About the Book
Sex with Every Body is a modern guide to real sex written by everybody, for everybody. Sex is complicated, and it’s never been more complicated than now. From a president who brags about grabbing pussies while simultaneously pushing abstinence-only sex education, to the proliferation of porn, to the explosion of identities and sexual preferences, our expectations about what’s “normal” shift constantly. But there’s no one way to have sex, and there’s nothing “normal” about any body, orientation, identity, or experience.
This book will corral hundreds of voices and pictures into a single inclusive, nonjudgmental, and visually arresting volume. There isn’t anything this book won’t talk about. Hundreds of deeply personal stories—both humorous and serious—will take the shame out of stigmatized topics and help readers feel less alone. Realizing that other people have had similar feelings of excitement and pleasure, as well as all the embarrassing, scary, or unfulfilling situations, helps us become more confident in our life choices, and ultimately better understand and accept ourselves and one another. Reading these stories is more than a voyeuristic thrill; it’s an important empathy-building, consciousness-raising exercise. And it’s how we’ll start to build a radically more inclusive dialogue around sex and our bodies.
We’ll also include essays and interviews from perspectives as wide-ranging as a high school health teacher, a sex shop clerk, a gynecologist, a urologist, a social worker, a disability activist, a sex columnist, a trans-activist, a senior couple, teen parents, a sexual assault survivor, a sex addict, a person living with HIV, a dominatrix, and more.
Aesthetically, instead of feeling like a dry educational textbook, the book will be jam-packed with colorful artwork on every page. Julia Rothman (the book’s editor) will create some of the artwork herself but, echoing the “every voice” angle of the text, Rothman also taps her deep network of artist friends to contribute illustrations and comics. From this diverse group of artists, we see authentic inclusion of the full spectrum of body types, identities, sexual orientations, and experiences.
Julia Rothman authored/illustrated twelve books and collaborated with distinguished others like Jane Fonda (on her YA body and sex book Being A Teen), Liv Tyler, Design Sponge, Top Chef’s Gail Simmons and chef Anita Lo. Her illustrations have appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Harper’s, The Atlantic, Popular Science, Food & Wine and more. She co-founded Women Who Draw, teaches at the School of Visual Arts, and leads workshops around New York City. She is open to suggestion and wants to hear from everybody. Get in touch at juliaaprilrothman@gmail.com