Finding Normal
Sex, Love, and Taboo in Our Hyperconnected World
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- 10,99 €
Description de l’éditeur
A provocative exploration of sexuality and identity in the digital age, Finding Normal delves into the lives of individuals using the internet to challenge sexual norms and redefine belonging.
In this groundbreaking work, Alexa Tsoulis-Reay takes readers on an intimate journey through the stories of people grappling with unique circumstances related to their sexuality. Based on her candid "What It's Like" interview series for New York magazine, Tsoulis-Reay immerses readers in the worlds of those who are forging connections, creating identities, and finding community in ways that push the boundaries of what's considered taboo.
Finding Normal celebrates the transformative power of our evolving digital landscape in helping people rewrite the scripts of their lives, while also warning of the dangers that come with seemingly limitless freedom online. Through these compelling accounts, Tsoulis-Reay illuminates the enduring human need for belonging and acceptance in a rapidly changing world. Like the search for happiness or purpose, the quest to find normal may be the definitive struggle of our time.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Tsoulis-Reay expands on her New York magazine column "What It's Like" in her debut, a candid study of individuals who "discover themselves" and their sexualities primarily online. The work is divided into two parts: the first focuses on how the internet enables those who might be closeted about their desires to find community. Among the subjects are a polyamorous community in Pennsylvania, a U.K. couple with a three-decade age gap (and a YouTube channel about their experience), and stories of individuals accepting their asexuality (one touching account recounts a man's first online search of the term in 2000, back when Google was new). The second part includes the column's "most viral and controversial" interviews and digs into "illegal and taboo behavior" such as incest and issues of consent; readers are warned that discussions in this half may be disturbing (and include sexual assault). Tsoulis-Reay writes about reactions to her most controversial interviews, and is up-front and searching about her own reservations as she mines her moral role in sharing such stories. It adds up to a sharp take on society's relationship to the concept of "normal," and the bargaining people take part in to appear so. The result is courageous, curious, and vivid.
