Overview

This essential book explores how women experience and express their sexuality from childhood through old age. Moving beyond a traditional focus on sexual functioning, the book emphasizes the complex interaction of psychological, social, cultural, and biological influences on the creation of individual sexual meanings--meanings central to each woman's experience of herself as a sexual person. The author shows how these meanings are often problematic and contradictory, causing many women to feel disconnected from their bodies and from their needs and desires. Demonstrating how problematic myths and messages can be challenged, the book outlines ways that women can be empowered to create a more comfortable and self-defined sexuality throughout life.

Full Product Details

Author:   Judith C. Daniluk ,  Sandra R. Leiblum
Publisher:   Guilford Publications
Imprint:   Guilford Publications
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 3.10cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   0.800kg
ISBN:  

9781572303508

ISBN 10:   1572303506
Pages:   416
Publication Date:   31 July 1998
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Out of Print
Availability:   Out of stock  

Table of Contents

"I. The Enigma of Women's Sexuality 1. Opening Pandora's Box II. Childhood and Adolescence 2. Teaching the Children 3. Adolescence: Biological and Psychological Development 4. Menstruation: Initiation into Womanhood 5. ""Bawdy"" Image: From Subject to Object 6. Who Loves Ya, Babe?: Sexual Intimacies and Expression III. Young Adulthood 7. Biological and Psychological Development 8. Creating a Life 9. In the Prime of Life: Living in Our Bodies 10. Fanning the Flames of Desire IV. The Middle and Later Years 11. Biological and Psychological Development 12. When Being ""Hot"" Takes on New Meaning: Menopause 13. The Festival of Lipid Migration: Bodily Changes and Body Image 14. Intimate Connections: Sexual Expression and Relationships 15. Coming Full Circle Appendices: The Sexual Development of Children and Adolescents Body Image and Struggles with Weight The Aftermath of Sexual Violence Lesbian Identity and Sexual Orientation Reproductive Health and Decision Making Disability and Illness Issues for Women in the Middle and Later Years"

Reviews

This is a positive approach to female sexuality--one that emphasizes agency, activity, and choice. It is empowering....Daniluk is to be congratulated for her vision and recommendations. --From the Foreword by Sandra R. Leiblum, PhD<br><br> Kudos to Judith Daniluk for identifying and analyzing the factors that constrain and constrict female sexual expression. Taking a developmental approach, Daniluk delineates the myriad messages and factors that operate at each and every stage of a woman's life to thwart her comfort with her body and with her sexual behavior. Nearly every chapter in this remarkable and timely book concludes with a series of exercises that encourage and nourish a positive vision of women's sexuality. 'Must' reading for educators and clinicians. --Sandra R. Leiblum, PhD, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry; Co-director, Center of Sexual and Marital Health, UMDNJ--Robert Wood Johnson Medical School; editor of 4 Guilford sex therapy titles<br><br> This beautifully written, thoroughly engaging book is an impressive achievement by any standard. Critiquing many of the taken-for-granted assumptions which problematize sexuality for women, Daniluk offers constructive solutions for those attempting to intervene at a practical level to effect change in women's sexual lives. The book is both thought-provoking and reassuring, deftly weaving together biological, psychosocial, and feminist theories of sexuality in a way that makes a nonsense of the unidimensional analyses of the past. It should be read by anyone interested in women's sexuality: researchers, students, clinicians, and educators, and women themselves. --Jane M. Ussher, PhD, author of Fantasies of Femininity <br>

