| I'm going to fantasize that the reason we read about sex is to find fierce new ideas, to become a smarter fuck and to connect with each other in meaningful ways. And that you're looking for reading that's daringly outrageous, thought-provoking and far from the steady drone of mainstream sex.
Finally, I'm going to propose that reading smut enables us to rise up to the challenge issued by radical sex-writer Patrick Califia: make the future safe for sex. Afterall, as he says in Public Sex: The Culture of Radical Sex, "The name of this ride is ‘rock the boat,’ not ‘pretend you're dead already.’
Public Sex tops the list of defiant and frank writing on sex. The new-ish second edition collects 30 years of Califia's takes on sexual expression, safer sex, prostitution, kink and gender diversity and delves into the fascinating histories of contemporary sex cultures.
The slightly ominous black embossed cover of The SALiVATION ARMY BLACK BOOK only piques my curiosity as it turns back to reveal a loving and gleeful re-issue of the ARMY's zines from 1996 to 2004. The compilation opens with the words, "We are the new circus. And we are the envy of the fucking world," and careens through 340 pages of collage, clippings, rants and calls to action by Scott Treleaven and his riot queer wolfpack. Genesis P-Orridge describes it as a "manual of discontent" and pouring rabid over the pages is a direct and passionate evocation of queercore. It's an urgent, unapologetic and defiantly sexy shout for queers to wake up, find each other and spread their uncommodified rage, creativity and love like wildfire.
A decade of radical feminist writing about sex and gender in Bitch magazine is celebrated with the new anthology Bitchfest: Ten Years of Cultural Criticism from the Pages of Bitch Magazine, and this fall's issue of the magazine is no slouch either. Watch for articles that debunk the myth of female sexual dysfunction and expose its connections with the multi-billion dollar sex-drug industry, as well as writing that reclaims Wonder Woman's queer history as a crime-fighting Amazon heroine with a taste for bondage and erotic power.
Prepare to be saved by Lesbians to the Rescue, (LTTR) an indie publishing project based in New York. Each issue starts with an open call for submissions and uses the collective power of queer publishing to distribute writing, artworks, mix-CDs and silkscreened posters. Past issues have included Le Tigre's Johanna Fateman, Edie Fake, who exhibited recently in TRUCK Gallery's +15 window project space, Nina Simone remixes and projects by members of the cross-continent Bookmobile Project. For indications of what's in store for the December release of themed-issue Positively Nasty, look no further than LTTR's Do You Wish to Direct Me? It came with a woolly knitted glove strung inside the cover, like a crafty interpretation of a latex glove customized for shotgunning – no fellas, not that ol' beer soaked ritual – a deliciously dangerous visual euphemism for fucking with two fingers.
Scumbagfagmag is bedside reading material for pervs who like pictures. One hilariously suggestive shot in "Sorta Beautiful Creatures" shows a young man in opera-length pink gloves manhandling a stuffed IKEA snake that pops out of his drawers. He's surrounded by a backdrop of pictures of trees taped to the wall, and like many of the other spreads, it's this corny DIY decor and gender-bending theatricality that make the man. The cock-centric drawings, photographs and collages are also archived on the zine's website, where you can make sure to order the prettiest issues, skip the ugly ones that suffer from ubiquitous zine-collage overload, and see details about how to submit to upcoming issue "Heart + Fist."
The availability of smutty books and magazines is at the centre of making safe places for sexual dialogues, stories, images and ideas. Here in Canada, nothing illustrates the connection between liberation and books more clearly than the courageous and much-publicized fight Little Sister's bookstore has brought against Canada Customs and its censorship of books on sex and sexuality. To take a cue from Califia, the future of radical sex is in our hands, and cracking a book is a pretty hot start. |
Copyright ©2006 FFWD. All rights reserved.