Women and Sex Therapy

316 Pages·1988·68.063 MB·English

by  Ellen Cole (editor), Esther Rothblum (editor)

Women and Sex Therapy:
Closing the Circle
of Sexual Knowledge

Women and
Sex Therapy:
Closing the Circle
of Sexual Knowledge
Ellen Cole, PhD
Esther D. Rothblum, PhD
Editors
Women and Se.x Therapy: Closing 11,e Circle iJ/ Srx11al Knowledge was simultaneously
issued by The Haworlh Press, Inc., under lhc 1i1lc: Women a11d Sex 171er11py and simuha
ncously published as a special issue of lhc journal Wo111e11 & 111ernpy, Volume 7, Num
bers 2/.l 1988, Ellen Cole and Es1hcr D. Ro1hblum, Edi1ors.
Harrington Park Press
New York • Lontlon
ISBN 0-918393-54- X
Published by
Harrington Park Press, Inc., 12 West 32 Street, New York, New York 10001
EUROSPAN/llarrington, 3 Henrietta Street, London WC2E 8LU England
llarrington Park Press, Inc., is a subsidiary of The Haworth Press, Inc., 12 West 32 Street, New
York. New York 10001.
Women cmd Scr 11,erapy: Clusi11g t/ie Circle of Sexual Knowledge was originally published as
Women & Thcn1py, Volume 7, Numbers 2/3, 1988.
© 1988 by Harrington Park Press, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be repro·
duccd or u1ili1.cd in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
microfilm and recording, or by any infonnation storage and retrieval system without permission
in writing from The Haworth Press, Inc., 12 West 32 Street, New York, New York 10001.
Printed in the United States of America.
Cover design by Marshall Andrews.
Library of Congress Cataloglng-ln-Publlcallon Data
Women nnd sex thero1>y.
Includes bibliographical rcfcrcn~·es.
" II.is also been published as Women & therapy, volume 7, numbers 2/J, 1988" - T.p.
verso.
I. Sex thcrnpy. 2. Feminist therapy. 3. Women- Sexual behavior. I. Cole, Ellen. II.
Rothblum, Esther D.
RC557.W65 1988 616.85'83'0088042 88-11068
ISDN 0-918393-54-X
CONTENTS
Preface
XI
Shere flite
Introduction 1
Ellen Cole
SECTION I: HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL PERSPECTIVES
A Feminist Critique of the Sexual Dysfunction Nomenclature 5
Leonore Tie/er
Propping Up the Phallocracy: A Feminist Critique of Sex
Therapy and Research 23
Wendy Stock
Women and Sexual Ecstasy: How Can Therapists Help? 43
Gina Ogden
SECTION 11: THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Sexual Socialization for Therapists: Applications
for the Counseling/Psychotherapy of Women 57
Elizabeth Yarris
Elizabeth Rice Allgeier
The Theory of Sexual Relativity: Female Reality/Male Myth 77
Gale Holtz Golden
Reporting Colleagues Who Are Sexually Intimate with
Clients: It's Time to Talk 87
Margery M. Noel
"Nice Women" Don't Say Yes and "Real Men" Don't Say
No: How Miscomrnunication and the Double Standard
Can Cause Sexual Problems 95
Charlene L. Muehlenhard
SECTION 111: PHYSIOLOGICAL CONDITIONS
AND ISSUES
Sexual Difficulties Experienced by Women with Interstitial
Cystitis 109
Nao,ni B. McC011nick
Robe,1 K. Vinson
Disorders of Desire: Women, Sex, and Food 121
Nechan,a Liss-Levinson
lntin1acy and the New Reproductive Options 131
Sandra R. Leib/iun
When Abortion Is a Blessing 145
Lynn Leight
Sex at Menopause: Each in Her Own Way J5 9
Ellen Cole
Teaching Safe Sex to Women in the Age of AIDS 169
· Deborah K11tzko
When the Diagnosis Is Vaginismus: Fighting Misconceptions 175
Jo Marie Kessler
SECTION IV: CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR PARTICULAR
POPULATIONS
Issues in Sex Therapy with Ethnic and Racial Minority
Women 187
Carole Pigler Christensen
Lesbian Sexuality in the Framework of Psychotherapy:
A Practical Model for the Lesbian Therapist 207
S11sa11 Ha,nadock
Research on the Sex Practices of 1566 Lesbians
and the Clinical Applications 221
J0At111 Lou/an
Bisexuality in Women: Myths, Realities, and Implications
for Therapy 235
Margaret Nichols
Issues in Sex Therapy with Survivors of lntrafa mity Sexual
Abuse 253
Linda J. Weiner
Divorced Women's Sexual and Contraceptive Issues 265
Nonna J. Leslie
Women, Sexuality, and Disabilities 277
Sandra S. Cole
EPILOGUE
Tensions, Dilemmas and Possibilities for Understanding
Women's Sexuality 295
Denise Webster