Love, Sex, and Family

Strolling Topless in New York City {featured news}

The news last month about a woman beating the heat by walking the streets of New York City topless delighted me not for the apparent shock value this had for many, but for its affirmation of sexual equality. Explains the NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information to The Village Voice:

The state's highest court established long ago that women have the same right as men to appear topless in public. Absent a link to some commercial enterprise or promotion, the woman's lack of certain attire in this instance does not appear to be a police matter.

The National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY) provides information on disabilities in children and youth (birth to age 22), including on the topic of sexuality; an "aspect of development that’s important not to ignore with children with or without disabilities." On this resource page you will find information on human sexuality in general, how disabilities can affect sexuality, the special role of the parent, the content to be taught, materials developed with specific disabilities in mind, and commercial products.

The Mating Call

Can a girl be horny and politically correct? In a keynote talk I gave a few years ago at a conference on heterosexual desire, I spoke about "the freeway speed limits of desire" that seem to affect women in particular; not above 70 miles per hour, not below 45. -- Too little desire and you're frigid, too much and you're a nymphomaniac, lacking in self-control.

In the United States, comments Mama Sutra in a recent post at Good Vibrations Magazine, it is "not acceptable for women to be overtly sexual." -- In fact, she writes; "women of any age are not permitted to appear interested in sex."

Because of this cultural view of female sexuality, American women have adapted to get what they want and preserve their persona. There is a phenomenon that I have observed in multiple heterosexual settings. I call it The Drunk American Girl Mating Call – it is a behavior exhibited by women who seek the attention, most often sexual attention, of the opposite gender. Everyone, especially men, seems to recognize this behavior without even realizing what is happening.

The Ultimate Guide to Sex and Disability: For All of Us Who Live with Disabilities, Chronic Pain, and Illness is written for a broad audience of individuals who live with disabilities, pain, illness, or chronic conditions, from chronic fatigue, back pain, and asthma to spinal cord injury, hearing and visual impairment, multiple sclerosis, and more; and regardless of age, gender, or sexual orientation.