Book Review: Fighting the Crusade Against Sex

The paperback book I held in my hand on a Friday afternoon was white and pink. It had the smell of freshness about it, the olfactory sensation that told me it had received a minimum of use by human beings. I paid for the book on September 23, 2011 on a pre-order sale. I had to wait three months later until I had my purchase in my hands. When I finally did receive it (from the author herself during her November visit to Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania), I went through it in three days. The best descriptor for this book is: addicting.

I knew a little bit about Jill McDevitt going in. She owns a female-positive sex shop in West Chester, Pennsylvania; she is a doctoral candidate in the field of sexology; she visited Shippensburg during the 2011 production of the Vagina Monologues. On the whole, Jill is a motivated, charismatic and intelligent person. Knowing this, I was only too happy to read her book entitled Fighting the Crusade Against Sex: Being Sex-Positive in a Sex-Negative World.

The story follows two plotlines which move towards each other as the book goes along. Though the book is autobiographical non-fiction, it is an easy read, written with flowing, natural prose. Jill describes her struggles in high school with a partner with whom she feels a strong attachment while discovering facts about sexuality that were left out in the secretly religious sex education she received. The other story follows the establishment of her store, Feminique Boutique, and the uphill struggle she faces to keep it open in the face of a community that feels a shop designed primarily for women does not belong in a community where children can walk past on the sidewalk. In point of fact, the shop as viewed from the outside looks assuming. On the inside, the store looks like someone’s living room; there’s even a couch to sit down in.

Aside from the personal stories, there is a plethora of information present, most of which Jill had to discover on her own. The book is so engaging through virtue of its style and the talent of its author that while moving through the explanations of female anatomy, the reader will never feel the need to put the down. Jill McDevitt’s work is written not only for people who have an interest in sexology, but for anyone. Fighting the Crusade Against Sex is captivating narrative of love, loss, sex, struggle and success.

From her website:

Jill McDevitt has her B.A. in Sexuality, Marriage, and Family, her M.Ed. in Human Sexuality, and upon completion of her Ph.D. in Human Sexuality Education in spring 2013, she will be the only person in the world with all three of their degrees in sex!