This Book Is Gay, By Juno Dawson:
Available at: Bristol Junior-Senior High School
Summary of Concerns:
This book teaches children how to go onto adult sex apps like Grinder and arrange liaisons with adults.
Pg. 56
Gay men seem terrified of being campy. They plaster their Grindr profiles with “Straight Acting” and frantically grow beards. (More on hyper-masculinity in a moment.) The consensus seems to be that, while we think camp is great for talk show hosts, we don’t wanna sleep with it.
Pg. 148
• To have a good time. Whatever music you’re into, there’s a bar or club for you somewhere. You can go with your friends and dance your little gay socks off.
• To meet new friends. Contrary to popular belief, gay and bi people don’t always A. get it on or B. scratch each other’s eyes out on first contact. It is nice to have friends who understand what it’s like to be LGBT because we all have some shared experiences (e.g., coming out, the hilarity of Grindr).
• Sex. LGBT people cannot claim a monopoly on this one. Up and down the country, EVERYONE is going out to clubs to make out and perhaps something more. It’s the human mating dance, and we do it to David Guetta in sweaty underground lairs.
Pg. 155
Technology changes frighteningly quickly (the lesbian app Qrushr has been and gone already), but it seems that market leader, Grindr, is here to stay. Note: Grindr also has an age minimum age of eighteen years old
Pg. 156
How sex apps work:
- Upload a tiny pic of yourself to the app.
- The app works out your location.
- The app tells you who the nearest homosexuals are.
- You then chat to them.
- Because they are near, it is easy to meet up with them.
NOW. Not everyone on a sex app is there for sex. Like a website, it’s just another way to meet like-minded guys or girls (there ARE lesbian versions out there). Once again, the app
removes the need to ask, “Hey! You over there with the arms! You gay?”
If you want to use a sex app for chatting or dates, be VERY clear about this. In this instance, posting a pic of your nekkid chest would be somewhat misleading, no? Similarly, if you’re looking for the ubiquitous “fun” (the words “sex,” “shag,” and the F-word, ironically, are banned on most sex apps), be upfront about it and then no one’s feelings are going to get hurt.
Most of us know at least one loving couple who met on a sex app and it became something more, but I’d politely suggest that downloading a sex app to find a committed partner is a little like going to KFC for a healthy meal—literally fruitless
Pg. 157-159
Pro sex app
“I have used Grindr—the advantages are you can get
what you want quickly. The downside is that its the
same people repeatedly, so can get boring very quickly, and there is an awful lot of ‘Hi, how are you?’, which people could do without. I prefer to be more forward in those scenarios.”
Jonny, London, UK
“I’ve met a variety of interesting people through [sex
apps]. They are predominantly used for sex though.
They’re sold to us as ‘social networking’ apps, but we
all know what they’re really for. It’s a bit like
selling a dildo under the pretext that it’s sole use is
a draft excluder. I don’t have a problem with that
aspect of it—if people want casual sex, then
something like Grindr is a must—but I’ve met quite a
few new friends through it, so like anything I suppose
it’s what you decide to make of it.”
Stuart, 34, Brighton, UK
“I’ve downloaded Grindr and chatted/sexted men on it but have never physically met men via it. If one was
in need of a sexual encounter, whether it be a hookup or something less casual, one could almost always find something. However, the men on these apps tend to be shallow when it comes to appearances and sexual identity (i.e., ‘looking for masc,’ ‘white and Asian only.’).”
Anon, 20, Minneapolis, Minnesota
“I know one guy who got gonorrhoea, chlamydia, and
syphilis from some guy he met on Grindr. All in one go, like a three-for-two special.”
Ryan, 32, New Jersey
“After a long and slightly messy breakup, I briefly
used Grindr and Scruff—thinking that it would be an
easy way of meeting a potential boyfriend…I realized
very quickly that these services are mainly tailored
toward enabling like-minded people to have sexual
encounters—which isn’t what I was looking for.”
