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Come as You Are: The Surprising New Science that Will Transform Your Sex Life
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An essential exploration of why and how women’s sexuality works—based on groundbreaking research and brain science—that will radically transform your sex life into one filled with confidence and joy.
Researchers have spent the last decade trying to develop a “pink pill” for women to function like Viagra does for men. So where is it? Well, for reasons this book makes crystal ...more
Researchers have spent the last decade trying to develop a “pink pill” for women to function like Viagra does for men. So where is it? Well, for reasons this book makes crystal ...more
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Start your review of Come as You Are: The Surprising New Science that Will Transform Your Sex Life
All right so this is not the book I thought it was when I got it, and I apologise for a rating that would surely be higher if I were part of the target audience. I was hoping it was a survey of the latest scientific research into arousal disorders and sexuality; in fact, it's a very selective presentation of those pieces of research that are considered helpful in ‘promoting women's sexual well-being, autonomy and pleasure’. Studies, however revealing, which do not promote such things are ignored
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The information in this book is solid gold. A copy should be put in the hands of every person, ideally before they've had sexual contact with another person. But. BUT. The metaphors. Dear Lord, the metaphors. We have sexuality as an accelerator and brakes, sexuality as an overgrown garden, sexuality as a hot water heater, complex feelings as a sleeping hedgehog, sexual interest as a customers seeking a diner, sexual expectations as a touchy monitor tapping her fingernails, our brains as a flock
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Ok when I saw the tile of this book it thought probably what everyone else though about this book. (Ok the introduction and chapter 8 and appendix one might be, but the rest is science over myth), If it did not come so highly recommended from a respected friend of mine from uni. I probably would not every given it the first look. Read is as some "light reading" doing her PhD in Psychology. So of course she decided to experiment on her friend to get a male perspective on the book. So let me get t
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An excellent book about women physiology and the psychology of sexual arousal and pleasure. It uses the latest scientific discoveries about women sexuality to debunk some myths and to try to improve life between the sheets. I read it for the science because you can never now enough about the subject and I was not disappointed.
The bottom line of the book is that women physiology and sexuality was viewed, explained and criticized from men’s lens and standards. As the author clearly explains, wome ...more
The bottom line of the book is that women physiology and sexuality was viewed, explained and criticized from men’s lens and standards. As the author clearly explains, wome ...more
It’s hard not to love a book with a pseudo-vagina on the front; it’s even harder not to love that same book for smashing all the preconceived ideas we have about female (and by comparison, male) sexuality. Like, for example, did you know that the hymen as an indication of virginity is entirely a social construction and there is no scientific evidence backing it? Using actual, real science, Dr. Emily Nagoski – a speak-the-truth-and-only-the-truth sex educator/professor – breaks down all the thing
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Come As You Are is absolutely the best book I've ever read, not just on sex, but on life and well being in general. Why read another book on sex? Because Emily describes how your brain and your life work together to create desire, and how to experience more pleasure, more joy, and more confidence with your relationships AND with sex.
But this isn't the usual sex book with lavish promises of ecstasy by learning detailed techniques of where to put this and how to put it there. Emily gives you scie ...more
But this isn't the usual sex book with lavish promises of ecstasy by learning detailed techniques of where to put this and how to put it there. Emily gives you scie ...more
2 stars - Meh. Just ok.
I love the concept behind this book and it started off very interesting and introduced several facts of which I was not previously aware. Unfortunately, it then became a long repetitive read with the bulk majority of the information being mostly common sense, and started to feel like a self-help book vs a nonfiction book on a fascinating topic. I found myself doing a lot of skimming on the back half wondering if there would be another interesting chapter coming up (like th ...more
I love the concept behind this book and it started off very interesting and introduced several facts of which I was not previously aware. Unfortunately, it then became a long repetitive read with the bulk majority of the information being mostly common sense, and started to feel like a self-help book vs a nonfiction book on a fascinating topic. I found myself doing a lot of skimming on the back half wondering if there would be another interesting chapter coming up (like th ...more
Books like this are why I LOVE non-fiction.
This should be required reading on female sexuality, both for those with vaginas and those who are interested in or love someone with a vagina. I mention the parts here because they ARE a big component of the book. This is a guide to how everyone has the same parts, rearranged differently, and it's our perception of that and relationship with that mentality that changes our feelings, perceptions, and experiences of sex itself.
