From tribal religious rituals to the Playboy mansion, and from ancient Rome to Burning Man, Plays Well in Groups explores the phenomenon of group sex. Author Katherine Frank draws on surveys, ethnographic research, participant interviews, and more to provide explanations for both, participation in group sex and our complex reactions to it, from fascination to fear. This book looks at group sex across cultures-who has it, and why. Group sex is almost always taboo and often criminalized, and yet it persists across cultures throughout history. Plays Well in Groups looks at the symbolism of orgies, as well as contemporary manifestations of group sex in bathhouses and public sex venues, at BDSM and swinging parties, on Craigslist, and in political scandals, Tantra classes, reality television, and more. Frank explores the many reasons people participate in group sex, from arousal to spiritual transcendence, in this bold study of subversive sexuality.

Compares today's same-sex marriage movement to the experiences of black people in the mid-nineteenth century. The staggering string of victories by the gay rights movement's campaign for marriage equality raises questions not only about how gay people have been able to successfully deploy marriage to elevate their social and legal reputation, but also what kind of freedom and equality the ability to marry can mobilize. Wedlocked turns to history to compare today's same-sex marriage movement to the experiences of newly emancipated black people in the mid-nineteenth century, when they were able to legally marry for the first time. Maintaining that the transition to greater freedom was both wondrous and perilous for newly emancipated people, Katherine Franke relates stories of former slaves' involvements with marriage and draws lessons that serve as cautionary tales for today's marriage rights movements. While "be careful what you wish for" is a prominent theme, they also teach us how the rights-bearing subject is inevitably shaped by the very rights they bear, often in ways that reinforce racialized gender norms and stereotypes. Franke further illuminates how the racialization of same-sex marriage has redounded to the benefit of the gay rights movement while contributing to the ongoing subordination of people of color and the diminishing reproductive rights of women. Like same-sex couples today, freed African-American men and women experienced a shift in status from outlaws to in-laws, from living outside the law to finding their private lives organized by law and state licensure. Their experiences teach us the potential and the perils of being subject to legal regulation: rights-and specifically the right to marriage-can both burden and set you free.

Virginia Woolf said of Emily Brontë that her writing could "make the wind blow and the thunder roar," and so it does in Wuthering Heights. Catherine Earnshaw, Heathcliff, and the windswept moors that are the setting of their mythic love are as immediately stirring to the reader of today as they have been for every generation of readers since the novel was first published in 1847. With an introduction by Katherine Frank.

Based on her experiences as a stripper in a city she calls Laurelton--a southeastern city renowned for its strip clubs--anthropologist Katherine Frank provides a fascinating insider's account of the personal and cultural fantasies motivating male heterosexual strip club "regulars." Given that all of the clubs where she worked prohibited physical contact between the exotic dancers and their customers, in "G-Strings and Sympathy" Frank asks what--if not sex or even touching--the repeat customers were purchasing from the clubs and from the dancers. She finds that the clubs provide an intermediate space--not work, not home--where men can enjoyably experience their bodies and selves through conversation, fantasy, and ritualized voyeurism. At the same time, she shows how the dynamics of male pleasure and privilege in strip clubs are intertwined with ideas about what it means to be a man in contemporary America.

Frank's ethnography draws on her work as an exotic dancer in five clubs, as well as on her interviews with over thirty regular customers--middle-class men in their late-twenties to mid-fifties. Reflecting on the customers' dual desires for intimacy and visibility, she explores their paradoxical longings for "authentic" interactions with the dancers, the ways these aspirations are expressed within the highly controlled and regulated strip clubs, and how they relate to beliefs and fantasies about social class and gender. She considers how regular visits to strip clubs are not necessarily antithetical to marriage or long-term heterosexual relationships, but are based on particular beliefs about marriage and monogamy that make these clubs desirable venues. Looking at the relative "classiness" of the clubs where she worked--ranging from the city's most prestigious clubs to some of its dive bars--she reveals how the clubs are differentiated by reputations, dress codes, cover charges, locations, and clientele, and describes how these distinctions become meaningful and erotic for the customers. Interspersed throughout the book are three fictional interludes that provide an intimate look at Frank's experiences as a stripper--from the outfits to the gestures, conversations, management, coworkers, and, of course, the customers.

