Entertaining and informative, Julie Fennell's Please Scream Quietly: A Story of Kink is an exemplary work of carnal sociology. Deeply researched and chock-full of social scientific wisdom, the book offers a rich and illuminating introduction to kinkster subculture in the United States. Read it for Fennell's insights on sexuality, gender, and culture. Teach it if you dare!
Fennell provides an up-close view of kinky culture, but does so using a sociological lens. Her description of how a sociologist looks at the world (like Sherlock) is spot-on. We are trained to make the familiar strange and I believe Fennell does a wonderful job at doing that.
Fennell's work is invaluable--too often, as researchers, we leave out the fact that sex and pleasure are fun and enjoyable. Fennell expertly captures the emotionality and sensuality of BDSM. Fennell's position as an insider is an asset and she directly engages in discussions of positionality and how this can inform scholarly work if one maintains a critical subjectivity. Her recognition of the inherent value of subjective experience in the study of sexuality is novel and, quite frankly, necessary. The work is bold and engaging and grounds her subjective experience within the scientific and empirical literature, while maintaining a writing style that is engaging and inclusive. This book can easily appeal to a wide audience. Fennell addresses some of the most important issues in BDSM and kink: safety, consent, and the shame and stigma that has plagued the community due to the pathologizing of these behaviors. Her raw and honest analysis of perceptions and experiences adds considerably to the knowledge on BDSM, kink, and sexuality.
I really loved the writing style of this book. It was engaging, accessible, and easy to read, without being simplistic. It was like having a really smart friend explain the BDSM scene. The author said that she was aiming this book at a more popular audience, and I think she succeeded at writing a book that can appeal to lay people without sacrificing intellectual rigor.
Julie Fennell's engaging semi-autoethnography, Please Scream Quietly: A Story of Kink, explores the mid-Atlantic kink community with nuance and depth, challenging the ways that outsiders and academics have been biased in their treatment of kink culture and calling us forward into new transferable models of research, consent, and responsibility.
The author takes you step-by-step into the Scene, offering an intimate portrayal of why, when, and how self-proclaimed "kinksters" engage in the Scene, as well as interrogating what is "normal" and "kinky" when the lines between them are blurring rapidly.
This book gets high marks for originality and authenticity. The author fills a gap in the BDSM academic literature by conducting fieldwork from an insider's perspective. Please Scream Quietly is methodologically sound and a great book for students in human sexuality, gender, and intimate relationships courses, BDSM researchers, or anyone who wants to gain insight into this interesting community.
While other texts de-sexualize and make "stuffy" or boring the topic, this book is a frank and honest look at the community in which the author is situated.
This book gets high marks for originality and authenticity. The author fills a gap in the BDSM academic literature by conducting fieldwork from an insider’s perspective. Please Scream Quietly is methodologically sound and a great book for students in human sexuality, gender, and intimate relationships courses, BDSM researchers, or anyone who wants to gain insight into this interesting community.
Fennell provides an up-close view of kinky culture, but does so using a sociological lens. Her description of how a sociologist looks at the world (like Sherlock) is spot-on. We are trained to make the familiar strange and I believe Fennell does a wonderful job at doing that.
I really loved the writing style of this book. It was engaging, accessible, and easy to read, without being simplistic. It was like having a really smart friend explain the BDSM scene. The author said that she was aiming this book at a more popular audience, and I think she succeeded at writing a book that can appeal to lay people without sacrificing intellectual rigor.
Entertaining and informative, Julie Fennell’s Please Scream Quietly: A Story of Kink is an exemplary work of carnal sociology. Deeply researched and chock-full of social scientific wisdom, the book offers a rich and illuminating introduction to kinkster subculture in the United States. Read it for Fennell’s insights on sexuality, gender, and culture. Teach it if you dare!
Fennell’s work is invaluable—too often, as researchers, we leave out the fact that sex and pleasure are fun and enjoyable. Fennell expertly captures the emotionality and sensuality of BDSM. Fennell’s position as an insider is an asset and she directly engages in discussions of positionality and how this can inform scholarly work if one maintains a critical subjectivity. Her recognition of the inherent value of subjective experience in the study of sexuality is novel and, quite frankly, necessary. The work is bold and engaging and grounds her subjective experience within the scientific and empirical literature, while maintaining a writing style that is engaging and inclusive. This book can easily appeal to a wide audience. Fennell addresses some of the most important issues in BDSM and kink: safety, consent, and the shame and stigma that has plagued the community due to the pathologizing of these behaviors. Her raw and honest analysis of perceptions and experiences adds considerably to the knowledge on BDSM, kink, and sexuality.
The author takes you step-by-step into the Scene, offering an intimate portrayal of why, when, and how self-proclaimed "kinksters" engage in the Scene, as well as interrogating what is "normal" and "kinky" when the lines between them are blurring rapidly.
Julie Fennell’s engaging semi-autoethnography, Please Scream Quietly: A Story of Kink, explores the mid-Atlantic kink community with nuance and depth, challenging the ways that outsiders and academics have been biased in their treatment of kink culture and calling us forward into new transferable models of research, consent, and responsibility.
While other texts de-sexualize and make "stuffy" or boring the topic, this book is a frank and honest look at the community in which the author is situated.
