Sexuality, periods, beauty: 4 books to feel Powerful

At Puissante, we want to make our blog and newsletters a resource for dismantling taboos surrounding sexuality and learning to give yourself peace of mind . This involves writing articles, explaining concepts in simple terms, and also recommending books, podcasts, and shows to delve even deeper and unleash your personal power. Today, we invite you to discover some of the essentials in our library. Pour yourself a cup of tea, browse our shelves, pick up a book, and settle into your favorite chair.

Sexpowerment by Camille Emmanuelle

What is it about?

This essay is a declaration of love (and humor) for a liberated and positive sexuality .

With her firm stance, the author supports the idea that sex liberates women and contributes to their emancipation from social, familial and religious injunctions.

A word about the author

Camille Emmanuelle , a graduate of the Grenoble Institute of Political Studies and with advanced studies in political science, is an author and freelance writer specializing in sexuality issues.

She also trained as a sex therapist, which helped to enrich her thinking about sexuality and its codes.

Among her publications, the author has also written a book aimed at a teenage audience that deals with the first kiss.

Why we love it

An extremely enjoyable and accessible read that brings an optimistic and joyful vision to a subject that is not so at first glance.

The author reconciles femininity and feminism through various uninhibited chronicles.

This was one of our first favorites. With their next book, they even directly inspired the values and messages we want to convey to all women with Puissante.

I Enjoy Myself As I Am by Emily Nagoski

What is it about?

Je Jouis Comme Je Suis presents female pleasure from all angles in order to show its diversity.

The book brings together a decade of research and personal stories to popularize female sexuality.

The first conclusion of this research is that each woman has her own unique sexuality, like her DNA or fingerprints. She can explore it and learn to embrace it free from conditioning. The second is that sex is always linked to a particular context that influences it.

It explores topics that are still too rarely covered in the media, such as the different types of sexuality, the mismatch between lubrication and arousal , and the impact of stress on libido . 

A word about the author

A graduate of Indiana University with a degree in psychology, Emilie Nagoski is a professional in sexual education and violence prevention . She describes her mission as "teaching women to live with confidence and joy in their bodies."

Her second book, Burnout: The Secret to Breaking the Stress Cycle , is aimed at women who feel overwhelmed and exhausted by everything they have to do, but who worry about not doing "enough." We love her educational work and her Coco- blue hair .

Why we love it

This book is a true bible for reconciling with one's sexuality , but more broadly with one's body and mind. Having the compassionate perspective of a sexologist who has compiled years of research and reflection into an accessible, practical, and digestible book is incredibly valuable.

It is easy to navigate the book, to return to the exercises or to reread it to go even further in our own journey towards self-love.

The Evolution of Beauty by Kari Molvar

What is it about?

Our relationship to body-related injunctions and our definition of beauty yesterday and today.

As we turn the pages, we first explore the emancipation from beauty standards in the early 1900s, with a focus on the history of the Gibson Girls. We then don our private detective parkas to investigate the origins of modern injunctions to be thin and young before taking a look at what beauty means today.

"Today, it's no longer about conforming to some ideal, but about telling your own story through your appearance." 

A word about the author

Kari Molvar is a freelance journalist who has made wellness and beauty her favorite topics.

Originally from Rhode Island in the US, she studied art history and architecture at Brown University and has been an editor at Allure and SELF, among other publications.

Her work has been published in Vogue, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and she is the founder of Rutine Matters, a site inspired by simple beauty rituals.

Why we love it

Published in 2022, this book offers a fresh and contemporary perspective on how we experience beauty in our daily lives. It allows us to step back and deconstruct what we have internalized as aesthetic standards over the years, thus breaking free from the harmful stereotypes that confine us.

By opening up the conversation on gender, desire, shapes, the natural body, the author invites us to reclaim a personal definition of what beauty is in order to rediscover pleasure and fun.

Although translated into French, the book remains largely focused on American references. To complement it, we highly recommend Mona Chollet's *Fatal Beauty *, which refocuses these sociological questions somewhat on the experiences of European and French women.

This is my Blood by Estelle Thiébaut

What is it about?

From the arrival of English people, to periods, to menstruation, etc., in short, menstruation. The book dissects this natural yet highly taboo phenomenon that punctuates our lives for a good half of our lives.

Drawing on her personal experience, the author adopts the roles of ethnologist, doctor, psychologist, and sociologist. She offers us a fabulous overview of the subject, from menopause to different customs around the world. 

A word about the author

Élise Thiébaut is both an essayist and a journalist committed to the feminist cause . Through her essays, stories and fiction, both personal and meticulously researched, she questions the place given to women in society.

An ecofeminist , she wrote the biography of a pioneer of the movement, Françoise d'Eaubonne, and collaborated with midwife Camille Tallet on the little-known history of the vulva. A truly powerful woman! 

Why we love it

Periods are a topic as common and mundane as it is taboo. Proof of this lies in the fact that feminine hygiene brands barely dare to show red liquid to illustrate blood in their advertisements. Sometimes feared, sometimes perceived as impure, menstruation symbolizes a creative power that is unsettling.

This book educates, questions, and allows us to move beyond preconceived ideas about menstruation . It offers us the opportunity to reconcile ourselves with this monthly phenomenon shared by half the world's population.

You're all set for an empowering summer with our book recommendations to help you feel powerful . To go further and receive our weekly tips and cultural favorites, sign up for our newsletter.