Customer Reviews

Clitoral Truth

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is quite an interesting book. Its central basis surrounds the clit but also describes it as the central pleasure point to pretty much everything else. It provides all the information necessary along with many anatomical and entertaining hand-sketched pictures, describing all the various muscles and functions and spots of the entire female genetalia. On this, I could not complain or ask for anything more.

Indeed, the author has done her homework in writing this book, but I say excessive in the title because of how the material is presented along with the many accompanying details. Many a page are filled with backround information on the "Adventure of the Clitoris!"(no, they don't actually word it like that in the book). Strongly written in the female perspective, although it doesn't demean usefulness for the male readers, it gives the history of the clitorus all the way back to greek times as well as various stories and such. Although it does give the book some color, ideas throughout this 200-page book are often revealed slowly. I believe the same effect could have been established with half the space.

The chapters, from female ejaculation to beyond intercourse, do cover quite a bit. I stand firmly by my 5-stars. Choose as you wish: Fulfilling/excessive, colorful/cumbersome, but I thoroughly enjoyed the book myself, though.

Suffice to say this book comes across as more than a bit harsh toward heterosexual males like myself, and thus it is difficult to give a truly unbiased review of it (or to formulate an unemotional opinion on it for that matter). But the bottomline is the book falls far short of it's promise. The author spends too much time and energy bashing all manner of feminist favorite targets, and too little truly attempting to create an equitable model of sexuality that both genders can embrace. In truth her repeated references to penis in vagina intercourse as the apogee of male sexual experience does little to advance the argument that maybe there is a better model of sexuality out there for all of us.

The book obviously does provide an extensive review of female genital anatomy; although, I found it ironic that after maligning all modern sex manuals as showing "cartoon genitals" for women, that the author chose a cartoonist (Fish) to provide the book illustrations. The real disappointment though is that there is very little is the way of detailed information about sexual practices. Ms Chalker may "mention" masturbation and outercourse but truth be told she does not "discuss" them in a fashion sufficient to educate the reader to any degree. As a case in point she repeatedly makes mention of women using vibrators to enhance their sexual pleasure, yet never does she describe their most appropriate application or model choice in the way Betty Dodson has. Similarly for many other "mentions", the reader must already understand the mechanics of the topic or be left to pursue further research. So it is really quite a stretch to describe this as a sex workshop in book form - it is not. It is as much as anything a book on sexual politics, which is fine, if only it had been marketed as such.

So I would caution the heterosexual male population to not be misled by the appealing nude female torso on the cover or the jacket notes suggesting this book is intended for a mainstream audience. Recognize this book for what it is and proceed at your own risk. Personally I found Felice Newman's "Whole Lesbian Sex Book" to be far more sex positive and inclusive, even though I am obviously not the intended audience in that case. Go figure!

Postscript (9/6/02)
Upon further review it would appear that this author has made a rather basic error in her purportedly updated anatomy - namely she classifies the clitoral body (or shaft) and crura (legs) as spongy tissue analogous to the male corpus spongiosum surrounding the urethra, and distinct from the corpus cavernosa that they are more obviously analogous to. She further identifies the vaginal bulbs as cavernosa when in fact they are spongy erectile tissue. While this may seem like a minor point to some, it certainly confuses the issue of male/female homology. Interestingly this was easily cleared up by a quick reference to the online version of Gray's Anatomy, which would seem to invalidate a very basic premise of the book, that the information on the clitoris is simply not available. While "marriage manuals" may indeed lack a good anatomical foundation, this information has not been "lost" by the medical community, and the tissue in question is clearly identified as erectile which would suggest a sexual function. So one is left to wonder whether this author is suffering from some sort of self-serving myopia when it comes to her interpretation of what the medical establishment knows and doesn't know.

Finally having now seen the original drawings from Suzann Gage's book, A New View of a Woman's Body, (in Betty Dodson's video Viva La Vulva) I can certainly say the diagrams in this book are truly poor, being as I indicated earlier, of cartoon quality. A shame Ms Chalker could not negotiate use of the original drawings from her friend and coworker, and had to rely instead on a longwinded reference to Ms Gage's work to give the vague impression they were included.

Yes, this is indeed a feminist book (although since a "feminist", by definition, is simply someone who believes that women are equal human beings too, I'm not quite sure why some people have a problem with that).

But to be honest, it's pretty hard to discover how ignorant most women are about this fairly crucial part of our bodies and NOT come to the conclusion that something's wrong with the way our society deals with women's sexuality. I thought I was well-informed, but I learnt important stuff about my body from this book that I'd never known before.

If substantial numbers of men grew up not knowing they had a penis ... or not knowing where it was ... or how it worked ... or thinking that it was "dirty" to touch it ... or feeling ashamed of needing their lover to touch it in order for them to come ... I think you'd agree that something was wrong. Well, despite all the progress we've made, that's where far too many women are still at right now. Most sex ed classes still use diagrams that don't feature the clitoris at all, or at best show a tiny squiggle floating somewhere in space, and certainly don't give any information on what it actually *does*.

