What happened to Betty's Genital Art Gallery?

The new 2257 regulations stipulate that all genital imagery be subject to the same rules as the adult entertainment industry. Therefore I cannot publish submissions without a signed release and a copy of each person’s driver’s license. This demand ends the essential aspect of the gallery based upon anonymity which, in turn, has ended my research project. I have always wanted to challenge this ridiculous law especially as it pertains to sex education materials.

As a PhD sexologist with forty years of clinical experience, I have learned that many women’s inability to enjoy orgasms with themselves or a partner is based upon the absence of visual and practical information about their sex organs. My own history is a perfect example: Until the age of 35, I believed I was genitally deformed due to my extended inner lips— the result of too much childhood masturbation! I hid my imaginary deformity by avoiding oral sex and bright lights in the bedroom— a terrible sexual handicap. Nearly every woman that has come to me in hopes of solving her lack of orgasm has never viewed her genitals in a free-standing mirror under a bright light. Doing this with a knowledgeable person who can explain the form and function is a big step toward her sexual healing.

In 1998 when my website went up, I created my Genital Art Gallery. Never again would another woman think there was something wrong with her sex organ for lack of positive imagery. By then, I knew men had their own concerns about the size and appearance of their penises, so I included them too. Viewers were asked to submit photos of their sex organs with a brief essay about their relationship to them. The fact that it was anonymous provided the necessary privacy which gave people the freedom to display their genitals and talk about their masturbation practices.

By 2000 online porn had become the main source of sex education. When young women saw their boyfriends masturbating to images of porn stars, they became insecure with the appearance of their own genitals. Similar to Hollywood starlets, most women in the adult industry undergo cosmetic surgery. They get nose jobs, breast implants, liposuction and extended inner lips are removed to achieve "The Clamshell Look," reminiscent of a pre-pubescent girl. Even the anus is bleached and dyed pink. Insecure and uniformed young women wanted a similar look so a booming new industry was born; laser vaginal plastic surgery. To counter this unnecessary and sometimes dangerous cosmetic surgery, my Genital Art Gallery became a research project where both women and men could share and appreciate the vast diversity of our sex organs.

Betty A. Dodson, Ph.D. Clinical Sexologist