The Insatiable Wives

"This enlightening work investigates the history, incidence, and causes of a unique sexual lifestyle pursued by increasing numbers of couples. The most common terms used to describe it are 'hotwife/cuckold lifestyle.' This sexual practice, a form of sexual nonmonogamy, is distinguished from swinging and polyamory in that the husband rarely seeks sexual contact outside the marriage except for participation in group sex with his wife and other men, while the wife is permitted, and often encouraged, to pursue unrestrained sexual encounters with other men. The author includes interviews and comments from couples living the lifestyle throughout the United States and presents the stories in an attempt to determine the history of this sexual practice and evolutionary underpinnings of this uncommon and socially taboo behavior in an effort to make it more comprehensible to those engaged in the lifestyle and those who are just curious." -- page 4 of cover.

The media today is filled with powerful men in trouble for their sexual behaviors, and invariably, they are diagnosed as sexual addicts. Since Adam first hid his nakedness from God and pointed the finger at Eve, men have struggled to take responsibility for their sexuality. Over the past three decades, these behaviors have come to reflect not a moral failing, but instead, evidence of an ill-defined disease, that of "sexual addiction." The concept of sexual addiction is a controversial one because it is based on questionable research and subjective moral judgments. Labeling these behaviors as sex addiction asserts a false, dangerous myth that undermines personal responsibility. Not only does this epidemic of sex addiction excuses mislabel male sexuality as dangerous and unhealthy, but it destroys our ability to hold people accountable for their behaviors. By labeling males as weak and powerless before the onslaught and churning tide of lust, we take away those things that men should live up to: personal responsibility; integrity; self-control; independence; accountability; self-motivation; honor; respect for self and others. In The Myth of Sex Addiction, Ley presents the history and questionable science underlying this alleged disorder, exposing the moral and cultural judgments that are embedded in the concept, as well as the significant economic factors that drive the label of sex addiction in clinical practice and the popular media. Ley outlines how this label represents a social attack on many forms of sexuality--male sexuality in particular--as well as presenting the difficulty this label creates in holding people responsible for their sexual behaviors. Going against current assumptions and trends, Ley debunks the idea that sex addiction is real, or at least that it is as widespread as it appears to be. Instead, he suggests that the high-sex behaviors of some men is something that has been tacitly condoned for countless years and is only now labeled as a disorder as men are being held accountable to the same rules that have been applied to women. He suggests we should expect men to take responsibility for sexual choices, rather than supporting an approach that labels male sexual desire as a "demonic force" that must be resisted, feared, treated, and exorcised.

This book offers men non-shaming ways to understand and talk about how to use pornography responsibly.

Documents the stories of eight wives of Roman rulers, assessing their historical contributions and cultural influence and drawing parallels between modern first ladies and the lives of such ancient-world figures as Livia, Helena, and Julia.

A classic work on how women think about sex, from the New York Times–bestselling author of My Secret Garden and My Mother/Myself. Nancy Friday’s groundbreaking books such as Forbidden Flowers offered an unprecedented honest look at the inner fantasy lives of ordinary women. In Women on Top, Friday returns to this topic, collecting detailed sexual fantasies from over 150 contemporary women from diverse backgrounds. Based on intimate personal interviews and letters, this book updates the conversation started in her earlier works on women’s sexual fantasies, detailing how women’s erotic lives have changed—and remained the same. “This absorbing, titillating and empowering feminist book is also a ribald bedside companion.” —Publishers Weekly

The classic that revolutionized the way Americans see marriage. Sold more than 35 million copies and translated into 14 languages.

For anyone who wants to make a new marriage work or an old marriage stronger, here is inspiration and insight that no marriage counselor or psychologist could give you. In the wake of open marriage, marriage contracts, and no-fault divorce, the authors of this remarkable book have uncovered what it is that can make a marriage last a lifetime in these tumultuous times. Turning to the real experts (couples whose marriages have withstood the test of time), they have found that for all the striking dissimilarities in successful marriages, at the core of each is a real and definable commitment by the partners to each other and to the marriage. In the course of their research the authors have sat in hundreds of kitchens and living rooms listening to husbands and wives talk about how they have forged their relationships. The marriages range from two-paycheck, childless relationships to male-dominated families with a wife and kids at home, from affluent urban unions to marriages plagued with financial problems, from those fate has blessed to those it has been less kind to. What is highlighted again and again is the importance of putting marriage first in your life, of giving time a chance, and of believing that the good times will be renewed if a couple can get by the bad. Giving Time a Chance is a must for any couple planning to marry, for any couple thinking of divorce, for any couple wondering whether romance can be renewed, or for anyone questioning whether marriage still has a role in modern society. Here is a book for our times—a model of marriage in modern America.

A bestselling, groundbreaking author investigates wives who thrive, sharing their uncensored strategies for staying married. America’s high divorce rate is well known. But little attention has been paid to the flip side: couples who creatively manage to build marriages that are lasting longer than we ever thought possible. What’s the secret? To find out, bestselling journalist Iris Krasnow interviewed more than two hundred wives whose marriages have survived for fifteen to seventy years. In raw, candid, sometimes titillating stories, Krasnow’s cast of wise women give voice to the truth about marriage and the importance of maintaining a strong sense of self apart from the relationship. Some spend summers separately from their partners. Some make time for wine with the girls. One septuagenarian has a recurring date with an old flame from high school. In every case, the marriage operates on many tracks, giving both spouses license to pursue the question “Who am I apart from my marriage?” Krasnow’s goal is to give women permission to create their own marriages at any age. Marital bliss is possible, she says, if each partner is blissful apart from the other. For anyone who wants to stay married and stay sane, this is the book to read!

Jovinianus, about whom little more is known than what is to be found in Jerome's treatise, published a Latin treatise outlining several opinions: That a virgin is no better, as such, than a wife in the sight of God. Abstinence from food is no better than a thankful partaking of food. A person baptized with the Spirit as well as with water cannot sin. All sins are equal. There is but one grade of punishment and one of reward in the future state. In addition to this, he held the birth of Jesus Christ to have been by a "true parturition," and was thus refuting the orthodoxy of the time, according to which, the infant Jesus passed through the walls of the womb as his Resurrection body afterwards did, out of the tomb or through closed doors.