My Writing
My Writing explores the frustrating and sometimes humorous encounters I’ve had with the sexual double standard in my personal, social, and professional life. A few of these stories helped to shape the theme of my upcoming memoir, The Practical Seductress, set in a world where men seek adventure and women find shame. I hope some of these tales may act as guides on how to navigate vulnerable moments. I would also love to hear from you, dear reader, about your stories of desire and survival.
“Yet censure strikes hard at women, while men, the true agents of trouble, hear no reproach.” –Euripides, Electra
Addicted to Advice
Knowing that hundreds of millions read advice columns daily, with additional how-to improve yourself videos and podcasts, I began to feel a little less guilty in my obsession. I’ve indulged in other forms of advisement over the decades: Talk and Cognitive Behavior...
Sex and Sexuality – An Homage to Dr. Ruth
"An orgasm a day keeps the doctor away." “What do you do if a woman is frigid?” asked the man in the auditorium. “No such thing,” Dr. Ruth Westheimer said in her distinctive German accent. “We do not use that word. We say ‘responsive’ to sex,” she added, rolling...
DoppleMadgester – My Life as Madonna
Recently, as I stood admiring the plethora of differently sized and shaped phalluses throughout human history displayed on the walls of the Penis room at the Barcelona Erotic Museum, I could see a couple eyeing a video positioned on the wall then back to me. Curious,...
Our Psychedelic Honeymoon – A Valentine’s Day Special
Why Psychedelics? I, and my newly minted husband Rod, recently embarked upon a Psychedelic Honeymoon Retreat in Alicante, Spain. Full confession, we had engaged in the year prior to our wedding in several therapy-assisted drug experiments: MDMA (love drug), psilocybin...
Ken vs Jo Koy in the Barbie Universe
While raising first a daughter and then a son, I soon discovered an all-encompassing destructive sexism in our culture, regardless of gender birth or identity. Since my daughter is older and female and rebelled against any ‘girly-girl’ stereotypes, I was on alert for...
A Toast to Jezebels
Why are so many stories in the world’s literary canon on women cheating, written by men? Why do so many of these female heroines end up jumping from trains, dying from consumption, or drowning in lakes? Simply review a few classics: Wuthering Heights, Anna Karenina,...
Simply the Best – Memories of Tina
A miracle happened at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC in November of 2008. My teenaged daughter, throwing her hands in the air, began a syncopated clapping in time with the surrounding much older crowd. I could see the excitement in her eyes, the swaying of her...
The Pursuit of Pleasure – Musings on the March
"There is no biological reason for a woman to have an orgasm.” This declaration from my biology professor in 1972 filled my ears as we marched, half a century later, from the Washington Monument to the US Supreme Court for reproductive rights. Between the comical...
A Lovely Scarf – A Marriage Story
Rod lifted his shoulder ever so slightly and shifted his eyes down the escalator.I looked around and saw it. A lovely scarf in swirling brilliant jewel-toned hues of blue and turquoise, colors I adore. It looked almost untouched and in perfect condition as I...
Shaking it With TSA
My teenaged son had marched through the security gate at the Baltimore airport. He waved and shouted, “Hey, mom, I’m going to get a pizza. Want some?” I nodded an emphatic No. “Ok, see you at the gate.” I started to wave back, but he was gone. I threw my small...
Marketing to Men
The question of how female writers can ever market to men circled through my mind briefly as Rod told me what had happened at his job site. “So,” I said, “you’re saying my obsession to save the trees is how I shocked the construction workers and found new...
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