Metaphors of Masculinity

Metaphors of Masculinity
Author: Stanley Brandes
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Total Pages: 247
Release: 2015-04-17
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0812292502

In the Andalusian communities throughout the olive-growing region of southeastern Spain men show themselves to be primarily concerned with two problems of identity: their place in the social hierarchy, and the maintenance of their masculinity in the context of their culture. In this study of projective behavior as found in the folklore of an Andalusian town, Stanley Brandes is careful to support psychological interpretations with ethnographic evidence. His emphasis on male folklore provides a timely complement to current research on women.

Myth and Sexuality

Myth and Sexuality
Author: Jamake Highwater
Publisher: Dutton Adult
Total Pages: 250
Release: 1990
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

Myth and Sexuality is a fascinating study of the ways in which our ideas about sex and gender have been shaped by our cultural myths--ranging from the Ancient Greeks to contemporary America.

The Bedtrick

The Bedtrick
Author: Wendy Doniger
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 631
Release: 2022-08-22
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0226156443

"Somehow I woke up one day and found myself in bed with a stranger." Meant literally or figuratively, this statement describes one of the best-known plots in world mythology and popular storytelling. In a tour that runs from Shakespeare to Hollywood and from Abraham Lincoln to Casanova, the erudite and irrepressible Wendy Doniger shows us the variety, danger, and allure of the "bedtrick," or what it means to wake up with a stranger. The Bedtrick brings together hundreds of stories from all over the world, from the earliest recorded Hindu and Hebrew texts to the latest item in the Weekly World News, to show the hilariously convoluted sexual scrapes that people manage to get themselves into and out of. Here you will find wives who accidentally commit adultery with their own husbands. You will read Lincoln's truly terrible poem about a bedtrick. You will learn that in Hong Kong the film The Crying Game was retitled Oh No! My Girlfriend Has a Penis. And that President Clinton was not the first man to be identified by an idiosyncratic organ. At the bottom of these wonderful stories, ancient myths, and historical anecdotes lie the dynamics of sex and gender, power and identity. Why can't people tell the difference in the dark? Can love always tell the difference between one lover and another? And what kind of truth does sex tell? Funny, sexy, and engaging, The Bedtrick is a masterful work of energetic storytelling and dazzling scholarship. Give it to your spouse and your lover.

The Mythology of Sex

The Mythology of Sex
Author: Sarah Dening
Publisher: B. T. Batsford Limited
Total Pages: 234
Release: 1996
Genre: Psychology
ISBN:

A study examining the way in which sexual attitudes and behaviour reflect the underlying values of the time. It embraces cultural attitudes from ancient civilizations to the present day and looks at a range of topical issues and concerns, including prevailing attitudes towards masculine and feminine values.

Did You Hear About The Girl Who . . . ?

Did You Hear About The Girl Who . . . ?
Author: Marianne H Whatley
Publisher: NYU Press
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2001-03-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0814795056

Ever hear the one about the man who wakes up after a chance sexual encounter to discover he's been involuntarily relieved of one of his kidneys? Or the tiny gift-wrapped box from a recently departed lover that reveals a horrible secret? Everyone knows contemporary legends, those barely believable, often lurid, cautionary tales, always told as though they happened to the friend of a friend. Sometimes we pass them on to others unsure of their truthfulness, usually we dismiss them as mere myth. But these far-fetched legends tell us quite a bit about our deepest fears and fantasies. In fact, a large part of what we know about our bodies we have learned informally, from kids on the playground or colleagues at work, from piecing together the information contained in folk beliefs, jokes and legends. Sexual folklore goes beyond classroom lessons of mechanics to answer many questions about what people actually do and how they do it. Mariamne H. Whatley and Elissa R. Henken have collected hundreds of sexually-themed stories and jokes from college students in order to tell us what they reveal about our sexual attitudes and show us how they have changed over time. They confront myths and stereotypes about sexual behavior and use folklore as a tool to educate students about sexual health and gender relations. Whether analyzing popular rumors about celebrity emergency room visits or the latest schoolyard jokes, Did You Hear About The Girl Who . . . ? presents these tales in a way that is intriguing and educational.

