Ooh er. Eek! Can I really write an opinion about this book?

Let's state the obvious to begin with: If men have the need for a little 'light relief', then the top shelves of most newsagents will cater to their desires (I'm not stating that ALL men need this sort of entertainment, but if they want it, they've got it). For the younger male of the species, the soft porn titillation of Loaded etc. may suffice; for those who need their daily breast, the tabloids always oblige; and for the more hardened of connoisseurs, a myriad of magazine titles sold in brown paper bags or hidden surreptitiously within the pages of The Financial Times.

Having sampled a few of the above, I can only wonder why the overall quality of general pornography (for men) has never been improved (I suppose most of the customer base is not that discerning). My biggest problem with the magazines are that they contain the most poorly written 'erotic' tales that wouldn't even turn my hamster on (not that he needs it, of course, he's a very contented and sexually fulfilled hamster). Instead they tease the masculine members with innumerable photographs of scrubby neighbours wives, teenage ticklers and hirsute whores.

Women TEND not to work in that basically visual stimulation way (not that I'm saying we're more advanced than you, but we are), and need a little more to tickle their 'fancy'. Yes, I know there are a couple of pornographic magazines for women on sale, but they are more the type of purchase one would make for your best mate's sixteenth birthday (along with a packet of pina colada condoms), and the models all seem to strike astoundingly 'gay' poses.

So, to the opinion about this book - Women On Top, by Nancy Friday:

I discovered this book in my teenage years, gracing the top shelf of my brother's bookshelf; he had bought it via one of those book clubs for a small amount of money, and it had been delivered by post in an unassuming brown cardboard bo
x (my brother was obviously avoiding the keen eyes of my mother). Being rather innocent to the contents, I sat down on my brother's bed to read. As my eyes grew wider with every turning page, I decided to steal away to my bedroom, book cached under arm, and to lock the door.

This book is a very detailed account of women's sexual fantasies: It's not a literary wonder, it's not even written that well, but the contents of this book are so raw and vivid, that it makes you squirm in your seat. Women On Top tries to disguise itself as an examination of the female sexual psyche - but what really lurks behind the unassuming cover, is a true blue (no, not conservative) porn mag for women.

The book is separated into three parts: Report from the erotic interior, Separating sex and love: In praise of masturbation (can I use that word?), and The fantasies.

Yes, section one and two are usually skimmed over in favour of the third, but I'll write about them too.

Part one: This is Nancy Friday letting us know her about her continuing battle against the masses, who 'misinterpret' her work: Friday has written a couple of worthwhile (in the loosest sense) books; My mother/My Self, was actually quite informative, but most of her work has been titillation in disguise (see My Secret Garden), I just wish she'd admit that. She expels her normal offerings of how women should liberate their sexuality, admit their desires and no longer deny themselves. Fair enough.

Part Two: Friday goes on to justify herself by wandering into history; she writes about the role of women as takers, the sanctity of sperm and the dear Dr. Kellogg and his aversion to spilling bodily fluids. She offers us tales of why masturbation is bad, and then informs us of why we should partake in this particular practice. She writes about her own discoveries, nice girls, macho men and eventually the rights of sexual freedom. O.K. now that's finished, let's get on with the interestin
g bit...

Part Three: The fantasies are real (as real as fantasies can be, I suppose); they are letters that have been collected by Friday specifically for the book. They are mostly from younger women, but that is where the similarities of authors ends. They fall into three chapters: Seductive, sometimes sadistic, sexually controlling women, Women with women (I hear that heavy breathing), and Insatiable women: The cry for "more". Each fantasy has a short biographical introduction to the author: Assumed name, age, marital status etc.

Seductive is a collection of fantasies where the female writing is most definitely in control; she might be young, or married to a male chauvinist, she may play at being the coquette, but underneath the visage of sweetness, lays the urge to command the situation: Corporate bonking with the boss, lumping with the lumberjacks, lusty Goddesses and occasionally the odd husband - these fantasies take the upper hand in the situation. Most the fantasies are written with a filthy mouth and in extreme detail, the odd one or two that are a little virginal can quickly be noted and skipped.

Women with women: Need I say any more? Lots and lots and lots of fantastical sexual exchanges between members of the same sex; it's quite bizarre to read that so many heterosexual women (married or single) harbor these unfulfilled desires within themselves. Many of them don't even question their sexuality, stating that they prefer men; I do wonder what would happen if all the women that wrote in this section actually set about fulfilling their fantasies, but repressed is the underlying code word for this chapter.

Insatiable women is probably the strangest of chapters, with one great sub title of: If I had a penis(why do I instantly think of the song "If I had a hammer"?). These are seriously lurid chicks, writing about the extremes of sexual behavior and prowess. Nancy Friday tries to enlighten us on the fact that some women h
ave a larger, longer, wider sexual appetite than men, but the fantasies themselves readily provide us with this information.

I obviously can't write any of the fantasies out here (copyright, you see?), but needless to say, there's some roaring goings on in all three chapters.

This was never going to be a book that won any awards; Friday tries to create a genre that can bring sexual information, and therefore knowledge and freedom, to her readers. I suppose that most of her books CAN do this, but they remain a collection of erotic fables that her audience take great pleasure getting their teeth into.

At the end of the book, Friday invites both women and men to send her their sexual fantasies for further books. She guarantees anonymity - so get scribbling.

Women on Top, Nancy Friday, 1991.
Also by the same author: My Secret Garden, My Mother/My Self, Men In Love, Forbidden Flowers, Jealousy.