BOOKS
n an age when so many self-help books are
on the market, it has become cliche to men
tion their excess. Nonetheless, people keep
writing them. While the following hooks
qualify as self-help, they could also fit into a
new niche in the publishing world—the help-
your-straight-female-friends category.
I
The Straight Girl’s Guide
to Sleeping with Chicks
by Jen Sincero; Fireside, 2005; $12 softcover
f you are having trouble recruiting a straight
girl for the queer team, try breaking the ice
with The Straight Girl’s Guide to Sleeping with
Chicks.
Jen Sincero’s guide is based on the premise
that any sex is good sex as long as the partici
pants are comfortable with it. With that in
mind, a whole new world awaits the straight
girl willing to do a little traveling. The author
demystifies the intricacies of sex between
women, includes tips on how to overcome
fears, offers ideas on how to approach women
and advises how not to hurt feelings when one
is “just visiting.”
Sincero warms the reader up with frank talk
on female anatomy, leading to a discussion of
masturbation. After thoroughly covering safe
sex techniques and their importance, she
moves right into girl-on-girl sex, beginning
with fingering, moving on to oral sex and not
stopping until she’s covered sex toys, light S/M
and threesomes.
Black-and-white photographs of Barbie
dolls getting it on assist the reader who has
trouble visualizing some of Sincero’s graphic
descriptions. The guide includes numerous
I
Help a straight sister out
Self-help guides for the hetero women we love
by -K aren
resources: books and films to set the nuxxl,
informative Web sites and women-friendly sex
stores. A chart in the appendix takes a tongue-
in-cheek approach—perhaps tongue-in-hoo-
hoo is a better phrase—to troubleshoot prob
lems the straight girl might encounter when
hooking
up with
Venus.
Sincero
may
K udej
your straight friends, flip through it yourself.
You may find some new ways to spice up your
own love life.
Behind Every Great
Woman There’s a
Fabulous Gay Man
by Dave Singleton; Penguin Group, 2005,
$12.95 softcover
f your female friend
isn’t interested in
switching teams
after reading Sincero’s
guide, try helping her
out with Behind Every
Great Women There's
a Fabulous Gay Man.
In his first book,
The Mandates: 25 Real
Rules for Successful
.-------------------------------------------
Gay Dating, Dave Sin
Behind Every Greet Women
gleton
offered advice
There'» <■
for his fellow gay
ui 6'a y
,
give readers a little too much infor
men. In his new book,
mation regarding her own sexual
he targets straight
practices and preferences, hut she
women, drawing on
seems well intentioned, meaning to
what he’s learned
dispel fears and taboos surrounding
from observing his
sexual subjects. Before passing this book on to I female friends as they have attempted to nego-
I
1
tiate the pitfalls of heterosexual dating.
The Kx)k offers advice from a gay man’s
perspective on where to meet men, how to
weed out creeps and how to get over a breakup.
Singleton helps women identify what he calls
“repetitive, fatal dating flaws,” which could be
a tendency to be overly critical of dates, a ten
dency to be too needy or even a habit of con
sistently dating self-absorbed men. The b<x>k
also provides tips on what not to do—i.e.,
don’t drink and dial, never ask a man if you
look fat, and don’t expect a boyfriend to tag
along on shopping trips. (Women should take
their gay best friends instead.)
And what qualifies Singleton to give such
advice? He reasons that many gay men and
straight women have friendships (a la Will
Grace) that are mutually beneficial due to simi
lar interests (men) and that gay men are able
to offer honest yet sensitive insight into the
male mind without having an underlying agen
da. The book is peppered with testimonies by
women who have found the help of their gay
friends to be indispensable. Beyond that, read
ers will find tidbits of advice on how not to
turn into their mothers, how to enjoy single
life and how to fix things around the house.
Singleton also tucks in chapters on other
subjects of importance to many gay men and
straight women, namely shopping, plastic
surgery and hosting dazzling dinner parties. At
times the text is repetitive, and Singleton
admittedly frames his advice around stereo
types. However, the tone is light and humor
ous, and he offers some sage advice to women
who are searching for a straight Mr. Right. jH
K aren K ude J is a Portland free-lance writer. She
has never considered a career as a professional
bowler.
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