I'd love to read that book! It's going in my shopping cart asap.

Porn certainly distorted my view of sex from the first time I watched it (around 17) because I thought all women cum every time they have sex, that cum will taste great, and that a heavy pounding is fun. Not so! Seldom have I seen the actors use toys, unless it's girl-on-girl, woman alone, or fetish.

There is so much more to a healthy, happy, sex life than getting pounded, and porn often leaves that out. It concentrates on the visual rather than the emotional, and I need the emotion present, which is why I've always been more of a fan of soft porn (9.5 weeks, etc..) rather than classic stuff. Granted, depending on the director, it is improving, but much of it is still degrading to women in my opinion.

Porn is the reason I'm scared of huge pubic bushes. In the 70's and 80's porn I watched when I was too young, I had no idea what women had down there. It also turned me off of poofy hair.

I wish more local libraries would carry books as such, but understandably, they don't. I just picked up 4 from Amazon, included the one mentioned above in addition to some on open relationships and the myth of monogamy. Those should keep me busy since there's a waiting list for the True Blood books at my local library.

JR, don't be afraid! But yeah, those were scary! No wonder why they dubbed it "muff-diving".

I'm not necessarily qualified to answer this, but I too have reservations about the expectations generated by porn. I'm also unsure about the argument that it can expand people's sexual horizons since that is often followed by something along the lines of "but don't do what you see in porn the way you see it in porn because it's porn, not reality."

Personally I'm more of a fan of "how to books" with drawings instead of pictures. There are some things that are hard to explain that way, but it's easier for me to be able to flip back and forth.

I think porn, like music or any other form of entertainment, is often rutted. It is also heavily influenced by the culture(s) around it. Because of this, it makes people assume that what is shown is the ONLY way to be sexual.

For example, many men may assume that all women LOVE facials since, after all, porn stars engage in it. Or, that all men/women shave their pubic hair. We all know that many of these things are up to each individual, so the combination between real couples in real relationships should be the rule, not just "what they do in the movies".

While porn can be picked apart on many levels, there's also a simple core to it: arousal. If it gets people aroused - whether it's BDSM, big breasts, gay/lesbian, anal, hardcore, orgies, or just couples porn- and assists them in their intimacy with one another, then it has succeeded. The rest is all "bells and whistles".