In 1949, people were finally starting to think about women’s sex lives. Around 20 years before the Women’s Liberation and sexual education was in full-force, the female orgasm remained a mystery. Without knowledge of the clitoris or the G-spot, many women didn’t experience climaxing, and sadly, many were made to feel “frigid” and asexual because of it.
How elusive and majestic, exactly, was the female orgasm? This illustration published in Sexology magazine in 1949 should give us a clue.”As seen by a surrealist artist,” we might gaze upon the beginnings of the respect and freedoms with which we now are able to express and share our bodies. After all, the female orgasm “is unique and unmatched in all other human experiences.”
What’s discouraging about the publication of the image is that it goes alongside articles like “Frigidity And How To Overcome It” and those that discuss male anatomy in more detail than the female body. Without the scientific research and understanding of the female body, women of the time were taught that the inability to orgasm was a shameful failure. Thank goodness Women’s Lib allowed for a meeting of science and spirit; today, we can ideally understand our anatomies and revel in the magical qualities of the human sexual self at the same time.
Image via Buzzfeed
