Beyond My Control: Forbidden Fantasies in an Uncensored Age
Sexual mores certainly have changed since Friday first chronicled women’s fantasies in My Secret Garden (1973). With sexuality in plain sight on every screen and page, this connoisseur of “rich erotic thoughts” decided to conduct a new survey, asking today’s women and, for the first time, men, to share their turn-on scenarios. What Friday discovered is that men and women of every sexual orientation, age, and degree of experience are aroused by visions of “forbidden sex” and fantasies involving domination. Her theories about the allure of erotic reveries about surrender and submission are based on sensitive observations about single-parent households (she was raised without a father), the changing status of women in the workplace, and the enormous sexual influence of the Internet. Cyber-age masturbation, exhibitionism and voyeurism, incest, and S&M are all analyzed with respect, common sense, and humor, in keeping with Friday’s abiding belief that sexual fantasy, satisfaction, and freedom are natural and healthy for individuals and society. That must make sharing these scorching sexual fantasies nothing less than a public service. --Donna Seaman