A series of oldies on sex

I’m asked frequently why I write so much about sex. Am I obsessed?

I openly enjoy nearly all forms of sex, and yes — I am obsessed with sex education. Since the first days of Planet Waves, and in truth long before, I have never missed an opportunity to engage in an enlightened, open and if possible, bold conversation on the subject; one designed to open up the energy and impart a positive attitude and dispel some ignorance and fear. Real exchanges of erotic information are fun, hot and necessary. And they are easy. The thing to remember is to have fun and stand in your truth.

We don’t realize in our era how much damage has been done to our sexual consciousness, which is the awareness of life and creation. We don’t recognize the depth of the naivete, the ignorance, the misinformation and disinformation. Hardly anyone is telling us, and the airwaves are full of murder and intrigue — not pleasure and freedom.

Most of us feel the pressure, the conflict, the fear, the lack of availability — but we don’t put together why that is so. We have this sense we could be more free, but we don’t dare call ourselves unfree. The reason for this condition is that we are being circled from all directions. Those who seek any form of erotic experience besides monogamous heterosexual marriage are, again and again, made to feel wrong. Case in point: recently, all gay people were considered promiscuous deviants who were luring our children and going to fracture the foundation of civilization; therefore they had to be banned.

Today they want to get married, pay taxes and raise families, and: they have to be banned. By constitutional amendment, no less.

True, we live in a culture that visibly depicts plenty of sexual imagery, oh, it’s every damned place — like beer commercials: but I think this is part of the repression campaign. You get to see it and be taunted, not to experience it. The reason you get to see it most of the time is to sell you something, which is a way of capitalizing on the asphyxia created by the ominous rules and codes of our time in history, stated and unstated, that make the Victorian era look like the Woodstock festival.

The article I’m posting first is notable, in hindsight, for its stunning displays of ignorance in quarters that are supposedly committed to an enlightened viewpoint, and how my commitment to sex education grew over the years. The mentor who gave me my wings as a sex educator and encouraged me to claim the title was someone named Betty Dodson.

I also had, and sometimes still have, a very very very very cool therapist named Joe Trusso. I knew he was committed to the cause of keeping sexual awareness in the ‘on’ position, but one day after I had known him about 15 years (he’s a Taurus, like half the heavyweights in my life, so it might take a while) he invited me into the sex library he keeps in his home. He preserves as many old books about sex as he can find. I was astonished at how rich a collection he had made, some of it very old and rare stuff.

Overnight and into the morning, I plan to post a series of my favorite articles about sex. I will post a short introduction and the link, rather than moving the whole piece over to this blog platform. Since these are my personal favorites, you may have read them a few times. Have another look; who knows, you may discover something new. This is more designed for new visitors to Planet Waves.

The first piece I want to share is the story of why I became the way that I am. It starts with my mother, who provided for me an actual sex education. There is a miracle in this article because, after a long estrangement, this was a gesture to her that reminded her what a positive influence she was; a reminder that her intentions worked; she got through to me and she helped create someone dedicated to keeping the door open. It kindled a new friendship between us.

So without further delay, here is Pass the 7-Up, with love to Mom.