1)       "Sex as we know it under male supremacy is the eroticised power difference of heterosexuality." page 3

      "No liberation is possible for women in a world in which inequality, and specifically the inequality of women, is sexy." page 4

      "When equality is exciting, not just at the level of theory but in love and sex, then the liberation of women becomes a real possibility." page 4

2)       "The Marriage Guidance Council was created in1938, according to its first Secretary David Mace, when 'doctors, psychologists, parsons, social workers, teachers and others' came together because they thought 'there was something going wrong with marriage.' " page 6, (My emphasis- seems like "something has been going wrong with marriage" from the male perspective for a long time.)

      "David Mace also sees the problem of marriage breakdown as being caused by women's equality. Like Bradshaw he sees 'patriarchal marriage' as being under threat.

      What it all comes to is that men and women are now to count as equals. The idea that man is superior and the woman inferior has had to be scrapped. Women are entitled to the same rights and privileges as men. . . This is all very well; but it has been bad for family life.

      He uses the word 'family' here as a euphemism for men's power and privilege. the fact that women were no longer seen as 'inferior' was doubtless not a bad thing for women so the family clearly meant men and perhaps children. This is a common use of the word 'family' by sexologists, sociologists, and the legal system." pages 9 - 10

3)       "They [1930s sexologists] understood that woman's pleasure in sexual intercourse facilitated her subordination, and sex advice and sex therapy became important tools in their struggle to maintain male power." page 12

      "Some sexologists advised the husband to hide his erect penis from his wife lest she run from the room in revulsion!

      It was recognized that even supposing a woman wanted sexual activity with a man she was likely to prefer everything but sexual intercourse. . . . As 1920s sexologists had not flinched when faced with the realization that possibly as many as 100 per cent of women had indifference or distaste for sexual intercourse, so forties and fifties sexologists set themselves diligently to the task of construction the sexual practice of coitus as 'sex' for women and men in the face of women's determined resistance.

      Women's lack of enthusiasm for sexual intercourse has been the dominant problem of sexology throughout the twentieth century. In the 1890s feminist theorists stated that sexual intercourse should take place only for the purposes of reproduction. they considered that once every few years would suffice. They saw sexual intercourse as being contraindicated for women because it led to unwanted childbearing of the necessity for 'artificial' contraception which made them feel like machines." page 21

4)       "She [Susan Cavin] uses the existence of taboos on sexual intercourse as an indication that patriarchal takeover is not complete in societies where these exist." page 22

5)       "Frank Caprio in his book The Sexually Adequate Female defined frigidity in precisely the same way: 'A woman can be passionate and still suffer from lack of orgasm during coitus, also referred to as orgasm-incapacity.' According to Bergler 90 per cent of women suffered from this kind of frigidity.

      In order for the woman to have a vaginal orgasm during sexual intercourse the act had to last for more than a second or two and that was a real problem. Sexual intercourse might indeed be the preferred sexual practice of men, but prolonged sexual intercourse seemed to be beyond the powers or desire of most. To explain this phenomenon and provide themselves with a way of worrying men into trying to achieve prolonged sexual intercourse the disease of premature ejaculation had been invented. Bergler quotes Kinsey as pointing out that premature ejaculation was so common in men as to be normal." page 23

      "The result of constructing the disease of frigidity was that women had no choice but to seek vaginal orgasm." page 24

6)       "Other reasons which emerge in the case studies for women failing to have enthusiasm for sexual intercourse or to achieve vaginal orgasm are all quite reasonable from the woman's point of view, i.e. experience of male sexual violence, a preference for loving women, a disinclination to become pregnant. But these sensible reasons for preferring to avoid sexual intercourse are for Caprio things to be got over in therapy." page 25

      "It is not surprising, then, that sexologists have identified women's 'inhibition' as the main sexual problem of this century. They have identified as healthy sexual feelings those which the male ruling class experiences and have chosen to avoid recognizing the political reasons why women might feel differently." page 250

