Mating in Captivity: Reconciling the Erotic and the Domestic

The seven individual hangings known as “The Unicorn Tapestries,” are among the most beautiful and complex works of art from the late Middle Ages that survive. Luxuriously woven in fine wool and silk with silver and gilded threads, the tapestries vividly depict scenes associated with a hunt for the elusive, magical unicorn. In this instance, the unicorn probably represents the beloved tamed. He is tethered to a tree and constrained by a fence, but the chain is not secure and the fence is low enough to leap over: The unicorn could escape if he wished.

Clearly, however, his confinement is a happy one, to which the ripe, seed-laden pomegranates in the tree—a medieval symbol of fertility and marriage—testify.

To ask other readers questions about Mating in Captivity, please sign up. open your marriage up to other partners or dating other just hardly When.

The way we define love and relationships is always changing; check out these five books for insight into why being honest about your own desires is so important. Number two, our culture still has a lot of weird hang ups when it comes to embracing human sexuality— especially in the case of women. But in the slow march towards progress, more and more books are providing essential insight into the science behind human sexual behavior and the constraints civilization has erected to wrangle it.

What all kinds of relationships have in common, is the need for an emphasis on the importance of being honest with ourselves and our unique sexual preferences. Because waiting on the other side of that honesty? Better sex and better relationships. Some seriously inspiring, non-lame self-help books on sex and dating . Emotional intelligence has been a much buzzed-about concept in recent years. But what about erotic intelligence? Therapist Esther Perel takes a deep dive into the paradoxes of the way the human sex drive interacts with the institution of marriage and our purported desire for stability as we mature.

Luckily, Perez has some fascinating insight as to how exciting sex can be maintained in long-term relationships. Makes a lot of sense, no? They also speak to couples who defy traditional definitions in other ways, by not living together, not having sex with each other, and being in cross-orientation relationships. Picking up on a similar theme of The Ethical Slut, this book offers guidance not only on how to approach polyamory, but to the broader point of staying honest with yourself and crafting relationships that cater to your individual sexual desires.