Focusing on the experiences of the male clients, rather than those of the female sex workers, "G-Strings and Sympathy" provides a nuanced, lively, and tantalizing account of the stigmatized world of strip clubs.

Compares today's same-sex marriage movement to the experiences of black people in the mid-nineteenth century. The staggering string of victories by the gay rights movement's campaign for marriage equality raises questions not only about how gay people have been able to successfully deploy marriage to elevate their social and legal reputation, but also what kind of freedom and equality the ability to marry can mobilize. Wedlocked turns to history to compare today's same-sex marriage movement to the experiences of newly emancipated black people in the mid-nineteenth century, when they were able to legally marry for the first time. Maintaining that the transition to greater freedom was both wondrous and perilous for newly emancipated people, Katherine Franke relates stories of former slaves' involvements with marriage and draws lessons that serve as cautionary tales for today's marriage rights movements. While "be careful what you wish for" is a prominent theme, they also teach us how the rights-bearing subject is inevitably shaped by the very rights they bear, often in ways that reinforce racialized gender norms and stereotypes. Franke further illuminates how the racialization of same-sex marriage has redounded to the benefit of the gay rights movement while contributing to the ongoing subordination of people of color and the diminishing reproductive rights of women. Like same-sex couples today, freed African-American men and women experienced a shift in status from outlaws to in-laws, from living outside the law to finding their private lives organized by law and state licensure. Their experiences teach us the potential and the perils of being subject to legal regulation: rights-and specifically the right to marriage-can both burden and set you free.

The most gifted of her famous, troubled family, Emily Bronte has too often been portrayed in "storm-tossed, sentimental" biographies, according to Katherine Frank. Now Frank presents a startling new interpretation: pledged to self-denial and social isolation, Emily starved herself, contributing to her wild imagination. 16-page insert.

Plays Well in Groups provides a historical and cultural history of group sex throughout the ages. From depictions in Paleolithic cave art to the Playboy mansion, Katherine Frank delves into the fields of sociology, biology, anthropology, and psychology to provide explanations for both, participation in group sex and the complex reactions to it-from fascination to fear. This book draws on survey research, ethnographic observation around the world, and interviews with participants to offer a cross-cultural look at the manifestations and meanings of group sex; who has it, and why. Group sex is by definition non-monogamous, although not all kinds of non-monogamy involve group sex. Having sex willingly in the presence of observers, or with multiple participants, crosses a line of social propriety in many societies. Links between ritual sex and spirituality have been found throughout history, and words like "bliss," "passion," and "ecstasy" can describe both spiritual and sexual highs. Although anthropologists have identified very few, if any, truly universal taboos, taboos, such as public displays of sexual behavior and multiple, consecutive partners, are still widespread. Frank aims to bring forth some general explanations for these taboos that are present in local and specific explorations of human activity.

A rising interest in stripping as a form of exercise has attracted celebrities such as Teri Hatcher This book gives a glimpse of what exotic dancing is like from the eyes of the stripper, and reignites the fundamental debate of empowerment vs exploitation. It is useful for those concerned with sexual politics and interested workers in related industries. With a recent burst of feature films, documentaries, and books on strippers, the business of exotic dancing is hotter than ever. Over the last decade, there has been a steadily expanding interest in exotic dance, from its role as an "art form" to its benefits as a means of exercise. While the breadth of discussion generated on this topic has expanded, the fundamental debate remains the same: are female strippers empowering themselves or allowing themselves to be exploited? With her follow-up to "Jane Sexes It Up: True Confessions of Feminist Desire", M. Lisa Johnson moves beyond the old debates, and gives the reader a glimpse of what exotic dancing is like through the eyes of the stripper. The essays in "Flesh for Fantasy" cover everything from workplace policies and conditions, legal restrictions, customer behavior, and the struggle to overcome the stereotypes associated with the profession.