What You Really Really Want

Book excerpt: Co-editor of Yes Means Yes gives young women the tools to decipher the modern world's confusing, hypersexualized, sometimes dangerous landscape so they can define their own sexual identity. In this empowering, accessible guide, Jaclyn Friedman-co-editor of Yes Means Yes-gives young women the tools to decipher the modern world's confusing, hypersexualized, sometimes dangerous landscape so they can define their own sexual identity. Friedman decries the hypocrisy and mixed messages of our culture (we're failures if we don't act sexy, but we're sluts if we actually pursue sex; we need to be protected from rapists lurking in bushes, but deserve "whatever we get" if we have a drink at a party and wear a skirt), and encourages readers to separate fear from fact, decode the damaging messages all around them, and discover a healthy personal sexuality.