Betty Dodson's blog

America needs to end our dependence on war which takes care of our dependencey on oil. Thank you Deepak Chopra:

You have been elected by the first anti-war constituency since 1952, when Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected after promising to end the Korean War. But ending a war isn't the same as bringing peace. America has been on a war footing since the day after Pearl Harbor, 67 years ago. We spend more on our military than the next 16 countries combined. If you have a vision of change that goes to the heart of this country's deep problems, ending our dependence on war is far more important than ending our dependency on foreign oil.

The most immediate changes are economic. Unless it can make as much money as war, peace doesn't stand a chance. Since aerospace and military technologies remain the United States' most destructive export, fostering wars around the world, what steps can we take to reverse that trend and build a peace-based economy?

Several years ago in the nineties, I was asked to review another revision of The Joy of Sex written by Alex Comfort's son. At the time, I thought, "If Alex ever read this, he'd disown his priggish son." Now we have a postmenopausal Brit doing her version of The Joy of Sex and it makes me wonder why? Why another revision that dilutes the original book? Alex's version should stand alone as a memory of what sex was like back in the "good old days."

I got to know Alex in the seventies. He was a sweet old guy who never stopped talking and ultimately could bore you into a stupor. But I admired his love of sex. He always said he was sorry we didn't know each other in time for me to illustrate his book. The watercolor drawings he had done for the original book were perfect and I could never have done anything better. However, the line drawings could have been improved upon.

Not long ago I was asked to be interviewed for a documentary about Alex and I told the story of the time we met at Sandstone in Topanga Canyon outside of LA. It was an intentional community based upon nudity and sexual freedom, sort of like an upscale sexual country club. A very beautiful house and grounds in an idyllic setting. The following is an excerpt from my memoir...

Thanks Stevanne for sending this along. Looks like a lot of us old seventies hippies will continue to remember how much sexual pleasure we had until AIDS was upon us. I still think the government had a hand in creating this disease to control sexual freedom which was threatening the status quo.

Two new studies suggest that substances usually associated with dulling the mind -- marijuana and red wine -- may help ward off Alzheimer's disease and other forms of age-related memory loss. Their addition comes as another study dethrones folk remedy ginkgo biloba as proof against the disease.

Thanks goes to Dr. David Hersh for sending this along. I get questions about lack of sexual interest from far too many people taking anti-depressants. Personally I'd rather see people take advantage of the cannabis plant either smoked or made into a tea. But of course, the big pharmaceutical companies would lose a lot of money. Boo Hoo!

The front page of this morning's *Boston Globe* includes an article: "Antidepressants may damage more sex lives" by Carey Goldberg. Here are some excerpts:

Sexual "numbness." Lack of libido. Arousal that stalls.

Such sexual symptoms have long been known side effects of the popular Prozac class of antidepressants, but a growing body of research suggests that they are far more common than previously thought, perhaps affecting half or more of patients.

And a handful of recent medical and psychological journal articles document a small number of cases in which sexual problems remain even after a patient goes off the drugs.

It's really difficult to love America these days. My thanks go to cousin Terry Semler for sending this along.

Investment analyst and entrepreneur Dr. Marc Faber concluded his monthly bulletin with the following:

''The federal government is sending each of us a $600 rebate. If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, the money goes to China .. If we spend it on gasoline it goes to the Arabs. If we buy computer software it will go to India . If we purchase fruit and vegetables it will go to Mexico , Honduras and Guatemala . If we purchase a good car it will go to Germany . If we purchase useless crap it will go to Taiwan and none of it will help the American economy. The only way to keep that money here at home is to spend it on prostitutes and beer, since these are the only products still produced in US. I've been doing my part...

Finally, some real numbers on true female sexuality.  MORE women than ever before are taking time out to pleasure themselves, a survey revealed today.  The poll reveals nine out of 10 are regularly taking time out for some solo action - the highest number ever.

And two-thirds of women admit to pleasuring themselves three times a week, with women in London finding the time for four sessions every seven days.