And you don't have to be "man-hating" or believe in some vast conspiracy to feel that this situation doesn't do women any favours - or men either. Personally, I've never heard a straight man say "God, I just wish I could meet a women who is totally ignorant about her body and never has an orgasm! Then I'd have to nag her into sex and she'd just lie there feeling depressed! That'd be so HOT!".

Buy this fun and fascinating book (I particularly love the cartoon illustrations - meticulously detailed and informative, but the opposite of the sterile diagrams so many books feature). And learn all the stuff you should have been taught in sex ed.

I purchased this book because I was searching for information on orgasm. My opinion of this book is mixed. The first chapter is an excellent source of info on female anatomy. This chapter, in my opinion, is the only part with outstanding in-depth information of relevance. Chapter two is about the history of sex. The author goes back to Freud and elaborates on views of sex over the years. As another reviewer commented, this chapter contains quips about how women's sexauality has been repressed. Chapter three deals with female ejaculation (was not impressed with this part). Chapters four & five are about self exploration. The book is a quick read. The valable information in this book is contained in chapter one and also in the extensive list of resources in the back.

A male friend with many shared interests recommended this book and I bought it reluctantly, expecting to find the same old tired refrains about unresponsive women and the equivalent of another Mars/Venus dichotomy. Instead, I am happy to say that THE CLITORAL TRUTH makes information about women's anatomy and responsiveness more comprehensible than most books that make the same claims. I was particularly happy to see that the author tackles the issues of G-Spots and female ejaculation by relying on women's experience instead of the academic doubts of male "experts" who seem to have very limited experience with women. The reality of a range of responses in women, depending on their beliefs, circumstances, and level of arousal, reminds us all that what we are TOLD we do is usually very different from what we KNOW we do. This is true whether we talk about female ejaculation, multiple orgasm, ability to self-pleasure to orgasm, or teach our partners what we want and like. Her list of resources, books, Internet sites, and workshops is wonderful.

This book is a terrific companion to Betty Dodson's SEX FOR ONE: THE JOY OF SELF-LOVING.

~~Joan Mazza, author of Dream Back Your Life; Dreaming Your Real Self; Who's Crazy Anyway; and Exploring Your Sexual Self (a guided journal).

Reading this book helped me understand and accept my own sexuality. The author knows what she's talking about and all the illustrations are helpful and fun to read. I wish this book had been around 10 years ago--my life might have been a lot different. But glad it's here now!

I bought this book hoping to learn more about my wife's sexuality, with the intent of bringing her greater pleasure. The first chapter is informative, providing detailed information on female sexual physionomy that, as the author claims, is usually not available in medical tomes. The illustrations were excellent.

The rest of the book was a waste. It provided no advice on how to please women, only generalities such as promoting masturbation (mutual or self) and sex toys as acceptable, culminating in a promotion for 'seminars' that are little more than glorified lesbian mutual-masturbation sessions.

The little useful information that was provided was drowned in a sea of feminist,.... male bashing socio-political commentary, which was neither helpful nor informative to myself or my wife. Note that I am not espousing a position on any of the above issues, it's just not what I expected or wanted in this book. I expected detailed advice, and I got a political editorial instead.

Male or female, if you are the least bit sexual you must read this book. You will find everything you ever wanted to know about female genitalia and sexual response. Frankly, this information is available from many other sources. The true value of this book is the complete investigation of the G-spot and female ejaculation. In most straight books, mention of either is cursory and unconvincing. More amazingly, books by M.D.s published in the last few years still deny the existence of both. "The Clitoral Truth" blows that nonsense out of the water.

The author traces female ejaculation back to 500 BC, examines the anatomical research on the G-spot then thoroughly discusses the search for the mystical spurt. Once you read this chapter, you will no longer doubt the existence of the G-spot nor will you fear the prospect of dousing the sheets.

I was introduced to female ejaculation many years ago when a lover's orgasm drenched my bed in an unknown liquid. Since then, whenever I mention the phenomenon, I am greeted with derision and one word, "Pee." Now, I use this book to quietly convince my friends. Hooray for Ms Chalker!

I also recommend "The Good Vibrations Guide to the G-spot" which is more of a owner/user manual.

I bought this book as a gift for a friend, after having owned my own copy for a few years. It is a very valuable tool for learning the ins and outs of the female body. I thoroughly enjoyed my book and highly recommend it to other women and the men who love them.

I have been enlightened! I am going to buy this book and I'm also going to buy copies for every one of my friends. I am frustrated that I was not taught the proper anatomy of my clitoris in school, while we pored over every cell and curve of the male genitalia. I would have demaned a lot more of my lovers if this information was more commonly presented! My poor husband doesn't know what he's in for. ;)

I would give this book to my teen-age daughter (if I had one). I would use some of the information as teaching material for my sons (when they're older).