Nagoski writes in an empow ...more
This should be required reading on female sexuality, both for those with vaginas and those who are interested in or love someone with a vagina. I mention the parts here because they ARE a big component of the book. This is a guide to how everyone has the same parts, rearranged differently, and it's our perception of that and relationship with that mentality that changes our feelings, perceptions, and experiences of sex itself.
Nagoski writes in an empow ...more
Come as You Are: The Surprising New Science that Will Transform Your Sex Life is a nonfiction, self-help book written by sex educator, researcher, and author Emily Nagoski. It educates about a variety of issues that impact women's sexuality, and while some of it got quite repetitive in my opinion and I didn't quite take away as much new information as I expected to, I'm glad I read it. My favorite part discussed how the model of sexual response is based entirely on how men work, and if women fai
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I kept searching for the "SCIENCE" that was promised in the title. There was some there, but the book is a soft self affirmation. There were some interesting bits, but not enough to warrant a full reading.
...more
This book not only unpacks all of the damage and misleading imbedded ideas our culture passes down each generation to both women AND men about female sexuality, but it also dives into all the practices and ways one can untangle such a mess and reclaim ones unique sexual identity.
From understanding that everyone (all sexes) are made of the exact same parts, just organized differently, to grasping the idea that if your 'map' doesn't match your 'forest/garden/land', the map is wrong - not you; thi ...more
From understanding that everyone (all sexes) are made of the exact same parts, just organized differently, to grasping the idea that if your 'map' doesn't match your 'forest/garden/land', the map is wrong - not you; thi ...more
For some women I have no doubt this would be a life-changing book. I definitely learned some cool stuff, things I am pissed that I did not know (because, patriarchy). But I guess I'm lucky enough that I don't really need the 'self-help' of this book to help with my sex life, and this aspect is really the meat of the book. Also, Nagoski acknowledges that the book is for and about cisgender women, so that omission didn't bother me (there isn't enough science about trans women or enby people), but
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3.5-4 stars
very informative, assuring and confidence building :)
felt it was directed towards couples who’ve been together for a long time and their sex life has dwindled a bit which is very far from what i am lol
but as a single gal wanting to feel more empowered about her sexuality, i felt it was still worth the read and i took away a lot of valuable lessons, the main one being: YOU ARE NORMAL
i’m going to work on context, compassion to myself and being fully present and see where it takes me 👀❤️ ...more
very informative, assuring and confidence building :)
felt it was directed towards couples who’ve been together for a long time and their sex life has dwindled a bit which is very far from what i am lol
but as a single gal wanting to feel more empowered about her sexuality, i felt it was still worth the read and i took away a lot of valuable lessons, the main one being: YOU ARE NORMAL
i’m going to work on context, compassion to myself and being fully present and see where it takes me 👀❤️ ...more
This review and others @Bookerification
Rating: 4 stars
Cover: 🌟🌟🌟
With the bright pink background and pseudo-vagina, I would have found this book cover more striking if the features had been arranged and formatted slightly differently. As it is, the design looks nice enough and is fitting for the genre.
"The Clit, the Whole Clit, and Nothing but the Clit"
Writing: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
From the start, Emily Nagoski's writing style is clear and easy to follow. The casual, conversational tone may n ...more
Rating: 4 stars
Cover: 🌟🌟🌟
With the bright pink background and pseudo-vagina, I would have found this book cover more striking if the features had been arranged and formatted slightly differently. As it is, the design looks nice enough and is fitting for the genre.
"The Clit, the Whole Clit, and Nothing but the Clit"
Writing: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
From the start, Emily Nagoski's writing style is clear and easy to follow. The casual, conversational tone may n ...more
Oct 03, 2020
Joanne Harris
added it
I've taken awhile to finish this, partly because I read it twice, and also because it requires careful thought and time to process. Pretty much every page contains some new and surprising concept on sexuality, body image and self-esteem. Written in clear, simple, sympathetic prose, every woman - and arguably, every man who has ever been baffled by a woman's sexuality - should read this.
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When the title of a book claims to tackle “The Surprising New Science,” I would expect to actually have new research references and more sciencey information about “responsive desire” vs “spontaneous desire,” arousal disorders, and women sexuality. But then again, it is followed by the highly self-help-ish “Will Transform Your Sex Life,” so I should have known better.
The author does throw in some studies and articles - plus some Plato, for good measure -, but the chatty tone of the book is rath ...more
The author does throw in some studies and articles - plus some Plato, for good measure -, but the chatty tone of the book is rath ...more
This book reminds me why I hate reading self help books.
