Customer Reviews

Nothing but the Girl: The Blatant Lesbian Image : A Portfolio and Exploration of Lesbian Erotic Photography (Women on Women)

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A provactive look at real lesbian sexual life at the edge. Some of the photographs are artistically brilliant, some are fascinating, and some may be repellent, but all have an honesty and intensity which is refreshing and unusual. As a photographer, I highly recommend it. Some of the images are quite graphic and powerful.

This is not "I kissed a girl and I liked it." It's certainly not the Cosmo lesbian (even though I like Cosmo just fine, thanks). Listen to this line from Jill Posener: "When I was 15...I had recently seen the movie "The Fox". I went to the movie theatre on my own, I came away with this blinding headache--you know, that throbbing when you've just been told you have a fatal disease." This is when she told her mother "I think I'm a lesbian."
There is a fierce quality to that quote that defines the whole book: When loving between women is so raw, so unstoppable, that it can't be undone, and a life is altered. Our society would say the "blatant lesbian image" is not marketable, not pretty enough--but these photos show it is.
They are very explicit, especially the BDSM, and the Butch Bois are so, well, BUTCH, that it made my eyes hurt. Even underneath that, the reader can see how gorgeous women are, even when they're dressed up like macho men. The female presence persists, in spite of it all. I laughed when I read that some of the women only watch Gay Male porn, because female porn is just too LOVING.
I found the feminism refreshing, because it's not politically correct. Every photographer in the book agreed: women can't be liberated if our voices are ignored, made soft and sweet--because it's just another cage. It's not misunderstanding of sexuality that leads to violence against women, but hatred of women, period. At least that's what I got out of the essays.
There's alot of grief, too, in the writing. The dedication reads:" for the lesbian artists who are not in the collection, because you fear for your job, because you fear abandonment..." and it's a relief that someone admits it.
When I was in college, I read a pretty heterosexual feminist who wrote "The male body is my homeland." I wonder if she ever had to pay a price for loving men. Did it change her life? Her religion? Did her family kick her out? For the writers and photographers in this book, the female body and soul is the ultimate homeland, worth every fight and every price.

I bought this book as a gift for my girlfriend. I was looking for a book of photos; something like a coffeetable book and this was perfect! The images captured are fantastic and the subject matter is raw. It is not just pretty pictures of mainstream sterotypical beautiful girls. It has pictures of gorgeous women from all walks of life- femmes, dykes, heavy, small, perfect, scarred, soft and hardcore. I was impressed and she LOVED it. I highly recommend it for those who appreciate the real deal and love artistic expression.

This is an amazing collection. Explicit photos and top of the line production quality.

I enjoyed how the chapters and photographs were presented. The introductions do a great job explaining to the reader what they are about to see and they should not be skipped. The first four sections (labeled Dyke, C*unt, Butch and Sex) carry a huge spectrum of images from the lovely to the not so lovely, from the sensual to the outrageous. I can't imagine the editors believe all the images would appeal to all the readers so I chose to enjoy what I found appealing, study those I didn't and move on.

I initially bought the book as it has a wealth of material by the artist Tee A. Corinne and devotes 8 pages to her and another 5 of her images are carried in other sections. The other major artists profiled are Honey Lee Cottrell, Della Grace, Morgan Gwenwald and Jil Posener.

I especially enjoyed the sidebar that accompanied many of the pages `Behind the Camera: Interviews with the Artists'. The candid replies by the artists made for exceptional reading. The topics:
Family
Coming out
Feminist politics
Camera
S/M
School days
Lesbian porn
First picture, first camera
Shooting sex
Cruising
Femme
Money and fame
First dirty picture
Censorship
Lesbian erotica
The art world

I do love this book! It's so far removed from the glossy, polished, airbrushed world so many perceive as the norm for Lesbians, all their (mis) information having come from the fantasy world of pornography, a world run by mostly male or compliant, obedient, submissive women. Real lesbians are more likely to have hairy underarms and vaginas, have their own behaviours and love rituals, possibly even involving hurting each other and the subsequent compassion of that shared pain and they mostly don't live in the Penthouses and Billion dollar properties that high gloss image creators can afford to hire for a day's photo-shoot.

Real lesbians are often overweight by comparison (as are most of the straight peers to the glamour/fantasy industry's girls), living real and normal lives in real and normal places and suffering the same real and normal emotional harrowings the rest of us do on life's path.

I enjoy the casual candour of this book, so accepting of everything from some pretty `out there' behaviours to the same casual acceptance of the possibility of lesbians wanting sex with a man now and then (often a demonized lust in the `scene' circles where we men are sometimes more perceived as `the enemy' by the militant).

I don't care what your `thing' is, gay, straight, outrageously kinky, bizarre or whatever. What I will always applaud is open acceptance of anyone's behaviour that doesn't interfere with any other's right to the same (and that protects the aged, the children and the infirm-the responsibility of all of us who are blessed not to be in the vulnerable categories). The other thing I love about this book is it so readily acknowledges the power and force of female sex drive-That connection to the sacred when in it's purest form there is no taboo-Where it can be Blood, saliva, vaginal fluid, menstrual discharge, where all is felt, expressed and experienced with abandon and total absorption in the fragility and momentary nature of our humanity and the indestructibility and eternity of our spirituality. For all the books about sexuality and `guides' by people who write like it's a manual and provide pictures that are so sterile and unemotional they could make a red blooded bloke contemplate celibacy, it's almost a pity that the heights and power provided by abandon and surrender is found in a gay womens' manuscript, but who cares? At least someone is acknowledging it and maybe it's some compensation for Lesbians having to deal with being a marginalized minority most of the time. (Access to `the secret'?!!)
Cheers
Lloyd

The female nude has been a staple of western art for at least the last half-millenium. More often than not, male artists and male viewers (me included) approach that vision with a rational esthetic edged with an animal desire. The thing is, others look at women's beauty with animal desire, too.

Other women, for example. Sex being what it is to our species, even minor differences in approach take on large meanings. Likewise, even large differences can take on minor meanings, or none at all. This remarkable collection shows both aspects of that contrast (or lack) between the lesbian and the classically straight images of desire. That cover shot appeals to me, for example. I've always liked the woman's figure that radiates physical power so different from men's.

All that said, I come away from this collection with mixed impressions. Parts of it seem more documentary. Yes, some ladies do have a muff nearly from knee to navel and fuzzy bits in other unfashionable locations, but the same hormones that tend toward body hair also tend to intensify sexual expressiveness, as at least one model demonstrates. I'm not one to take prettiness for beauty - if you prefer to think of it this way, "God doesn't make mistakes." There's a strong fetish element in this collection, often with leather and occasionally with pain, that does nothing for me, likewise the femme extreme of seamed stockings, lingerie unrelated to real underclothes, and tottery heels. Other exaggerations don't appeal to me either. I don't see that much distinction between the super-butch and the macho man, or control play no matter who controls whom or how harshly. But others parts attract me strongly. Gentle play always appeals to me, even solo or gentle-with-an-edge; given that, the specific players tend to matter less to me. And simple photographic statements that a woman's figure is a really cool thing, well, I'm right there for it.

I'm not in this collection's target demographic, even though I'm in its target species, so parts of its esthetic passed by me. Many of the photos captivated me, though. Many others documented a view that I don't share, and so piqued my interest. On the whole, I find this collection decidedly mixed in its match to my preferences.

Your milage may vary, and almost certainly will.

-- wiredweird