Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and A World Without Rape by Jaclyn Friedman and Jessica Valenti
A collection of essays compiled by Jaclyn Friedman and Jessica Valenti (of Feministing), the book explores different and new approaches to sex education, sexuality and rape prevention. No one in any these pieces argues that their approach will end rape, but they call for a different and deeper approach than the basic no means no. Beyond just defining consent as not no, the authors call for a concept of enthuasistic consent, and a culture that recognizes women's desires rather than continuing to view them as the passive and receptive parties.
I really enjoyed Latoya Peterson's "The Not Rape Epidemic," which I of course expected, because I always like her writing at Racialicious, and also liked "Toward a Performance Model of Sex" because it dissed books like The Game. I would highly recommend "Trial by Media" and "An Old Enemy in a New Outfit" although all of the essays have something interesting and thoughtful to bring to the table. Some of it seems obvious, and yet still needs to be addressed given today's society. While I simply read straight through the book, each essay lists other essays that relates to similar themes at the end so the reader can choose whether or not to pursue a particular line of thought more, or to change directions.
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