----------------------------------------------- _Susie Bright's Sexual Reality: A Virtual Sex World Reader_ published 1992 by Cleis Press, P.O.Box 8933 Pittsburg, PA 15221 (412 937 1555); $9.95 paper This book consists of several stories, essays, and interviews. Let's start with the blurb: "Susie Bright turns her pen to politics and passion, jealousy and risk in an intimate look at the human condition.... In this new pop culture primer on sex, Susie Bright continues the erotic travelogue begun in _Susie Sexpert's Lesbian Sex World_. From computer-age erotic technologies to sex talk with Camille Paglia ... _Sexual Reality_ is the latest outrageous collection from Susie Bright, perhaps the first vibrator saleswoman to put lesbian sex on the pages of _Rolling Stone_...." Actually, it's not just simple fun. Although she writes in an easy, almost "poppy" style, Bright is willing to take on difficult subjects -- existentially as well as theoretically -- and to admit to being ignorant or mean at times, just like everyone else. She is, of course, utterly opposed to "censorship" and other impingements on personal freedom and as such is opposed to various people in a number of political positions who prefer to see feminism as an illiberal, antisexual movement. Bright is associated with Good Vibrations, a store in San Francisco which sells a remarkable array of high-quality "sexual aids", erotic literature and videos, and the like. (One of her essays recounts her efforts to provide these things, some of which -- silicone dildos, for example -- didn't exist only a few years ago.) Bright constructs herself as a Lesbian (or sometimes, a bisexual) and a feminist. Lesbian though she is, one of the reasons I bought the book was because, as I was scanning it in the bookstore, I happened to come across a description of _male_ sexuality which I had never seen in print before and which corresponded more to my own experience than the great plethora of material which appears on the subject everywhere else. Bright goes into other curious omissions in mainline sexual writing; in one of her essays, she notes how almost all literature for expectant mothers omits everything but the vaguest details about sex (because, one must suppose, we don't want to mix up sublime Motherhood with nasty sex! After all, what could possibly be the connection?) Meanwhile the average expectant mother may experience a stronger sex drive than usual (all those raging hormones and bodily pressures) yet be unable to deal with it (because many of the usual methods won't work, due to physical changes connected with pregnancy). These omissions from our social discourse indicate that we (the "we" of the liberals, that is) are not as free from the old shames and constraints as we like to think. Some of Bright's stories are political only by implication; mostly, they're entertaining biography. In one of my favorites, she describes how she got together a party in which several women were entertained and served by several nude male "slaves" -- willing slaves; nearly 100 men volunteered for the project, and the organizers selected six on the basis of sanity, looks, and experience as waiters or masseurs. The party was not an orgy; no direct sexual behavior was allowed, and most of the women were Lesbians. The inspiration for the idea was, of course, the common topless bar and similar, although more elegant, institutions for men. Another tale recounts a "Story of O" birthday party -- Bright is not averse to a little B&D, although it does not seem to be her primary interest. Somewhere between the personal and the political is the interview with Camille Paglia. They're both in show biz and both supposed to be on the Left sexually, but whereas Bright is down-to-earth, Paglia is clearly out in space somewhere, and the conversation is both interesting and frustrating (as Bright notes; she says she would have had to "tie her down to the bed" to get candid responses). One thing one does come to understand is that Paglia at least thinks she is something other than the Feminist For People Who Hate Feminism. Other essays include "Shiny Plastic Dildos Holing Hands" (the lore and history of sex toys); "Rape Scenes" about real and fantasized rape; "The Virtual Orgasm" (about the possible uses of computer-generated virtual reality for sex play); "Sex and the Single Pest", about the controversy around Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill, with some interesting observations on the meaning of harassment; "Men Who Love Lesbians (Who Don't Care for Them Too Much)" about a heretofore unnoticed class of men who, although straight, have a seemingly androgynous sexuality; "When 'No' Means I Didn't Know It Would Be Like This", further thought on rape, harassment, coercion and persuasion in sex; and many others. There are two stories about "Lynnie", a Lesbian as outside general Lesbian culture as Lesbians are outside general American culture, and a fascinating story about the experience of being on the Phil Donohue show and the extraordinary totalitarianism and deceptiveness of television production. Some of the stories appeared (in different form) in magazines such as _Elle_, _Forum_, _Esquire_, _NYQ_, _The Advocate_, _Hustler Erotic Video_, and _Image_ -- a selection which will give you an idea of Bright's range and appeal. I'd like you to hear her voice. Here's a quotation from the introduction; it gives a good idea of how Bright mixes the colloquial, the political, and the existential. She's talking about her audience, those who read her books as well as those who come to her lectures and demonstrations. (I like it as well for personal reasons, since I once had a similarly ludicrous confrontation with the Canadian border authorities. And the "jaguar" she mentions is on the front cover.) "I got to know my audience during a book tour I did for _Susie Sexpert's Lesbian Sex World_ in the fall of 1990. I had a new book and a new baby, Aretha. I employed my friend Rupa to be my nanny during a two-month tour of fifteen cities across the United States and Canada. Rupa was just back from a year in India, her hair dark purple and rings on every finger and toe. (Rupa is the same spirit with a bouffant who took me on the six-hour bus ride to see k.d. lang for the first time in a Tahoe casino -- one of my favorite stories from _Sex World_.) "Our trip took us across the Canadian border. Remember that Canada defines obscenity as 'what is degrading to women.' What priceless objectivity! This definition sprang from the most paternalistic opinions delivered by a high court in this century. Since the Canadian government is expert in degrading women, I guess the Canadian courts have their hands full of legitimate complaints. My entry into Toronto was certainly an obscene joke by these standards. Every single finger of every single rubber glove that I had packed in my safe sex kit was examined, the white talcum powder spilling out on the officer's desk like a scene from a _Saturday Night Live_ skit. They questioned my identity as the mother of my child. Since nobody had warned me that birth certificates were required to enter Canada, the only thing I could do to prove I was Aretha's mom was to unleash my jaguar mother-rage. Any idiot customs official could see I would easily blow their fucking checkpoint into a million pieces. Later in my tour, I crossed into Canada again, this time at Montreal, where there didn't seem to be a customs officer in the entire airport. I just walked out into the sunshine; a beautiful French-speaking woman escorted me to her car, and I proceeded to have the time of my life. Montreal was the only place on my trip where women asked me to autograph their breasts. My memories of the book tour are all like this: from the degrading to the sublime. In Northampton, Massachusetts, a police escort advised me not to eat out for fear of an anti- porn sniper attack. I was so angry and tearful -- I didn't want to die for lesbian porn in Western Massachusetts. Only in a place like Northampton would I need police protection and then be asked to speak in a CHAPEL. My rule of thumb: the more religious, puritanical, or fundamentalist the territory, the kinkier it gets." Radically worth the $9.95, in my opinion.