Saturday, November 3, 2012

"The Fantasy Fallacy" by Shannon Ethridge

While reading "The Fantasy Fallacy" by Shannon Ethridge, I felt inside myself a complex mixture of emotions stirring. Among them was skepticism, interest and a certain uneasiness or anxiety on how I was going to be able to write a review about a book I could not articulate my feelings on. Ethridge's book deeply ponders human fantasy (more exclusively sexual fantasy) and draws some interesting conclusions about a sexual phenomenon in society that seems to be spiraling into acts of the impossible and dangerous. Although Ethridge explains sexual fantasy through a Christian perspective, using Bible verses to support some of her views, she comes to some very inspiring answers that impress me as a skeptic. She proposes that in today's society, individual boys usually discover their first introduction to sex or masturbation privately and are therefore taught to "hide" their excitement to pornography and other stimulation. Therefore, men are becoming more reliant on adrenaline rushes (from their formative, introductory years to sex) to become sexually excited. This symbiotic relationship of adrenaline and sexual excitement influences people's needs to explore wilder experiences. Ethridge explains my previous summary in fuller detail, includes interesting personal stories and statistics and provides more answers to questions I might have never thought to ask.



My first impression of this book was one of skepticism due to its claimed attempt to "respond to the Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon" and because this book was a spiritual approach to a complicated topic such as "human sexuality and fantasy". I felt doubtful of a book less than 300 pages that would examine these questions with a satisfactory amount of thoroughness and as a skeptic to religion, I felt like this book would be a chore to finish. I was shocked to realize I was considering the religious aspects of the book just as seriously as her arguments related to fantasy and and "overly sexualized society". I feel like this book enlightened me and has helped me begin a very necessary spiritual journey to find a relationship with God. This book has left me feeling very confused about my previous dispositions in life and has encouraged me to do some personal reflection. I am indebted to this book for this reason alone and encourage others to read it in case they find similar enlightenment. I originally intended to give this book two stars since I felt it was missing more than it included, however upon completing this book and discussing it with friends, I give this book FIVE STARS since it has given me ideas I will adhere to for awhile (if not life) and I find that rare in a book these days.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions expressed are my own.

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