Dossie Easton
Encyclopedia
Dossie Easton is an author and family therapist based in San Francisco, California
. She lives with her partner in West Marin, California
.
She is a nonfiction author and poet. Easton is the co-author of The Ethical Slut
: a Guide to Infinite Sexual Possibilities; Radical Ecstasy; When Someone You Love is Kinky; The New Topping Book; and The New Bottoming Book with Janet W. Hardy
(who also writes under the pseudonym
of Catherine A. Liszt).
She has been a plenary or keynote speaker at many conferences, including conferences of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT), the Society for the Scientific Study of Sex, and the University of Hamburg
.
Easton has given talks or guest lectures at many colleges and universities including UCSC, Bryn Mawr
, University of California, Berkeley
, Mills College
, Pomona College
, and San Francisco State University
.
Her B.A. is from New College of California
, 1975; MA in Education and Counseling from University of San Francisco, 1989; Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, 1991, USF. Her bachelor's thesis was titled Sex is Nice and Pleasure is Good for You. She worked at the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic Psych Annex in 1968 as a psychedelic crisis guide. She has been part of San Francisco Sex Information
since 1972. She had a radio show on sexuality on KPOO
San Francisco from 1973-1975 called "Get in Touch", as Mandy Jenkins. She has worked in battered women's centers and mental health clinics in Santa Cruz, Sunnyvale, and San Francisco.
She was a member of the first Board of Directors of the Society of Janus
in 1974, and is a life member; also is or has been a member of other well-known BDSM
organizations such as SAMOIS
, Outcasts, Exiles, and Black Leather Wings, a radical faerie group.
In 1969, Easton made a lifetime commitment to a philosophy of sex positive feminism and nonmonogamy. Her books are often used and cited as fundamental to the polyamory
movement.
Poetry
Short Fiction
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. She lives with her partner in West Marin, California
Marin County, California
Marin County is a county located in the North San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. As of 2010, the population was 252,409. The county seat is San Rafael and the largest employer is the county government. Marin County is well...
.
She is a nonfiction author and poet. Easton is the co-author of The Ethical Slut
The Ethical Slut
The Ethical Slut: A Guide to Infinite Sexual Possibilities is an English language non-fiction narrative written by Dossie Easton and Catherine A. Liszt...
: a Guide to Infinite Sexual Possibilities; Radical Ecstasy; When Someone You Love is Kinky; The New Topping Book; and The New Bottoming Book with Janet W. Hardy
Janet Hardy
Janet W. Hardy is a writer and sex educator, and founder of Greenery Press. She has also been published as Catherine A. Liszt and Lady Green. She is the author or co-author of ten books, and frequently collaborates with Dossie Easton....
(who also writes under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
of Catherine A. Liszt).
She has been a plenary or keynote speaker at many conferences, including conferences of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT), the Society for the Scientific Study of Sex, and the University of Hamburg
University of Hamburg
The University of Hamburg is a university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by Wilhelm Stern and others. It grew out of the previous Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen and the Kolonialinstitut as well as the Akademisches Gymnasium. There are around 38,000 students as of the start of...
.
Easton has given talks or guest lectures at many colleges and universities including UCSC, Bryn Mawr
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College is a women's liberal arts college located in Bryn Mawr, a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, ten miles west of Philadelphia. The name "Bryn Mawr" means "big hill" in Welsh....
, University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, Mills College
Mills College
Mills College is an independent liberal arts women's college founded in 1852 that offers bachelor's degrees to women and graduate degrees and certificates to women and men. Located in Oakland, California, Mills was the first women's college west of the Rockies. The institution was initially founded...
, Pomona College
Pomona College
Pomona College is a private, residential, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. Founded in 1887 in Pomona, California by a group of Congregationalists, the college moved to Claremont in 1889 to the site of a hotel, retaining its name. The school enrolls 1,548 students.The founding member...
, and San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
.
Her B.A. is from New College of California
New College of California
New College of California was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1971 by former Gonzaga University President, Father John Leary. After 37 years, it ceased operations in early 2008....
, 1975; MA in Education and Counseling from University of San Francisco, 1989; Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, 1991, USF. Her bachelor's thesis was titled Sex is Nice and Pleasure is Good for You. She worked at the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic Psych Annex in 1968 as a psychedelic crisis guide. She has been part of San Francisco Sex Information
San Francisco Sex Information
San Francisco Sex Information is an all-volunteer, 501 non-profit organization that provides free sex information via the World Wide Web, e-mail, telephone, and online social networking...
since 1972. She had a radio show on sexuality on KPOO
KPOO
KPOO is a community radio station licensed to San Francisco, California, USA. The station is currently owned by Poor People's Radio....
San Francisco from 1973-1975 called "Get in Touch", as Mandy Jenkins. She has worked in battered women's centers and mental health clinics in Santa Cruz, Sunnyvale, and San Francisco.
