Sex Simply Wouldn't Be the Same Without These 11 Kickass Women
April 30, 2015 3:48 AM   Subscribe

Women haven't always gotten to play a big role in the scientific advancements, studies and cultural conversations concerning sexuality. […] But numerous powerful women have elbowed their way in, taking control over female sexuality and introducing innovations that actually what women want and need.
posted by ellieBOA (15 comments total) 38 users marked this as a favorite


 
*tips hat*
posted by GallonOfAlan at 4:32 AM on April 30, 2015 [1 favorite]


This is a nice appreciation, interestingly organized, and I'm especially glad to learn of Besant, whom I hadn't heard of. Thanks.

Is it me or does it conclude a little Pepsi Blue?
posted by mahorn at 4:34 AM on April 30, 2015


I was surprised to see Annie Besant on the list since she is really famous for her association with Madame Blavatsky and Theosophy.
posted by Obscure Reference at 5:17 AM on April 30, 2015 [1 favorite]


Is it me or does it conclude a little Pepsi Blue?

Because of the inclusion of Wolfe? Not really. As was pointed out during the Tinder shitstorm, a large part of the app's success was due to her building the critical mass of users, and she did so by pointing out to women how the app worked to enable women's sexuality in a manner good for them.
posted by NoxAeternum at 6:45 AM on April 30, 2015 [1 favorite]


*tips hat*

m'lady
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:32 AM on April 30, 2015 [3 favorites]


Forever by Judy Blume laid bare as with a scalpel the heart of woman.

Of course, I didn't have sex for another 10 years after reading that, but I'm not putting that on Judy.
posted by Swandive at 7:49 AM on April 30, 2015


ISTR My Secret Garden by Nancy Friday and the Shere Hite report being Very Big Deals.

A good list but HGB was a bit - um, gross? - with regards to women. I'm not sure she was doing much, other than sensationalism with a twist of good old-fashioned retrograde sex stuff that wasn't that progressive for women at all..
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 8:07 AM on April 30, 2015


(Oh and nice to see Dr. Ruth - she was great!)
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 8:08 AM on April 30, 2015


Thanks JCIFA, not being American I didn't know a lot about HGB, do you have any articles you could link?
posted by ellieBOA at 8:18 AM on April 30, 2015


From the NYT bio piece on Helen Gurley Brown:
Ms. Scanlon notes, interestingly, that some of Ms. Brown’s most provocative writing — on topics like contraception, abortion (which was still illegal), and lesbianism — was cut from “Sex and the Single Girl” by male editors. Nevertheless, the book went on to be a best seller and a cultural phenomenon.
That seems to just be begging for a new, unexpurgated edition, if the original manuscript survived. I wonder if some of the more pointed critiques of the book as un-feminist or anti-feminist would have been blunted had the book not been edited for political correctness.
posted by Kadin2048 at 8:34 AM on April 30, 2015 [6 favorites]


I'm confused as to why the choice was made to put Helen Gurley Brown on this list instead of Gloria Steinem.
posted by DarlingBri at 9:53 AM on April 30, 2015


Also surprised by Annie Besant, who I only know in relation to theosophy (and that my mom wrote her thesis on her.)
posted by gingerbeer at 11:24 AM on April 30, 2015


I'd nominate Marie Stopes, who kind of picked up the torch from Margaret Sanger across the pond and was hugely determined and effective.
posted by Segundus at 12:47 PM on April 30, 2015 [2 favorites]


nice to see Dr. Ruth - she was great
Back in the days when we were taking Alzheimer's Disease less seriously, I wrote a bad joke about a new strain of Alzheimer's... Westheimer's Disease, when you can't remember the last time you had sex. (I am SO sorry) But, yes, Dr. Ruth was great, and the radio "sex talk" hosts who followed in her wake only reinforced how great SHE was.
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:20 PM on April 30, 2015


Best to these women, they made up for a complete void of girl friendly info in my day. Now it is TMI, but not necessarily TMGI.
posted by Oyéah at 7:03 PM on April 30, 2015


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