This is an eye-opening  study on The Presence of Clitoral Knowledge and the Absence of Orgasm for Women. I stumbled across it over the weekend and I had to post it. So worth the read:

ABSTRACT. Women report anorgasmia and other difficulties achieving orgasm. One approach to alleviating this problem is to teach women about the clitoris. This assumes that women lack information about the clitoris and that knowledge about the clitoris is correlated with orgasm.

Using a non-random sample of 833 undergraduate students, our study investigates both assumptions. First, we test the amount of knowledge about the clitoris, the reported sources of this knowledge, and the correlation between citing a source and actual knowledge. Second, we measure the correlation between clitoral knowledge and orgasm in both masturbation and partnered sex.

I saw this documentary almost a year ago and I can't get it off my mind especially now that the car industry wants to be bailed out:

My dear friend Tuppy Owens has worked tirelessly for the sexual rights of disabled people in England. Her new TLC Trust website www.tlc-trust.org is devoted to connecting disabled men & women to responsible sex workers, therapists, & teachers. This is one of the most important and humane developments in recent social history.

The front page covers 50 examples of how the disabled community would benefit from having access to a professional sex worker. When these two stigmatized groups connect, the sexually-deprived experience bodily pleasures and sex workers gain a renewed pride in their work as they rescue disabled people from personal anguish, sexual purgatory and touch deprivation. In the UK, they are currently campaigning for the continuing legality of buying sex. The USA needs to do the same.

My dear friend and colleague Veronica Vera has written on of the best sex books around.  The title is Miss Vera's Finishing School for Boys Who Want to be Girls.  

The Daily News www.dailynews.com covered our Vee Vee and her Finishing School for Boys Who Want to be Girls. She always looks amazing!

Once again we have a president with intelligence who intends to separate church and state. As a sexologist I can say from years of experience that religion is the basis of sexual repression, beginning with the concept of original sin. Puleeeze! A new born baby gets saddled with that crap?

Some days I say I'm an atheist. Other days I would be considered an agnostic. That's when I find it comforting to talk to the Goddess of Sexual Love and Abundance, the Orgasmic Mother of us all. This is the closest I come to having a higher power. As for my spiritual practice, I consider every orgasm a divine moment of inspiration, and the rest? It's no body's business but my own. Wouldn't it be wonderful if everyone shared their sexlives and kept religion to themselves.  

Most women don't even know that the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology doesn't support cosmetic genital enhancement surgeries and has publicly said that "it is deceptive to give the impression that [these procedures] are accepted and routine" and has stressed that their safety and effectiveness have not been documented.

To raise public awareness of this assault on women's health and well-being, the New View Campaign will stage a protest on November 17 from 12-2 PM outside a cosmetic genital surgeon's office on E. 64th street between 2nd and 3rd aves in New York City. For more information see http://www.newviewcampaign.org/fgcs.asp. Go, Leonore.

Dear Betty Dodson,

I am a gyn/obs specialist, senior consultant at the University of Copenhagen Hospital Frederiksberg. During the last few years I have had an increasing number of women (young and older) asking for correction of elongated labia minora. They complain of mechanical problems during cykling, riding and intercourse--with the labia going in to the vagina. I remember many years ago seeing vulva pictures and finaly saw a Danish TV interview with you.

This was sent to me by Dr. David Hersh in Canada www.atheistcampaign.org. I can think of no better action than an atheist campaign. I only hope it reaches America where far too many folks still believe in fairy tales. Like Prince Charming, St. Peter at the Pearly Gates, Heaven with streets paved in gold and Hell with eternal fire and brimstone.

Organized religion has been the cause of humanity's problems not a solution. It's been my experience that the most devout people are the most fearful of dying. Could it be they haven't fully lived yet and when they are on their death beds, they become acutely aware of how much they've missed?

Or how much they suffered unnecessarily. When are we going to learn that heaven and hell are right here on Earth?

I was so impressed with what it took for a woman to walk out on that stage to make a citizen's arrest...I was overwhelmed.  She's part of Code Pink (www.codepinkdc.blogspot.com).  Carlin and I want to get in touch with those fabulous women and the cuffor Janice Boneparth.