4.5*

Absolutely loved this book! The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because I felt that the writing could have been a little better, even another edit of the book would have sufficed as there were some typos and awkward phrasing.

Also, I feel like a trigger warning is in order for anyone who is sensitive to the following informarion:

1). Rape or rape fantasies
2). Violence or violence during sex etc.
3). Beastiality! (Not really a trigger warning but I was not prepared for the amount of beastiality in this book. The first story mentioned involves it and I feel like it should have been placed later on in the book, as Nancy Friday even admits she anticipates some people will stop reading past the first story because of this.)

I would also highly encourage men to read this book as a lot of the women felt guilty or ashamed of their fantasies and felt like they couldn't tell their partners about then because they were afraid he would be jealous or angry etc.

Regardless of this I feel like it would be interesting for men to read this to see just how much women actually do think about sex daily.

Overall, this book was a wild ride (pun intended) and fascinating to read especially since it was published in the 70s!

I read Nancy Friday's great compilation of interviews with women back when it first debuted and generate the storm of controversy as well as the legion of women who finally knew they were not depraved for having sexual fantasies. It was a great step forward for feminism, and a libidinal feast for a young male with a healthy interest in what turns women on. It's still great reading for men or women interested in that topic.

Didn't bother to finish because it started to get repetitive and the commentary in between was just asinine.

Not finished it yet but here are my thoughts so far:

I decided to pick this up as sort of a historical context for the current 50 Shades movie mania. It's already helped me to clarify my thoughts about 50 Shades. It's 100% fine for a woman to fantasize about whatever the heck she wants to. That does not in any way mean she necessarily wants any of those things to happen to her in real life - they are safely in her fantasies. That's what 50 Shades started as - someone's fantasies about Edward Cullen from Twilight. They wrote those fantasies down as fanfic and then it got published in its own right and then it turned into this pop culture juggernaut. And that then skews the whole fantasy. Then putting it on the big screen does so even further. Suddenly it's not just a private fantasy but it's out there being glamorized for everyone to see and that changes the message significantly.

A very feminist and important book, especially when you consider the time it has been written (~1970). At one point I started to skip the comments and analyses of the author, because it’s common knowledge nowadays and also badly written. The sexual fantasies are sometimes disturbing, sometimes boring, sometimes it made me horny.

This is perhaps the longest read of any book I have ever read. I started reading this book in February 2012 and somehow never got to finish it. Picked it up again in April 2019 and started all over again only to come across the bookmark I placed back in 2012.
To say this book doesn't come as a shock especially on some social/moral opinions will be a mild description. That said, giving a candid and open minded view on it does really help a woman like me to come to terms that one is really not alone with what goes through your mind and compatibility is of the essence in relationships...

Interesting. While I highly enjoyed the collection of sexual fantasies, and I think that this is beneficial to any woman who's ever felt uncomfortable with her own, I take issue with the presented universality.

I don't think that the perception of race as presented in this book is the same for every woman, and so I don't think that the room assigned to the cultural perception of black men belongs. I think that other countries, especially countries with different racial compositions than ours, would have a very different perspective on racialized fantasies. I'd like to see this same work done by a lot of other women, in a lot of other places, to get a more balanced view of what GLOBAL fantasy looks like because this one is speaking mainly (though I acknowledge not entirely) to white American women.

In this book, Nancy Friday collects and orders in themes sexual fantasies sent to her by women. She did that to make the point clear that woman fantasize and think about sex more than is often assumed. In doing so, she also wanted to encourage woman to not feel ashamed to fantasize, but to revel in it. Fantasy is fantasy and whatever it is you don't have to feel guilty about it because it doesn't mean you're going to do it.

I liked this book for several reasons. One is that she orders the fantasies in themes. As an aspiring scientist, I always like to order things in categories for ease of analysing them. This book serves both as a resource to understand the extent of female sexuality and fantasy, and can also be used if you want something interesting to read before going to bed. Another benefit of the themes is that there will be something of your liking for everyone. Even themes I did not expect to learn anything from but merely be entertained, I read things that helped me to understand my own thoughts regarding sexuality. The idea that my own thoughts are shared with other females helped me to understand and accept them.

Another reason I liked the book is that she included the less socially accepted fantasies as well, such as bestiality, masochism and rape fantasies. These fantasies might not put everyone in a sexy mood, but it is interesting to read they are quite common. It shows that for many fantasies is a place to let go and explore possibilities you would never consider in real life.

The book is quite old already, it is first published in 1973, but that does not make it less relevant. I don't think the themes Friday identified will have changed much as well. Also, her goal to make people feel less ashamed of their own sexual thoughts is not obsolete. I know this book helped me to accept my own sexual thoughts, and for sure I am not the only one struggling to do that. There is still a lot of shame mixed with sexuality, even in otherwise healthy relationships. I would be curious to hear if other people reading this book had the same experience, or whether most people enjoyed the book because of the wonderful smutty stories.

The last point I want to make is that this book is not only for women. As became clear in many stories in this book, men are often completely oblivious about the female's fantasies. This is a shame because instead of using those fantasies to create a better relationship, females repress them. The stories where people share their fantasies couples had a better and richer sex life. So men and woman: read this book, read it together and discuss your own fantasies. It is a good way to explore and embrace your own sexuality more, either alone or together, and that can never hurt. Or read it for the awesome dirty stories to get you in a frisky mood. A lot of the 5-star reviews of this book are because of that exact same reason.

Sex is a taboo subject, especially midst females in India and naturally this left me curious as I came across reviews of this book lauded by many as the first feminist sexual treatise written. Read the first few pages - I was expecting more of psychology and philosophy, but what I got was a pot pouri of really exotic, bordering to vulgar sexual fantasies which were not very comfortable to read. So am abandoning the book here, and this review is just to warn like minded souls who expect learned, medical facts but get something extraordinarily different instead.

A friend here on Goodreads (thanks Petra) reviewed this book today, and one look at the cover, title and author and it all came flashing back. I have read this book! Some 20+ years ago, but oh yes, I remember it.

This is a book of short sexual fantasies of women. Dirty little short stories. The book was passed on to my with some other books by my older (and more experienced) sister when I was in my early 20's. Or it might have been my late teens, but I'm pretty sure it was my early 20's because I would not have been caught dead reading this in my parent's house! But at the time I read it, this book was a totally new, exciting, "oh my goodness", experience for me. I mean I did read my mom's Cosmopolitan magazines, but this was WAY past all of that!

I can't say I remember any of the specific stories from the book, but I remember THE BOOK. I remember the illicitness (at least for me, at the time) of the book. Thank you Nancy Friday for the memories.

An erotic women's studies book, I enjoyed the cerebral side of Friday's commentary. A fascinating look at the private lives of women and the people they choose to incorporate in their fantasy life.

I was reading this book for imagination at first. But, i ended up pretty surprised after reading some of women fantasies that are told in the book. Well, the first 15 minutes of reading is insightful, but after that it become pretty monotone so i left this book unfinished. Thank you for the info though, i'll reward the book with 3-stars rating :D

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