True Secrets of Lesbian Desire Keeping Sex Alive in Long-Term Relationships

by Stendhal, Renate; Gomez, Jewelle

• ISBN13: 9781556434754
• ISBN10: 1556434758
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-10-21
• Publisher: North Atlantic Books

Summary

Stendhal examines the "shadow" in lesbian relationships that descends when women bond so completely that the intimacy becomes a merging, obliterating the space between individuals where desire lies. Lesbian bed death, the topic of so many comediennes, is examined and reined in, no longer an inevitable result of a solid relationship.True Secrets of Lesbian Desirecasts an eye on the myths that burden us all.

Author Biography

Renate Stendhal is a coach and counselor for individuals and couples, with a private practice in Berkeley and San Francisco. She has published several books, including Sex and Other Sacred Games and the award-winning photobiography, Gertrude Stein in Words and Pictures.

Table of Contents

Foreword	ix
Preface to the Second Edition	xi
I. A Woman Appeared	1	(17)
An Approach	1	(3)
``Whence Speakest Thou?''	4	(5)
Entering	9	(3)
Unspeakable Depth	12	(6)
II. The Thirty-Six Colors of Erotic Desire	18	(52)
Getting Down to It	18	(2)
Birds of a Feather	20	(3)
On Dangerous Ground	23	(3)
``Sex Is Magic''	26	(3)
I'd Rather Die than Tell Her	29	(3)
A Possibility	32	(3)
Clues from Childhood	35	(4)
The Coolest Game	39	(4)
Now What?	43	(4)
Back to Square One	47	(4)
The Helpmate	51	(4)
Polymorphously Perverse	55	(11)
Intimate Passion	66	(4)
III. Truth as Aphrodisiac	70	(9)
IV. True Confessions	79	(40)
The Icing on the Cake	79	(10)
Explorer in an Unknown Land	89	(4)
Why Have Sex?	93	(8)
``Mature Sex''	101	(6)
Selena's Secret	107	(3)
Unshaming the Body	110	(5)
An Erotic Practice	115	(4)
Books Mentioned in the Text	119