Sexual Salvation: Affirming Women's Sexual Rights and Pleasures - Hardcover

McCormick, Naomi

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0275943593 ISBN 13: 9780275943592

Publisher: Praeger, 1994

Synopsis

What is the nature and purpose of women's sexuality? How does women's sexuality relate to femininity, masculinity, and violence against women? What effect does sex role socialization have on women's sexual relations? To what extent have sexual behavior, expectations for intimacy, and sex research been shaped by a male-dominant society? These questions and more are addressed in Sexual Salvation, an open-minded and comprehensive celebration of cultural and sexual diversity. Relying on her 21-years' experience as a feminist sex-researcher, clinical psychologist, and college professor, the author illuminates the wide-ranging experiences women have had with sexuality and intimacy. Linking new feminist scholarship with emerging social science and therapist work, she makes contributions to understanding women's sexuality clear, logical, and appealing for a broad group of readers--women and men alike.

The Cold War might be over but the Women's Sex and Culture War continues in full force. Women argue with men and each other. Politically conservative individuals argue among themselves and most of all with feminists. But feminists are far from united: one group argues persuasively that women are men's sexual victims and require additional protection; the opposing feminist group argues just as articulately that women deserve sexual autonomy, not increased restrictions under the guise of protection. Sexual Salvation, written by Naomi McCormick, a distinguished feminist sex researcher, offers relief from divisive, extremist rhetoric. In her undogmatic, meticulously researched, and beautifully written book, McCormick acknowledges the contributions of all feminists to the affirmation of women's sexual rights and pleasures.

Here for the first time is a book about and for all women, not just the white, middle-class, heterosexual, able-bodied women addressed by most popular authors (including many feminists). This is an inclusive and sensitive book that touches upon the sexuality of all women: women of color, women of all sexual orientations, women of all ages, women who live with disabilities and chronic illness, poor and working class women--as well as women from socially privileged groups. More valuable still, McCormick backs up her ideas with a solid grasp of multidisciplinary scholarship. Scholars and general readers alike will find Sexual Salvation remarkable for its seamless integration of sex research and feminist and psychotherapeutic literature; and--most compelling--for its honesty.

About this title

About the Author

NAOMI B. McCORMICK, named a Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Psychology at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, now teaches Family Studies, Women's Studies, and Psychology at the University of Northern Iowa. A Fellow in Rational-Emotive Therapy, she is also a practicing clinical psychologist who specializes in feminist psychotherapy. Dr. McCormick is the 25th president and a fellow of The Society for the Scientific Study of Sex, and has been admitted to the International Academy of Sex Research. She is an associate editor of The Journal of Sex Research, consulting editor of Women & Therapy, and The Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality, and is the editor and co-author of Exploring Choices: Psychology of Adjustment (1989), Changing Boundaries: Gender Roles and Sexual Behavior (1983), as well as over 50 journal articles and book chapters.

From the Back Cover

The Cold War might be over but the Women's Sex and Culture War continues in full force. Women argue with men and each other. Politically conservative individuals argue among themselves and most of all with feminists. But feminists are far from united: one group argues persuasively that women are men's sexual victims and require additional protection; the opposing feminist group argues just as articulately that women deserve sexual autonomy, not increased restrictions under the guise of protection. Sexual Salvation, written by Naomi McCormick, a distinguished feminist sex researcher, offers relief from divisive, extremist rhetoric. In her book, McCormick acknowledges the contributions of all feminists to the affirmation of women's sexual rights and pleasures.

Reviews

This academic exploration of female sexuality is marred by a facile categorization of feminists. Sexologist McCormick (Psychology/State Univ. of New York, Plattsburgh; Changing Boundaries: Gender Roles and Sexual Behavior, not reviewed) simplistically defines feminists as either ``Liberal'' or ``Radical.'' She constructs the former as focused on women's sexual pleasure and the latter as concerned with protecting girls and women from sexual abuse and exploitation. Placing her work as outside the typical model of sex research centered on white, middle-class heterosexual women, McCormick seeks to widen her readers' conception of female sexuality with her discussion of seduction, intimacy, lesbians and bisexuals, female sex-trade workers, pornography, and models of pleasure and fulfillment. She challenges the popular belief that sex should have orgasm as its goal, asserting that it denies many women their sexuality, especially those who are paralyzed or otherwise disabled. In the context of her research, McCormick encourages us to move beyond the ``dehumanizing [equation of] sexuality with genital juxtapositions and intercourse'' and to view sexuality as ``a whole body and whole mind experience.'' She is at her strongest in her explorations of women sex-trade workers, sexual victimization, and pornography; she advocates the legalization of prostitution and the creation of erotic material that affirms women's sexuality. Unfortunately, McCormick has a tendency to idealize women as more sentimental, affectionate, and desirous of intimacy than men. She sees female sexuality as almost spiritual, which leads her to make some extravagant generalizations. She suggests, for instance, that lesbians value intimacy more than sex, that loving lesbian relationships work better than gay or straight relationships, and while she lists the dangers faced by female participants in the sex-trade industry, she tends to glamorize their agency. A flawed but sometimes astute analysis of power and sexual relations. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

McCormick (SUNY at Plattsburgh) is a therapist and sexologist who coedited the anthology Changing Boundaries: Gender Roles and Sexual Behavior (Mayfield, 1983). In this somewhat mistitled book, she summarizes what is generally known about contemporary women's sexual behavior, paying considerable attention to lesbians, prostitutes, sex trade workers, and minority, older, and handicapped women. She is at her best when placing current attitudes and practices in historical/cultural context and critiquing her own profession for its adherence to medical models and disregard of diversity. Less successful are her somewhat contradictory efforts at identifying "radical" and "liberal" feminist positions on various issues. However, her work is concise, compassionate, and free of jargon and should prove useful in most libraries.
Beverly Miller, Boise State Univ. Lib., Id.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Praeger
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0275943593
• ISBN 13: 9780275943592
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304