Betty Dodson

Betty Dodson, Ph.D. (born August 24 1929) is an American sex educator, author, and artist. She is widely known as a pioneer in women's (and to a somewhat lesser extent men's) sexual liberation, having sold more than 1 million copies of her first book, "Sex for One". Much of her fame has come from her work not only advocating masturbation, but conducting workshops for more than 30 years in which groups of about 10 or more women (and at least once a group of men) would talk, explore their own bodies, and masturbate together. She hosted a public access cable television program in New York City in the early 80's, and conducted her workshop - a dozen or so nude women discussing and practicing masturbation - on TV.Fact|date=April 2008

Dodson's books include "Sex for One: The Joy of Self-Loving" and "Orgasms for Two: the Joy of Partnersex". She has also produced four videos: "Selfloving: Portrait of a Sexual Seminar", "Celebrating Orgasm: Women's Private Selfloving Sessions", "Viva la Vulva; Women's Sex Organs Revealed" and "The Orgasm Doctor".

She is a founder of the pro-sex feminist movement, having left behind the more traditional feminist movement because she considered it banal, antisexual and over-politicized. She is bisexual, but considers too much is made of sexual labels. [Dodson, Betty (June 26 2005), [http://www.bettydodson.com/quitequeer3.htm We Are All Quite Queer] , Bettydodson.com. Retrieved November 17, 2006. ] In recent years she has criticized Eve Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues", which she believes has a negative and restrictive view of sexuality and an anti-male bias (Dodson, 2001).

Dodson holds a Ph.D. from the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality for her research work on sexuality.

Dodson maintains a private practice in New York City and has an active [http://www.dodsonandross.com/ website] . In an article on her website about hands-on sex therapy, she explains her choice against pursuing a degree in psychology and licensing as a therapist since it would have prevented her from continuing with the types of sex workshops and counseling for women that she had been doing for decades. [ [http://www.bettydodson.com/sexcoachinginfo.htm] from Ask Dr. Betty - Sex Coaching] While she doesn't presently offer her Bodysex Workshops, she is available for private individual and couples coaching. [ [http://www.bettydodson.com/privategeneral.htm] A Private Session with Betty]

Dodson appeared in a Season 4 episode of Penn & Teller's Bullshit! that dealt with abstinence. [ [http://www.sho.com/site/ptbs/prevepisodes.do?episodeid=s4/abstinence] Season 4, Episode 10: Abstinence]

References

External links

* [http://www.bettydodson.com/ Betty Dodson]
* [http://bettydodson.com/vaginano.htm Dodson's critique of "The Vagina Monologues"]
* [http://www.personallifemedia.com/podcasts/minds-of-men/episode002-betty-dodson-phd.html Audio Interview with Betty Dodson on "Liberating Masturbation" - includes transcript]