Daniluk's intended audience is professionals who work with the girls. In light of that audience, in many of the chapters she provides exercises or interventions to address problematic issues for girls or women. I found this part of the book to be very interesting and consistent with a feminist, activist approach. I think these exercises could also be useful for self-help or for parents working with their daughters....No age group is short-changed by Daniluk. Another strength of the book is that she tied together a great deal of feminist theorizing (and some nonfeminist theorizing) in a very cohesive way....very comprehensive and positive in its approach. The book should be helpful to professionals, and empowering for the individual women who read it. -- Psychology of Women Quarterly <br> This important book investigates how women come by, and live out, their sexual sense of themselves from childhood to old age....The first impression is of a wealth of information that will appeal to readers of different categories and interests. The book is certainly: a text for students and teachers in women's studies programs; a manual for therapists, social workers, and nurse practitioners; a treatise for those interested in how the cultural and social context shapes sexual development; and a feminist critique of patriarchal power. I was especially struck by the volume of information on every conceivable aspect of women's sexuality, backed up by a richly comprehensive bibliography. But I was equally impressed by the pragmatic value of Daniluk's suggestions for therapists, and the exercises designed for work with clients....[A] richly complex andpassionate work....I enthusiastically recommend Women's Sexuality Across the Life Span as a very worthwhile and stimulating book. -- Journal of Feminist Family Therapy <br> Daniluk sets out to define 'the sexual self' for women across their life cycle-and she succeeds in ways that are unique in this area of scientific literature....With knowledge and sophistication derived from her clinical work, her ideas emphasize how sexuality is experienced both by self and by others during each developmental phase of a women's life....a thought-provoking guide for women and careing professionals... -- Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease <br> This is a user-friendly book for both professionals and clients. It offers copious suggestions for developing skills for sexual self-definition at every age and stage of development. Chapter-end exercises include letter writing and drawing to help women identify and confront feelings, psychodrama and body sculpting to exorcise demons, guided fantasy and gestalt exercises to activate disowned body parts, and self-affirmations to help women reoccupy their bodies....I recommend this book to women who want to learn more about their sexual selves and to the counselors who want to help them. In addition, I hope this book is widely adopted in human sexuality courses and women's studies courses. This is a book that challenges and informs... -- The Journal of Sex Research <br>., . a richly textured volume addressing the biological, emotional, interpersonal, and societal complexities of women's sexuality....The book is replete with information on thebiological and psychological changes that occur over a woman's life, thoughtful commentary, and exercises designed to help women clarify and ultimately nurture their beliefs and feelings about their sexual selves....this book is an excellent resource for all helping professionals who work with women. -- Journal of Marriage and the Family <br>., . will be useful to counselors and educators in mental health. It explores how women experience and express their sexuality from childhood through old age, emphasizing the complex interaction of biological, psychological, cultural and social influences on creation of individual sexual meanings. -- News For Women in Psychiatry <br>., . thoroughly integrates biological, psychological, and social perspectives at each point of the life span....In each section the author explains in clear and accessible language what we know about the biological changes occurring in women's bodies, media portrayals of women's bodies and women's sexualities, research concerning the psychological consequences (mostly negative) of these messages, and an exploration of the ways in which therapists and counselors can help women clients create more positive and varied visions of their sexualities. - -Canadian Psychology <br> Daniluk's humor and attention to context and the wholeness of life connect and define this work, and her overall integration of themes makes it essential reading for those interested in gender issues, feminine sexuality, the role of social constructs in female sexual issues, and the relation of sexuality to stages of the life span. -- Readings <br> This volume excels at exploring the psychological and biological stages of a female's sexuality in an easy-to-understand format. The content differs from most books in that it focuses on the role society has in the development of a woman's sexual identity as it evolves through the stages of life....This book is an excellent resource for the mental health professional. Age appropriate exercises are provided in a step-by-step replicable format that can be administered to clients in either individual or group formats. These suggested activities help clients explore their sexual identities and learn how to challenge the conflicting messages from society....this book is recommended for all counselors. -- Counseling Today <br>

