, William Cole and Louis Phillips, eds. (St. Martin’s Press, 1990).

Sex Variant Women in Literature
, Jeanette H. Foster (Naiad Press, 1985).

Sexing the Millennium: Women and the Sexual Revolution
, Linda Grant (Grove Press, 1994).

Sexual Salvation: Affirming Women’s Sexual Rights and Pleasures
, Naomi McCormick (Praeger, 1994).

Slut! Growing Up Female with a Bad Reputation
, Leon Tanenbaum (Seven Stories Press, 1999).

Straight Sex: Rethinking the Politics of Pleasure
, Lynne Segal (University of California Press, 1994).

Susie Bright’s Sexual Reality: A Virtual Sex World Reader
, Susie Bright (Cleis Press, 1992).

Susie Bright’s Sexual State of the Union
, Susie Bright (Simon & Schuster, 1997).

Susie Bright’s Sexwise
, Susie Bright (Cleis Press, 1995).

Susie Sexpert’s Lesbian Sex World
, Susie Bright (Cleis Press, 1990).

Skin: Talking About Sex, Class & Literature
, Dorthy Allison (Firebrand Books, 1994)

Talk Dirty to Me: An Intimate Philosophy of Sex
, Sallie Tisdale (Doubleday, 1994)

The Technology of Orgasm: “Hysteria,” the Vibrator, and Women’s Sexual Satisfaction
, Rachel P. Maines (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999)

A Time of Our Lives: Women Write on Sex After 40
, Dean Taylor and Amber Sumrall, eds. (Crossing Press, 1993)

Woman: An Intimate Geography
, Natalie Angier (Houghton Mifflin, 1999)
Women and Love: A Cultural Revolution in Progress
, Shere Hite (Knopf, 1987)

Women on Sex: Women of All Ages Talk Intimately About Every Aspect of Their Sexual Experiences
, Susan Quilliam (Barricade Books, 1994)

Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Sexual Fantasies
, Nancy Friday (Pocket Books, 1991)

Women, Passion and Celibacy
, S. Cline, Carol Southern Books, 1993

Women Who Love Sex: An Inquiry into the Expanding Spirit of Women’s Erotic Experience
, Gina Ogden, (Womanspirit Press, 1999)

Women’s Sexuality Across the Life Span: Challening Myths, Creating Meanings
, Judith C. Daniluk (Guilford Press, 1998)

FICTION

Best America Erotica
1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1997, 1999, and

2000, Susie Bright, ed. (Touchstone1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1997,

1999, 2000)

By Work of Mouth: Lesbians Write the Erotic
, Lee Fleming, ed. (Gynergy Books, 1989)

Deep Down: New Sensual Writing by Women
, Laura Chester, ed. (Faber & Faber, 1989)

The Erotic Edge: 22 Erotic Stories for Couples
, Lonnie Garfield Barbach ( Plume, 1996)

Erotic Interludes: Tales Told by Women
, Lonnie Barbach, ed. (Penquin, 1995)

The Erotic Naiad
, Katherine V. Forrest and Barbara Grier, eds. (Naiad Press, 1992)

Erotique Noire/Black Erotica
, Miriam Decosta-Willis, Reginald Martinm, and roseann P. Bell, eds. (Anchor, 1993)

Fever: Sensual Stories by Women Writers
, Michelle Slung, ed. (Harper-Collins, 1995)

Herotica: Erotic Short Stories about Women’s Desire
, Susie Bright, ed. (Passion Press, 1995).

Herotica 2: A Collection of Women’s Erotic Fiction
, Susie Bright and Joanie Blank, eds. (Plume, 1992).

Herotica 3: A Collection of Women’s Erotic Fiction
, Susie Bright, ed. (Plume, 1994).

Herotica 4: A New Collection of Erotic Writing by Women
, Marcy Sheiner, ed. (Plume, 1996).

Herotica 5: A New Collection ofWomen’s Erotic Fiction
, Marcie Sheiner, ed. (Plume, 1998).

Herotica 6: A New Collection of Women’s Erotica
, Marcy Sheiner, ed. (Plume, 1999).

The Key to Everything: Classic Lesbian Love Poems
, Gerry Gomez Pearlberg, ed. (St. Martin’s Press, 1995).

The Literary Lover: Great Stories of Passion and Romance
, Larry Dark, ed. (Penguin, 1993).