As much as women's sexualities are played up - in films, advertisements, music videos, and so on - to hear a woman actually discussing her own sexuality, or some aspect of it, frankly and openly is rare indeed. Furthermore, sexuality is highly personal and inclusive of, affected by, and related to so many different things - childhood experiences, religion, violence, and fetishes just to name a few - that knowing where to start when asked to talk about it can be hard.
The purpose of this project is to give the women who participated a voice on the subject. I asked them to develop their own concepts for their photographs and to decide themselves what they wished to share in words. What follows are their ideas - I merely offered a vehicle for that expression. Those who view this work can gain a slight insight into the minds, perspectives, and pasts of some women. Hopefully, seeing the individuals in the photographs will help viewers to remember these are real women rather than simply acknowledging anonymous speakers.
This was started as a final project for a Women's Studies class in May 2006. The finished artist book is forty-one pages and includes the photographs and narratives of thirteen different women along with part of my own story.