Jane Sexes It Up: True Confessions of Feminist Desire [Paperback]

Merri Lisa Johnson (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 2002

In Jane Sexes It Up, 20 young, progressive feminists reflect on the limitations they think are imposed by establishment feminism on their bodies and their behavior. In these essays, headed up by editor Merri Lisa Johnson’s “Generation X Does the Sex Wars,” the writers confess their seemingly antifeminist longings and question what role feminist ideals should play in women’s sexuality. In “Spanking and the Single Girl,” Chris Daley wonders whether it’s acceptable to play the submissive role in an S/M exchange. In “Vulvodynia — How Porn Made Me a Woman,” Katinka Hooijer reveals her affection for porn and the inner conflict her predilection inspires. Sex toy store owner Sarah Smith declares a “dildo revolution” — for women and men, gay and straight — in her essay of the same name. Whatever the angle, the authors all champion a sex-positive feminism.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The feminist battles over pornography in the 1970s and '80s left Gen-X third-wave feminists with a complex set of questions, says Johnson. Why do women still settle for unsatisfying sex? What does a thoughtful feminist do about her politically incorrect fantasies? Is heterosexual romance incompatible with female self-determination? While some feminists might tackle these questions without mentioning any body parts, much less their own, the contributors to this racy volume make a great effort to speak honestly about their erotic experiences in intimate, jargon-free essays edited by Johnson, a former stripper with a Ph.D. in English. There are entries from women working as prostitutes and strippers, women into exhibitionism, self-mutilation, muscle-building, girl gang-banging even women working out the impulse toward heterosexual marriage. While no one claims to have definitive answers to the big questions, certain perspectives do emerge. Among them: desire is "both socially constructed and beyond social construction"; viewing sex as a performance a deliberate trying on of other roles can be empowering; anything that defies the traditional heterosexual rules of engagement be it wanting a spanking or masturbating to rape fantasies makes space for different sexualities; and, maybe most importantly, contradictions are okay even feminists don't have to make sense all the time. It's not for the straitlaced, but sex-positive feminists will find this a provocative, important anthology that speaks honestly to the question of pleasure and how to get it. (Mar. 15)Forecast: Jane should please readers of Nerve.com and forward-thinking Camille Paglia fans. Antipornography feminists may want to steer clear.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

Feminism reinvents itself with wit and moxie. -- Nashville Scene, March 14-40, 2002

Over 15 writers gracefully address the possible paradox . . . of feminism, tackling the more subtle issues of human psychology. -- Boston Weekly Dig, May 8, 2002

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 399 pages
• Publisher: Seal Press; First Edition edition (February 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568581807
• ISBN-13: 978-1568581804
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #335,217 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Merri Lisa Johnson believes in bold lines, strange truths, off rhymes, and the art of the glimpse. She likes kittenish vignettes, ruthless sunsets, and long walks on the hard beach of relentless self-inquiry. Her newest book, GIRL IN NEED OF A TOURNIQUET, is a story about coming of age, coming out, coming to terms with grief, and becoming borderline. Follow her reflections and insatiable research on manic defenses, bizarre symptoms, the obstacle course of emotional recovery, the revision of the DSM-V, and the borderline personality of media and celebrity culture - among other random notes, stories, comments, and newly discovered therapeutic tools - by becoming a fan of GIRL IN NEED OF A TOURNIQUET: A BORDERLINE PERSONALITY MEMOIR on Facebook.

Johnson is currently at work on her next critical memoir, ALTERED, a close look at addiction, disorganized attachment, imago therapy, and the first year of her very own borderline/narcissist marriage. Her essays have also appeared in Sex and Single Girls (ed. Lee Damsky), Herspace: Women, Writing, Solitude (ed. Jo Malin), and Homewrecker (ed. Daphne Gottlieb). She currently lives in South Carolina with the great loves of her life - her partner Stace and two loyal shih tzus, Millie and Lola - in a 1920s-era craftsman bungalow fondly known among family and friends as The Haney-Johnson Halfway House for the Bright but Broken-Hearted.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect., October 21, 2007

By 

J. S. "J. S." - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jane Sexes It Up: True Confessions of Feminist Desire (Paperback)

This book is extraordinary. It provides first-person narratives on a wide variety of sex-positive practices/experiences, and also argues that such practices/experiences are normal. Reading this book should make any woman feel more comfortable with the thoughts/wants/needs she has that may seem to be anti-feminist in nature.

Personally, as a feminist-identified stripper, I was thrilled to see that such a book had been compiled. Each narrative is intelligent and edited perfectly. At times the stories are hilarious, at other times sad. Its honesty is unbelievably refreshing (feminists DO experience seemingly-anti-feminist feelings), and inspiring. You can read this book all the way through, or you can peruse different subjects and read the (relatively) short essays one-by-one.

I would recommend this book to any woman...especially those with internalized feelings of sexual guilt, or even those who are merely curious about topics like stripping, spanking, marriage, surviving abuse, controversial masturbation fantasies, female ejaculation, prostitution, , pornography, etc. There are enough narratives to make the book flow well and stay entertaining, yet there are also enough analytical segments to place the book in an intelligent, revelatory sphere.

Buy this book if you have an open mind, or even if you want to gain a different perspective on a variety of sexual issues. I cannot thank the editors/essayists enough for putting such a daring and HONEST book on the market. Women are so much more complicated than sex-negative feminist perspectives would like to think.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hit and Miss, July 7, 2002

By 

Jennie (metro DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jane Sexes It Up: True Confessions of Feminist Desire (Paperback)

It's comforting to know that I am not the only feminist who feels slightly guilty for liking men and sex. Some of these essays are brilliant and thought-provoking. Some are deeply personal and moving, some are self-serving and trite, and some show an amazingly poor level of scholarship. Interestingly enough, the worst essay in a section is often positioned next to the best, offering an interesting juxtaposition that allows you to think about the issues even more. Is this something that can be studied academically, or needs to be? Academic studies showing that women like sex (and even with men!) seem silly, but the essays that speak from experience and don't try to make broad generalizations or deep insights on society as a whole make this book worth the read.

20 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Tries, but fails, October 29, 2004

By 

Sam Salisbury "Sam" (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jane Sexes It Up: True Confessions of Feminist Desire (Paperback)

(...)

I found myself constantly wondering just how brave is it to tell men everything they want to hear, how rebellious to promote the by-men for-men commercialized sex industry, how courageous to reaffirm that there's no need to change or examine our sexuality so long as we unthinkingly act out our culturally-produced desires (especially the capitalist ones where shopping=liberated female sexuality.)

Fluffy, shallow, and not very much in-depth feminist critique.