Ed Wood Wednesdays: A look at Ed Wood's 'A Study of Fetishes & Fantasies' (1973) (Guest Author: James Pontolillo)

Ed Wood gets kinky in this rarely-read 1973 book.

Edward D. Wood, Jr. and Norman Bates, 1973, A Study of Fetishes & Fantasies, Edusex Press ED 113, Los Angeles, CA: Gallery Press, Inc., 191 pp.

In 1973, the wisdom contained in this book commanded the princely sum of $3.95 ($27.98 today). By comparison, a gallon of regular gas was 40 cents, a copy of Playboy magazine was a $1.00, a gallon of milk was $1.31, and a first-class postage stamp would set you back eight cents. Careful editing has never been a hallmark of the adult publishing industry. So it is not surprising that the interior title page bears a slightly different title (A Study in Fetishes and Fantasies) and different author names (Norman Bates and Dick Trent) than shown on the covers. The introduction is also credited to Dick Trent and Norman Bates. As Ed's fans know, Dick Trent was one of Eddie's most commonly-used pseudonyms. Norman Bates, meanwhile, was fellow wage-slave writer Charles D. Anderson. 

An eye-catching front cover.

The book's most noticeable feature (and primary selling point) is its numerous pornographic photos. As one latter-day observer put it: "The photos are quite graphic, very 1970s, and are as easy on the sensitive eye as a papercut across the eyeball might be." Eighty-three black-and-white photos are arranged so that almost every two-page spread throughout the book consists of a page of text on the left and a captioned full-page photo on the right. Two eight-page full color photo inserts are also included, one near the front and one near the back of the book. 

The photos' subject matter is overwhelmingly heterosexual, including a selection of interracial couplings. There are a limited number of photos of lesbianism but – uncharacteristically for Gallery Press at this time – no photos of male homosexual acts. Three of the photos depict a man and woman having sex in a casket and are seemingly taken from the final sex scene in Eddie’s movie Necromania (1971). But the photos represent angles and depict actions, e.g., Maria Arnold on top of Ric Lutze during intercourse, not shown in the film itself. The photo captions throughout the book have that slightly odd ring to them that was the Gallery Press house style.

As is usual for an adult "sex study" from this era, a large portion of the book consists of extended quotes taken from other publications. The bibliography is entirely composed of medical and sociological textbooks or citations to mainstream news articles. Nothing is referenced from the contemporaneous sleaze literature. These borrowed portions are held together with the authors' paraphrasing and riffing on ideas drawn from the same sources or their fertile imaginations. There are sections throughout Fetishes & Fantasies that have Eddie's stylistic fingerprints all over them as seen in the excerpts which follow.

• Fetishism is without a doubt one of the most misunderstood, confounding, complex, confusing, sometimes irresistible, fantastic and a shot in the arm to certain sex-starved individuals. To say the least the ‘sheer bulk’ in the variations of this tremendous sexual deviation is stupendous, staggering, mind-bursting. Yet when we find the amount of fetish variations on any variation it is nearly inconceivable. The human mind has not, as yet, been trained in its own capabilities. Realize the stars as we know them… but then attempt realizing the stars beyond the stars and the stars beyond them… infinity… then really attempt realizing infinity!!! The greatest of all beyond. Believe it or not infinity itself, the thought of it, is also considered a fetish in certain Zodiac circles. Far out? So is infinity! (p. 26)

• It is quite impossible for the subject to have any sexual activity without that love-object present for sight or touch. And the love-object might be fur, leather, rubber, statues, religious artifacts… anything one might conceive… and as indicated before… eternity itself… anything known to this world can be a love-object to someone… The fetishist is quite apt to flaunt his/her desires in front of the multitudes when he gets a bit older… it might be that he doesn’t care… but he does care… Thus it must be that he is so proud of his desires that he wants confirmation from all others. However, isolation seems to be more the order of the day for the fetishist. Let’s say some fellow may have panties as his fetish love-object, but that is not to say all panties will turn him on (although that is generally the case). But perhaps only a certain type of panty… marabou trimmed… lace trimmed… perhaps only a certain color. (p. 28)

