A review by perkyanda
The Ethical Slut: A Guide to Infinite Sexual Possibilities by Dossie Easton

funny informative lighthearted slow-paced

3.0

Not particularly informative if you’ve been interested in feminism and sexuality psychology/politics and worrying on those topics— which i have been, for about the last 20 years. This would have been a really interesting book for me when it first came out, because i was far more naïve then, but at this point in my life, i mean… I’ve had friends who’ve told me about their poly  relationship structures (my divinity-grad student landlords my 1L year, a coworker), and a friend who would regale people with her tales of the orgies of her youth if she got drunk enough at parties. Plus i just read a lot. The chapters on polyamory and orgies were informative because i’m least informed on those topics. The section on flirting i found to be antiquated and anti feminist because it seemed to equate being kind and an active conversationalist to flirtation, which is  a problem when too many men already interpret women being civil as flirtation. Overall I’m glad i read it, since it’s a foundational text in the development of feminist literature over the past two decades, but even the 20th anniversary edition feels very dated.