|
News
&
Events
Words
Images
Links
Archival Abby
Abby's Bio
|
Getting Off
A Woman’s Guide to Masturbation
The past year has been a busy one for Jamye Waxman. She produced her
first line of sex education videos, Personal Touch, published her first
book and joined the Babeland team as head of promotions and events.
I’ve been fortunate to watch the progress of all her projects and am
pleased to be able to review her virgin foray into print, Getting Off:
A Woman’s Guide to Masturbation.
I did my best to train an objective eye on it as I read, which wasn’t
so easy, since Jamye’s a close friend. Add to that the fact that there
are, in my opinion, already plenty of publications out there to tell
you how to diddle yourself and it was definitely a tough job. But Jamye
had me cracking up in the first few pages, something most masturbation
guides don’t manage. Her familiar tone and conversational writing style
sound more like a close friend filling you in on a fantabulous secret
than a schoolmarm teaching you your masturbation lessons. Every page
offers encouragement and reassurance, basically telling you that no
matter what you’re doing, if it feels good to you, it is OKAY.
The audience for Getting Off may most obviously be women who are
somewhat less sexually sophisticated and certainly those who aren’t
completely comfortable with their sexuality. Surprisingly, though,
there are lessons to be learned by even the most experienced of sexual
adventurers. So if masturbation mavens merely skim through the basics,
they’ll glean numerous how-to tips in later chapters that will augment
their already glorious self-pleasuring skills.
Jamye details the many options for today’s well-armed masturbator,
specifically describing almost every sex toy available. She explains
the difference between vibrators and dildos, why anal toys need flared
bases, plug-in vs. battery powered, curvy vs. straight vs. bumpy and
the pros and cons of hard vs. flexible. Under “Additional
Accoutrements,” you’ll find the more exotic extras: nipple clamps,
ben-wa balls and fun stuff like feathers. Delving even deeper
(heh-heh), there’s an overview of the materials sex toys are made of,
an in-depth look at lubricants and how to keep all your playthings
clean.
There’s an entertaining chapter on the history of masturbation, with
interesting factoids that should make you sound erotically erudite at
cocktail parties when you quip such quotes as, “One of the earliest
images of a woman masturbating dates back to between 2000 and 4000 BC.”
Putting playing with oneself into a cultural context, Jamye’s “The
Stigma of Solo Sex” chapter reviews the many ways we’ve been taught
that touching ourselves is bad and explodes such long-standing myths as
“Masturbation is second-tier sex” and “If you do it, you’re selfish.” A
chapter dedicated to thoroughly exploring the female anatomy is
followed by a compendium of techniques. Fantasies and how to use them
is addressed in “Fuel for Desire.” And bringing us up to the
present—both historically and culturally—Jamye fills us in on how
masturbation has gone mainstream with the final chapter, “The M Word.”
Throughout, Jamye provides briefly bullet-pointed facts and tips,
informative side boxes and appropriate quotes from female masturbators
about their preferred toys, positions and inspirations. Her sprightly
prose is accompanied by Molly Crabapple’s delightful illustrations.
Molly must’ve had a blast drawing all those sex toys, but it’s pretty
tough to capture the intricate folds of the female genitalia,
especially when the illustrations are reproduced in one inch squares.
A handy list of references, provided in the back of the book, includes
a list of “Required Reading” and the web sites for sex toy and lube
companies; female-friendly erotica publishers and porn movie producers;
informational sites such as Women’s Health News and About.com:
Sexuality; sex educators, supporters and friends; as well as her
extensive footnotes and their corresponding materials.
Getting Off is a great place to start for anyone eager to become a more
skilled self-pleasurer or a valuable addition to the sexually
actualized woman’s bookshelf.
[Written Nov. 2007]
|