Discover and awaken your inner sexual persona! This instructive, inspiring, and comprehensive sex manual manages to be simultaneously hot, dirty, and nasty—and politically correct! Sex educator Carol Queen offers a road map for enhancing individual and partnered erotic pleasure. She gives women and men of all sexual persuasions permission to be sexy and move back and forth at will between a public persona and a privately enticing sexual jewel. No matter how reserved you are—or aren't—Exhibitionism for the Shy offers not-to-be missed tips for turning diffidence into personal sexual empowerment and pleasure. Carol Queen has contributed to numerous anthologies, including the Herotica series. You can see Carol at her best by watching her videotaped lesson on how to use vibrators for enhancing masturbation and partner sex.

Reader Comments

A reader from Philadelphia, PA, March 7, 1998
"I sure wish Mom had known Carol Queen. This book is such a wise mix of good information, humor, sound and sometimes surprising advice, good slow hand fever, and marvelous appreciation of our humanity and sexual diversity. Hurray for Carol Queen. She makes sex education as warm and open and as much fun as it ought to be."

A reader from Portland, OR, February 18, 1998
"Go ahead—read it! It's difficult to write a punless review of this surprisingly serious book, which is deep, kind-hearted, and important. Queen's a reverential philosopher of sex, and she knows something about shyness, too. She admits it takes a good therapist to overcome this stuff, but lets us in on what she does know that might help! She never trivializes or minimizes her readers' hangups; she's a teacher of the best sort. Queen is experienced in all areas—she's done everything—and knows and respects human sexuality of all stripes. She wants to teach its happiest and best expression to her readers. Along with some comparatively unusual practices are words of amazing wisdom. Good ideas for ways to think about, talk about, and practice masturbation and safe sex with panache. I might not follow her advice word for word (I'm still too shy), but I loved this book."

Quotes from the book

The whole point of Exhibitionism for the Shy is to assure you that, no matter who you are or what you look like, your sex life and sexual self-image can be enhanced by learning to be more erotically outgoing. (p. 2) Exhibitionism for the Shy is about overcoming sexual shyness and reticence and projecting your sexuality in a confident, erotic, arousing way. It's about finding your inner turn-ons and expressing them. Exploring erotic exhibitionism and talk lets your fantasies and your own sexuality blossom, especially when you learn how to find and play with compatible partners. These forms of erotic play will help move you past shyness and into your own rich, confident sexuality. (p. 4)

Not long after I'd begun graduate school I followed my fascination to a group safe sex party where only masturbation was permitted. Of course, there are infinite ways to make masturbation interesting, especially when you have help! I wound up on a sofa jilling off (that's like jacking off, only female) with several enthusiastic, competent assistants and a semi-circle of people standing nearby watching. I found myself coming again and again–a sure sign that I was on to something, since I had never been multiply orgasmic in my life. Since I had been masturbating–alone–to a similar fantasy for years, it's no surprise that it worked wonders when I finally got to try it out. I began to identify myself as a sexual exhibitionist. (p. 9)

The point of becoming more comfortable with exhibitionism is to help you become more comfortable with who you are, not to transform you into someone you're not. (p. 11) Exhibitionism is about projecting and feeling our eroticism. (p. 27)

You may have already discovered how richly you can enhance your life by taking care of your own needs for sex and sensuality through masturbation, fantasy, and other sorts of self-pleasuring. I don't mean perfunctory jacking or jilling off here, though masturbation can relieve tension like nothing else can. I mean, rather, truly sensual, leisurely self-exploration, where you set the mood, take time to explore your physical responses, and devote yourself to your own pleasure.... Self-pleasuring has its own bountiful rewards, including heightened self-esteem, feeling more alive and powerful, more sexual satisfaction, and orgasms, too! If you've been hesitant to masturbate, or do so but feel uncomfortable about it because it's not "the real thing," let me assure you that not only are you the real thing, but also that through masturbation you will bring more of yourself to your partnered lovemaking. (p. 51) Masturbation is your own erotic time, and devoting it to your most intense turn-ons will not only loosen you up for sharing with a partner, it will be its own reward. (p. 65)

Solo Touch's Evaluation

This is a GREAT book. We encourage everyone to read it and practice what Carol recommends.