Books by Joani Blank

New Book Products

I met Joani Blank at a Love Intimacy Sexuality Workshop in 2008, and stayed with her in her co-housing in Oakland. She inspired me to bring her to Sydney, Australia to run some sexuality workshops in 2009.

Joani Blank’s “Down There” Down Under Tour 2009

• “Eve’s Secrets Revealed: all about Female Sexuality” (for men only) Mon 16 November 
• “How to Get what you want in Bed (or wherever else you do It)” Tues 17 November
• “It’s not a Secret any More: all about Women’s Sexuality” (for women only) Wed 18 November
• Sex over 50 or 60 or 70  Thursday 19 November

Joani also held private sessions 1-1 with locals.

Her wisdom, sense of humour and fun made these workshops inspiring and enjoyable as well as educational for the participants!

Joani’s Achievements

Joani Blank founded Good Vibrations, the first woman-centered sex toy shop in USA in 1977.

She also…

• Founded “Down There Press” in 1975
• Wrote and/or edited nine books.
• Produced and directed two videos
• Invented the Butterfly Vibrator and Titattoos (now Intimate Art Tattoos)
• Trained and worked at the Sex Counseling Unit at The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)
• Was a volunteer counsellor at San Francisco Sex Information working at the switchboard every Friday evening for the first several years of its existence.
• Taught sexuality courses in the Evening College at Skyline College in San Bruno, CA
• Served on the Board of Directors of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality (SSSS), publisher of the Journal of Sex Research.
• Facilitated numerous sexuality workshops. She was always very interested in many aspects of sexuality: understanding eroticism, self-sexuality / masturbation, polyamory, and sexuality education for adults.
• A Human Awareness Institute graduate and HAI Team Member.

Sex educator and advocate Joani Blank MA MPH, was the founder of Good Vibrations in San Francisco. She promoted sex-positivity for over 30 years. She was the author or editor of several sexual self-awareness books, including:

• Femalia a beautiful book with thirty-two full-color photographs of women’s genitals reflect the diversity of women’s bodies. Therapists, sex educators, women’s health clinicians — and all women — will find this volume a welcome addition to their libraries. Photography by Michael Rosen, Jill Posener, Tee Corinne, Michael Perry, and Joani Blank. Unfortunately it is Out of Print.

• Good Vibrations: The New Complete Guide to Vibrators;  
• Still Doing it (women and men over 60 write about their sexuality);
• First Person Sexual;
• I Am My Lover: Women Pleasure Themselves (photographs)

Down There Press started in 1975 with the publication of her Playbook for Women about Sex and for many years was a part of Open Enterprises/Good Vibrations. It was sold to another publisher in 2007. None of the books that Joani wrote or edited are being kept in print by the new publisher, not even the three that sold tens of thousands in their lifetimes.

In 1992, Joani converted Good Vibrations and Down There Press into a worker cooperative. At the time, there were fourteen owners (including Joani in my new status as an equal owner). The company continued as a cooperative growing to 100 worker-owners until early in 2006. At that time the current owners, more than 70 of them, voted to abandon the cooperative ownership structure in favor of a more conventional corporate structure so that Good Vibrations could attract an outside investor.

The Playbook for Women about Sex by Joani Blank

This is a sexual self awareness book for every woman.
When you have filled out those sections which interest you, you can

• hide the book
• share it with a partner or friend
• throw it away or
• make it public.

You may enjoy going through the book again after a time to see if how you have changed.

Completing the exercises in this innovative playbook will help you become more aware of your attitudes, sexual history, body image, partner choices, what turns you on and communication patterns. by understanding your own feelings better, you’ll be better able to communicate with your partner and feel more comfortable with your own sexuality.
Limited paperback copies are available. The PDF is approved for release by Ally Thomas. Authorised by Joani Blank 2009.

The Playbook for Men about Sex by Joani Blank

This is a sexual self awareness book for every man.
When you have filled out those sections which interest you, you can

• hide the book
• share it with a partner or friend
• throw it away or
• make it public.

You may enjoy going through the book again after a time to see if how you have changed.

How come a woman wrote this book? Well, the Playbook for Women about Sex needed a companion piece and no man had written it yet. All the technical advisors, reviewers and editors of this book were men, and Joani was appreciative of their encouragement, support, and suggestions.

Limited paperback copies are available. The PDF is approved for release by Ally Thomas. Authorised by Joani Blank 2009.

A Kid’s First Book about Sex
by Joani Blank

And

The Playbook for Kids about Sex by Joani Blank

‘Kid’s First Book about Sex’ and the ‘Playbook for Kids About Sex’ (for somewhat older children) were written many years ago when Joani Blank’s daughter, now an adult with kids of her own, was a little girl. Both books are out of print and because Joani wants them to be readily available, she has made both of them available for FREE download HERE

You are welcome to print out these books for your own use, but please do not make multiple print copies for sale.

Still doing it (women and men over 60 write about their sexuality) by Joani Blank

Can’t think about your parents or your grandparents having sex? What about when you reach that golden age? A recent survey conducted by Modern Maturity and AARP found that more than 25 percent of Americans over the age of 75 indulge in sexual activity at least weekly.

Sexual pioneer Joani Blank has her ear on the pillow of sexual America, and the secret is coming out about sexual pleasure over age 60! Pulling the covers off, Blank has collected anecdotal evidence supporting these dry if tantalizing statistics. Nearly 40 women and men over the age of 60 share their stories of their partnered and solo sex; their gay, straight and bisexual experiences redefine our images of what it means to age sexually.

Still doing it expands our vision of sexuality beyond youth, deepening our understanding of how we grow sexually. These intimate accounts give all of us permission to seek lifelong sexual pleasure that can continue and get better indefinitely, and with infinite variety.

Editor Joani Blank founded Good Vibrations, the San Francisco-based sex toy, book and video store in 1977. Described as ‘unabashedly evangelical” by Playboy, she has dedicated her life to helping women and men find sexual pleasure.

I Am My Lover by Joani Blank

Six respected photographers present intimate portraits of 12 women practicing humanity’s first love – and last taboo. Over 100 thought provoking duotone and black and white photographs capture a powerful range of aspect and emotion additionally, the women photographed share with us their thoughts, recollections, fantasies, and feelings about their self-pleasuring.

Limited number of hardcover copies are available HERE

First Person Sexual by Joani Blank

Everyone does it – and hardly anyone talks about it!  More than 40 women and men describe their masturbation experiences in a series of vignettes and short stories.

These sexual progressives bare their souls, offering their tales of when and where they practice their solitary pleasure, what inspires them, and why and how they do it! They give new meaning to the term ‘digitize”, and reveal myriad new ways to pet the kitty or play in the one-man band. Read on, fuel your fantasies, and practice, practice, practice.

Pricing

Limited hard copies of some of Joani Blank’s books are available HERE.
Joani authorised me to copy and PDF the Playbooks for sale in 2009.

About Joani

More information about Joani Blank: http://www.joaniblank.com/personal.htm

Kids books: http://www.joaniblank.com/kidsbooks.htm

Unfortunately Joani died on 6 August 2016, aged 79.

Here are some articles about her life:

https://www.xbiz.com/news/210819/good-vibrations-founder-joani-blank-passes-away

and https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/Good-Vibrations-founder-Joani-Blank-feminist-dies-9130288.php