Closer: Notes from the Orgasmic Frontier of Female Sexuality

NATIONAL POST 99 BEST BOOKS OF 2016 QUILL & QUIRE BEST OF 2016 QUILL & QUIRE BEST COVER OF 2016 We think of the modern woman as sexually liberated – if anything, we’re told we’re oversexed. Yet a striking number of women are dissatisfied with their sex lives. Over half of women report having a sexual complaint, whether that’s lack of desire or difficulty reaching orgasm. But this issue doesn’t get much press; the urge is to ignore or medicalize it (witness the quest for ‘pink Viagra’). If so many ordinary women suffer from sexual frustration, then perhaps the problem isn’t one that can be addressed by a pharmaceutical fix – or isn’t a problem. Maybe we need to get hot and bothered about a broader cultural cure: a reorienting of our current male-focused approach to sex and pleasure, and a rethinking of what’s ‘normal.’ Using a blend of reportage, interview and first-person reflection, journalist Sarah Barmak explores the cutting-edge science and grassroots cultural trends that are getting us closer to truth of women’s sexuality. Closer reveals how women are reshaping their sexuality today in wild, irrepressible ways: nude meetings, how-to apps, trans-friendly porn, therapeutic vulva massage, hour-long orgasms and public clit-rubbing demonstrations – and redefining female sexuality on its own terms. ‘Closer tackles its subject with eloquence, intelligence and humour … I recommend it to my friends of all genders, my boyfriend, my sisters, and especially the woman who started it all, my mother.’ —rabble.ca ‘… Closer is a revelation.’ —Bitch Magazine ‘… an incredibly insightful exploration of female pleasure.’ —The Globe and Mail