Merri Johnson

An honest and compelling memoir, Girl in Need of a Tourniquet is Merri Lisa Johnson's account of her borderline personality disorder and how it has affected her life and relationships. Johnson describes the feeling of "bleeding out" , unable to tell where she stopped and where her partner began. A self-confessed "psycho girlfriend," she was influenced by many emotional factors from her past. She recalls her path through a dysfunctional, destructive relationship, while recounting the experiences that brought her to her breaking point. In recognizing her struggle with borderline personality disorder, Johnson is ultimately able to seek help, embarking on a soul-searching healing process. It's a path that is painful, difficult, and at times heart-wrenching, but ultimately makes her more able to love and coexist in healthy relationships.

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.

In Jane Sexes It Up, 20 young, progressive feminists reflect on the limitations they think are imposed by establishment feminism on their bodies and their behaviour. In these essays, headed up by editor Merri Lisa Johnson's Generation X Does the Sex Wars," the writers confess their seemingly antifeminist longings and question what role feminist ideals should play in women's sexuality. In Spanking and the Single Girl," Chris Daley wonders whether it's acceptable to play the submissive role in an S/M exchange. In Vulvodynia , How Porn Made Me a Woman," Katinka Hooijer reveals her affection for porn and the inner conflict her predilection inspires. Sex toy store owner Sarah Smith declares a dildo revolution" , for women and men, gay and straight , in her essay of the same name. Whatever the angle, the authors all champion a sex-positive feminism.