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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Submissive Men & Women and Gay Males Will Identify, 21 Jun 2000
By A Customer
A woman looks at how her father's poor sex life led to frequent family rages. A thirty-something in a vanilla marriage works through his masochistic fantasies and a religious young man tries electric shock therapy in the hope of eradicating his gay desires.Reading about other people's sex lives is always fun, though I suspect that some of the essays will appeal more to male Californians in consciousness raising groups than it will to your average Page Three ogler. The contributors to Male Lust have worked through their particular sexual issues so aren't representative of the man in the street. As a British CP writer, I was especially interested in the extensive confessions of the intelligent, masochistic David and his uncomprehending vanilla wife. Let's face it, most of us have been there and got the T-shirt. It takes enormous courage to confess your power exchange fantasies to a more conventional lover - and that courage is often poorly rewarded when they laugh, refuse to participate or simply walk away. I've had men write to me after reading my novels to say that they asked their wife over twenty years ago if they could lovingly chastise her. She laughed - and they never had the nerve to mention their innermost desires again. The other punishment for pleasure essay in Male Lust is a cutting edge (almost literally) confession by respected erotica writer Thomas Roche about acting out a pre-arranged corrective scenario with a submissive girlfriend. It's a dark but very honest piece. Male Lust is a valiant attempt to explore beyond the anytime, anyplace, anywhere image of mens sexuality. It's a well produced book that admittedly has its dull and rambling moments but also offers some genuine insights that are clearly written from the heart. Many of the writings are about what it means to be homosexual so it will prove especially useful to any young gay male who is still coming to terms with his sexual identity. As for anyone still coming to terms with a powerplay sexual identity? Just accept it and enjoy it. It's a waste of time feeling guilty or ashamed about thoughts and consensual actions that can bring overwhelming delight. Sarah Veitch.
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