I listened an interview with the writer in a podcast and read couple of chapters and enjoyed it. However the remaining of the book is pretty disappointing. Writer thinks she is funny and she is not. And the style is mostly for teenagers. There are some useful information but it feels too redundant since she keeps repeating the same things over and over again. Some arguments are pretty fallacious.
I laughed out loud when she made an analogy ...more
I listened an interview with the writer in a podcast and read couple of chapters and enjoyed it. However the remaining of the book is pretty disappointing. Writer thinks she is funny and she is not. And the style is mostly for teenagers. There are some useful information but it feels too redundant since she keeps repeating the same things over and over again. Some arguments are pretty fallacious.
I laughed out loud when she made an analogy ...more
Updating review: I wrote this review almost five years ago. I'm cringing at using "lady parts". I still stick to my five star review, it helped me open up a lot sexually. I still recommend it to everyone, whether you identify as man or woman.
Original review:
I picked up this book because I was interested in the science and emotion connecting woman’s sexuality without sounding like a text-book or a Cosmo article. This book doesn’t just talk about your lady parts, it celebrates them, a notion I’m ...more
Original review:
I picked up this book because I was interested in the science and emotion connecting woman’s sexuality without sounding like a text-book or a Cosmo article. This book doesn’t just talk about your lady parts, it celebrates them, a notion I’m ...more
If there's anything that has been stopping you from reading about women's health and sexual wellbeing (first of all ask yourself why - if you are judgmental of it, let's address that first and kindly come back to this with an open mind), it doesn't get easier than picking this baby up!
I don't know by what circumstances I have come across this book, maybe this title came to me in a dream, maybe the forces that control this universe delivered it through necessary intervention (and with the use of ...more
I don't know by what circumstances I have come across this book, maybe this title came to me in a dream, maybe the forces that control this universe delivered it through necessary intervention (and with the use of ...more
This book is so fantastic. I want to hand it out on the street. I want to buy a copy for every bridal shower I ever go to (for the bride AND groom). I want to buy two copies to save and give to my daughters one day. It's just great.
Emily Nagoski. Can we be friends please? She's such a wise, understanding, encouraging, inspiring scientist!
Her main ideas are that women's sexuality is not men's-sexuality-lite, that women approach sex (attraction, desire, arousal) differently and that's normal, an ...more
Emily Nagoski. Can we be friends please? She's such a wise, understanding, encouraging, inspiring scientist!
Her main ideas are that women's sexuality is not men's-sexuality-lite, that women approach sex (attraction, desire, arousal) differently and that's normal, an ...more
Everyone with a vagina or interested in interacting with a vagina needs to read this book!
For me to finish a nonfiction book it must be good. Even though this book is geared towards a female audience, there is a lot of information that applies to men too. And it is beneficial as a man to better understand a woman’s feelings and how her body works. There were a lot of metaphors that I found helpful, but were a bit much at times. The audiobook was narrated by the author and I thought she was delightful to listen to. This is a book that everyone should read.
Oct 04, 2022
Mel Thomas
added it
Wow, uh, so, this book made me cry a lot! The thing that I didn’t totally understand going in (or perhaps understood intellectually but not emotionally) is that in order to improve both the quality of the sex you’re having (either with yourself or with others) and your relationship with your own sexuality, you’re gonna have to both have a comprehensive remedial sex ed class AND the most intense therapy session of your life, combined, and that’s what this book is. But Nagoski approaches that chal
...more
This book was awesome for some reasons and a bit cringe-worthy for others. I'll start out with the good: This book is full of things that any person even remotely interested in sex should know. The author references specific studies, which lend credibility to her concepts. The book is empowering to women, assuring them that it is the sex culture that is the problem, not the way that women experience pleasure and desire - the map is wrong, not the terrain. This is a valuable message for people on
...more
This is a book that everyone would read!
While it is framed as a book for women, there are so few times when it is women specific that I really wish it was just framed as a book for people.
The most important topics covered in this book are:
How the media misinforms people as to what is normal for people's sex life (hint: everything is normal).
Nonconcordence - where peoples bodies and desires act in opposite ways, and why this can happen.
Responsive desire- Where rather than becoming aroused seeming ...more
While it is framed as a book for women, there are so few times when it is women specific that I really wish it was just framed as a book for people.
The most important topics covered in this book are:
How the media misinforms people as to what is normal for people's sex life (hint: everything is normal).
