In a world of Cosmo BJ
tips, porn sex ed and pre-pubescent pin-up girls, I often lament the dearth of
quality articles, research and erotica from an empowered, mature feminine
perspective.
It seems like everywhere I turn, I’m hit with another piece
on how my sex ‘just isn’t good enough’ and if I am going to ‘snag Mr. Right,’ I
had better learn how ‘handle his manhood,’ ‘cum so hard that he’ll never want
to leave’ and ‘sculpt a sex-perfect body (lest I be outcast from the League of
Highly Successful Woman Who Make Six Figure Incomes, Take the Kids to Soccer
Practice and Still Have the Energy to Ride Their Husbands Like Jenna Jameson).
Not only is
our culture ill informed on the vastness and complexity of female sexuality—so is the medical field. Yes, most doctors know
the difference between the clitoris and the labia, but the psychology and more
subtle and nuanced characteristics of a woman’s sex are not well documented.
Most studies on sexuality either predominantly use males as test subjects, use small numbers of
women from a limited cultural or social stratum or are based on opinions and
observations from studies done decades ago.
Also,
as seen in Liz Canner's highly successful documentary 'Orgasm Inc.,'
pharmaceutical companies are pouring billions of dollars into creating the new
'female Viagra' as a cure for the so-called 'Female Sexual Arousal Disorder'
(FSD). The notion that a woman has to orgasm a certain way and within a certain
time frame is ludicrous, and the fact that there are companies profiting off of
women's frustration, desperation and heartbreak not only angers me; it also
highlights the pervasive misogyny that underlines much of our consumerist culture.
Please.
We don’t need pills. We need foreplay and a safe space.
However,
Being A Woman Today—a new, 5-year project sponsored by
Human Innovations, LLC
and the
Institute for Advanced Study for Human Sexuality—is hoping to
tip the scales in our favor. Their plan is to use large-scale, international
surveys (approximately 50), online communities and interactive talk shows, as
well as bring together some of the world’s leading clinical sexologists and
related researchers, to conduct the largest research project in history.
Their goal in launching such a global endeavor (35
countries!) is to educate and empower women and improving the understanding,
acceptance and importance of a woman’s sexual well-being.
To help raise capital for the project, The Exodus Trust has
donated over $600K worth of erotic art, much of it previously available only to
wealthy collectors, to be used as ‘Perks’ for BAWT’s
Indiegogo campaign.
My
personal desire for every woman is to know the power of her own hunger and depth
of her own orgasm. For me, Being A Woman Today is a much-needed guiding light
in a world shrouded in violence, insecurity, misinformation and shame.
