Book Reviewed: Sex Positive: Redefining Our Attitudes to Love & Sex Paperback by Dr. Kelly Neff

Human sexuality in a changing world

The ancient Indian text of Kamasutra explores all aspects of human sexuality. It is realistic in portraying the erotic sentiments. The sex positions are explicitly described, and it defines the pleasures derived with objects using five senses of hearing, feeling, seeing, tasting and smelling. The 64 arts of Kama Sutra are skills that include singing, playing music, dancing, art of applying perfumes, dressing, hairstyling, etc. All of them assisted by the integration of mind, body and soul yield to maximal pleasure. Kama Sutra is primarily a philosophical treatise that discusses sexuality openly and honestly.

The author Kelly Neff describes the changes underway in love and sex influenced by technology, shifting culture, sexual autonomy, gender fluidity, changing identities, and understanding orgasm & relationships. Redefining realness is a powerful vision of possibility and self-realization that is pushing all toward greater acceptance of one another. There is a trend in sexual orientations and gender identities: bisexual, asexual, gay, pansexual, transgender, non-binary, queer, cross-dresser, and drag queens that challenges our understanding of traditional roles of a male and female.

Neurotechnology techniques are in use that integrate the human brain with artificial intelligence. Ultimately, helping human beings merge with software and keep pace with advancements in artificial intelligence. These enhancements could allow more direct interfacing with computing hardware and software. Technologists are also working on making interplanetary travel possible with a vision to change the world and humanity. Elon Musk’s SpaceX technologies are at the forefront to create a human colony on Mars. Soon we'll also have a virtual and augmented reality. The computer games and physical reality we see, and experience will be indistinguishable. Science fiction and fantasy stories have envisioned inter-planetary romance in ways that we are still not accustomed to. The future generations may have sex without physical contact and perhaps via virtual realities. Technology, mind and body will be fused in such a way that the traditional relationships will be a thing of the past.

Sex of the future is confounding and perhaps we must reorganize our thoughts and lives to accept changes before technology moves faster than our wisdom. The author focuses on certain aspects of sexual revolution in digital age but does not go far enough in her discussion.