Book Review : Flavors of Empire and Vibrator Nation
shared their personal experiences as a basis for political analysis , a number of women took turns on the microphone to talk about their sexuality . While Dodson joked about her vibrator , others spoke candidly about open marriage , swinging , bi-sexuality , childhood sexual abuse , and heterosexual power dynamics . They shared stories about sexual exploration and expressed frustration about the sexual double standard . “ I am thankful to the people in the women ’ s movement and in the gay movement who have paved the way to loosening the shackles on sexuality ,” said one speaker .
Indeed , how the pins and bolts of those chains were unlocked over time has never been more eloquently and intriguingly recounted as it is in this book . From the early retail efforts of Dell Williams�who founded the first sex-toy business after a disappointing attempt to buy a massage device at Macy ’ s�to calligraphy project-cum-sex manual , The Playbook for Women About Sex , written and published by Good Vibrations founder Joani Blank , the story of sex toys is far and way more compelling then , for instance , the history of comics shops or “ head ” ( cannabis-culture ) shops . Comella is the perfect guide , explaining to readers how feminist sex-toy retailers brand and market their products with an eye toward activism .
The narrative isn ’ t confined to Pacific Northwest ; the author investigates seedier stores , like A-Action Adult Books in Downtown Las Vegas�situated a few blocks from this reviewer ’ s house and a place too sketchy for me to consider frequenting . In A-Action , Comella articulates the reason why
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