Épater le Bourgeois

Ever heard of ballerina Toni Bentley? Well. neither had I before tonight, but she's got a new book out that is raising lots of eyebrows. Zoe Heller of the New York Times Book Review gushes

“THE SURRENDER is a brave book—although not because it tackles a ‘taboo’ or because it is frank. Its bravery lies rather in its earnest attempt to do justice to the transcendent dimension of a profane act.”

while the notable critic Leon Weseltier goes so far as to say

“I admired its lucidity, the tone is true and unsentimental, and it’s so natural—the explicitness is so completely unaffected.”

The subject matter? Well, let's just say that a lot of men will be delighted to learn that there are women out there who thoroughly enjoy living out a certain fantasy (though I doubt most will ever be willing to reciprocate, Lisa Palac's exhortations notwithstanding.) [Via Metafilter.]

Comments

[Jason Soon]

huh??? what's so appealing to straight men about anal intercourse? i always thought gay men were only forced to do it because they didn't have any other outlets ...

[Abiola Lapite]

I suppose the fact that it's supposed to be "dirty" (in the moral sense) might have something to do with it - violating taboos turns a lot of people on. As they say, forbidden fruit is sweetest, at least to some.

Then there's the "conquest" angle - according to a certain school of thought, what better proof of one's studliness can there be than to get one's girlfriend to do something so verboten?

[chris]

Jason,

I would guess that at least half of all straight porn videos, if not more, contain butt sex. Straight guys are way into the idea of anal sex -- where have you been? I've done it before, and yes, it was the "forbidden fruit" angle that made me interested.

But it is true that straight men are generally not interested in having a woman do them with a strap-on, although there are exceptions.

[Frank McGahon]

Jason, if you really doubt the extent to which anal sex, or at least the fantasy of it, is appealing to straight men, just go over to any of the online porn stores and see which dvds are the best sellers. Dollars to Donuts that anal-themed dvds feature prominently and those which aren't explicitly marketed as such nonetheless contain significant amounts of it. If anything, Chris, at 50%, underestimates the extent to which this particular activity is represented in porn. Er, at least that's what I'm told!

[Abiola Lapite]

Actually, isn't pornography banned in Australia? I seem to remember something to that effect being true, at least at the state level.

[Jason Soon]

Abiola
I don't know where you got that idea from! No, pornography isn't banned in Australia. There are literally a dozen sex/porn stores alone on the main street around the corner from where I live.

Anal sex - all I can say is 'yuck' even with a condom. I have a hygiene fetish ...

[Frank McGahon]

As it happens (the sale of) porn is banned in Ireland, well de jure anyway: There are sex shops all over the country to which the police tend to turn a blind eye unless they want some headlines.

[Frank McGahon]

all I can say is 'yuck' even with a condom. I have a hygiene fetish ...

Put it down to suspension of disbelief!

[Mrs Tilton]

Any link to that Wieseltier article, Abiola? I am a great admirer of his writing and would love to have a look at this.

BTW, those who have not yet already seen it may want to read Martin Amis's famous porn article. Anal sex is so big in contemporary porn, as one industry insider explains to Amis, because 'p*ssies are bullshit'.

IIRC, the Canadian porn actress whose infection set off the recent Aids scare in the industry caught the virus in the course of performing a 'double anal penetration' scene. I do not even want to think about this. Truly there are some things in this world that we are better off not knowing of.

[Abiola Lapite]

"Any link to that Wieseltier article, Abiola? I am a great admirer of his writing and would love to have a look at this."

It appears that he made the comments in question during a phone interview, so no article I'm afraid.

"in the course of performing a 'double anal penetration' scene ... Truly there are some things in this world that we are better off not knowing of."

Indeed so; human ingenuity knows no limits, it would seem ...