A century ago, a pioneering sex researcher challenged the idea that respectable women did not – and should not – experience sexual desire or have sex, except to please men or have children.
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Articles on Female orgasm
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Sadly, the sexual desire of women over 50 is often unrepresented, misrepresented, and shown as comedic in culture – the new Australian film depicts a different reality.
Melissa Kang answered hundreds of questions from girls for the Dolly Doctor column. What she found on analysis was a sense of shame when young women experienced sexual pleasure.
Here’s a snapshot of what research tells us about female orgasms, what we don’t know, and what researchers want to know next.
Sexual health experts say it’s a misconception that the cervix is insensitive, which can have implications for some medical procedures.
New research suggests the clitoris is equally as important for reproduction as it is for sexual pleasure. But the evidence behind that claim is up for debate.
It is normal for girls and women to masturbate, and there are even health benefits.
Australian women were once largely seen as reproducers, rather than lovers: sexual pleasure was suspect. Attitudes have changed, yet our culture is still troubled by female desire.
The paintings in Del Kathryn Barton’s new show at NGV Australia are visually stunning and painstakingly executed. But the women depicted are often de-personalised objects or headless cauldrons of destructive passion.
Surveys of sexual practice conducted between 1921 and 1995 found that women tend not to have orgasms during penile-vaginal sex. And yet men’s and women’s magazines continue to offer ‘lessons’.
Top contributors
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Associate Professor in the Specialty of General Practice, University of Sydney
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Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University Schools, University of Sydney
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Honorary Lecturer, School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics, Australian National University
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Lecturer: School of Arts & Humanities, Edith Cowan University
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Adjunct Associate Professor, UNSW Sydney
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Senior Lecturer in Pain Sciences, University of South Australia
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Associate professor, School of Arts and Humanities, Edith Cowan University
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Professor of Psychobiology, UNED - Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia
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Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Rutgers University - Newark
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Senior Lecturer School of Arts and Humanities, Edith Cowan University
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Professor in Gender History and the History of Sexuality, The University of Queensland
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Regents Professor of History, University of Montana