Mike, London, UK
“I don’t believe there are any advantages to these
apps. I believe they are unsafe.”
Mica, 23, London, UK
Using a sex app to hook up is LITTERED with potential risks for which the makers take no responsibility. Tucked away on the websites of sex apps (in very small print) is a safety section which advises users to make sensible “dating” choices. Yes,
everyone on Grindr is looking for a good, hard date.
In order to have the sex off a sex app you will have to meet a potential partner, so this means them coming to yours or you going to theirs. Obviously, this is very risky indeed. As mentioned above, the anonymity of sex-app users means that they have become colonies of cheating partners—a hive of shitweasels, if you will. Beware faceless profiles. They’re faceless
for a reason.
Pg. 161
• If you are on Grindr, under the age of eighteen (it happens), be aware that swapping “adult” pics is actually illegal—you are distributing child pornography, even if it’s of yourself.
Pg. 183-184
“If it’s for a quick shag on Grindr, etc., then yes [roles
matter]. I don’t use those sort of apps to have a chat
or make friends. It’s always better to be having sex
with someone compatible with you in that regard
though. Wanking is something I do on my own, so not
really up for just doing that with a partner.”
Jonny, London, UK
Pg. 199
“If you ask my boyfriend, he’d rather be in a
relationship with someone like me who’s got his HIV
under control, than to rock out of a club every
Saturday with some random who might not know or
might not care. As I’ve said to many naysayers on
Gaydar and Grindr in my single years—‘I’m not the
first person you’ve ever slept with who’s got HIV; I’m
just the first who’s been nice enough to tell you.’
Pg. 202
This chapter was all about sex, not intimacy. You can’t find intimacy in a dark room or on Grindr. More valuable than bum or muff fun is holding hands, kisses, and hugs. I’m sure some of you are miming sticking two fingers down your throat, but IT’S TRUE. Lots of LGBT* people don’t even have sex but can totally identify as gay, bi, or straight because of who they seek intimacy with and who they LOVE. By all means, enjoy sex, but if you go looking for sex because you’re hungry for love, you’ll starve.
Pg. 207
Especially on the gay scene, surrounded by a constant stream of pecs, dicks, tits, and vaginas, it’s hard to settle for just one, but remember—if the person you’re with is kind, funny, loyal, giving,
and loving, then these are things you won’t find in a pair of big arms off Grindr or a cute ass at a bar.
Pg. 256-259
the weird terms, no waiting.
69: Two people giving simultaneous oral sex.
AIDS: A syndrome brought on by the virus HIV.
Asexual: A person who is not interested in sex or has low sexual desire.
Bisexual: A person who fancies both men and women.
Blow job: Oral sex on a guy.
Bottom/passive: Being the partner who “receives” during sex.
Circumcised: Term to describe a boy who has
had his foreskin surgically removed.
Cisgender: The sex you were assigned at birth.
Clitoris: Female erogenous zone.
Coming out: The process of telling people about your identity.
Cum: Common slang term for semen OR to orgasm.
Cunnilingus: Oral sex on a girl.
Curious/questioning: A person in the process of wondering about their sexuality.
Dildo: A sex toy.
Dom: Being the dominant partner during sex.
Douching: Washing out the back passage or lady garden prior to sex.
Drag queen/king: A performer who wears clothes
traditionally assigned to the opposite gender.
Fellatio: Fancy term for oral sex on a dude.
Foreskin: Loose skin at the end of the penis.
Gay: Term to describe a homosexual man or woman.
Glory hole: A hole in a wall or partition through which
a man pokes his peenie.
Grindr: A social network app for gay and bi men
HIV: A virus affecting the immune system.
Intersectionality: The different parts of your whole identity and the impact they have on your life.
Intersex: Term to describe a person born with no clear gender or attributes of both genders.
Labia: The folds at the entrance of the vagina.