She was a member of the first Board of Directors of the Society of Janus
Society of Janus
The Society of Janus is a San Francisco, California based BDSM education and support group, and is the second oldest BDSM organization in the US. It was founded in August 1974 by the late Cynthia Slater and Larry Olsen....
in 1974, and is a life member; also is or has been a member of other well-known BDSM
BDSM
BDSM is an erotic preference and a form of sexual expression involving the consensual use of restraint, intense sensory stimulation, and fantasy power role-play. The compound acronym BDSM is derived from the terms bondage and discipline , dominance and submission , and sadism and masochism...
organizations such as SAMOIS
Samois
Samois was a lesbian-feminist BDSM organization based in San Francisco that existed from 1978 to 1983. It took its name from the fictional estate of Anne-Marie, a lesbian dominatrix character in Story of O, who pierces and brands O...
, Outcasts, Exiles, and Black Leather Wings, a radical faerie group.
In 1969, Easton made a lifetime commitment to a philosophy of sex positive feminism and nonmonogamy. Her books are often used and cited as fundamental to the polyamory
Polyamory
Polyamory is the practice, desire, or acceptance of having more than one intimate relationship at a time with the knowledge and consent of everyone involved....
movement.
Works
Nonfiction Books- Easton, Dossie and Janet W. Hardy, Radical Ecstasy: S/M Journeys to Transcendence. San Francisco: Greenery Press, 2004.
- Easton, Dossie and Janet W. Hardy, The New Topping Book. San Francisco: Greenery Press, 2003. ISBN 1-890159-36-0.
- Easton, Dossie and Janet W. Hardy, The New Bottoming Book. San Francisco: Greenery Press, 2001. ISBN 1-890159-35-2.
- Easton, Dossie and Catherine A. Liszt. When Someone You Love Is Kinky. San Francisco: Greenery Press, 2000. ISBN 1-890159-23-9.
- Easton, Dossie and Catherine A. Liszt. The Ethical Slut. San Francisco: Greenery Press, 1997.
Poetry
- Poems under the name Dossie Easton in the Marin Poetry Center Anthology.
- Poems under the name Scarlet Woman and Dossie Easton in works edited by Patrick CalifiaPatrick CalifiaPatrick Califia , born 1954 near Corpus Christi, Texas is a writer of nonfiction essays about sexuality and of erotic fiction and poetry. Califia is a bisexual trans man.-Biography:...
, Joan NestleJoan NestleJoan Nestle is a Lambda Award winning writer and editor and the co-founder of the Lesbian Herstory Archives.-Life:Nestle's father died before she was born, and she was raised by her widowed mother Regina Nestle, a bookkeeper in New York City's garment district, whom she credits with inspiring her...
("The Persistent Desire"), Leslea NewmanLesléa NewmanLesléa Newman, born in 1955 in Brooklyn, New York, is an American author and editor. She is Jewish, a feminist and openly lesbian.She has written and edited 57 books and anthologies. She has written about such topics as being a Jew, body image and eating disorders, lesbianism, gay parenting, and...
(The Femme Mystique), Lizzard Amazon ("Slut Utopia"). - Scarlet Woman. "Roll Me Over and Make Me a Rose" and "Dress Shirt". The Persistent Desire: A Femme-Butch Reader. Ed. Joan Nestle. Boston: Alyson Publications, 1992. pp 351–352.
- Scarlet Woman. "Hold Me Down So I Can Fly." The Second Coming: A Leatherdyke Reader. Ed. Pat Califia and Robin Sweeney. Boston: Alyson Publications, 1996. pp 101–103.
- Scarlet Woman. "For DAVID & JERRY & CYNTHIA & MARK & now CHRISTOPHER too..." Coming to Power. Ed. by members of SAMOIS, a lesbian/feminist S/M organization. Boston: Alyson Publications, 1981.
- Scarlet Woman: poems. Chapbook. 20pp. 1995.
Short Fiction
- "Theory of the Big Bang." "Dreaming the Dark" ed. Janet Hardy, Greenery Press.
See also
- Kink Aware ProfessionalsKink Aware ProfessionalsKink Aware Professionals is a privately funded, non-profit service dedicated to providing the community with referrals to psychotherapeutic, medical, and legal professionals who are knowledgeable about and sensitive to diverse expressions of sexuality: BDSM, fetish, and the leather community.KAP...
- Lesbians
- Psychotherapists
- Gay LiberationGay LiberationGay liberation is the name used to describe the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movement of the late 1960s and early to mid 1970s in North America, Western Europe, and Australia and New Zealand...
External links
- http://www.dossieeaston.com/ Marriage and Family Therapy
- http://dossie-easton-calendar.blogspot.com/ Calendar of Public Appearances/Workshops
- Psychology Today article http://psychologytoday.com/articles/index.php?term=pto-4307.html&fromMod=popular
- Audio Interview, 2006. http://odeo.com/audio/216177/view
- Audio Interview. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SexWithEmily/~3/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.podtrac.com%2Fpts%2Fredirect.mp3%3Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fpodcast.1069freefm.com%2Fkifr1%2F3781.mp3
- Saures, Caroline. The Ethical Sluts Discuss Kinky Sex Bryn Mawr College News. March 2, 2005. http://www.brynmawr.edu/orgs/cnews/030205/4.pdf
- Sexualities journal reprint. http://sexualities.sagepub.com/cgi/content/citation/9/5/643
- Dossie quoted in New Scientist: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19125591.800
- Dossie Easton Interview - Interview with Polyamory.org.uk