Perry Mann's Exotic Erotic Ball

If your friends on the cultural right haven't been in to discuss collection development policies recently, acquiring this video documentation of the 20th annual Exotic Erotic Ball could spur a renewal of acrimonious acquaintance. Although this program seems an unlikely fit for most collections, it does provide an engrossing look at a venerable San Francisco celebration of sexuality, where participants' costumes range from complex constructions to non-existent. "Before it was the Exotic Erotic Ball it was the Nudist Ball," explains impresario Perry Mann. Viewers will also witness simulated (or not) sex and frequent endorsements of lifestyle choices unlikely to please the Bush administration. While one of the organizers observes that among the just-plain folks clearly having a good time, there might be some librarians shyly showing their breasts in public for the first time, no library-oriented tattoos or stigmata were actually noted. Registered nurse, sexologist and porn legend Nina Hartley offers perspective and co-directs the festivities, at one point kissing a young woman eager for her first same-sex smooch. This look at a subculture of hedonism that, AIDS and Bill Bennett be damned, still exists, is far too issue-oriented to be dismissed as simple pornography, challenging viewers' sensibilities merely by presenting the revelers (or at least it would if allowed to circulate). As a social document, Exotic Erotic Ball examines contemporary trends in sexual expression while also observing the tactics of a picketing Christian group. Recommended for adventurous collections. Aud: C, P. (M. Tribby)