28 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
the Dr. should stick to yeast infections, April 12, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Passionate Sex: Discover the Special Power in You (Paperback)
If you buy this book thinking it is going to be filled with savy, sophisticated love-making techniques based on a gynecologist's unique understanding of female anatomy--you're going to be disappointed. The books premise is that you're a pitiful non-sexual shell of a woman that Dr. Stein is going to cure with a lot of bold face type and a vibrator. "You will feel at last like a whole and sexually fulfilled woman." (The reader should gush here--oh, thank you Doctor!) Passionate Sex is much more a general sex-is-healthy-let's-take-a-bath-and-get-the-essential-oils-and-get-romantic book than a nitty gritty book of tecniques. Dr.Stein doen not translate the anatomy of the female pelvis into spicy and specific techniques. The book assumes the reader knows nothing about sex, not about the g-spot, nor anal sex, nor even a vibrator.
Despite the new-agey flavor and talk about mind-body connection, the author has a dated view of women. He writes as if the reader is going to have heart palpitations from viewing a photo of a dildo (there are lots of photos of sex toys--Stein is certain we've never seen these before) or swoon on learning of analingus. Stein cajoles and pleads with his readers to try what he clearly thinks is going to be radical new stuff to them.
You should also be warned that the doctor fancies himsilf a faith healer and spiritual advisor. He claims to have cured a dying patient by "talking to her with my warm hand on her abdomen for some time". He "cured" a depressed Catholic woman who was living with her lover by persuading her not to be a practicing Catholic anymore ("change her belief system").
I have many other complaints. The doctor often doesn't distinguish when he is referring to his lovers or his patients (e.g. "I've never met a woman who is orgasmic only during intercourse."). The book is chockablock with the opinions of Mr. Stein masquerading as medical facts. "Naturally you will be hesitant about using toys at first." (Wrong--couldn't wait to try 'em). (Vibrators)..."enable you to have a stronger orgasm." (Says who? Not true for me, not true for lots of women.)
In many ways Dr. Stein is the worst sterotype of a male gynecologist--arrogant, patronising, and thinking he knows women's minds and vaginas better than they do. He presumes to actually know what feels best to female genitalia. He presumes to give the reader permission to be sexual and sensual. He even gives us the right to say NO. Oh, except you don't have permission not to like sex toys because your attitude towards sex toys mirrors your attitude towards sex. And oops. You don't have permission not to like anal sex because then you're exhibiting an unhealthy revulsion of fecal matter (what's a few g.i. parasites between soul mates?). And oops again. You don't really have permission to say No after all, just permission to divert the No until another day when it becomes a YES.
If you want to learn Dr. Stein's personal preferences (anal sex, shaved legs, anal sex with m&ms, short nails,anal sex with butt plugs) buy his book. If you want to read the most private revelations of Stein's patients (he evidently took notes so he could quote the best bits), buy his book. If you want to actually learn something valuable, look at books by Lou Paget, Barbara Keesling, the Brauers, and Mantak Chia. No, none of these authors is a gynecologist but they put Mr. Gynecologist to shame in sexual knowledge and techniques. These authors also respect their readers and allow for differing points of view.
Stein wants the reader to be impressed by the fact that he is a gynecologist. I'm not impressed, I'm worried.
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18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Mind, Body, Spirit connection we've been looking for, January 6, 2000
By A Customer
I was lucky enough to get an early copy of PASSIONATE SEX and found it to be the best book written on the subject of sexuality as it affects our health, happiness and longevity. After reading so many sex books written by jornalists, it was important to me to finally have a book written by a medical doctor.. It stresses that caring for one's sexual well-being is just as important to the mind and body as the food we eat, the medicine we take, and the exercise we do. Yet although we live in a society that is sex-oriented, most people are too embarrassed to discuss sex in a serious way. I would recommend this book to women or men who want the maximum out of life. It tells you how to find it.
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Freedom from Shame, January 18, 2000
This review is from: Passionate Sex: Discover the Special Power in You (Paperback)
I've always been a nice Catholic girl. Though I considered my attitudes about sex to be healthy and relatively liberal, there was always a part of me that was inhibited. Dr. Daniel Stein's book is helping me to explore vistas of my own sensual self that I feared when I was younger. What makes this book truly remarkable is that it's a medical doctor giving you permission to experience the oceans of your sexuality as a means to fill your soul and reaffirm your well-being. Somehow, when a gynecologist tells you something is OK, you listen.
The first time I read PASSIONATE SEX, I cried like a baby because it made me realize that the only shame in sex is the shame of not exploring fully who we are. Dr. Stein gives us the light we need to discover the hidden passion within ourselves. If you're hungry to open up beyond the boundaries of old baggage you carry about sex, or if you're itching to rejuvenate your mind, body and spirit, read this book. It can change your life. It's certainly doing that for mine.
Unlike so many self-help books that offer up the same old standard fare, PASSIONATE SEX delves into the subject of sexuality with complete abandon. Dr. Stein has the courage to tackle subjects that his more politically correct colleagues would shy away from. This book will not only show you how to fully realize the sexual being lying dormant inside you, but it will give you the strength and wisdom to empower that inner-being.
PASSIONATE SEX offers freedom from shame.
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