How do you recognize when a woman is comfortable talking about sexuality? In the case of Gillian Anderson, the BBC assures that the clues were nevertheless “obvious”: “The actress – who had been declared [en 1996] sexiest woman in the world by magazine FHM – once wore a dress embroidered with drawings of vulvas to an awards show, and has a brand of soft drink called Point G.”
Those who are left doubtful by this list are invited by the British radio and television website to go to a bookstore to discover an additional clue. The actress who plays Dana Scully (in the series X-Files) and Margaret Thatcher (in The Crown) has just been published by the London publishing house Want : Sexual Fantasies, a collection of testimonies from women recounting their sexuality and fantasies, compiled and presented by her.
“A Sex Goddess – For Women”
The book is due to be published in French on September 25 by Denoël, under the title Our desires. It has aroused much curiosity in the press in the United Kingdom, the adopted homeland of Chicago native Gillian Anderson. Today, with this book, “The actress, who has had both heterosexual and lesbian relationships, has finally established herself as a sex goddess – for women,” assures without hesitation The Telegraph. This last clarification seems important, because – is it a detail? – all the reviews of the book cited in this article were written by female journalists.
Gillian Anderson, 56, tells us in The Times the genesis of her work. To prepare to play sexologist Jean Milburn in the series Sex Education, she read My Secret Garden. An Anthology of Female Sexual Fantasies, by American Nancy Friday (1933-2017). This collection of interviews with women recounting their intimate lives, published in 1973 (and translated into French by Balland), was a huge success in its time. By taking away from men the monopoly on erotic imagination, it fueled the sexual revolution in the United States.
[…] - Courrier international