Good Girls Do: Sex Chronicles of a Shameless Generation

Britta Santowski is a freelance writer in Victoria, B.C.

Good Girls Do is Simona Chiose’s sexual collage for heterosexual
women. The book covers a broad spectrum, including literature, desire,
sluts, bathhouse orgies, gender transcendence, porn, S & M, sex toys,
and marriage. Most impressive is the author’s vast knowledge and
extensive research. Chiose is undeniably well educated in women’s
sexuality, and her endnotes contain a comprehensive collection of
authoritative sources. Further, the text is peppered with notorious
references such as Pauline Reage’s book The Story of O and the movie
Boys Don’t Cry. Equally impressive is Chiose’s commitment to
hands-on research.

That said, the lack of new information is disappointing. For example,
the “bathhouse” chapter, “A Midsummer’s Night Dream,”
culminates in the message that women’s sexuality is legally abhorred,
that police use the force of law to prevent female sexual desire from
spilling into the public arena. What is new about that? In a chapter
entitled “Where Did You Get That Whip?,” Chiose meets and plays
alongside two dominatrixes. The chapter offers a titillating look at the
blasé and businesses-like approach to sex-for-sale, but it lacks any
deeper insights.

It is also disappointing that Chiose did not (could not?) validate a
woman-centric experience. From the onset, she states that “the issues
that bedevil women also affect men” and that men are working hard to
“reshape their identity.” The exasperating belief that women-focused
anything means anti-testosterone prevails in this book. What is wrong
with woman-centric? When Chiose bemoans the fact that men have image
issues too, I bemoan this unnecessary and irrelevant inclusion. From the
onset, Chiose implies that Sally Tisdale’s Talk Dirty to Me is
outdated, that the latest generation of sexy women need a new literary
mirror to reflect their reality, and that she is going to write this
next provocative text. The book is interesting, but does not fulfil
these expectations.