Posts Tagged ‘erotica’

Erotica for the blind

Monday, May 3rd, 2010 by Bat Sheva Marcus LMSW MPH PhD

Here’s an interesting article about a new sexy book with a twist. It’s been written and produced for the blind.

‘Tactical Mind’ is billing itself as the first erotic book for blind people and it incorporates raised sexually explicit images as well as erotic descriptions in Braille. The book has received a great deal of attention recently by mainstream newspapers here and abroad. “Porn you can touch,” was how it was described by the  New York Daily News.
  
The author, Lisa Murphy, is a photographer who observed, as many of us do, the sexualization of , well, everything and she decided to create a new venue for pornography – tactile erotica.  She wasn’t sure it would appeal to a large crowd, more, that she worked hard on the idea and was commited to it.  “I’d been dragging it around to erotic fairs for the last two years,” Murphy commented. “It was a labor of love and I never expected to make any money from it.”

It certainly seems like it involved a great deal of labor as the author used friends to pose for pictures and then created sculptures for each one. It took her hundreds of hours.

 What I find particularly fascinating about this project is that too often the physically challenged get left behind in an erotic world. We somehow think they “don’t really count.” Or aren’t sexual beings. It’s always important to recognize that all of us, yes all of us, deserve healthy ways to attend to our sex lives.  

 If you want to read more about the project click here: http://www.france24.com/en/20100417-tactical-mind-first-erotic-book-blind-lisa-murphy-canada

sting article about a new sexy book with a twist. It’s been written and produced for the blind! ‘Tactical Mind’ is billing itself as the first erotic book for blind people and it incorporates raised sexually explicit images as well as erotic descriptions in Braille. The magazine has received a great deal of attention recently by mainstream newspapers here and abroad. “Porn you can touch,” was how it was described by the New York Daily News. “I’d been dragging it around to erotic fairs for the last two years,” Murphy commented. “It was a labor of love and I never expected to make any money from it.” It certainly seems like it involved a great deal of labor as the author used friends to pose for pictures and then created sculptures for each one. It took her hundreds of hours. What I find particularly fascinating about this project is that too often the physically handicapped get left behind in an erotic world. We somehow think they “don’t really count.” Or aren’t sexual beings. It’s always nice to see someone or something pay positive attention to the sex lives of the handicapped. If you want to read more about the project click here: http://www.france24.com/en/20100417-tactical-mind-first-erotic-book-blind-lisa-murphy-canada

On reading erotica (okay, so it's porn)

Thursday, May 8th, 2008 by Bat Sheva Marcus LMSW MPH PhD

Often I will recommend to my women patients with low desire (in addition to other medical stuff we’re working on- and as they start feeling less resistant) that it is good to learn to get yourself turned on. And if you can get into the habit of getting yourself turned on a couple of times during the day (even for a minute or two or three) it seems to get your body ready and more willing to have sex. And a good way to do this is to buy a sexy book and read it in snatches. And then often women ask “well what do you recommend?” And there I get kind of stuck. Because what one person finds really hot someone else finds laughable and what turns one woman on can make another woman yawn. So I really recommend you look through a few books and find what floats your boat. And then women ask where to get erotica… and I say, “do what I do,– buy it off amazon.” So here are a couple of suggestions. Nancy Friday’s “A Secret Garden” (an old classic with short viniettes.) Lonnie Barbach – “:Pleasures “(this is a compilation of women’s real stories) and a new one a patient recommended which we thought was great “Aqua Erotica” believe it or not, this one’s waterproof. (Okay, I’ll admit it. When I ordered this book I thought I was going to get one of those kiddie bath tub books, you know the ones with the puffy pages that have ducks on them. )Turns out this looks like a normal book. The pages are a bit thicker but not really noticably so. It’s kind of a cool concept, although I am suspicious that if you actually drop the book in a bathtub the pages will warp. I think it just doesn’t get all weird from the steam.

Happy reading!

The Porn Trap – trap

Tuesday, April 29th, 2008 by Bat Sheva Marcus LMSW MPH PhD

Okay, now I finished the book so I feel qualified to give it bona fide “thumbs down.” Maybe if the title of the book had been “A book about why we hate porn, why all porn in all situations is bad and why we think it is the root of anything bad in a relationship,” I could give it a thumbs up. Then at least the book would be what it claimed to be rather than what I thought it would be: a treatment plan or even just a helpful outline for those who are addicted to porn.

The book goes to ridiculous lengths to vilify porn. The marriage that fell apart because the wife found her husband looking at porn. Now she doesn’t “trust” him, even though there was no indication that he was hiding it or in anyway addicted to it. Please. Maybe rather than suggest he never look at porn again, they could discuss it, he could limit it, she could learn to live with it, they could use it together… hmmm. Any of these options occur to the writers???

And I was especially incensed at their implicit (or maybe explicit- you can be the judge) generality that if you like porn, you therefore are at a high risk of addiction.

It’s making me so angry, because I am a clinician who tends not to see porn addicts — that just is not my patient base. (I thought reading the book might be useful because once in a while I will get someone who is partnered to a porn addict and the more that I know generally the better.) In my patient base, we look at porn (or erotica — the name we use when we want to be PC) as quite useful in many situations. Patients, (especially in long term relationships) often find it enjoyable to watch together, get knew ideas from it and learn more about likes and dislikes. People just find it fun. For my single patients, for whom masturbation is their primary  outlet, often erotica is just plain practical, whether written or visual.

So if you are one of those people who enjoy erotica in reasonable doses — don’t worry about getting stuck in the porn trap!