And so erotica—the expression of these desires in literary form—is a mosaic of overlapping circles with spaces that, like the characters within, touch one another, creating their own shades of sexy as hues comingle, and of secret places sealed off like tiny vaults, cells that represent the private predilections, practices and sometimes purposefully unexplored fantasies of the individual.
If we describe erotica as a vast palette, what role then does color—or more specifically race—actually play?
If we describe erotica as a vast palette, what role then does color—or more specifically race—actually play?
Beneath the Surface
While students initially identify as heterosexuals with, for the most part, vanilla sex lives, Baham says the by the fourth or fifth week, as their comfort level grows, they come out of their shells, often revealing more exotic flavors. “By then, maybe 25 percent of the class is bi or bi-curious.”
Many make private or even public admissions, such as one young woman who, after an assignment that had students reading and writing their own erotica, talked explicitly about a rape fantasy she’d had. This, he believes, is the kind of affirmation one can get from this art form, particularly those without a forum in which their curiosities and desires can be legitimized. “Who,” asks Baham, “is going to write an erotic narrative for this woman?”
He believes the material can—and should—go deeper. “What’s out there now is largely too middle class,” he says. “It’s too safe, the range of sexual play. It’s not really what I think the majority of the people I’ve been teaching are thinking about … Hey look, it’s a fantasy about having sex in the Laundromat. Well, big fucking deal …”
Really hot sexual play, Baham says, is always going to be politically incorrect. He points to additional hot-button areas he believes are underserved. “How about a piece on race play that pushes cultural boundaries with slavery or white supremacy?” he asks, referencing the work of Vi Johnson, a doyenne of the black BDSM community, “things that people are still dealing with and negotiating.”
After extensive study in the BDSM community, Baham references not only the kink, but matters that sometimes lay beneath: trust, violence and abuse issues. While researching, he encountered a man who was in the military—and also a gay bottom. “He enjoyed being ‘forced’ to have sex—sort of a semi-rape—by well-built white men who abused him verbally,” he recalls. “He wanted to be called a n*gger while it was happening. But he wanted to control that.”
In other words, outside the sexual spectrum, the N-word was absolutely unacceptable. So when this casual lover dropped one into friendly conversation? “He beat his ass! Baham reports. “Partners need to respect one another’s needs in the sex play and outside it.
“Give me something like that,” he says, “that smolders with something real so we can have a genuine conversation.”
To purchase the Naked Reader Book Club selections, visit the Naked Reader Book Club Store.
Many make private or even public admissions, such as one young woman who, after an assignment that had students reading and writing their own erotica, talked explicitly about a rape fantasy she’d had. This, he believes, is the kind of affirmation one can get from this art form, particularly those without a forum in which their curiosities and desires can be legitimized. “Who,” asks Baham, “is going to write an erotic narrative for this woman?”
He believes the material can—and should—go deeper. “What’s out there now is largely too middle class,” he says. “It’s too safe, the range of sexual play. It’s not really what I think the majority of the people I’ve been teaching are thinking about … Hey look, it’s a fantasy about having sex in the Laundromat. Well, big fucking deal …”
Really hot sexual play, Baham says, is always going to be politically incorrect. He points to additional hot-button areas he believes are underserved. “How about a piece on race play that pushes cultural boundaries with slavery or white supremacy?” he asks, referencing the work of Vi Johnson, a doyenne of the black BDSM community, “things that people are still dealing with and negotiating.”
After extensive study in the BDSM community, Baham references not only the kink, but matters that sometimes lay beneath: trust, violence and abuse issues. While researching, he encountered a man who was in the military—and also a gay bottom. “He enjoyed being ‘forced’ to have sex—sort of a semi-rape—by well-built white men who abused him verbally,” he recalls. “He wanted to be called a n*gger while it was happening. But he wanted to control that.”
In other words, outside the sexual spectrum, the N-word was absolutely unacceptable. So when this casual lover dropped one into friendly conversation? “He beat his ass! Baham reports. “Partners need to respect one another’s needs in the sex play and outside it.
“Give me something like that,” he says, “that smolders with something real so we can have a genuine conversation.”
To purchase the Naked Reader Book Club selections, visit the Naked Reader Book Club Store.
| The Naked Reader Book Club | Selections for July 2010 |
| Frenzy. 60 Stories of Sudden Sex, edited by Alison Tyler | Can't Help The Way That I Feel, edited by Lori Bryant-Woolridge |
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| Making The Hook-Up Edited by Cole Riley | |
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