Sex encyclopedia covers 60 countries

The Kinsey Institute, along with Continuum International Publishing Group, is publishing the entire The Continuum Complete International Encyclopedia of Sexuality online.

I've been skimming the chapter on outer space and Antarctica, appreciating the irony of the "will likely" and "may well be" in paragraphs like:

Prostitution will likely find its way to space settlements oncecommercial exchange becomes established there, but it will not likelybe an issue in any scenario until some time later in this century. Itmay well be a part of the expected sex-tourism industry that isexpected to occur in the not-too-distant future.

And the assumption that women wouldn't seek out porn or erotica in this section:

It seems reasonable to expect that there would be a place forpornographic and erotic materials during a long flight. Bluth (1985)
has noted that at some Antarctic research stations, “the men liked towatch pornographic films and it’s best if a woman is not offended bypornography” (p. 143).

But here's the coolest thing.

This is a quote from the editors' essay on global trends:

Whether we were impressed by a general broad-based trend, like theplummeting birthrates around the world, or one of the local eventsnoted below, they all seem to suggest that, today, at the dawn of the21st century, the human race is engaged in the biggest sexualrevolution in at least 5,000 years. It will be far more radical in itsconsequences than the geographically limited revolutions of the Roarin’
Twenties and the 1960s-1970s, although each had a progressively greaterimpact through the dissemination of American popular culture throughthe media. Unlike those revolutions, which at first mainly affectedNorth America and Europe, this new revolution is stirring in large andsmall, rich and poor, agrarian and industrial nations all around theworld. Fueled by television and the print media, by economics andtechnology, by medical and reproductive advances, and by the Internet,
it is racing along in Europe and North America. But it is alsosprouting all over Africa, Latin America, and Asia, where it is shakingup traditional views of sex, the way men and women relate, our patternsof sexual intimacy, as well as the way we bond, marry, and createfamilies.

Our work on these reports on 62 countries and places—one quarter ofall the nations in the world, including China, India, Japan, and keycountries in Europe, the Americas, and Africa—has left us convincedthat this new sexual revolution is being led less often by males whohave dominated civilizations worldwide for the past several thousandyears, but by women, who are taking a more-public stance for moregender equality—and sometimes to gain dominance.

[snipped a helluva lot of interesting stuff to get to the final point]

Yet, solutions that merely shift the inequities to men are not along-term solution; they just exacerbate the crises. Solutions thatdemonize men’s sexuality while extolling women’s sexuality are doingthe same. This is the sexual counterrevolution noted by John Money in the epilogue to the United States chapter that is currently underway in this country. And that is counterproductive as a long-term strategy.

For real lasting change to occur that benefits both sexes requires ajoint effort of both women and men working together for the commongood. The current situation of social groups working toward andpromoting only their own self-interests and empowerment needs to changeon a global level so that sex enriches the lives of everyone.

Can we repeat that, together? "Sex enriches the lives of everyone."
It has the potential to do so. Imagine how the world might change ifeveryone floated around in blissed-out post-coital endorphin and oxytocin highs.

Or, on a smaller scale: imagine how your world might change if sexwere an uncomplicated joy, and you floated around in blissed-outpost-coital endorphin and oxytocin high.