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Sex and sexuality can be a minefield at the best of times, and when you’re pushing against non-stop societal ideas of what a good body is, and what sexy is, it can be even harder. Sex positivity and body positivity are two important movements that encourage confidence in the face of all the negative messaging out there, but it’s not often we see the two of them linked. Curvy Girl Sex by sex educator and self-described curvy-girl Elle Chase is a unicorn of a book, not only for combining these two movements, but also for making an effort at being trans and women loving women (wlw) inclusive.

From the cheeky pin-up portraits of the gorgeous April Flores to the genuinely adorable, diverse-bodied cartoons (illustrated by Jenn St-Onge and Kimmy Hutchison) that illustrate the whimsically-named sex positions, Curvy Girl Sex is incredibly approachable and fun. The writing is direct but friendly, and full of the warmth of an older, wiser confidante sharing her experiences:

“I can’t reiterate enough that the courage, confidence and ability needed to hold up your belly, manipulate your thighs with your hands, pull your butt cheeks apart or readjust your boobs is essential [….] By the end of this book, I hope you’ll feel more confident about your curvy body and totally empowered to have hot, steamy sex in a variety of ways.”

The introduction, and the first chapter (entitled ‘Every Body is Built for Pleasure’, are full of phenomenal tidbits, such as the full anatomical drawing of the clitoris, notes on the inclusion of pregnant and trans bodies, and the very beautiful sidebar entitled ‘What I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Sex as a Fat Chick’. “I sometimes use the word ‘fat’,” Chase notes, because she thinks it’s important to “inure us to the word as the insult it’s become, and [get] us used to seeing it as it was meant to be used: as a neutral descriptor.”

There are resources and links, and the positions in the book are labelled with twelve possible icons to indicate whether a position is easier on certain difficult body areas (knees, back, etc) or particularly suited to strap-on or anal sex. In the position descriptions, the partners involved are indicated as ‘receiver’ or ‘giver’ rather than any gendered terms. There’s a whole chapter dedicated to masturbation before you even get into the partnered sex.

All in all, this book is a gift for anyone who either is or is the partner to a ‘curvy girl’. Highly recommended — to the point that I’m going to do a giveaway of the review copy I generously received from the publisher. If you are a Trinity student and over 18, you can enter the giveaway here, and the winner will be contacted on July 1st!