Girl Boner

The Good Girl's Guide to Sexual Empowerment

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Pub Date 07 Aug 2018 | Archive Date 02 Aug 2018

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Description

What's a girl boner?

And why is a woman's pleasure always an afterthought? In Girl Boner: The Good Girl's Guide to Sexual Empowerment, August McLaughlin offers the perfect companion for women of all ages seeking richer, fuller, and more pleasure-filled lives-on their terms.


In a culture where female empowerment is used to sell everything from sex toys to soap, most sex education continues to bypass pleasure. The results are stark-we've grown accustomed to slut- and prude-shaming and allowed others to dictate how a "good girl" is meant to feel, act, and look.


An unfiltered blend of personal narrative and practical tips on relationships, solo play, journaling, gender issues, and more, Girl Boner will "empower you to own your sexual self and enjoy … your whole life a great deal more."

What's a girl boner?

And why is a woman's pleasure always an afterthought? In Girl Boner: The Good Girl's Guide to Sexual Empowerment, August McLaughlin offers the perfect companion for women of all...


A Note From the Publisher

August McLaughlin is a health and sexuality writer, and host and creator of Girl Boner® and Girl Boner® Radio. Her work has been featured in Cosmopolitan, Salon, DAME Magazine, the Huffington Post, LIVESTRONG.com, and more. Known for melding personal passion with activism, August uses her skills as a public speaker and journalist to encourage women to embrace their bodies and sexuality, making way for fuller, more authentic lives.

August McLaughlin is a health and sexuality writer, and host and creator of Girl Boner® and Girl Boner® Radio. Her work has been featured in Cosmopolitan, Salon, DAME Magazine, the Huffington Post...


Advance Praise

"Equally fun, risqué, and informative, this is a welcome addition to sexual health literature." Publishers Weekly Review

“August McLaughlin takes on sexuality, body image, depression, and female empowerment head on! One part memoir, one part sociological manifesto = something of interest for women of all ages. She hit the nail on the head with this book. Frank personal stories and interviews interspersed throughout the book help us unpack our personal inner conflicts that when unexamined suck the joy out of the female experience.”
— Cheryl Grant M.A., MFT, psychotherapist

“Discussions about sexual health and desires help young women to better understand who they are. Unfortunately, these conversations are few and far between, leaving many women grappling with their sexual feelings. I cannot think of a more compassionate and sincere person to lead these conversations than August McLaughlin. Her experiences and conversational writing style create a sense of trust for her reader. I would highly recommend Girl Boner in my practice and to my friends.” 
— Cora Reidenbach, school psychologist

"It's about time! Girl Boner is the book on female sexual empowerment we've been waiting for. August McLaughlin takes on the question of female pleasure and sexual autonomy in an unflinching, sometimes irreverent and always honest fashion. Opening up about everything from masturbation to anorexia, religion to the cult of female beauty, and everything in between, August shares her story in order to help readers tell their own. I'm so excited to use this book in my university classes about gender and sexuality -- it's the first book I've found that bridges the gap between academic theories of female sexuality and real life. With its confessional style and insightful exercises, reading Girl Boner is like having a sleepover with your cool older sister. This book has the potential not only to empower young women sexually, but to change their lives in radical and important ways."
— Susan Harper, PhD anthropologist, sociologist, sex educator, and instructor of gender studies

“With uncommon intelligence and humor, August tells us everything we want to know about the guilt-free pursuit and enjoyment of female orgasm. Girl Boner is a book every woman should read, including our daughters, not just for the pleasure it offers, but because it validates the link between female orgasm, power, and happiness.” — Ande Lyons, Founder of Bring Back Desire and radio personality

“August McLaughlin is a powerful and necessary voice in a world that is finally ready to listen.  Her work to demystify and destigmatize frank talk about sex and sexuality encourages a new generation of women to proudly embrace their personal journeys.”    – Dr. Lisa Masterson
"Equally fun, risqué, and informative, this is a welcome addition to sexual health literature." Publishers Weekly Review

“August McLaughlin takes on sexuality, body image, depression, and female...

Marketing Plan

Publicity

- ARC distribution and prepublication buzz campaign to trade and media reviewers, as well as key players in the female sexual health and wellness community

- Major outreach to print and online media

- Author events and appearances

Trade Marketing

- Regional bookseller association dedicated eblasts

- Targeted trade advertising

Consumer Promotions

- Comprehensive social and digital promotion and advertising campaigns

- Cross promotion on Girl Boner® Radio 

- Paid national consumer advertising

Publicity

- ARC distribution and prepublication buzz campaign to trade and media reviewers, as well as key players in the female sexual health and wellness community

- Major outreach to print and...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781944995713
PRICE $24.99 (USD)

Average rating from 12 members


Featured Reviews

This was such a fun and interesting read!

