Libido: Reviews: Women's Sexualities

By Sharon Peters

A tradtional, but nonetheless valuable book on the theme of women’s wants and needs is Women’s Sexualities: Generations of Women Share Intimate Secrets of Sexual Self-Acceptance. As much as we celebrators of libido, nevermind LIBIDO, like to play up the pleasure of sex, for a very large number of American women sex is not that much fun.

And it’s not because some man isn’t flicking your Bic with the proper technique.

For many women, especially the legions suffering from self-doubt, sex is so bound up in negative experiences and connotations, that it seems perfectly reasonable to avoid the whole subject. Carol Rinkleib Ellison’s book addresses the subject of sexual self-acceptance by presenting firsthand evidence of real women’s sexual varieties. Based on information from interviews with women born between 1905 and 1977, it offers insight into how sexuality fits into people’s lives at various stages of their lives.

In her forward, Beverly, "the G-Spot," Whipple offers this: Dr. Ellison’s data confirm my belief that we are all sexual beings from the moment we are born until the time we die…There are many ways in which we, as women, can choose to express our sexuality…In [Dr. Ellison’s] book, sexuality is presented as an essential aspect of a healthy life because it enhances the total quality of life, fosters personal growth and contributes to human fulfillment.

I second that emotion.