New Texts at the Sex & Gender Library

Just in are these exciting additions. Is there a text that you would like to see in the Sex & Gender library? Maybe one that always seems to be checked-out it at the Main Library, just when you need it? Let us know. Haven't been to the Sex and Gender Library? It's in the LGBTQ Center (CC235). Stop by and check it out. It's home to hundreds of titles, across dozens of subjects.

Porn: How to Think With Kink (Philosophy for Everyone Series)
Dave Monroe
Love it or loathe it, pornography is as old as human civilization itself. Ancient humans were drawing porn on their cave walls long before it flourished under the Greeks and Romans. With the age of the Internet, it has now reached epic proportions. This anthology takes the ever-controversial discussion of pornography out of solely academic circles; it expands the questions about porn that academics might tackle and opens the conversation to those who know it best – the creators and users of porn. Together, they address issues such as: Is a porn actor’s life “worse off” by virtue of his or her profession? Why are men more willing to accept the authenticity of “porngasms”? What is the voyeuristic appeal of watching celebrity sex tapes? And, what is wrong with pornography? Entertaining and scholarly, Porn – Philosophy for Everyone offers a titillating, tantalizing glimpse into the world of porn.

The Slave Journals and Other Tales of the Old Guard
Thom Magister
Thom Magister’s memoir of being trained as a leather Master in the 1950s, “One Among Many,” was published in Mark Thompson’s groundbreaking 1991 "Leatherfolk" anthology. Ever since then it has been widely cited as one of the few firsthand accounts we have about the fabled “Old Guard,” though the men at the time never thought of themselves in those terms. Now, based on his decades of experience, Magister offers a novella, “The Slave Journals,” that depicts an ideal community of Masters and slaves, and 17 erotic stories written from the perspectives of different Old Guard Masters from the 1950s to 1980. He has fictionalized his adventures and those of his friends and partners, but the genuine Old Guard values of responsibility, humility, respect, and gratitude are evident throughout.

Gender Nonconformity, Race, and Sexuality: Charting the Connections
Toni Lester
How are culturally constructed stereotypes about appropriate sex-based behavior formed? If a person who is biologically female behaves in a stereotypically masculine manner, what are the social, political, and cultural forces that may police her behavior? And how will she manage her gendered image in response to that policing? Finally, how do race, ethnicity, or sexuality inform the way that sex-based roles are constructed, policed, or managed? The chapters in this book address such questions from social science perspectives and then examine personal stories of reinvention and transformation, including discussions of the lives of dancers Isadora Duncan and Bill T. Jones, playwright Lorraine Hansberry, and surrealist artist Claude Cahun. Writers from fields as diverse as history, art, psychology, law, literature, sociology, and the activist community look at gender nonconformity from conceptual, theoretical, and empirical perspectives. They emphasize that gender nonconformists can be gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or anyone else who does not fit a model of Caucasian heterosexual behavior characterized by binary masculine and feminine roles.

Art Objects: Essays on Ecstasy and Effrontery
Jeanette Winterson
One suspects that the title of this essay collection is not meant to be a noun. What, then, does Winterson think art objects to? The answer surfaces readily in her first essay, a probing piece about learning to look, to really look, at paintings. Art objects, she imagines, to our propensity for doomsaying, for seeing the glass as half-empty rather than half-full. Winterson continues to develop this notion as she shifts her focus from the visual arts to various aspects of literature, her true metier. In the course of invigorating discussions on Woolf, Lawrence, and others, Winterson offers a thoroughly convincing argument for keeping writer's lives (especially their sexuality) separate from their work, but then she executes one of her adept pirouettes and grants us a glimpse of her past. In a flash, we understand just how profound her involvement with art is, and our appreciation for her superb essays deepens.

Mr. Benson (A Novel)
John Preston
A classic of modern gay S/M fiction, Mr. Benson is the compelling story of a young man's quest for the perfect master. In a West Village leather bar, he finds wealthy, sophisticated, exacting Aristotle Benson, who leads him down the path of erotic enlightenment, teaching him to accept cruelty as love, anguish as affection, and ultimately, Mr. Benson as his master. If John Preston, the masterly, handsome author of more than 30 books, was himself a gay icon, his character Mr. Benson defined the culture of gay sex for an entire generation. When Mr. Benson first appeared in the pre-AIDS early 1980s, its unabashed celebration of male sexuality made it a cult favorite among gay men, many of whom wore T-shirts declaring that they were "looking for Mr. Benson." The novel's fresh voice and insights into identity, desire, power, and love influenced a generation of writers and editors, including Anne Rice, Samuel Delany, Michael Lowenthal, Laura Antoniou, and Joan Nestle

College Sex: Philosophers With Benefits (Philosophy for Everyone Series)
Michael Bruce
Philosophy has a history of expanding wisdom to include more worldly affairs. Continuing this tradition, College Sex – Philosophy for Everyone investigates a broad array of philosophical and moral issues relating to the sexual practices of students. Within the unique social setting of college comes a varied assortment of sexual relations and experiments, ranging from the mutually respectful, to the inebriated, meaningless, and the degrading. So lay back and ponder: Do students’ sexual acts need to involve love in order to have value? Should college students avoid a “friends with benefits” relationship? Should we condone relationships between students and teachers? Why is college a socially acceptable space for experimentation? Written with insight and humor, the essays shed light on sexual relations in college and examine a range of ethical issues, including: dating, cheating, courtship, homosexual experimentation, and drug and alcohol use, within the college setting.

1001 Beds: Performances, Essays, and TravelsTim Miller
For a quarter century, Tim Miller has worked at the intersection of performance, politics, and identity, using his personal experiences to create entertaining but pointed explorations of life as a gay American man—from the perils and joys of sex and relationships to the struggles of political disenfranchisement and artistic censorship. This intimate autobiographical collage of Miller's professional and personal life reveals one of the celebrated creators of a crucial contemporary art form and a tireless advocate for the American dream of political equality for all citizens. Here we have the most complete Miller yet—a raucous collection of his performance scripts, essays, interviews, journal entries, and photographs, as well as his most recent stage piece Us. This volume brings together the personal, communal, and national political strands that interweave through his work from its beginnings and ultimately define Miller's place as a contemporary artist, activist, and gay man

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