The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm countered previous thoughts about the vaginal orgasm
and discards normal concepts of sex. The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm is a "critique of
heterosexuality, in particular the way in which sex was defined from a male,phallocentric
perspective"1.The goal of Koedt’s is to address the 'myth of the vaginal orgasm', create
awareness and education for men and women about female sexual pleasure, and to counter
Freud's previous thought about the female orgasm. The author, Anne Koedt, is a New York based
radical feminist. She was a founding member of the New York Radical Feminists and wrote a
book called Radical Feminism. This critique is aimed at women in the liberation movement and
in particular feminists. This classic feminist work first appeared in the Notes for the First Year
Journal, published by the New York Radical Women. Anna Koedt breaks social barriers of what
is considered acceptable to discuss and this piece was influential in the feminist sexual
revolution. In particular it enabled “women to think about alternative forms of pleasure and
ultimately about whether men were necessary for women's sexual fulfilment"2. Anne Koedt's
point of view was that women must "redefine [their] sexuality and create new guidelines that
take into account mutual sexual enjoyment"3. The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm challenged
women’s role in conventional sex through redefining their sexuality.
What is particularly note worthy about this piece is how Kodet broke the social barriers
of conventional sex in order to redevelop and reinterpret women’s sexuality. The focus shifted
from defining women only by how “they benefited men” 4to creating “new guidelines that take
into account ...
... middle of paper ...
...mulation. This
document was able to influence the sexual revolution and women of the 20th century.
The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm was able to challenge conventional ideas about sex and
the role that women played in it. Anne Koedt contradicts Freud’s idea of frigidity and encourages
mutual sexual enjoyment. This document was able to influence the minds of women and radical
feminists during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Through redefining women’s sexuality, Anne
Koedt is able to challenge conventional sex roles.
Works Cited
Koedt, Anne. The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm. Somerville, MA: New England Free, 197. Print.
Moore, B. E. "Frigidity in Women." Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association 9.3 (1961): 571-84. Print
Wouters, C. "Balancing Sex and Love since the 1960s Sexual Revolution." Theory, Culture & Society 15.3 (1998): 187-214. Print.
Demeter, Debora (1998). The Human Sexuality: Sex and the Elderly. Retrieved November 10, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://www.umkc.edu/sites/hsw/age/
Sexuality is often looked down upon by mainstream society. Embedded into culture and tradition, sex itself has been made to be seen as a taboo of sorts. Prostitution was made illegal; pornography was made evil. Rooted deep within the teachings of the most common religious morality systems, sex and sexuality is often paired with punishments. Those who explore their sexuality is often shamed, and labeled with words that can ostracize such persons from society. Kant’s view of sexuality almost destroys his credibility as a philosopher by providing unclear and unreasonable points of sexuality and objectification, yet he remains keen on trying to prove that sex, outside of marriage, is the worst possible sin. However, there are those who believe that expressing sexuality is power, and is exercising autonomy. Many existentialists see sexuality as a means of self-expression, and to not be comfortable with sexuality shows that the person inhabits the morality of the sheep.
Ihara Saikaku’s Life of a Sensuous Woman written in the 17th century and Mary Woolstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman written in the 18th century are powerful literary works that advocated feminism during the time when women were oppressed members of our societies. These two works have a century old age difference and the authors of both works have made a distinctive attempt to shed a light towards the issues that nobody considered significant during that time. Despite these differences between the two texts, they both skillfully manage to present revolutionary ways women can liberate themselves from oppression laden upon them by the society since the beginning of humanity.
White, Valerie. "Sex talk." The Humanist Sept.-Oct. 2012: 5. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
Belkin, Lisa. “The Sex Life.” NYTimes.com The New York Times. 09 Feb. 2011. Web. 01 April 2014.
Unlike sex, the history of sexuality is dependant upon society and limited by its language in order to be defined and understood.
Moran, Mickey. “1930s, America- Feminist Void?” Loyno. Department of History, 1988. Web. 11 May. 2014.
Bogard, Carley Rees. “The Awakening: A Refusal to Compromise.” University of Michigan Papers in Women’s Studies 2.3 (1977): 15-31. Gale Literature Resource Center. Web. 30 January 2014.
Milstein, Susan A. Taking Sides Clashing Views in Human Sexuality. Ed. William J. Taverner and Ryan W. McKee. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print.
Ellis, Kate. “Fatal Attraction, Or The Post-Modern Prometheus.” Journal of Sex Research 27.1 (1990): 111-22. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 Feb. 2014. .
Marshall Cavendish Corporation. Sex and Society. New York, NY: Marshall Cavendish Corporation , 2010. Print.
Gorham, Deborah. A. A. The Victorian Girl and the Feminine Ideal. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1982. Martineau, Harriet.
Dixon, M. (1977). The Rise and Demise of Women's Liberation: A Class Analysis. Marlene Dixon Archive , Retrieved April 12, 2014, from the Chicago Women's Liberation Union database.
Blackledge, Catherine. "The Function of the Orgasm." Gender, Sex, and Sexuality. New York: Oxford University, 2009. 272-84. Print.
The vibrator became widely used with the exposure of an “epidemic” among women. This “epidemic” entailed constant frustration, lack of concentration, and, among the seedy details, “excessive vaginal lubrication.” This was what physicians of the late 1800s coined as Hysteria. Hysteria, the root of the word stemming from the Greek notion of a “wandering womb,” was simply the plight of being a sexually frustrated woman. Yet, physicians did not see that as the case; they seemed to not want to identify sex drive with femininity (therefore, it had to be overtly medical). Rachel Maines, author of The Technology of Orgasm: Hysteria, the Vibrator and Women’s Sexual Satisfaction, through her “androcentric model of sexuality,” believes that physicians were quick to deny the sexual nature of the treatment (which, at the time, involved manual massage of the genita...