Yes Means Yes: Getting Explicit About Heterosex (Paperback)

~ Kath Albury (Author)
Key Phrases: abject fluids, cum shot, political lesbianism, Annie Sprinkle, Pat Califia, Carol Queen (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Exploring female sexuality from a cultural studies perspective, this book acknowledges women's diverse sexual desires and pleasures. Arguing that mass media has advanced beyond most feminist theory to consider the reality of female sexuality, it disregards the notion that women who actively want or seek out sex are in some way unfeminine or even masculine. Instead, it presents a more accurate and powerful picture of female sexuality. Topics include the ethics and nature of heterosexuality, sex and violence, fetishes, straight feminism, experts versus sexperts, and many more.

About the Author

Kath Albury is currently completing her Ph.D. in media and communications and works as a freelance writer and broadcaster, focusing on sexuality and popular culture. Her research has been presented at a number of conferences including the University of California's World Pornography Conference.

Product Details

• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: Allen & Unwin (November 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1865082406
• ISBN-13: 978-1865082400
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,383,836 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great means great, January 9, 2003

By	Nigel Abbott (Sydney Australia) - See all my reviews

A proudly post-post-modern academic 'Sexpert', Kath Albury totally relishes the irony of her pop-media job-description and loves her subject to bits. This original, impressively researched book is really smart and really funny -- totally fascinating fun from cover to cover. It's kinda "discourse with laughs" (wait'll you learn about "the Whipple Spot"), but way smarter than just that. Albury leaves no stone unturned in this smooth-reading and sparkling argument for a truly liberated female sexuality in the post-feminist age, and backs it up with some eye-opening research from some of the more exotic corners of pop culture, a solid knowledge of feminist history, and a sprinkling of anecdotal evidence as well. If you don't hail from academia yourself (I don't), fret not! Albury is an earthy, life-loving young populist and makes her material deliciously accessible. Not afraid to take a healthy tilt at some of the icons of feminism's past generations, she busts the female (AND the human) spirit free of a whole lot of obsolete "thou shalt nots" -- her logic is delicious by the way -- in a gutsily optimistic journey round the sexual subway. I found "Yes Means Yes" to be just what its title suggests -- a truly liberating book by a truly liberated woman. It's our choice: why shouldn't life feel good? This book sure made this reader feel that way. And I loved the Mills & Boon cover artwork too.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yes!, January 9, 2003

By	Nigel Abbott (Sydney Australia) - See all my reviews

This is a witty, smooth-reading and brilliantly researched post-feminist argument in favour of guilt-free moral, spiritual and above all sexual freedom in its most optimistic sense. Never has the noble pursuit of corporeal contentment in all its intriguing permutations been expounded in a more erudite, down-to-earth and lighthearted form. That's not to say the subject lacks solemnity: what should take greater priority than freedom? Full of fabulous facts, anecdotal evidence and incisive argument, this book makes a canny academic discourse not only accessible but entertaining for everybody of either (any) gender. It's really funny and really fascinating. The author, a committed and apparently lifeloving feminist, doesn't let the cause itself stand in the way of her occasional arguments against various restrictive theories of previous generations. She takes educated tilts at many of the movement's most famous exponents with calm and occasionally hilariously incisive logic. It's highly educational and engaging, and to me points an articulate way forward for anyone interested in casting off the shackles of sexual dogma. No stone, incidentally, seems to have been left unturned. Intellectual hedonism at its best -- I LOVED THIS BOOK!