Nonconcordence - where peoples bodies and desires act in opposite ways, and why this can happen.
Responsive desire- Where rather than becoming aroused seeming ...more
I just want to buy this book for every woman I know. No, every PERSON I know. Nagoski gives the explanation of female sexuality that I think most of us didn't get in health class or anywhere else really.
The subtitle is click-bait-y. I do think this book has the power to improve the sex lives of those who read it, but not because it's some kind of kinky how-to book. It can do this because it's a great explanation of how women's bodies work and how history and culture have done us a great disserv ...more
The subtitle is click-bait-y. I do think this book has the power to improve the sex lives of those who read it, but not because it's some kind of kinky how-to book. It can do this because it's a great explanation of how women's bodies work and how history and culture have done us a great disserv ...more
5/5 stars
A wonderful introduction to human sexuality - female specifically - and what it means to be human. Also a great introduction to sexual ethics, anatomy and feminist philosophy.
A wonderful introduction to human sexuality - female specifically - and what it means to be human. Also a great introduction to sexual ethics, anatomy and feminist philosophy.
This is not my usual type of read, but I found it very enlightening. Honestly, I started off a bit skeptical since I really didn’t expect to learn much. I’ve been with the same man for almost 5 years and I thought I was pretty sex-educated. Not that I claim to be an expert or anything, but I simply thought there wouldn’t be much I hadn’t heard of in this book. Boy, was I wrong. There were terms for things I didn’t even realize had terms. She put into words things I’ve personally experienced, thi
...more
This did more for my mental health than my sexual health, tbh. But then again a big narrative of this book is that where you are mentally affects where you are sexually, which makes sense.
The book has 9 chapters and at the end of each chapter it has a TL;DR section, so I'm going to do that for this review. Here are MY main takeaways:
1. Everyone is born with a garden to tend (that's our sexuality). What's planted in that garden isn't up to us, it's up to our parents and other outside influences. ...more
The book has 9 chapters and at the end of each chapter it has a TL;DR section, so I'm going to do that for this review. Here are MY main takeaways:
1. Everyone is born with a garden to tend (that's our sexuality). What's planted in that garden isn't up to us, it's up to our parents and other outside influences. ...more
What an incredible, incredible book. Every woman should have this book and treat it as a bible. Even man should have a read of it. I’m serious.
First of all, what I love about this book is that it doesn’t discriminate against anyone. Emily makes sure that no woman feels “weird”, or “too much”. We are all “normal” in our desires and feelings about sex. She explains the reasoning behind how some women may have little interest in sex, while others may want it more.
She also tells us how to explain t ...more
First of all, what I love about this book is that it doesn’t discriminate against anyone. Emily makes sure that no woman feels “weird”, or “too much”. We are all “normal” in our desires and feelings about sex. She explains the reasoning behind how some women may have little interest in sex, while others may want it more.
She also tells us how to explain t ...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goodreads Librari...: Kindly combine these | 3 | 16 | Sep 08, 2022 02:05AM | |
| Goodreads Librari...: Please add page count | 5 | 34 | Apr 25, 2022 09:29PM | |
| Goodreads Librari...: ISBN: 978-1-9821-6531-4 | 3 | 11 | Mar 02, 2022 04:50PM | |
| Goodreads Librari...: please add cover image for audio edition | 2 | 23 | Nov 23, 2015 10:40PM |
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The official bio is:
"Emily Nagoski has a PhD in Health Behavior with a doctoral concentration in human sexuality from Indiana University (IU), and a master’s degree (also from IU) in Counseling, with a clinical internship at the Kinsey Institute Sexual Health Clinic. She has taught graduate and undergraduate classes in human sexuality, relationships and communication, stress management, and sex ed ...more
"Emily Nagoski has a PhD in Health Behavior with a doctoral concentration in human sexuality from Indiana University (IU), and a master’s degree (also from IU) in Counseling, with a clinical internship at the Kinsey Institute Sexual Health Clinic. She has taught graduate and undergraduate classes in human sexuality, relationships and communication, stress management, and sex ed ...more
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“I am done living in a world where women are lied to about their bodies; where women are objects of sexual desire but not subjects of sexual pleasure; where sex is used as a weapon against women; and where women believe their bodies are broken, simply because those bodies are not male. And I am done living in a world where women are trained from birth to treat their bodies as the enemy.”
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“Love is having. Desire is wanting. And you can want only what you don’t already have.”
—
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