Female Orgasm is STILL Misunderstood

See the article attached. It is a great read!  Link to "Technology of Orgasm"    http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/m/maines-technology.html

In class on Thursday, we discussed the satirical reading "The Myth of the Male Orgasm" in relation to how science viewed female sexuality and orgasm years ago, especially at the time of psychologist Dr. Sigmund Freud. The article referenced male scientific thought around a particular detail that we also briefly talk about in class: the idea that female sexuality and orgasm is a form of hysteria that needs to be treated. The article "The Technology of Orgasm" attached to this post covers this idea in more detail. According to the article, even before the time of Freud, science questioned the purpose of the seemingly pathological and epileptic bodily response of women. If a woman experienced any "symptoms" of sexual arousal, they were to see their physician to remedy the issue. Because masturbation was seen as unhealthy and was frowned upon, male physicians had to repeatedly and unwillingly perform the chore of massaging a woman's vulva as treatment for her hysteria. Because of the patriarchal society the women lived (and still live in), male-dominated science did not understand that arousal and orgasm were just another part of the female sexual experience. How could they when traditional female gender roles limited women's participation in science and publicity? Women's voices and sexuality were silenced in this time period due to male-dominated society. And unfortunately, this silence is still being enforced today.

The article mentions that another cure for female sexual hysteria was to quickly marry off a woman, and thus engage in marital penetrative sex. During penetrative sex, women were expected to reach orgasm because that is how male sexuality was understood. Often was the case that many women could not orgasm in a strictly vaginal penetrative scene; extra and/or external stimulation are necessary to produce female orgasm. Sadly, many people today still do not have this knowledge, especially those who identify as female. The fact is, penetrative sex is not that sexually satisfying for women. Rather, penetrative sex serves as a tool to produce male orgasm. Female sexuality is not male sexuality, so we cannot treat it like it is. In addition, if a woman happens to engage in penetrative intercourse, her sexuality and pleasure is often disregarded, especially if her partner identifies as male. This stunts any education regarding understanding her body and how to produce the pleasure that is orgasm. Female orgasm in a sense becomes a myth because information and education about female sexuality remains suppressed. Like the women mentioned in the article, women today feel as if they are flawed, broken and disabled because they cannot achieve orgasm (especially during penetration). Which is pretty messed up.

Luckily, sex toys exist now. The article touches on that sex toys like vibrators were invented to help treat hysteria because of their massaging sensation. Now, vibrators serve as a very effective and basic tool to help women experience pleasure and quickly reach orgasm. Toys also give women the opportunity to advance and take control of their sexuality, even with or without a partner. Yet, toys are viewed in our patriarchal society as taboo and embarrassing (just like female sexuality!). I wonder how that happened.

This article inspires me as a health educator to focus on female sexuality, because honestly, female sexuality is not high on anyone's agenda. Or as the article states, it's a job nobody wants. So I hope you all who read this are inspired to learn more and teach others about this important information. Like vibrators, its in your hands now!

Welcome!

Welcome to the WGSS1000 class blog. To get inspired about what you might post on this blog and to see the format that blog posts often take, please look at posts from the previous class or check out my favorite blog, Sociological Images!  You may also want to look at my other class blog (for my Social Geographies class) for inspiration. Please feel free to "comment" to this post with examples of other blogs students in our class might find inspiring.

I'm looking forward to a great semester!