I Want: The Anonymous Revolution of Female Desire
A hard truth for patriarchal ears, and for that reason so necessary.
Want, selected and introduced by Gillian Anderson, is not simply a collection of anonymous sexual fantasies by women. It is a book of indictment, a call for visibility, a cry from the deepest and most personal point of female existence: desire.
Through hundreds of anonymous letters, women from all over the world share their most hidden, guilt-free fantasies. Some tender, some raw, some painful, but all authentic. They speak about sexuality, pleasure, loss, identity, trauma, care, and the need for self-determination.
Sex here is not an object of voyeurism but a mirror of society. And the reflection it returns is often unpleasant for those who have grown used to hearing only their own voice.
Gillian Anderson does not act as a mere editor. She takes part equally in the dialogue, contributing her own anonymous confession, taking a stand both as a woman and as a contemporary feminist voice.
Find it here:
What do you want when no one is watching you? What do you fantasize about when the lights go out? When you think about sex, what do you really want?
When we talk about sex, we talk about womanhood and motherhood, infidelity and exploitation, consent and respect, fair treatment and social equality, love and hate, pleasure and pain. And yet, many of us don’t talk about it at all.
In this groundbreaking book, Gillian Anderson selects and introduces the anonymous sexual fantasies of hundreds of women from all over the world (including her own anonymous fantasy).
The texts are astonishing: they overflow with desire, fear, intimacy, shame, satisfaction, and ultimately, liberation. Fantasies about a forbidden partner or multiple lovers, about sweet and tender sex or passionate and playful encounters, written by women with no sexual experience or by women with countless experiences—these letters open a window into the most hidden part of our minds.
Want reveals how women feel about sex when they are completely free to be themselves.
What do you want?
The structure of the book itself is a proposal for understanding desire
The letters are organized into thematic sections that highlight the range and complex nature of fantasy. From the intensity of encounters with “Strangers”, to the dark nuances of “With the Wild”. From the delicate balances of “Dominance and Submission”, to the pursuit of “More, with More”. The section “Kinks” dissolves the idea of normalcy, making room for pleasure beyond shame.
And yet, the book does not simply shed light on what was never spoken. Its deeper strength is something else: It invites us, women, to look within ourselves and admit that we have fantasies. And, most importantly, to accept that it is OK.
It is OK to have them.
It is OK to express them.
It is OK to fulfill them.
It is OK to enjoy them.
The book “I Want” is not difficult to read because it is dark or provocative, but because it tells the truth. And this truth, as liberating as it is for the women who read it, becomes just as uncomfortable for patriarchal ears that have learned to speak, not to listen.
It is a work that does not beautify, does not cover up, does not allow for distance. It confronts you with the question:
How much space do we allow, as a society, for female fantasy? How much freedom have we given to the female voice?
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