7)       "Historians have tended to see the eroticising of the housewife as a form of emancipation which was to woman's benefit and in her interests. The sexological literature does not support this contention any more in the 1940s than in the 1920s. Men's sexual satisfaction and their preferred mode of sexual practice remain primary and unquestioned. Women were to be trained to have orgasms in response to this practice, not just because this would be slightly less unfair for women, but because it would reinforce male dominance and women's subordination." pages 30 - 31

8)       "Having described the problem of the resisting woman, the sex therapists conveniently invented a desire on the part of such a woman really to be overpowered and made to submit by a strong man. This was a necessary fiction. Since the therapists were going to arrange her submission it was in their interests to believe that they were doing what she really wanted despite all evidence to the contrary." page 34

9)       ". . . [T[he stigmatizing of the lesbian goes hand in hand with concern about the enforcement of heterosexuality. The greater the paranoia of the sexological high priests about the threats to male dominance, the greater their condemnation of the lesbian." page 51

10)       "The anti-censors have always argued that their fight for sexual literature was a fight for the freedom to speak about socialism too. So long as there was the true mixing of tongues that would result from freedom of speech, they claimed, then truth would out. The message that the public chose would be what they genuinely wanted and what was good for them. To explain this point, Rembar quotes a judge on the issue of truth.

In the free interchange of ideas, the truth will emerge. 'The best test of truth,' said Justice Holmes, 'is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market.'

      "The defenders of pornography have always most consistently denied any link between pornography and male violence." page 252

      "The pornographers and their supporters have demanded proof that sex offenders use porn immediately prior to committing acts of violence. No such evidence is required of the effects of sex stereotyping in textbooks. Indeed, the argument about textbooks has been nearly won. Without any direct evidence that women need to read Janet and John books just before each occasion on which they don an apron, publishers and libraries, schools and education authorities have moved towards using less obviously prejudiced material. Why then is such a different degree of proof required of pornography's consciousness-lowering potential? " page 252-253

11)       Referring to Lionel Trilling's review of the book Lolita: "The ability of a male critic to translate the sexual enslavement of a young girl into a great fiction about love is a warning to us." page 82

12)       "The publication of Linda Lovelace's Ordeal drew feminist attention to the experience of the women used in the production of pornography." page 257

12)       Paul Robinson said about Wilhelm Reich, a sex radical:

      "In particular he was an ardent defender of the sexual rights of women. His feminism was a pronounced as Freud's misogyny. He was likewise a severe critic of the traditional ideal of marital fidelity. The compulsive marriage of existing society was to be eradicated, since every individual had the right to seek a new partner whenever his sexual happiness so demanded." page 103

13)       "Women have, historically, shown less enthusiasm for the opportunity to have sexual variety whereas radical men have always seen it as liberating for women. Radical communities set up by men from the Owenites to the communards of the 1960s and early 1970s have expressed a commitment to sexual equality. Under the guise of liberating women from being men's property they have abolished marriage and turned women into the common property of the men. The experimental Oneida Community in America, which flourished from the 1840s to the 1870s, saw women showing a growing disenchantment with being held in common. Men's power in such communities was never seriously challenged and in such an unequal situation a verbal assertion of the sexual equality of women was nothing but hot air. A greater and more varied sexual access to women has traditionally been a revolutionary perk for men and a dubious advantage for women." page 103

14)       "The solution to the problem of this free floating population of young women who were out of control of men, was to eroticise the single woman. The single woman was to acquire a role in the heterosexual institution. She was expected to join in the sexual servicing of men previously reserved for her married sister. She was enjoined in liberated magazines to divert her energies into acquiring a suitable male and keeping him by making him happy. The assumption was still there that she would want to marry him in the end, but even if she did not she was at least occupied putting her energies into a man or men rather into women or revolution." page 106 - Once again men tried to co-opt women's physical, emotional, and sexual services for themselves.

      "The sexual revolution completed the sexualization of women. Both married and unmarried women were expected now to become experts in sexually servicing men, and to get over their own tastes and interests in order to become efficient at this task. Where once a large group of single women might have escaped the destiny of servicing men and concentrated upon their own life work, they were now conscripted into compulsory heterosexuality. The group of women who retained primary ties with women and refused their new role were labeled lesbians. The spinster disappeared. The spinster, whether she sexualized her relationships with other women or not, had been able to live a reasonably independent life, free from the scrutiny and management of the sex regulators. Now there were no spinsters. Single women were divided into lesbians and active heterosexuals. Sexual activity was mandatory and backsliding was unforgivable." page 110 (my emphasis - and I might add - sexually active single women where considered immoral, whores, and tramps. Once again women found ourselves in the double-bind, damned if you do and damned if you don't.)