This is a positive approach to female sexuality--one that emphasizes agency, activity, and choice. It is empowering....Daniluk is to be congratulated for her vision and recommendations. --From the Foreword by Sandra R. Leiblum, PhD Kudos to Judith Daniluk for identifying and analyzing the factors that constrain and constrict female sexual expression. Taking a developmental approach, Daniluk delineates the myriad messages and factors that operate at each and every stage of a woman's life to thwart her comfort with her body and with her sexual behavior. Nearly every chapter in this remarkable and timely book concludes with a series of exercises that encourage and nourish a positive vision of women's sexuality. 'Must' reading for educators and clinicians. --Sandra R. Leiblum, PhD, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry; Co-director, Center of Sexual and Marital Health, UMDNJ--Robert Wood Johnson Medical School; editor of 4 Guilford sex therapy titles This beautifully written, thoroughly engaging book is an impressive achievement by any standard. Critiquing many of the taken-for-granted assumptions which problematize sexuality for women, Daniluk offers constructive solutions for those attempting to intervene at a practical level to effect change in women's sexual lives. The book is both thought-provoking and reassuring, deftly weaving together biological, psychosocial, and feminist theories of sexuality in a way that makes a nonsense of the unidimensional analyses of the past. It should be read by anyone interested in women's sexuality: researchers, students, clinicians, and educators, and women themselves. --Jane M. Ussher, PhD, author of Fantasies of Femininity Daniluk's intended audience is professionals who work with the girls. In light of that audience, in many of the chapters she provides exercises or interventions to address problematic issues for girls or women. I found this part of the book to be very interesting and consistent with a feminist, activist approach. I think these exercises could also be useful for self-help or for parents working with their daughters....No age group is short-changed by Daniluk. Another strength of the book is that she tied together a great deal of feminist theorizing (and some nonfeminist theorizing) in a very cohesive way....very comprehensive and positive in its approach. The book should be helpful to professionals, and empowering for the individual women who read it. -- Psychology of Women Quarterly This important book investigates how women come by, and live out, their sexual sense of themselves from childhood to old age....The first impression is of a wealth of information that will appeal to readers of different categories and interests. The book is certainly: a text for students and teachers in women's studies programs; a manual for therapists, social workers, and nurse practitioners; a treatise for those interested in how the cultural and social context shapes sexual development; and a feminist critique of patriarchal power. I was especially struck by the volume of information on every conceivable aspect of women's sexuality, backed up by a richly comprehensive bibliography. But I was equally impressed by the pragmatic value of Daniluk's suggestions for therapists, and the exercises designed for work with clients....[A] richly complex andpassionate work....I enthusiastically recommend Women's Sexuality Across the Life Span as a very worthwhile and stimulating book. -- Journal of Feminist Family Therapy Daniluk sets out to define 'the sexual self' for women across their life cycle-and she succeeds in ways that are unique in this area of scientific literature....With knowledge and sophistication derived from her clinical work, her ideas emphasize how sexuality is experienced both by self and by others during each developmental phase of a women's life....a thought-provoking guide for women and careing professionals... -- Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease This is a user-friendly book for both professionals and clients. It offers copious suggestions for developing skills for sexual self-definition at every age and stage of development. Chapter-end exercises include letter writing and drawing to help women identify and confront feelings, psychodrama and body sculpting to exorcise demons, guided fantasy and gestalt exercises to activate disowned body parts, and self-affirmations to help women reoccupy their bodies....I recommend this book to women who want to learn more about their sexual selves and to the counselors who want to help them. In addition, I hope this book is widely adopted in human sexuality courses and women's studies courses. This is a book that challenges and informs... -- The Journal of Sex Research ., . a richly textured volume addressing the biological, emotional, interpersonal, and societal complexities of women's sexuality....The book is replete with information on thebiological and psychological changes that occur over a woman's life, thoughtful commentary, and exercises designed to help women clarify and ultimately nurture their beliefs and feelings about their sexual selves....this book is an excellent resource for all helping professionals who work with women. -- Journal of Marriage and the Family ., . will be useful to counselors and educators in mental health. It explores how women experience and express their sexuality from childhood through old age, emphasizing the complex interaction of biological, psychological, cultural and social influences on creation of individual sexual meanings. -- News For Women in Psychiatry ., . thoroughly integrates biological, psychological, and social perspectives at each point of the life span....In each section the author explains in clear and accessible language what we know about the biological changes occurring in women's bodies, media portrayals of women's bodies and women's sexualities, research concerning the psychological consequences (mostly negative) of these messages, and an exploration of the ways in which therapists and counselors can help women clients create more positive and varied visions of their sexualities. - -Canadian Psychology Daniluk's humor and attention to context and the wholeness of life connect and define this work, and her overall integration of themes makes it essential reading for those interested in gender issues, feminine sexuality, the role of social constructs in female sexual issues, and the relation of sexuality to stages of the life span. -- Readings This volume excels at exploring the psychological and biological stages of a female's sexuality in an easy-to-understand format. The content differs from most books in that it focuses on the role society has in the development of a woman's sexual identity as it evolves through the stages of life....This book is an excellent resource for