Sexual Alchemy

Sexual Alchemy
Author: Donald Tyson
Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide
Total Pages: 348
Release: 2000
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 9781567187410

Chances are that you've heard of Tantra and Taoist sexual practices. Now, as a result of studying the inner mysteries of alchemy, Donald Tyson presents a Western system of sacred sexuality in Sexual Alchemy. Here you will learn how to have erotic relationships with loving spirits. That means the methods presented here can function as a Western alternative to Eastern sexual practices. They also can be used by a solitary person and need not depend upon the participation of a partner. The first part of this book presents a history of sex with spirits. It also goes into the secrets of Eastern internal alchemy and how the books of Western alchemy often made secretive references to sexual magick. You will also learn how to create a physical representation of the spirit you are going to use as a partner. The second part of the book includes the practices and techniques which the author found to be effective from other sources or developed himself. This includes techniques of diet, exercise, breathwork, banishings, purifications, and finally, an invocation ritual to summon the spirit who is going to be your lover! Then you will learn the previously hidden secrets of having sex with a spirit lover. You'll learn how to prepare and recognize the signs that this is an actual occurrence and not simply a fantasy. And then, when you have accomplished your ritualized mating, you will learn how to collect and use the resulting, highly charged fluids for magical purposes. Everything we are, everything we have, is a gift from the Divine. Doesn't it make sense that we use all of our abilities to honor the source from which they came? That means we can even make use of our sensual natures to honor the Gods. If you want to follow a system based on western traditions, this book can be your guide.

A Curious History of Sex

A Curious History of Sex
Author: Kate Lister
Publisher: Unbound Publishing
Total Pages: 444
Release: 2020-02-06
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1783528060

This is not a comprehensive study of every sexual quirk, kink and ritual across all cultures throughout time, as that would entail writing an encyclopaedia. Rather, this is a drop in the ocean, a paddle in the shallow end of sex history, but I hope you will get pleasantly wet nonetheless. The act of sex has not changed since people first worked out what went where, but the ways in which society dictates how sex is culturally understood and performed have varied significantly through the ages. Humans are the only creatures that stigmatise particular sexual practices, and sex remains a deeply divisive issue around the world. Attitudes will change and grow – hopefully for the better – but sex will never be free of stigma or shame unless we acknowledge where it has come from. Based on the popular research project Whores of Yore, and written with her distinctive humour and wit, A Curious History of Sex draws upon Dr Kate Lister’s extensive knowledge of sex history. From medieval impotence tests to twentieth-century testicle thefts, from the erotic frescoes of Pompeii, to modern-day sex doll brothels, Kate unashamedly roots around in the pants of history, debunking myths, challenging stereotypes and generally getting her hands dirty. This fascinating book is peppered with surprising and informative historical slang, and illustrated with eye-opening, toe-curling and meticulously sourced images from the past. You will laugh, you will wince and you will wonder just how much has actually changed.

Eros and the Mysteries of Love

Eros and the Mysteries of Love
Author: Julius Evola
Publisher: Inner Traditions / Bear & Co
Total Pages: 340
Release: 1991-04
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 9780892813155

A controversial philosopher and critic of modern Western civilization, Julius Evola (1898-1974) writes about the mystical and spiritual expression of sexual love. This in-depth study explores the sexual rites of sacred traditions, and shows how religion, mysticism, folklore, and mythology all contain erotic forms in which the deep potentialities of human beings are recognized.

Sex Education 101: Approachable Essays on Folklore, Culture, & History

Sex Education 101: Approachable Essays on Folklore, Culture, & History
Author: Jeana Jorgensen
Publisher: Fox Folk Press
Total Pages: 384
Release: 2023-11-11
Genre: Social Science
ISBN:

Do you look back at your sex ed classes and wonder WTF?! Are you a parent looking at your kid’s curriculum and asking the same question? Sex Education 101 is less of a how-to of sex education and more of a why. Why does abstinence-only sex ed receive so much federal funding? Why do instructors show gross images of STIs to scare students? And the answers, believe it or not, have a lot to do with folklore. Folklore—informally transmitted traditional culture—has a lot to say about sex. And it is often people’s first point of contact with information and messages about sex. Folklore encompasses urban legends, moral panics, and rumors, which influenced early U.S. policies around sex, and also includes jokes, raunchy folk songs, and beliefs and slang about menstruation or STIs. And thus, folklore shapes sex ed classrooms and school sex ed policies. This book is a series of essays for anyone interested in folklore about sex, the history of sex education, and how we keep repeating history from 100 years ago in our approaches today. Whether you are a scholar of books or a scholar of life (or both), you’ll find something satisfying between the sheets of Sex Education 101.