The Ethical Slut - book discontinued by Greenery Press - review by freud13

I saw the title of this book and simply had to read it. The authors Dossie Easton and Catherine Liszt offer a first hand guide to how to navigate the world outside of traditional monogamy. It's a wonderful guide on how to respectfully explore your sexual self and how to have ethical relationships. If this sounds a little hippie like to you don't be afraid. This is a book that pretty much anyone can benefit from due to the wonderful variety of topics. The reoccurring theme in the book is how to be respectful and ethical in any relationship you have and I feel like anyone out there could benefit from reading more on this.

The book is broken down into different sections so that you can skip around or find information on a specific topic. The authors start by defining what an ethical slut is and why they choose this particular phrase. They go on to detail how they both came to have radical relationships outside of the lifestyle of monogamy. Their style of writing is very frank and straightforward. They describe the rough spots that came up when they moved towards this lifestyle and give very practical advice and suggestions on how to make this process easier. The beginning of the book introduces the history of monogamy and how it came to be as well as defining basic terms.

The middle part of the books gets into how to be more of a flirt. It's really about being more comfortable with yourself and your body. It gets into how to get more enjoyment out of sex and be comfortable exploring sexual boundaries. It also has an entire chapter devoted to jealousy. Almost every relationship I know of, monogamous or not, has experienced an issue with jealousy at some point. I found this chapter to be very helpful as it brought into focus all the negative effects of jealousy. There is a whole chapter devoted to conflict and boundaries. I think any relationship can benefit from open conversations about boundaries and more productive ways to deal with conflict.

The last part of the book deals with finding partners (both short and long term), raising children, having children, navigating parenthood while still maintaining open relationships, and health. This gets into how to come to an agreement with partners over home ownership, child custody, and dealing with friends who are also sexual partners. I like that the authors devote an entire chapter to discussing safety.

This standard size trade paperback has 280 pages of wonderful information. If you are expecting this to be some type of XXX sex story book then you will be disappointed. If you want a frank and entertaining book written by two feisty ladies on the etiquette of relationships then buy this today. If you have had questions about how relationships work outside of monogamy then buy this book right away as it is hands down the best source of information I have found. It's also a good read for those who enjoy monogamy but maybe want to improve on the communication within their relationship. The cover is somewhat discreet and could be read in a public setting. It makes for a wonderful conversation starter that is for sure.

I have since re-read parts of this book and am still a big fan of it. It is a book that really causes you to think about what your boundaries are in a relationship.