Is it ever just sex?

£11.99

‘It was just sex.’ It’s a familiar claim. But is it really possible? The old idea that sexuality is a smouldering, animalistic force within us, desperate for release yet restrained by social forces, has little to support it. Bodies aren’t just sticks that make fire when you rub them together, and the pain, heartache, and regret that can accompany the highs of sexual excitement show us that much more is at stake. So, what are we really thinking about when we think about sex? And what are we really doing when we do it? As psychoanalyst Darian Leader argues, with his trademark clarity, energy and wit, there is no such thing as ‘just sex’. It is always about so much more than that – about phantasy, anxiety, guilt, revenge, violence, love – and Leader draws on his analytic experience, historical research and case studies to explore their importance to every aspect of our sexual lives.

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SKU: 9780241998168 Category: Tags: , , , , Publisher/imprint : Penguin Books
Page count : 160
Published on 7th November, 2024

Description

‘Insanely readable! I loved it’ Slavoj Zizek

A delightfully thought-provoking study of why we have sex, from award-winning psychoanalyst Darian Leader

‘It was just sex?’
It’s a familiar claim. But it’s also an impossibility, as Darian Leader shows in this delightfully thought-provoking study.
Our bodies aren’t just sticks that make fire when you rub them together, and our minds don’t simply stand by – as we can see from the pain, heartache and regret that so often accompany the highs of sexual excitement.
As acclaimed psychoanalyst Darian Leader argues, with his trademark clarity, energy and wit, sex is always about so much more than itself – it’s about phantasy, anxiety, guilt, revenge, violence, love. Drawing on his long analytic experience, historical research and case studies to explore their importance to every aspect of our sexual lives, Leader brilliantly reveals what we are really thinking about when we think about sex – and what we are really doing when we do it.

‘A thoroughly engaging and ever-illuminating read’ iNews

‘One of our most important contemporary thinkers’ Guardian

‘Leader is as much a philosopher as a psychoanalyst and his ideas are engrossing and enlightening’ Metro

Additional information

Weight 0.207 kg
Dimensions 19.7 × 13 × 1.7 cm
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