the mental health professional. Age appropriate exercises are provided in a step-by-step replicable format that can be administered to clients in either individual or group formats. These suggested activities help clients explore their sexual identities and learn how to challenge the conflicting messages from society....this book is recommended for all counselors. -- Counseling Today Daniluk's intended audience is professionals who work with the girls. In light of that audience, in many of the chapters she provides exercises or interventions to address problematic issues for girls or women. I found this part of the book to be very interesting and consistent with a feminist, activist approach. I think these exercises could also be useful for self-help or for parents working with their daughters....No age group is short-changed by Daniluk. Another strength of the book is that she tied together a great deal of feminist theorizing (and some nonfeminist theorizing) in a very cohesive way....very comprehensive and positive in its approach. The book should be helpful to professionals, and empowering for the individual women who read it. -- Psychology of Women Quarterly This important book investigates how women come by, and live out, their sexual sense of themselves from childhood to old age....The first impression is of a wealth of information that will appeal to readers of different categories and interests. The book is certainly: a text for students and teachers in women's studies programs; a manual for therapists, social workers, and nurse practitioners; a treatise for those interested in how the cultural and social context shapes sexual development; and a feminist critique of patriarchal power. I was especially struck by the volume of information on every conceivable aspect of women's sexuality, backed up by a richly comprehensive bibliography. But I was equally impressed by the pragmatic value of Daniluk's suggestions for therapists, and the exercises designed for work with clients....[A] richly complex and passionate work....I enthusiastically recommend Women's Sexuality Across the Life Span as a very worthwhile and stimulating book. -- Journal of Feminist Family Therapy Daniluk sets out to define 'the sexual self' for women across their life cycle-and she succeeds in ways that are unique in this area of scientific literature....With knowledge and sophistication derived from her clinical work, her ideas emphasize how sexuality is experienced both by self and by others during each developmental phase of a women's life....a thought-provoking guide for women and careing professionals... -- Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease This is a user-friendly book for both professionals and clients. It offers copious suggestions for developing skills for sexual self-definition at every age and stage of development. Chapter-end exercises include letter writing and drawing to help women identify and confront feelings, psychodrama and body sculpting to exorcise demons, guided fantasy and gestalt exercises to activate disowned body parts, and self-affirmations to help women reoccupy their bodies....I recommend this book to women who want to learn more about their sexual selves and to the counselors who want to help them. In addition, I hope this book is widely adopted in human sexuality courses and women's studies courses. This is a book that challenges and informs... -- The Journal of Sex Research .,. a richly textured volume addressing the biological, emotional, interpersonal, and societal complexities of women's sexuality....The book is replete with information on the biological and psychological changes that occur over a woman's life, thoughtful commentary, and exercises designed to help women clarify and ultimately nurturetheir beliefs and feelings about their sexual selves....this book is an excellent resource for all helping professionals who work with women. -- Journal of Marriage and the Family .,. will be useful to counselors and educators in mental health. It explores how women experience and express their sexuality from childhood through old age, emphasizing the complex interaction of biological, psychological, cultural and social influences on creation of individual sexual meanings. -- News For Women in Psychiatry .,. thoroughly integrates biological, psychological, and social perspectives at each point of the life span....In each section the author explains in clear and accessible language what we know about the biological changes occurring in women's bodies, media portrayals of women's bodies and women's sexualities, research concerning the psychological consequences (mostly negative) of these messages, and an exploration of the ways in which therapists and counselors can help women clients create more positive and varied visions of their sexualities. - -Canadian Psychology Daniluk's humor and attention to context and the wholeness of life connect and define this work, and her overall integration of themes makes it essential reading for those interested in gender issues, feminine sexuality, the role of social constructs in female sexual issues, and the relation of sexuality to stages of the life span. -- Readings This volume excels at exploring the psychological and biological stages of a female's sexuality in an easy-to-understand format. The content differs from most books in that it focuses on the role society has in the development of a woman's sexual identity asit evolves through the stages of life....This book is an excellent resource for the mental health professional. Age appropriate exercises are provided in a step-by-step replicable format that can be administered to clients in either individual or group formats. These suggested activities help clients explore their sexual identities and learn how to challenge the conflicting messages from society....this book is recommended for all counselors. -- Counseling Today

Author Information

Judith C. Daniluk, PhD, is Associate Professor in the Department of Counselling Psychology at the University of British Columbia, and a consultant to Genesis Fertility Centre, Inc. She received her doctorate from the University of Calgary in 1985, and has worked and published extensively on issues related to the sexuality and reproductive health of girls and women. She is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Canadian Psychological Association, and the American Counseling Association, and has served as a reviewer for the Journal of Counseling and Development, the Psychology of Women Quarterly, Sex Roles, the Journal of Marriage and the Family, Canadian Psychology, the Canadian Journal of Counselling, and Fertility and Sterility. She lives in Vancouver with her son Andrew, her partner David, and their American Cocker Spaniel Jazz.

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