Books
Coitus eruptus
by Rebecca Priestley
Until the early 20th century, we learn from Mary Roach, “pelvic massage” was used as a treatment for “hysteria” – an unsettling disorder to which young widows were particularly prone. Without the word orgasm ever being mentioned, physicians believed that the gentle and persistent stimulation of the appropriate area would result in a release of tension that would rid the suffering woman of her “distressing affliction”. Many doctors found it a bit of a chore, and the first vibrators were for “medical” use: to make their onerous task a little bit easier.
Roach has a knack for finding quirky topics. Bonk examines The Curious Coupling of Sex and Science, while her earlier books, Stiff and Spook – both bestsellers – examined historical and modern uses of human cadavers and looked at science’s investigations of life after death.
One of the strengths of Roach’s books is her first-hand research and the best bits of Bonk come from her field trips: a tour of the world’s second-largest sex-toy manufacturer; a visit to the clinic of an Egyptian sex researcher whose only way of gaining research subjects is to hire prostitutes; and her observation of a Taiwanese surgeon’s operation on a man with erectile dysfunction. Sometimes, Roach finds the only way to “gain entry into the world of laboratory sex” is to volunteer. In the interests of research, she tests the Eros, a $400 miniature pump designed to treat female sexual dysfunction by increasing blood flow to the clitoris. And with her Viagra-enhanced husband keeping “an idle, disaffected rhythm”, she engages in sexual intercourse on a hospital bed while a doctor points a probe at Roach’s belly in his efforts to capture an ultrasound sequence of human coitus.
So far, so quirky. But Roach tries too hard to be funny, unable to resist the urge to interject, crack jokes and make constant personal asides. The material is potentially funny enough on its own, and the gags soon become tiresome.
At best, Bonk is an entertaining romp in the science-lite genre. But with its subject matter of multiple orgasms, penile implants and Kegel exercises and the like, coupled with Roach’s chatty journalistic style, you can finish the book with the unsatisfied feeling you’ve just read the equivalent of a 300-page Cosmopolitan sealed section.
BONK: THE CURIOUS COUPLING OFSEX AND SCIENCE, by Mary Roach(Text, $40).