15)       "Heterosexual ideology teaches that sex is eroticised dominance for men and submission for women.

      . . . Unfortunately the history of male homosexuality shows that, in general, male gay sexual practice has only provided an analogue of male heterosexual practice." page 145

      "Unfortunately, as we shall see, eroticised power difference remains the bedrock of gay male practice, hough there are a few good gay men today who will criticize this model." page 149

      ". . . if it cuts down on the amount of time and opportunity they have for fucking each other, then gay men won't do it." page 158 (Perhaps this is why we shall win in the end. Men are too interested in screwing and not interested enough in the social-political- community world around them.)

      "Transvestites/transsexuals, paedophiles, fetishes and sado-masochists are overwhelmingly, and in the case of paedophiles, solely male. " page 165

16)       "Koedt interpreted Maters' and Johnson's findings on clitoral orgasm as challenging the idea that women must engage in sexual intercourse." page 231

17)       "But, as a study of the development of sexology makes clear, the eliciting of an enthusiastic heterosexual response from women was seen as an efficient way to maintain male power. The early feminist theorists adopted the same aim, believing that it would liberate women. it was unlikely that both could be right.

      This state of innocence and acceptance of the sexual-liberation agenda lasted until feminists began to work on the problem of men's sexual violence to women. Starting with rape, feminists dragged into the public arena plentiful evidence that sex was not an unproblematic joy for women. The result of uncovering the huge but hidden amount of abuse that women and girl children suffered in the form of sexual harassment, sexual abuse in childhood and marital rape, was that the sexual-liberation agenda had to be submitted to critical scrutiny. Not only was sex not always a positive good, but it looked as if women's fabled sexual repression and ignorance, and the double standard, were not the only culprits in preventing women from having a wonderful and abandoned time in bed. When women and girls experienced throughout life such systematic sexual aggression from men it was realistic and reasonable for women to be resistant to and suspicious of male sexuality. The focus moved away from women as the problem to a critique of male sexual behavior and an analysis of the ways in which men's sexual violence sustained their power." page 239

18)       "As early as 1971 Susan Griffin's article, 'Rape: the All-American Crime', set out the framework of the feminist analysis. She stated that rape was learned behavior. . . . She rejected the idea that rapists were men who were simply over- enthusiastic or tactless in the pursuit of sexual pleasure. Rapists, she said, raped because they enjoyed the power it gave them; they 'clearly must enjoy force and dominance as much or more than the simple pleasures of the flesh.' The 'professional rapist' was separated from the 'average dominant heterosexual' only by a quantitative difference. Even 'good boys' raped.

      She described the effect of rape on the construction of women's sexuality as the inculcation of fear: 'Each girl as she grows into womanhood is taught fear.' The result of such fear was that she must 'learn to distrust her own carnality. She must deny her own feelings.' " page 240

19)       Regarding the slogan: 'All men are potential rapists.'

      "The slogan simply means that if male sexuality is constructed in such a way that men associate sex with aggression then every man is capable of rape. The slogan also means that women are not in a position to know whether the men they meet are likely to rape or not. Some men may feel entirely innocent but it is not possible for women to treat them differently. To a woman in a train carriage or on a street every man is a potential rapist." page 241

20)       "The issues of incest and marital rape strike blows at the fundamental institution of male supremacy itself, the heterosexual family. " page 242

      "When you are raped by a stranger you have to live with a frightening memory. When you are raped by your husband, you have to live with your rapist." page 247

