Closer ─ Notes from the Orgasmic Frontier of Female Sexuality

We think of the modern woman as sexually liberatedif anything, we're told we're oversexed. And yet a striking number of women report dissatisfaction with their sex lives, including 16 percent who experience difficulty achieving orgasm and many more who complain of "low desire." But this issue sure doesn't get much press; the urge is to ignore or medicalize it. (Witness the quest for "pink Viagra.") If so many ordinary women suffer from sexual frustration, then perhaps the problem isn't one that can be addressed by a pharmaceutical cure. Maybe we need to get hot and bothered about a broader cultural cure: a reorienting of our culture's current male-focused approach to health and pleasure, and a rethinking of what's "normal."

Using a blend of reportage, interview, and first-person reflection, journalist Sarah Barmak explores the cutting-edge science and grassroots cultural trends that are getting us closer to truth of women's sexuality.Closer reveals how women are reshaping their sexuality today in wild, irrepressible waysparticipating in mindfulness, vulva massage, nude meetings, hour-long orgasms, masturbation circles, and live demonstrations at Burning Manand redefining female sexuality on its own terms.

Sarah Barmak is a Toronto-based freelance journalist and author. Her writing has appeared inMaclean's, the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, Canadian Business,Marketing, and Reader's Digest.