Honoring Betty Dodson

Happy Monday! It’s the month of March aka Women’s month! It’s the month to celebrate the contribution of women in history and contemporary society. In honor of women’s month, I will highlight a woman who I believe has had an impact on women’s rights, sex, relationships, etc weekly.

Today, I’m going to highlight Betty Dodson. Betty Dodson is the founder of the Betty Dodson method, an artist, an author and a PhD sexologist. She passed away in October 2020 but her work to helping women connect with their body, have solo orgasms, release shame, and promote self-love still continues till this day.

Betty became involved in the sex-positive movement in the late 1960s. In the 1970s, she started her first workshop, Bodysex, where she would guide women for 2 hours through a masturbation session. This involved 15 women in a circle and a hitachi wand that she would provide. “Effective masturbation, she believed, was a form of liberation for women, a way for them to learn to prioritize their own sexual experience and reduce their dependence on men.”

Ms. Dodson at a sexuality conference in 1973.
“Ms. Dodson at a sexuality conference in 1973.Credit…Bettye Lane/Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University” Taken from the NY TIMES

 

Legacy Continues

Although she is no longer with us, her legacy continues with her business partner Carlin Ross who still continues to host Bodysex workshops via zoom. Live sessions will begin again in June 2023 with a retreat in the Catskills in NY for 3 days. Prices range from $2169 – $2586 USD. This retreat includes meals, a magic wand, and Betty’s Barbell.

Betty’s legacy also continues with people all over the world being able to become a certified Bodysex Leader. Which means people who are just as passionate about teaching self pleasure can do so in their own homes.

Inspiration

Even though I would’ve loved to do the workshop with Betty, the OG, I still look forward to attending one in the future (As soon as I can afford it). I am so curious what I can learn from different techniques and what masturbating with a group feels like. I imagine liberating and feeling no worries as no one there is there to judge. The only thing I’ve gotten close to that was attending a female sex club. It was then that I noticed how comfortable it feels to be in a room with only women and doing sexual things with compared to if a man was present. It’s a feeling that I appreciate.

Sometimes I feel like I’ve mastered my masturbation sessions but I am humbled immediately every single time I touch my pussy or try out a different sex toy. I am constantly discovering new ways to pleasure myself and I feel this workshop will give me another perspective of self-pleasure which I’m always open to.

I’m inspired by Betty’s passion to helping women discover orgasms on their own. It’s something that I wish to do myself. She has proved to all of us that although we as women are getting our power back, some of us still haven’t realized that orgasms are part of that power. We must work hard to teach and practice self-love as this is the only way to tapping into your sexual self.

Thank you Betty Dodson for starting this movement! Make sure to check out her website. She has more information on Bodysex and how to articles on masturbation/orgasms.

Stay Sexy & Curious!