21)       "A woman who has experienced rape or sexual harassment in childhood or adulthood, who knows about the rape and murder of women from the media, who has seen the sexual values of men portrayed in their pornography and on billboards, has a difficult choice in the are of sex with men. She can choose to treat her man as being quite different from other men and as being in no way implicated in men's sexual violence. This is not easy and requires an awkward split in her mind. She is still unlikely to escape having her sexual and emotional responses affected by her experience and knowledge. The woman who associates the man with whom she is sexually involved with the rest of the male gender because of his behavior and values, or because of an embryo feminist understanding, is in a great dilemma. she is likely to experience intolerable conflict." page 249

22)       "The opposition to radical feminist theory about sexuality can be called 'libertarian'. Libertarian theory does not originate in feminism but in the ideas of the sexologists, the ideology of the 1960s 'sexual revolution' and the work of gay male theorists such as Michel Foucault. In Britain libertarian conservatives believe in a completely free market even to the extent of decriminalizing the sale of hard drugs. The sexual libertarians want freedom of the sexual marketplace. Like the libertarian conservatives they disallow the discussion of power and regard any restrictions on the freedom of the marketplace as vile. In this context laws against incest or pornography are seen as being 'in restrain of trade', as Victorian mill owners once thought of trade union activity.

      In such a context feminists are regarded as repressive because of their demands that male sexual behavior must change. To libertarians the enemies of 'sexual freedom' are the state and other repressive agencies such as the church and the education system. Radical feminists are seen as another class of enemy because of their complaints that complete sexual freedom for the male ruling class leads to the abuse and murder of women. Women who have adopted this theory as their philosophy of sex have engaged in a battle with radical feminists who fight male violence and pornography." pages 261-262

23)       "Libertarian sexual politics do not define lesbianism or heterosexuality in political terms. They define them as sexual preferences." page 278

      "Thus both gay male theorists and female libertarian theorists reserve their deepest rage for those lesbians who have pointed out that heterosexuality is a political institution and the choice of lesbianism is a form of political resistance." page 279

24)       "Pornography is the very best consciousness-raising tool that male supremacy offers to women." page 281

25)       "The heterosexual couple is the basic unit of the political structure of male supremacy." page 292

26)       "It did not make much sense to place women first in your life, to love women and proclaim sisterhood and then to commit all the most important emotional and sexual energies to men. Pouring energy into men when men were the problem and women the solution did look unreasonable. " page 293

27)       According to Brunet and Turcotte: "Heterosexuality is the institution that creates, maintains, supports, and nourishes men's power. Without woman's subjugation to heterosexuality, man could not survive on his own, or so he thinks. Women's maintenance of men voluntary or forced, paid or unpaid, is what generates men's power and enables them to continue living on women's energy." page 297

28)       "It is the system of heterosexuality that characterizes the oppression of women and gives it a different shape from other forms of exploitative oppression. The extraction of unpaid women's labor for men in the workplace of the home, whether that labor is domestic, sexual, emotional, or reproductive, depends on the heterosexual system. This exploitative relationship is justified by and predicated upon the practice of the act of sexual intercourse. Around the practice of this act family relationships are constructed. The work relationship is disguised under notions of love and family." page 298

29)       "Lesbian feminists are a problem because they question the necessity for any woman to organize her life around the eroticising of her own subordination." page 308

      "The demolition of heterosexual desire is a necessary step on the route to women's liberation." page 312 (too radical- there are many good men)

30)       "The feminist fight against male violence requires the reconstruction of male sexuality. The abuse and murder of women and girls cannot be separated from sexual 'fantasy' and pornography. the relationships of power that exist in the world do not exist as a result of nature but as a result of being imagined and created by those who benefit from them. The subordination of women is 'thought' in the fantasy and the practice of sex. The 'thought' of women's sexual subordination delivers powerful reinforcement to men's feelings of dominance and superiority. The liberation of women is unimaginable in this situation since it would disrupt the possibilities of pleasure. But even if men cannot imagine it, it is necessary that we should. If we cannot imagine our liberation then we cannot achieve it.

      Male sexuality must be reconstructed to sever the link between power and aggression and sexual pleasure. Only then can women be relieved of the restrictions placed upon their lives and opportunities by male sexual objectification and aggression. Men's pleasure in women's subordination is a powerful bulwark of their resistance to women's liberation." page 312-313

31)       "We should value what our enemies find most threatening." page 316, (my emphasis- truly, a quotable quote)

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