Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Thanks first and foremost to all our survey respondents, to Joani Blank for creating Good Vibrations, and to all the Good Vibrations employees past and present who shared information, anecdotes, and practical support over the years, particularly Krissy Cababa, Constance Clare, Kate Cunningham, Scout Festa, Staci Haines, Eve Meelan, Laura Miller, Carol Queen, Thomas Roche, Joyce Solano, and Ann Whidden. Thanks also to the many individuals in the sex-positive community who provided resources, referrals, and interviews for the different editions of this book, including Eric Albert, Isadora Alman, Chris Bridges, Ken Dorfman, Gosnell Duncan, M. J. Ecker of Jackinworld.com, Jenne of Clitical.com, Eleanor Hamilton, Chris Mann, Dan Martin, Dr. Marc Nelson, Cory Silverberg, Leonore Tiefer, and Cheri Van Hoover, C.N.M.
Were very grateful to our profile subjects, who were so generous with their time and wisdom: Adrienne Benedicks, Marilyn Bishara, Joani Blank, Susie Bright, Susan Colvin, Betty Dodson, Nina Hartley, Jack Morin, Shar Rednour, Candida Royalle, Russell of sexuality.org, Annie Sprinkle, Jackie Strano, Kat Sunlove, and Tristan Taormino.
Heartfelt thanks to our friends and mentors Susie Bright, Michael Castleman, and Ray Potter for many years of inspiration, encouragement, and advice; to MB Condon for illustrating the first edition of this book; and to Phoebe Gloeckner for illustrating this third edition.
We appreciate the work of our agent, Timothy Seldes, and of Frdrique Delacoste, Felice Newman, and Don Weise at Cleis Press.
Finally, lots of love and thanks to Becky, Jeffrey, Sheila, Trish, and the Semans and Winks families for their support and patience.
Foreword
When Good Vibrations was founded in 1977, it was a very different world than it is now. Founder Joani Blank wanted to establish a clean, comfortable place for women to shop for sex toys.
Since then, weve changed profoundlybut our mission is still founded on the basic principle that accurate sex information and access to sexual pleasure is a birthright for everyone on this planet.
Today, Good Vibrations has grown much larger than its tiny 1977 site in San Franciscos Mission district. We operate two stores (in San Francisco and Berkeley) and a thriving mail order and web business. Our customers are women, men, and transgendered folks from every walk of life and all over the world. We dont just sell erotic productswe manufacture them, with a full line of toys, GV Exclusives, that arent available anywhere else. Weve been publishing erotic and educational sex books since the beginning with our in-house publisher Down There Press; in 2000, we acquired audiobook publisher Passion Press and started our own in-house video department, Sexpositive Productions, which has released four videos to date.
Our sales associates, in the stores and on the phone, are fully trained sex educators, receiving more formal sex education than the vast majority of physicians. Theyll answer questions that would get you a blank stare in most college health classrooms, and theyll tell you everything you need to know to use our products safely and effectively. In contrast to other adult businesses, we dont sell our products as noveltiesthey are what they are, toys, designed to be fun and life-affirming, to augment your explorations of sexuality.
Similarly, our books, audiobooks, videos, and DVDs are selected with an eye toward accurate sex information that is helpful to the practical user. Erotica and sex instruction videos and books can be hot and sex-positiveand, in many cases, can be hot because theyre sex-positive. Our philosophy is to seek out the best of whats available and, if its not available, do it ourselves.
The Good Vibrations Guide to Sex has long been one of the cornerstones of that philosophy. Its used in college classrooms and each edition has taken its honored place in many sexuality libraries. This newest revision contains the most up-to-date sexual information available. Authors Anne Semans and Cathy Winks have brought their experiences at Good Vibrationsand the firsthand anecdotes and feedback of our customersto the task of creating the most comprehensive sex guide ever written. Were proud to present this new volume, and to further our mission every day by offering toys, books, and videos that reflect a positive outlook on sexuality.
Enjoy this newest edition of The Good Vibrations Guide to Sex, and let it guide you in your explorations!
The Staff of Good Vibrations
Introduction
People need good sex books. Access to accurate sex information helps us to understand ourselves better and to build more intimate relationships. Not to mention that sex is just good, clean funand the more you learn about it, the more fun it becomes.
We were inspired to write the first edition of this book when we worked in a women-run vibrator store. Many customers requested a comprehensive, up-to-date sex manual, but we simply couldnt find one that spoke to a diverse audience, addressed a wide variety of sexual activities, and celebrated sex toy use. So we wrote it ourselves. Since its publication in 1994, The Good Vibrations Guide to Sex has made its way onto bedside tables around the world. It is used in health clinics and college sexuality courses, is recommended by sex therapists and medical professionals, and has helped tens of thousands of women and men to enjoy more satisfying sex lives.
Whats New?
This is the third edition of The Good Vibrations Guide to Sex. We revise this book every few years, which might lead you to wonder, Is there really anything new to say about sex? Our answer is, Youd be surprised. Sure, basic sexual anatomy doesnt change, but cultural attitudes, entertainment technologies, and health information change with every passing year.
Our sex manual offers the most complete guide to sex toys in print, and we consider it a duty (and a pleasure) to bring you up to date on the latest developments in sex toys and technologies. Read on to learn how the microchip is transforming vibrators just as it did computers, making them faster, smaller, and more powerful. Digital video not only makes the latest blockbuster jump off the screen, its also adding more realism to your porn; and cell phones arent just for roadside emergencies anymore (at least of the nonsexual kind).
Thanks in part to reader feedback, weve further broadened our scope beyond toys and technique. In a new chapter called Sex Over a Lifetime, we discuss how major life milestones affect your experience of sex, and we offer suggestions for navigating the sexual changes effected by adolescence, pregnancy, parenting, menopause, and aging. Throughout, we have included the most current information regarding sexual health.
Over the past quarter-century, certain sex-positive pioneers have made unique contributions to improving sex in America. We pay tribute to these sex educators, activists, and entrepreneurs with interviews and profiles throughout the book. Youll learn how Candida Royalle, Betty Dodson, Nina Hartley, and many others can enhance your understanding of sexuality, deepen your appreciation for sexual diversity, and show you a good time in the process.
Since this book first appeared in the early nineties, the Web has burst onto the scene, bringing millions of people together to share information, entertainment, and community. Our sexual landscape has been forever altered in the process. We used to lament the fact that people had such limited access to sexual resources, but now, thanks to the Web, you can easily discuss sexual techniques, order a new toy, read some hot erotica, or chat with a sexy cyberpal. Were enthusiastic cheerleaders for the ways in which the Web has advanced our collective sexual literacy, and weve added a new chapter devoted to how the Web can enhance your sex life.
