I’ve often found Ashley Lister not only brilliant but also brilliantly witty. This post served »»]]>

I’ve often found Ashley Lister not only brilliant but also brilliantly witty. This post served as a slice of entertainment for me the day I read it, so I’m passing it along. :) (Note: I also found the comments rather amusing.)

I find this superbly clever. It not only makes me laugh out loud but also so impresses me with its originality and simple delightfulness!

This post is part 2 of a series (with part 1 being found here…while the content at the end of part 1 is far blunter than would even have occurred to me, there is a point in there I appreciate). I laughed out loud multiple times upon reading it, which to me constitutes entertainment. ;)

That an anthology series called Best Sex Writing exists thrills me. Truly. There are few topics I »»]]>

That an anthology series called Best Sex Writing exists thrills me. Truly. There are few topics I feel the human species would benefit more from exploring, questioning, and opening to. The fact that those things all seem particularly lacking makes me even more excited to see a book—in this case, Best Sex Writing 2012, edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel and published by Cleis Press—devoted to inviting and displaying them in a multi-authored tapestry.

Between the pages of Best Sex Writing 2012 is rumination, information, and investigation of a society displaying, as I see it, a severe misguidedness around the book’s title subject. The fascinating exposition of “Sex, Lies, and Hush Money” by Katherine Spillar outlines for us (just in case anyone has forgotten) the corruption and hypocrisy that is alive and well in our political systems—largely resulting from, I would argue, our continued repression, distortion, and shame around sex.

I found Radley Balko’s “You Can Have Sex with Them; Just Don’t Photograph Them” painful to read (which is not a negative comment—it was one of the pieces I appreciated most in the book); my sense of wanting to do something to help put a stop to the literal insanity it described was activated from its first page. The seemingly small but important victory of seeing it recognized and reported on assuaged my distress a tiny bit. The suspense in the powerful, heartbreaking “An Unfortunate Discharge Early in My Naval Career” by Tim Elhajj was breathtaking to me, as was the reminder that “being [accused of being] a homosexual” in the United States military could be the basis of such suspense.

In “The Careless Language of Sexual Violence,” Roxanne Gay offers a profound elucidation I found so extraordinary I don’t know how to even sum it up here. It struck me deeply as something that needed to be said, and I’m grateful to Ms. Gay for saying it.

I had already read (and recommended here) Thomas Roche‘s “Men Who ‘Buy Sex’ Commit More Crimes: Newsweek, Trafficking, and the Lie of Fabricated Sex Studies.” As I said then, I found it incisive, comprehensive, and illuminating of the issues the piece was about and responding to. (A one-sentence case in point: “Trafficking continues because of corruption and poverty, not because there are no laws against it.”)

There are also what Rachel describes in her introduction as “more personal takes on sex [...] that aren’t about making a point so much as exploring what real-life sex is like in all its beauty, drama, and messiness.” To me, three of the most moving of this kind of piece were Joan Price‘s “Grief, Resilience, and My 66th Birthday Gift,” a striking slice of memoir interwoven with, as the title suggests, experiences of grief, vitality, love, and the beauty of connection—including with ourselves; Hugo Schwyzer‘s raw, insightful (and indeed rather hot in parts) “I Want You to Want Me,” which, while very personal, lays out a commentary on gender socialization I much appreciated; and “Losing the Meatpacking District: A Queer History of Leather Culture” by Abby Taller, which relays a compelling, poignant portrait of a time and place that is no longer.

All three of these pieces compelled me in a different way, enlisting empathy and softheartedness as they opened a part of themselves onto the page and paradoxically shone a light on universal levels of sexual—and human—experience.

The combination of this kind of personal memoir alongside the investigative exposition, irreverent humor, and incisive commentary also found in this book makes for a vastly varied volume of entertainment and thought provocation. The few things in the anthology that didn’t resonate with me did not decrease my overall appreciation of it; I indeed encountered perspectives that diverged from mine, and I see that as one of the values of a book like this. Certainly I was engaged and even energized by the eloquent, captivating articulations of perspectives in alignment with mine—but those that weren’t invited me to discern and articulate why, an opportunity which is not lost on me.

Ultimately, this book exemplifies something it seems to me we could use a lot more of: open, fearless discussion of sexuality in which we talk about it like we do so many other topics—with consideration, enthusiasm, respect, curiosity, interest, reverence, scrutiny, and maturity…rather than the degrees of pubescence and oppression I have found so woefully pervasive in our culture. Rachel asserts in her introduction that “the more we talk about the many ways sex moves us, the more we work toward a world where sexual shame, ignorance, homophobia, and violence are diminished.” I couldn’t agree more, and I thank the the editor, contributors, and publisher of Best Sex Writing 2012 for offering their time and attention to doing so.

Love,
Emerald

“Did you read the news today, they say the danger’s gone away, but I can see the fire’s still alight, burning into the night…this is the world we live in, and these are the names we’re given, stand up and let’s start showing just where our lives are going to…”
-Disturbed “Land of Confusion”

Last week the very lovely Siobhan Muir asked me to judge the weekly flash fiction contest she hosts, #ThursThreads. It was really an honor to »»]]>

Last week the very lovely Siobhan Muir asked me to judge the weekly flash fiction contest she hosts, #ThursThreads. It was really an honor to do so, and I was delighted and so impressed by the wide variety of entries the participants offered. (I recommend following that link and reading them all, by the way.) I found the experience striking for two reasons: 1) I have not tended to write flash fiction much at all, so to see all the extraordinary entries of people who obviously do was fascinating, and 2) the idea of managing to write something on demand like that and then actually posting it for people to see is (still!) truly a foreign idea to me. I’ve tended to feel way too much nervousness in the face of such things.

But, because (sincerely—I am not just saying this!) the creativity and fearlessness of the participants as well as how welcoming I’ve found Siobhan inspired me, when I found myself with an idea upon reading this week’s prompt, I followed through and wrote something. Then posted it. I think this is the first time I’ve done something of that nature online, and I thank Siobhan for being a lovely host and all the participants alongside me this week for offering their extraordinary work for all to see.

Siobhan herself acted as judge this week, and I am honored (and blushing) that she awarded my entry, “Give,” an honorable mention. All the entries may be read here, and I do recommend doing so. Siobhan announces the winners here.

Many thanks to Siobhan and all the lovely writers I have had the delight to become (virtually) acquainted with over the last week. Funny the opportunities joining Twitter can seem to open up! ;)

Love,
Emerald

Still her being yearned to comfort, to heal, to offer what she could to hold the pain of people and planet.
-from “Give”