Betty Dodson's blog

As a woman who does not wear a bra, one might ask why I'm interested in this art bra exhibit. Ah yes, art is art and some of these nifty bras qualify as art. Just remember sisters, those underwire bras are now suspect for cutting off your circulation and that just might be one cause for breast cancer.

Why I don't wear one? Well, back in the day, I used to draw bras, hundreds of bras for catalogs and ads putting myself through art school. The popular ones back then had cups that were stitched in a circle and I was working with pen and ink. Stitch, stitch by stitch with each row after row after row.

Dear Betty,

I am a 40 year old woman. I have never been able to have an orgasm from oral sex. I was married for 15 years to someone who didn't like to go down on me, so I have limited experience with it. But I have a partner right now who loves giving oral. So I'd like to take advantage of it but I can't seem to do it. I can orgasm from masturbation without a problem. Can you help? Thanks so much.

I knew Ellen Willis back in the day when we were feminists together. This trailer is for a book written by her daughter who went on a road trip across the country interviewing young women about their lives and what feminism means to them.  I look forward to reading Girl Drive:

Girldrive trailer! from Girldrive on Vimeo.

I'm going to see the movie Amelia tomorrow. Although this news item refers to Amelia's wild side, opting for non monogamy is hardly what I'd consider "wild." She wanted her husband to know that she didn't expect either one of them to adhere to a lifetime of sex restricted to one another. I find that an act of courage in a society that demands monogamy of women while many men get to cheat.

Not only did she lead a conventional life, but it seems that her plane just didn't "disappear". My friends made a film about TIGHAR, a group of researchers digging for truth, something that always turns me on.

Amelia's fourth cousin, Wally Earhart, believes that Amelia and her navigator, Fred Noonan, did not die as claimed by the government and the Navy when their twin-engine Electra plunged into the Pacific on July 2, 1937.

Penny and I have admired each other's ground breaking art for decades. We agree as sister artists that the best thing in the world a woman can do is to have a BAD Reputation. Carlin and I call our business BAD Media, LLC. And my initials spell BAD. Can't wait to read her book, Bad Reputation.

She was a runaway at thirteen, a reform-school graduate at sixteen, a performer in the legendary New York City Play-House of the Ridiculous at seventeen, and an escapee from Andy Warhol's Factory scene at nineteen. Penny Arcade emerged in the 1980s as a primal force on the New York art scene and an originator of what came to be called performance art.

"The pleasure is in your hands" is a new workshop being offered by the Spanish government through its Youth Council and the Institute for Women and it's quite controversial. The workshop encourages teens to masturbate and teaches them how to use sex toys. The course description includes how to use and enjoy ben-wa balls "because they help strengthen the muscles in women", and how to stimulate your genitals with oils, lubricants and all types of vibratory equipment (sound familiar).

Current TV takes a behind the scenes look at the porn industry including my favorite site kink.com

I can identify with Jane's comment on her sexlife being better than ever at 71. I had a double hip replacement and at 69 began a love affair with a young man who was 47 years younger. Once he became my protégé, teaching him about the sex I'd always wanted was so delightful that it lasted throughout my seventies. Orgasms for Two: the Joy of Partnersex chronicles our sexlife. While Jane says she wouldn't want to be young again, I'd go for it in a heart beat! At 80, I'm just getting a good start toward making important dreams come true.

Laura Roberts' article was sent to me by Steven Otero to support my latest commitment to self publish my sexual memoir. It got me thinking that Nin's sexual diary was nothing like what I'm doing really. Good thing I actually enjoy being ostracized by people who don't like sex. Saves time.  Here's Laura's take on the reality of being a female sex writer:

Female sex writers often get labelled; people think they're promiscuous, flighty, frivolous, that they're porn stars or prostitutes or worse. They're often assumed to be living the impossible life of Carrie Bradshaw, a fictional character who has been the bane of my writing career since its beginning. Sorry to disappoint, but I have never in my life worn a giant vagina, er, flower pin in public. Nor do I intend to.

A Scrabble pin with the letter V, on the other hand... well, that's just nerdy-hot.

I'm releasing my memoir as an ebook for the holidays.  Here's the foreword:

As a little girl, I dreamed of becoming a famous artist. Throughout those early years into adulthood, my search for artistic expression was supported by my family, friends and society at large. Everyone approved of art and creative artists were greatly admired. Years later, when I began to search for new creative forms of sexual expression, only a handful of people understood. Most warned me against taking this path. It wasn't fair I reasoned; if a man could have many lovers and sexual adventures, why not a woman? Most people said I'd be socially ostracized or labeled a "slut" or "whore" if I went beyond serial monogamy. That made me more determined than ever to explore my sexual options. Five years of formal art training had taught me well: The creative process was about defying convention to seek my own vision. It seemed reasonable that I would learn about sex the same way- I'd defy convention and seek my own vision through a variety of sexual experiences.

This article on sphere.com about the woman whose "vagina fell out" is eye opening.  Allison Henry didn't realize that she had suffered a vaginal prolapse during pregnancy.  It demonstrates how women do NOT have any idea what is between their legs.

"Women will suffer for years and not tell anyone," says Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz, a gynecologist in Los Angeles. "They'd rather tell their doctor they have a sexually transmitted disease than say that something is hanging out of them."

After hearing the story of the 4 year old who was beaten to death for "touching himself", I had to respond.  Childhood sexuality is a fact of everyone's life. Like it or not all you sex fearing parents who punish your children for an act that is as natural as eating! Shame on all of you! Even though you believe it is for your child's sake, inhibiting masturbation is the first blow of sexual repression that leaves a permanent scar on every child's ability to enjoy adult sexuality.

Baubo is one of many wild Grecian goddesses of sacred sexuality, the Crone- a wise old woman who is full of irreverent joy and comically lewd behavior. She has been called the belly goddess of laughter and obscenity, a refreshing contrast to contemporary images of old age. Baubo also represents three aspects of women's lives: sexuality, old age and transformative personal power though sexual liberation. Instead of an old woman ravaged by time with nothing about her that is remotely sexual, Baubo radiates her Crone sexual energy with a functioning postmenopausal orgasmic vulva! This concept upsets all societies that scorn or totally deny older women's sexuality.

Bravo Terry Alen for calling out Big Pharma and their lackeys; Some 22 drug companies, including Pfizer, had financial ties to 18 of the 19 authors that defined female sexual dysfunction. Smart women just get a vibrator and tune into a hot fantasy and enjoy all the orgasms they want when they want them. We need to STOP defining female sexuality with the male model. What's good for the goose just doesn't work for the gander.

My favorite line: "The pharmaceutical industry wants you to think that if you don't have sex like a porn star, you're in need of their drugs."