Lesbian: A homosexual woman.
Lube: Short for lubricant. Makes sex easier.
Orgasm: Sexual climax.
Orgy: Group sex.
Penis: Male erogenous zone.
Poppers: Slang term for amyl nitrite—an aroma that gives a feeling of light-headedness.
Queer/genderqueer: A person who refuses to label their sexuality or gender.
Rimming: Licking the bottom.
Scat: Eating poop.
Scissor sisters: A sexual position for two women OR an early 2000s electropop band.
Strap-on: A sex toy worn on a belt.
STI: Sexually transmitted infection.
Sub: Being the submissive partner during sex.
Top/active: Being the partner who “gives” during sex.
Transsexual: Any person changing their gender identity.
Transvestite: A person who wears the clothes traditionally assigned to the opposite gender.
Vibrator: A vibrating sex toy.
Water sports/golden shower: Weeing on people in a way considered sexy.
The bluest eye, By Toni Morrison:
Available at: Bristol Junior-Senior High School
pg. 162-163
He put his head down and nibbled at the back of her leg. His mouth trembled at the firm sweetness of the flesh. He closed his eyes, letting his fingers dig
into her waist. The rigidness of her shocked body, the silence of her stunned throat, was better than Pauline’s easy laughter had been. The confused mixture of his memories of Pauline and the doing of a wild and forbidden thing excited him, and a bolt of desire ran down his genitals, giving it length, and softening the lips of his anus. Surrounding all of
this lust was a border of politeness. He wanted to fuck her—tenderly. But the tenderness would not hold. The tightness of her vagina was more than he could bear. His soul seemed to slip down to his guts and fly out into her, and the gigantic thrust he made into her then provoked the only sound she made—a hollow suck of air in the back of her throat. Like the rapid loss of air from a circus balloon. Following the disintegration—the falling away—of sexual desire, he was conscious of her wet, soapy hands on his wrists, the fingers clenching, but whether her grip was from
a hopeless but stubborn struggle to be free, or from some other emotion, he could not tell. Removing himself from her was so painful to him he cut it short and snatched his genitals out of the dry harbor of her
vagina. She appeared to have fainted. Cholly stood up and could see only her grayish panties, so sad and limp around her ankles. Again the hatred mixed with tenderness. The hatred would not let him pick her up, the tenderness forced him to cover her
pg. 166
And since he was too diffident to confront homosexuality, and since little boys were insulting,
scary, and stubborn, he further limited his interests to little girls. They were usually manageable and frequently seductive.
pg. 181
The little girls. The little girls are the only things I’ll miss. Do you know that when I touched their sturdy little tits and bit them—just a little—I felt I was being friendly? I didn’t want to kiss their mouths or sleep in the bed with them or take a child bride for my own. Playful, I felt, and friendly. Not like the newspapers said. Not like the people whispered. And they didn’t mind at all. Not at all. Remember how so many of them came back? No one would even try to understand that. If I’d been hurting them, would they have come back? Two of them, Doreen and Sugar Babe, they’d come together. I gave them mints, money, and they’d eat ice cream with their legs open while I played with them. It was like a party. And there wasn’t nastiness, and there wasn’t any filth, and there wasn’t any odor, and there wasn’t any groaning—just the light white laughter of little girls and me.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
This book is available at Bristol Junior-Senior High School
Strong themes of sexual abuse,
Pg.24 “I spent hours in the bathroom with a magazine that has one thousand pictures of naked movie stars. Naked woman+right hand= happy happy joy joy” the whole page is about masturbation
Pg. 67 the guys was in love with computers and there is a comparison about having sex with one not in detail
Pg. 70 and71 Books should give you boners then talk about how books should give you a metaphorical boner
There are a lot of sexual innuendos
Pg. 152 Rowdy calls Junior a tree fag then tells him he likes to stick his dick in the knotholes. Junior replies he sticks his dick in the girl trees