Famous Sexologist Comes to Victor

One of my mentors and a world famous sexologist is coming to Victor Harbor. Patricia Weerakoon is a great speaker, great person and very interesting. Patricia was the coordinator of the masters degree in Sexual Health at University of Sydney when I attended. She was a supportive and though provoking coordinator then and I am sure people will find her interesting and thought provoking now. You may well have seen her on TV, particularly the ABC show Catalyst and the SBS show 'The Science of Teens".

Sex and Ageing - Some research

A study published this week in the American Journal of Medicine challenges some of ways we tend to think about and talk about sex and aging, and as importantly, challenges the dominant medical frame on sexuality, which focuses on dysfunction rather than satisfaction or pleasure.
The study asked just over 800 women aged 40 to 99 to respond to surveys about their recent sexual activity, overall sexual satisfaction, and sexual desire. The women were not representative of the general population, they all came from suburb of San Diego and have been involved in a longitudinal research project called the Rancho Bernardo Study which began in 1972. So the findings shouldn't be thought of as highly generalizable, but instead as an interesting snapshot of one group of women in one place at one time.
The women were asked if they had engaged in sexual activity in the past four weeks. In this study sexual activity was described as including caressing, foreplay, masturbation, and penile-vaginal intercourse. In analyzing the data the researchers divided the women into four age groups, each with about 200 women in them. Here are some of the basic findings of the study:
50% of the women reported having had sex in the previous 4 weeks and 80% of those women were living with a partner/spouse.
40% of all respondents said that they never or almost never felt sexual desire, and 30% of women who were having sex said they felt low, very low, or no sexual desire.
64% of all respondents said they were moderately or very satisfied with their sexual relationship.
64% of women who had sex in the past 4 weeks reported being aroused most times, almost always, or always.
67% said they achieved orgasm most times, almost always, or always; women in the youngest and oldest groups reported the highest orgasm satisfaction.
These findings highlight how slippery statistics are. GO HERE to read more

What is normal sexual behaviour?

As a sexologist I am forever intrigued by the place that sexuality plays in our lives. One of the questions that I often get asked is " Am I normal"? Clearly this is a bit of a loaded question because 'normal' can mean many things. It could mean " Do I do the same things that most other people do?" It could mean " Is this considered okay in my culture?" It could mean " Is my body working the way it is supposed to?" Well.....

According to the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behaviour; conducted by the Centre for Sexual health Promotion at Indianna University in the USA. People identified the following common behaviours

click here for an enlarged picture of the graph

What does this mean? It means that most of us masturbate. It means that most of us try a range of behaviours throughout or lifespan making us pretty normal. WHY THEN is there so much shame or disgust regarding aspects of sexual behaviours? Doesn't seem to make sense to me. Any comments??