Tristan Taormino - Best Lesbian Erotica 2007

Table of Contents

Editing a series like Best Lesbian Erotica allows me to read lots and lots of queer womens erotica; all that reading gives me a context for writing about the bigger picture: the state of lesbian sex and literature, erotic representation, and queer culture. Its an opportunity to reflect on where weve been, where we are, and where were going.

In the many years I have edited this series, I have extolled the political significance of writing and publishing queer erotica. Sex is a healthy, positive, fundamental part of who we are; it is vitally important for us to talk about it, to create space for it in our communities, and especially to write about it. Through the written word, we document our sexual desires and experiences and we represent the broad range of our sexualities. When we tell our erotic truths, we complicate simplistic stereotypes and contradict our enemies rhetoric; we also reflect, validate, and inspire our readers.

This year, I received a very interesting letter along with a submission:

In the introduction to Best Lesbian Erotica 2002, Amber Hollibaugh wrote, For those of us that came out with no sense of the existence of others like ourselves, other women who also desired another womans touch and smell, who also wanted to be under or over or between another womans legsthis book matters. And if you have ever wanted this touch, alone and in fear, you know the importance of this collection of stories. I was once one of those women. That book helped show me that I was not alone. It encouraged me to explore my hidden lust and gave me the courage to come out as a lesbian to my family, to my friends, to my ex-husband, to my children, and to my community.

When I came to the part about the bells-and-whistles sexual edginess that often characterizes erotica, I have to say, I was offended: some of my favorite erotic stories involve back alley ass fucking! An adult performer recently said to me that porn is supposed to be taboo, it should shock and titillate us and take us places weve never been before. I agree that porn (and in this I include erotic writing) is often about the edge. The edge is what turns on a lot of people. I appreciate rich details, unexpected plots, quirky characters, and offbeat scenarios; they can all be important elements to a good story. But I dont like bells and whistles just for the sake of bells and whistles; they should have meaning and purpose in the story. I reread that section of the letter, and the second time, I had a different thought. Full of frills or stripped down, kinky or not, good erotic stories have something similar at their core: pleasure.

The moving letter illustrates the ways in which erotic writing can impact real peoples lives. The letter stayed with me long after Id read hundreds of other cover letters and submissions. When I reread it, I realized that while I had often tackled the political aspect of erotic writing, I had neglected its equally important companionthe personal. This deeply personal letter reminded me how deeply personal an erotic story can be on many levels. For a writer, the process of exposing ones private desires and fantasies can be daunting, liberating, or both. As a reader, you may react to a piece on a visceral level, sometimes unexpectedly; you might be shocked, moved, turned on, or turned off. No matter how real or made up the players or circumstances, an erotic story may spark ideas, fuel your own fantasies. It may even push you (gently or not) to come to terms with who you are and what you want.

As it turns out, the letter writers piece made it into Best Lesbian Erotica 2007. Not because of her stellar cover letter writing skills, but because of her story. I havent told you which story is hers deliberately; its up to you now to read the book and figure it out. In many ways, there is a piece of her letter in all these stories, and a piece of her spirit in all of us.

Tristan Taormino
New York City
August 2006

Im eating gourmet jelly beans as I write this. I cant help it; so much of this years crop of erotic stories features sweetness or fruit in some form or other, literal or metaphorical. And just about all of them make me want to lick my sticky fingers.

Does that sound trivial? Shouldnt I begin by making the case for lesbian erotica as a politically and aesthetically serious form, of crucial importance to our beleaguered communities? Nah, I believe Ill skip all that. Things have changed so much, after all, since the first time I picked up a collection of dirty stories, when I was a nervous dyke fresh out of convent school back in the nervous 80s. Today, who bothers agonizing over the distinction between porn and erotica, or the patriarchal overtones of voyeurism, sadism, uniforms or rape fantasies? What strikes me about the stories in this anthology is a certain confidence they all have in common; an unapologetic, unself-conscious focus on what feels good.

Ive never been able to resist Pic n Mix, as we call it back in Ireland; in North America, it seems to be called bulk candy, which has a far less playful ring to it. Its the sense of choice Ive always loved, the impression of having control over such a greedy instinct: five, no, say six wine gums, a single chocolate-covered espresso bean, three caramels, a whole fistful of sour lemonsthe infinitely customizable pig-out experience.

Its that same feeling of options that delights me in lesbian sex writing today. There is no compulsory script. A lemon jelly bean, a lime, or a lemon-lime? The choice is yours, and dont let anyone fob you off with something less than what youre craving.

Of course every generation has its fashions, in writing about sex as in everything else. I notice that most women in this collection wear black (especially black silk shirts over black pants), and I find it interesting that the strap-on continues to reign supreme. But you may notice that not every butch in these stories wears one, and if somebodys wearing one its not even always the butch. She is such a girl in every way, says the bewildered narrator of Radclyffes Bingo, Baby, and I wouldnt have believed how hot shed look with all that girl power dancing inches from my face. In fact, though female masculinity remains a very hot topic in todays sex writing, different elements turn up in different stories, in unpredictable combinations: butch identity, clothes, the top role; cocks imagined, rubber, and silicone, softees and hard ones. The package has been unpacked (as it were!). In Joy Parks refreshingly original Sweet Thing the confident femme discovers something about the handsome baker shes just seduced on the breadboard beside the oven: despite having serviced most of the married women in town over the years, can it possibly be that Petey the butch goddess is a virgin? And unlike the straight do-me queens Petey is used to, this girl knows how to melt that stone.