Brenda Love - Encyclopedia of Unusual Sex Practices

JAKUB KALOUSEK, originally of Prague, Czechoslovakia, is a painter as well as a rap musician and film producer. His most recent recording is titled Slickety-Lick. He is known in some circles for his films, remarkable for their atmosphere of concrete ambiguity.

PAUL MAVRIDES is an artist of unbounded enterprise who is fluent in a variety of media. His work may be found in various cultural tidepools.

JULIE NEWDOLL, currently engaged in the demanding discipline of computer-generated medical art, cools her heels at the easel whenever time permits and inspiration insists.

It can be said of very few books that they are unique. But this one certainly is. Its original title, BEYOND FANTASY: 500 UNUSUAL SEX PRACTICES has been eclipsed. This encyclopedic work has gone beyond the original 500 listings, beyond the unusual to the truly bizarre and beyond fantasy to the outskirts of reality itself. It carves a path through sexual history and cultures and practices, both local and foreign. It will take you down byways whose very existence will amuse and possibly delight you. It will carry you into dark backwaters that will repulse and may even sicken you.

The nature of the book is truly encyclopedic and so is its format. Each entry is self-contained so you can start anywhere or you could start with Acrotomophilia (being sexually aroused or attracted to an amputee) and end up somewhere around Zelophilia (being aroused by jealousy). It is a readable commentary on all things sexual. Well, nearly all; look for the sequel. It will enable you to distinguish Pediophilia (sexual attraction for dolls) from Pedophilia (sexual attraction of an adult toward a child). There are listings for sex conferences both scientific and hedonistic; clothing-optional hotels and obviously more games, devices and concepts than even the most sexually adventurous could ever try in many lifetimes. Perhaps this is the ultimate “how-to” marriage manual to put spice back into a wilting relationship.

Brenda Love birthed this encyclopedia after four years of gestation. The seeds of this book are international with research accumulated from S/M lectures in San Francisco, West coast sex conferences, counselor training for the San Francisco Sex Information Switchboard, 19th century literature at the British Museum Library, street interviews in Amsterdam, and discussions with consultants from around the world. Many types of sexual behavior have recently been defined by Dr. John Money and these have been included, among others, in this book. Dr. Money brought prominence to the term paraphilia (a love for or an attraction to something outside the usual). He also named and defined many of the -philias contained here. (See Sexology / John Money)

Brenda Love and I met as volunteer counselors on the San Francisco Sex Information Switchboard, S.F.S.I. to those of us who know it well. S.F.S.I.’s non-judgmental spirit together with the compassion we both felt for distraught callers helped to further develop an interest in understanding the multi-faceted expressions of human sexuality.

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF UNUSUAL SEX PRACTICES is more than an encyclopedia with over 700 entries. Ms. Love’s root theory, her philosophy and psychology of sexuality is best elucidated in two entries: “Paraphilias” and “Love.” A careful read here reveals that “deviance” merely means “not usual,” “away from the norm,” a non-judgmental “paraphilic” classification. By dissecting neurological cycles, imprinting, primal needs and compensation, Brenda explores how different people form their own “lovemaps” (term coined by John Money) and how certain stimuli may engender a flight or fight reaction in one person and love or attraction in another. This may also explain why actual pain inflicted by an attractive person can generate arousal. Ask a dental technician! This theory delineates how elevation of energy, or stress necessarily leads to fight, flight, or love/sex in order to properly arrive at conflict resolution and homeostasis. The reactions are enmeshed. Resolution is necessary otherwise disease lingers and deepens.

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF UNUSUAL SEX PRACTICES will be a reference for the serious sexologist, a curiosity and source of amazement for those interested in sex and all its variations and damning proof for the puritanical that we are truly going to Hell in a handbasket—bound and flogged.

The fantasies people create in their imaginations know no bounds. Those things that two or more consenting adults do are no longer limited by arbitrary and often cruel rules based on religious beliefs. Nevertheless, there remain two immensely important constraints on human sexual behavior. First, one human being should not coerce another into sexual activities. In particular, older individuals must never use their physical or emotional power over children and adolescents, either to obtain sexual services, or to initiate habits which, although pleasurable, may diminish a young person’s personal freedom of choice later in life. Second, people must not be led by their sexual drives to dangerous or mutilating practices that they subsequently regret. THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF UNUSUAL SEX PRACTICES documents a wide range of sexual activities. Many are behaviors which are enjoyed by the vast majority of individuals while others have been associated with injury or death. It is the aim of the encyclopedia to provide objective information about how human beings behave; where you draw the line must be your own informed choice.

I have attempted to write without bias. Believing that individuals and groups engaging in certain activities are entitled to explain their own conduct, I have consulted or quoted from the practitioners themselves wherever possible. I next sought to corroborate the information I received from the practitioners with input by respected sexologists, psychologists, physicians, biochemists, anthropologists, attorneys, and law enforcement personnel.

Given the diverse backgrounds of my sources and editorial board, there were several obstacles to gaining a consensus of opinion. The medical community views unusual sex practices from a health standpoint, psychologists view paraphilias as compulsives, and many in the S/M community don’t feel they fall into either category since they only engage in activities for experimentation. You the reader will need to keep in mind that almost any activity in this book can be engaged in for reasons that vary from coercion from a partner, religious ritual, experimentation, supplementing penis/vagina sex, building self-esteem, reducing stress, revenge, or it may be an exclusive act which the person feels unable to control.

The information contained within THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF UNUSUAL SEX PRACTICES is only as accurate as its sources. These include other authors and practitioners, individuals whose lectures I have attended, sometimes with demonstrations by people whom I have interviewed. I have not knowingly included any false information.

A major dilemma has been how much detailed instruction to include in the text. Knowing people’s tendency towards experimentation, I have felt that it is my obligation to provide enough safety precautions to forestall unnecessary injury. At the same time, it is not my intent to write a user’s manual, or to endorse experimentation or specific sex groups. My purpose is to educate readers, and to do so without censorship.

I have used the acronyms B.C.E. (before common era) and C.E. (common era) instead of B.C. (before Christ) and A.D. (Anno Domini—in the year of the Lord of the Christian era) purposefully. My book has been written for a world audience of all religions and I prefer not to offend my non-Christian readers with Christian dates. I have also used poems on a few occasions because poems express the intensity of experiences and emotions in a way that I cannot in my writing.