Exposure A Sociologist Explores Sex Society & Adult Entertainment

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Chauntelle Tibbals and I are acquaintances in the cyber world. We've corresponded via Twitter and email for the past two years about her work and research experiences. “Exposure” will be an enjoyable read for those who have a voyeuristic interest in the world of mainstream adult work, or those who are curious about less-than-standard academic research. Those who will not will, most-likely, be people who have a strong, negative bias towards pornography, or those who demand rigorous objectivity from academics (of which a book review has no space to problematize). For the author is not objective: she befriends her subjects, shares rooms and pool-parties with them, and reveals her appreciation for particular portrayals of hardcore sex-acts, so long as she perceives strength in the female(s)- cis or trans- involved. This lack of objectivity does not, I believe, strongly taint her work. By sharing aspects of herself throughout her less-than-typical life, she invites us into her particular psyche and the journey that brings her to now. She betrays, in essence, the idea of objectivity in research- a common refrain amongst feminist and other radical scholars. We are exposed to the events which shifted her perspective on certain acts from revulsion to respect. We are led to understand why someone even thinks to ask questions about a subject, let alone devote her career to the exploration thereof. She questions her own biases, although occasionally not those of others, especially if they make her embeddedness in the field more comfortable (like blow-bangs and Linda Lovelace- read the book, you'll get it). The read is fast. She clearly enjoys her work, and not just in that 'satisfaction of a job well done' kind of way. As readers, we can make assumptions as to why this is, but the doctor is carefully reserved (maybe we have to wait until she is either safe in tenure, or comfortable in balance with other work). "I watch a lot of porn," she emphasizes at the opening of a chapter. She doesn't sound burdened by this fact, even when exasperating about the sheer volume some of her roles require. When she likes something, she qualifies it in language other than with what you or I would probably use when discussing some piece of pornography we had viewed. She never reveals her own sexual responses. She is most definitely turned-on intellectually, even when offended, but we are not privy to her personal life at all. Remember, this is an academic memoir. The subject matter goes from cut to filthy. Her writing style is non-threatening, and she puts endnotes to good use to qualify and explain certain things her reader may not know. By the end, I found myself wanting to sit down with the doctor for debate, clarification, and further exposure. You can judge this book by its cover: It is a bit of a tease, a bit funny, a bit academic, but always bright, colorful, and direct.