Real Sex and Desire

              Steve Almond was an inspirational speaker, especially for the creative writers in the audience. In my experience, the hardest part of creative writing is getting past the constant embarrassment of your own work. As Almond read his erotic stories he seemed to be unabashed. Yet there was still an organic awkwardness and a discomfort that surrounded the situation. Almond deflected this awkwardness from overpowering the audience with clever humor but he did not deny its presence.
          I personally enjoy reading and writing about the oddities of love, desire, and sex. The things that make people gag or shutter or wince are the things that I find the most interesting. I find it fascinating that although these moments are not as appealing as they are portrayed in movies or in books, people always go back for more.
              Almond’s story “Skull” specifically encompassed a lot of the things that we have discussed in class. The story emphasized how the psychology of desire supersedes the physical aspect in most situations. Desire stems from certain insecurities and uncertainties within us, as well as the things we wished we could receive from other people. Almond’s stories brought attention to the side of desire that isn’t so glamorous, but is extremely important. As he expressed, the type of desire that seems to be blemish-free (such as pornography) lacks the most essential parts of desire: the emotion.
              I believe that there is an overwhelming need to portray sex to be something that it is not. It is glorified to an extent that any realistic sexual encounter seems sub-par. People are becoming more and more obsessed with attaining the types of sex they see in movies or on television. Not only does this give people unrealistic expectations of sex, but unrealistic expectations of their sexual partners as well. People are expected to have perfect bodies that perform on cue. Children are growing up to think that they will never be loved if they can’t become these perfect, sexual beings and teens are treating sex as if it were merely a set of actions, detached from any emotional or mental states. This could be why people feel so uncomfortable listening to stories like “Skull”. It does not fit into the pre-constructed confines of what sex and desire is “supposed” to be.