I find that the trick to writing a good non-fiction book is the balance between being informative and being entertaining. Too often I read non-fiction books that are too heavy on the information without being interesting. In other words; boring. This book is not boring. At all!

Girl Boner is a book about getting to know your own body, and that basically everything is okay and normal. I would have loved to have read this 15 years ago, or even 20 years ago when I was just starting puberty. I would have learned so much, and I think I also would have nipped many a myth in the bud, before they could get a hold of my pubescent brain.

This book is written in quite a caotic way, but I think that's what makes it so interesting in my eyes. Even if it has its chapterized contents, such as a chapter on rape and trafficing (that one hurt to read, I'll tell you), and a chapter on mental health, it jumps back and forth within these loose frames to make it a very pleasurable read.

There are insight from many experts in health, sexuality and relationships, including sex therapists, OB-GYNs, a professional dominatrix and many more. In addition to these often clinical and informative statements, there are stories from real women of all genders, the book embracing trans and non-binary gender identities like a champ. Including practical tips on solo play, porn and more, and you get a cocktail that is hard to not down in one sip.

I highly recommend this book to anyone, both female, male, other and both. :)

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A frank, ultra-unabashed exploration into female sexuality - with plenty of pointers!

Okay, so I'll come clean. I'm one of 'those' girls. You know, the ones who giggle nervously through sex ed class, blush at the mere mention of any 'naughty' word, and basically should have been born in the Victorian era.

However, this is very at odds with my feminist outlook, and my deep-seated belief that women should fully own their sexuality and be empowered by it. As such, I seized the chance to scoop up this book and start bringing my 'ooh matron' prudery into line with my forward-thinking attitudes.

What we have here is a book that talks frankly about sex - but I'm guessing you knew that already. It operates on a number of levels - providing advice and guidance on several different sexual topics (ranging from the serious and emotional, like rape; to to the light-hearted and playful!). There are also several fascinating interviews in there - with women, and people who identify as women. The author has no problem with discussing her own sexual experiences too, which she does in a refreshingly frank, down-to-earth way.

And that's really the good thing about this book; because as I was reading it and turning pink, I found myself questioning why I was pinkening (is this a word? It really should be) and how very silly it was that sexual matters are so taboo. Perhaps it's not so bad in the US, where the author is from, but my goodness in the UK, we all titter anxiously if anyone even hints at discussing their sex life, unless it's a very, very close friend. Ha!

So, hooray for August McLaughlin and her sexual revolution - let's hope she leads the way in challenging stereotyped, outdated notions about women's 'role' in bed, and in getting more women to own their sexuality. Right on!

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This is an excellent book on female sexuality. It is open, accepting, and empowering. While this book is nonfiction on a somewhat bawdy subject that is often treated a bit irreverently, the author manages to manage the subject with the appropriate amount of humor, facts, respect, and social relevance to intrigue, entertain, and teach the reader.

Some of the basics covered:

• Human anatomy
• Dispelling myths
• Birth control basics
• Basics of arousal and desire
• Loving your body

Some of the more complex topics:

• The brain and organism
• Solo play
• Safer Sex
• oral
• Toys
• Porn
• Positions and pointers

Psychological issues surrounding sex:

• Social issues surrounding females
• Overcoming past trauma
• Stress, depression, and Anxiety
• Gender identity and Sexual Orientation
• Faith and Sex
• Healthy relationships

The text is interspersed with “frisky facts”, appropriate illustrations, basic facts, games, journaling exercises, tables and charts to help illuminate points and entertain. I highly recommend this book.

Thanks so much to Netgalley, the publishers, and the author for providing me with a copy for an honest review.

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What do you do when you're accused of only reading cruddy fiction books? Well first off you tell that person to mind their own business, and then you challenge yourself to read something outside your comfort zone, in this case a nonfiction book. I'm going to be cliche and say that this book completely took me by surprise, not the content itself, though it was wonderfully informative, but the writing is what really surprised me. I generally avoid nonfiction books because they take me a lot longer to slog through and I constantly feel like I'm not making any progress. While I still felt like that with this book, it is has been written in an informative but humorous style that makes it more of a journey than a painful slog. As for the book itself, I think its one of those books that is becoming increasingly important for any, and all, people to read as it helps identify things that people aren't aware of, or things that they think are strange or unique to them, and therefore feel ashamed to share with others, and yet this book just normalises it all, and that is something that we all need to start thinking about and appreciating.

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Girl Boner is a book about getting to know your own body.There are insight from many experts in health, sexuality and relationships, the writing style is a big chaotic but very informative.

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