SEXUAL HEALTH
Women's Sexual Health
Women's Sexual Health Introduction:
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines sexual health as "the state of physical, emotional, mental and social well-being related to sexuality; it is not merely the abscence of disease, dysfunction and infirmity. Sexual health requires a positive, respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships, as well as the possibility of having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences, free of coercion, discrimination and violence. For sexual health to be attained and maintained, the sexual rights of all persons must be respected, protected and fulfilled." This channel focuses on understanding sexual health issues of special interest to women. It also examines issues relating to communication within sexual relationships, and much more.
Sexual desire is much more complex than it may appear on the surface. When desire is present, and when it is congruent with a person’s behaviors and values, it is usually accepted without too much thought. When something is amiss, however, things can become complicated. Low sexual desire can have physical causes (such as chronic illness or medication interaction) or psychological causes (such as stress, guilt, or poor body image). Physical desire issues can lead to psychological concerns, and vice versa. This channel deals with these and other topics relating to sexual desire.
A middle-aged woman attending one of my workshops was trying to convince me that she had no hope of attracting a man. She was a pioneer. She had lived through the sixties and fought for women's and civil rights. And here she sat, asking with genuine hopelessness, "Who wants a fat old lady?"
She was not fat. I would tell you if she was. She had a soft, round middle and long, lean legs. "It's not about the weight," I firmly contested. At first she was not convinced. But later on, she spoke with revelation. "I recently saw a picture of myself when I was at the beach in my twenties, and I thought, 'What a hottie! That was me, wearing that little bikini!' But you know," she concluded, "I thought I was fat then, too."
Think about it: How many women do you know who don't either think they are fat, or hate some part of their bodies?
Now some of you may know one, and others may know more, but I, a thirtysomething New Yorker, don't know any. Not one. I mean after decades, decades of feminism and female empowerment, women seem unwilling to reclaim their power in this area of self-hatred that manifests itself towards the body.
We have known for years that we live in a patriarchal society that inspires women to organize themselves around being attractive and accommodating to men. Despite our "knowledge" that the societal standard of beauty creates pressure to conform and pain when we cannot, many of us still accept society's definitions of beauty and dutifully try to adhere. I'm not talking about a healthy motivation to look and feel good. I am talking about the ways we objectify ourselves, such as literally measuring our value in a waist or bra size, or letting a slightly higher-than-desired number on a scale ruin our day. So, I ask, how long do we wait to lose that extra bit of weight (that will finally make us feel good . . . right?) before we give up the game? Why, when we have made so many advances, are so many of us still, to varying degrees, enslaved to 'the cultural eye'?
Okay, so it has been going on for centuries. Is it the old "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" theory? This probably has something to do with it, but I do not believe it is the sole reason. We women learn fast. Our capacity for change is built into our bodies.
How about vanity? Western culture promotes vanity in both men and women, with its insistence that success lies in appearances rather than substance. This is also a piece of the equation. However, the men I know who are not thrilled with their appearance don't collapse into self-hate with the same frequency or vengeance that the women I know do.
There may be many reasons, but the unexplored portion of the body image dilemma that I bring to this article has to do with feelings, and shame. I believe deep down we want to know our worth beyond our status as sex objects, but we are scared of what we will find if we take that leap.
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Culturally, the vulnerable and irrational feelings that are triggered in all of us such as grief, anger and fear, do not fit into the successful image. These feelings - and our feelings about these feelings (i.e., shame) - are the glue that keeps us bound to our self-hate. It is almost as though hating our physical bodies is a safer alternative to feeling our real, irrational feelings or how much we dislike those feelings, and how worthless we feel for having them. The clincher is, that while we are defending ourselves in this way, we also block our openness to pleasure.
We feel with our bodies, not our minds. When these natural, negative feeling states arise in our bodies, as a result of our psychological and cultural training, we do not consciously acknowledge them. So we discard, abort, and repress the feelings and instead hate our physical bodies, the container of the feelings, as a habit and as a defense. For example, many feelings originate in the middle of our bodies – our stomachs - a body part that many women want to change.
However, when a woman begins to examine her self-hatred, she will begin to notice an underlying rhythm to it, that on the days she feels the worst about herself often have more to do with what is going on inside than on the outside. For example, when our periods come around and we feel bloated, and all of our emotions are close to the surface because our hormones make it easier for them to be, that is a time when the hatred for our bodies runs rampant. There is little to no awe in our bodies' capacity to create, no celebration of our increased ability to feel: only loathing.
We can begin to change this dynamic within ourselves, slowly and tenderly. We need to make a commitment to not hate our bodies, recognizing our covert alliance with patriarchy when we do. We need to see our self-hating habits as a signal and stop indulging them. We must allow ourselves to hear our true feelings and find the space both inside and with others to have them. This process takes time, energy, and support, and it is a large part of my work with women in my workshops and private practice. Most importantly, we must unite in sisterhood and support each other in loving every part of ourselves. I believe this is the next wave of feminism that will fill us with the power that is rightfully ours, and is truly feminine.
