The Sexual State of the Union [Paperback]

Susie Bright (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 24, 1998

Lust brings out the liar in everyone. Every erection has Pinocchio written up and down its length—yes, everybody wants to be REAL, a real boy, an honest woman, unafraid and upright—but then desire, the ultimate honesty, does us in. Desire doesn't give a whit about shame. Our secrets, our exaggerations and distractions, it's all just a lot of twisting in the wind as far as sex is concerned—what we want WILL come out.

"Is our sexuality a basic, good, and precious thing that somehow became terribly misunderstood? Or is there something really evil out there in Sex Land that attaches itself to our libidos and is only held back by vigilance and caution?" asks Susie Bright in her bestselling book The Sexual State of the Union. Bright pushes the borders of propriety until they blur and become irrelevant in the face of our inherent need to touch and be touched. With candor and passion, Susie Bright proves that sexual knowledge can indeed be salvation and inspiration.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Susie Bright is a sexual liberationist of the highest order. The Sexual State of the Union includes essays about dirty pictures and porn, lesbian marriage and lesbian murder, lesbian men and switching genders, vibrators, and the longevity of feminism. The writing is crisp, intelligent, and provocative; there is sure to be something that will make you cheer as well as something that will deeply offend you. Much of Bright's writing is personal, based on conversations and relationships with queer friends of different genders and sexualities. One of her most impressive strengths is her ability to forthrightly ask obvious questions--Why did you want to change your gender? Why do you want to be hurt?--without presupposing either judgement or an answer. Bright's mind is open and fertile, curious, and eager.

From Library Journal

Famous lesbian and "sexpert" Bright, editor of On Our Backs magazine and books like Best American Erotica (LJ 9/15/93), has put together a set of disparate essays on disparate topics, bouncing from censorship to cybersex to motherhood to S&M and back again. This would be fine except that the essays are also uneven in tone; some are thoughtful reminiscences about her experiences, both sexual and not; some are insightful analyses showing that people of both sexes and all ages need sex education; and one is just a list of questions asked by college students. Despite the irregularity of her writing, Bright's unvarnished truthfulness shines through. She obviously wants readers to understand where she's coming from and what she has experienced. Recommended for most public libraries because of Bright's popularity and candor, this also deserves a space in academic women's studies collections.
-?Pamela A. Matthews, Univ. of Maryland, Baltimore
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone (March 24, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684838508
• ISBN-13: 978-0684838502
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 3.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #352,125 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm an author, editor, publisher, performer, sex and culture critic, teacher, seamstress, and pumpkinhead.

I live in Santa Cruz, CA.

My blog is: http://susiebright..com.

My weekly show on Audible:
"In Bed With Susie Bright": http://www.audible.com/susiebright

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A most educational and enlightening book, January 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Sexual State of the Union (Paperback)

This thought provoking and sometimes shocking book came highly recommended and I pass on the same sentiments. Though always interested in expanding my consciousness, I was little prepared for the giant leap I would take with each page. Susie Bright speaks intelligently from personal experience about such topics as pornography, gender, and sexuality. She provides the reader with radical yet believable interpretations that make you want to go out and explore for yourself. She brings together the human experience to which we are born, with the secret desires and fantasies we all possess, slowly unveiling the masks we hide behind. A must read if you are ready to explore your own sexual identity and biases.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful, Witty, Somewhat uneven..., October 25, 2005

By 

S. Seaman "hypocritical critic" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sexual State of the Union (Paperback)

This book was interesting, provocative, in some places well-researched and in some places utterly fluffy. Don't get me wrong. I Love Susie Bright. I just felt like it needed more editing to make it a more cohesive piece.

But the writing is excellent, and what could possibly be more interesting as subject matter? It was fun, and her conversation with a trans friend will certainly shake up a few readers (I couldn't decide if she was being insightful or wildly insensitive).

Recommended further reading: For a solid, well-researched history of sex in America this century, read Heidenry's "What Wild Ecstasy: The Rise and Fall of the Sexual Revolution". For utter provocative gall, amazing insight and some very surprising facts, read Levine's "Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children From Sex". Both of these were riveting, less fluffy and better edited than "Sexual State of the Union". But they all seem to speak from the same base: a fundamental understanding of the importance of both sex and free speech in our society.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Frank discussion of American sexual problems, November 5, 2003

By 

Sarah Stumpf (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sexual State of the Union (Paperback)

The first half of this book is an excellent and frank discussion of sexual and gendered politics in America, punctuated by the authors real life experiances. Witty and insightful, it asks the classic question: Why are Americans so sexually screwed up, and what can we do to fix it? It's also a book pointedly aimed at debunking certain right wing Christian sexual myths, and does a wonderful job of that.

However, towards the end of the book (last chapter or two) she talks about being a lesbian and friends with transexuals, it seems that she is speaking too much about her own experiances, and she isn't trying them into any broader concept. While her experiances are interesting, the title of the book is "Sexual State of the Union", so one expects a little more discourse on how her experiances relate to America on a whole.