• Transvestism rates high in the anals [sic] of fetish practices. However all transvestites are not fetishists. There are those homosexual transvestites who simply wear male attire to attract more masculine homosexuals. But once they have lured and captured their quarry the female clothing is discarded and nudity becomes the sexual uniform of the day. It is the true transvestite which must be discussed here. The true transvestite is necessarily a fetishist because he cannot get an erection, let alone an ejaculation or sexual satisfaction unless he is dressed in girl’s clothing. The clothing becomes the entire sexual symbol to him for everything he needs in sex no matter whether he takes on a heterosexual partner or completes his orgasm through masturbation. The true transvestite will completely dress himself from the skin out in panties, brassiere, slip, panty hose, high-heeled shoes, skirt, blouse and cardigan sweater, and to those that can afford it (and who can’t in this day and age) a wig along with complete makeup. Thus when he views himself in the mirror he has completely changed to the love-object of his dreams. The woman who is apparently hidden within himself. At such times no other partner is needed. (p. 46)

• On the street many of the transvestites would pass easily for beautiful young girls, even middle age ladies and older women. No one can tell the difference to those who are completely experienced in cross dressing, and this also adds to their charge when they return to their lone stand in front of the bedroom mirror. Being able to fool the public in this masquerade can also be considered a fetish because the thrill of the thing hits him in the groin and along with the mirror illusion he has a double charge. (p. 48)

• When certain women find their man spending more time in her clothes closet than in the bed with her… all she has to do is give in a little and she will find him and the clothes out of the closet and in her bed where they both belong. (p. 58)

• The fetish love-object, the symbol goes on… and on… and on… One never catches up with infinity… then again perhaps infinity never catches up with the individual. (p. 70)

• There was that time all who have experienced some sort of deviation in their sexual thoughts and in so doing each thought they were one of a kind. They were alone, friendless in an unfriendly world… With each passing month, week, day there are more articles, magazine periodicals and books written on any sexual subject imaginable. All the information is right there for anyone to see… No one is alone in the deviation they have discovered within themselves. (pp. 95-96)

• Religion again crops into the text as it will in nearly all cases of the fetishist. There is something about the living and the dead and what comes after which attracts all human beings on this world. It is said that just before a dog dies he realizes the eternity and he will fight to stay on this side of it. But if the same dog were to be struck by a car he cries because of his hurt but he finally accepts the inevitable. The dog never accepts the finalistics if he is going out on his dying bed… much like the human. (p. 98)

• The Bible has been a religious symbol even before Christ was sacrificed on the cross. And the Christians and the Jews, although having different Bibles believe in the same type of God. The fetishist then believes in his own, erected bible. He has made one of his own… his love-object becomes his OWN bible and he will live and die by it… more important, he will have his sex life directed by it… fur… leather… chains… ropes… angora… metal… statues… (p. 100)

• And there we have a depth and a skimming of the waters into the thoughts of religion. There must be a repeat at times of several thoughts… but in repeating, perhaps sometimes the thought has to be retained… such as in school… when we were all youngsters… learning! (p. 104)

• To repeat… each individual is different… with their own personalities, their own interpretations of what they feel… and/or desire toward making their sex life more enjoyable for themselves. The bank of sexual knowledge is always open and the deposits are endless and new accounts are always welcome… Anyone with any kind of conscience at all must have some feeling for his fellow man and his plight. (p. 184) 

• With the progression of time we have learned that sexual deviations have little to do with  insanity at all unless we deem all forms of sex, common or otherwise, to be fringe areas of insanity. That would put the entire world in jeopardy, since everyone goes the sex route. Deviations in sexual activities are as normal as the person involved in them. Two persons may enjoy any special deviation yet go about accomplishing the same thing in two entirely different ways. Once more we must look back to the personality phase of these chapters… and once more think about the millions of different stars reaching out for eternity. (p. 186)

• The transvestite fully clothed in the undies close to his skin and the angora sweater and soft skirt finds deep fantasies as he looks into the mirror and masturbates into the pseudo dream girl he sees there… There is no one living on this earth today who is not a potential fetishist… And each, in his own way, should know and understand what he might be facing in this life where the universal language is sex. We do not know what the future holds for us in sexual enlightenment. But we do know that many people of strong willed knowledge are fighting for the right to know and to understand and there is a shaft of light which tells us all that many points are being won. Where once all of us were in the dark with the exception of a very few, we now find that the minority has fallen in the opposite direction. (p. 188)

• In the days of Freud there was still the horror of the insane institutions. People with any sense kept their deep dark secrets to themselves. They were not about to shine any spotlight upon their strange activities… Time and progress continues. Fantasies and the fetishist continues. They have since the beginning of time when the first man and the first woman found out that something happened when they had those strange desires. Dismissal and rejection is really the only crime that should be connected with sex. (p. 189)

Some (non-pornographic) images related to this book can be viewed here.