[New Joy Of Sex author Susan] Quilliam, who pronounces the word "sex" with the mildest Liverpudlian lisp, brings a much needed woman's touch to a book that was criticised by feminists because it was written almost entirely from a male perspective. There were, for example, just three references to the clitoris compared with an ample section on the penis. Then there is [original Joy of Sex author Dr. Alex] Comfort's old hippy take on porn, which he defined as "the name given to any sexual literature someone is trying to suppress". And don't get me started on the "Buttered Bun", when two men have sex with one woman.
....Only a few of the original entries have been ditched entirely: sex on a motorbike, the grope suit - Comfort's joke invention of a Scandin-avian garment that prompted continuous orgasm. There are 43 new sections, including phone sex, the internet, sex shops, and sex during pregnancy, and there is more emphasis on relationships.
....She acknowledges another sobering stat: the Kinsey Institute says that contemporary women have less sex than their 1950s counterparts because they have so little uncommitted time.
...."I'm glad I'm not ten years younger because there are an awful lot of pressures on young people: to look fabulous; to have a fabulous sex life," she says. "We're living in a world where it's important to achieve and whether we have a good sex life has become one of our measures of personal validity. Alex Comfort took the emphasis off achievement - that is one of the many things he got right."
The new Joy of Sex will be available in England on September 1st, but won't be published in the U.S. until January 2009.
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Buy an original copy the classic Joy of Sex by Dr. Alex Comfort here.