Betty Dodson had been teaching workshops on masturbation and holding orgies in her apartment for forty years.
Dodson, who wrote the seminal Sex For One in 1973, has re-emerged from retirement to enlighten the “post-Girls generation,” a group she thinks still needs a lot of help when it comes to exploring their own sexuality. Dodson, an NYC resident for 60 years, began her famous “Bodysex” workshops in the 70s, gathering a small group of women in her apartment to explore self-pleasure. Her workshops featured group orgasms and “genital show and tell.”
“No wonder I keep doing it,” she told The Guardian. “Are you kidding? The sounds, the sights, the smells. Fat, skinny, one tit gone. Women are so beautiful.”
It’s true. Whatever wave of feminism we’re currently riding, there isn’t a lot of focus on the enjoyable parts of sexuality, and when there is, it’s generally in a militantly sex-positive fashion that leaves little room for complex experiences. Shows like Girls portray almost all negative sexual experiences, and though it may be realistic, it’s only one part of a sexual universe that should be more accessible today. It’s refreshing to hear a woman speak candidly about the fears many young people experience today, whether about their own anatomy or their possibly un-feminist desires.
The 85-year-old Dodson looks pretty incredible too – a fact which she credits to “masturbation, pot and raw garlic.” Doesn’t sound like a terrible life. You can find out more about Betty Dodson and her “Bodysex” workshops here.
(Photo: Jesper Haynes)
