WOMEN AND SEX: Sexual Experiences and Reactions of a Group of Thirty Women as Told to a Female Psychotherapist

by Leah Cahan Schaefer ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 10, 1973

Although Schaefer's book comes with a preface by Dr. Virginia Johnson it is relatively unconcerned with the physiology and mechanics of sex, concentrating much more on the subjective side -- emotions and attitudes and how they are acquired and sometimes fixed in earliest childhood (age eight months in the case of one woman). The 30 women who participated here were between 25 and 40, middle-class and married; they discuss their evolution as sexual beings beginning with little girl hanky-panky to menstruation and the feelings it aroused, first intercourse (which seldom matched expectations of either pleasure or pain), and the physical and emotional gratifications and inhibitions surrounding orgasm. Schaefer is part of the backlash on Freudian teachings about female sexuality but what's especially nice about this book is her recognition of great variety even among the experiences of a sociologically homogeneous group. She herself was startled to find ""how erratic and individualistic is the manner of introjecting sexual attitudes in the psyche."" Very few generalizations seem to hold, though a negative reaction to the idea of parental intercourse appears all but universal. Despite all the enlightenment of recent years, guilt and anxiety about masturbation are also the general rule and one can hardly gainsay her when she deplores the overall inadequacy of sex education. Worthwhile and not at all sensational findings which tend to make sexual ""norms"" even more relative and elastic.

Pub Date: July 10, 1973

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Pantheon

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1973

Categories: NONFICTION