Love, Lust and Laughter - 11.02.21

A Tribute to Betty Dodson with Dr. Carol Queen

 

Thanks to Betty Dodson, millions of women have known orgasmic bliss … What a legacy! And there is so much more to Dr. Dodson’s legacy. Exploring all of this with Dr. Carol Queen, author of The Sex & Pleasure Book, was such an enlightening experience! As someone who was mentored by Betty, Dr. Carol just returned from New York City where she participated in the memorial for her at the Museum of Sex. Betty died last year on Halloween at the age of 91. The museum has a wing devoted to BAD (Betty A. Dodson), her art, sex education, and videos. Indeed, she has been one of the most important voices for women’s sexual pleasure and health for more than five decades. She spoke about Western civilization’s war on female sexual pleasure. Betty promoted pleasure as one of the main drivers of sexual arousal and personal well-being.

 

BAD’s first book, Liberating Masturbation (1974, out of print) became a feminist classic. Her book Sex for One: The Joy of Selfloving (reissued 1996) sold over a million copies. In 2007, Betty teamed up with Carlin Ross to develop a new website www.DodsonandRoss.com. The two women based their content on questions asked from people around the world. Her Bodysex Workshops taught women how to overcome negative body image, pleasure anxiety, ignorance, and shame. In her book Sex for One, she said, “The most consistent sex will be the love affair you have with yourself. Masturbation will get you through childhood, puberty, romance, marriage and divorce, and it will see you through old age.”

 

Dr. Diana last visited Dr. Betty in 2010 in her NYC apartment. We spoke of her memoir where she reported an actual bird’s visit one night. This was a sacred experience that taught Betty patience to wait until the morning when the bird could have the daylight to see her way out. The bird was a “divine visitor” who offered Betty this message: When the time is right, the light will be there to see your way out. October 31, 2020 was Betty’s time. The light saw her out … leaving some sensual/sexual light behind for those of us who loved and admired her.