Women's Sexuality across the Life Span: Challenging Myths, Creating Meanings

Moving beyond a traditional focus on sexual functioning, this book emphasizes the complex interaction of psychological, social, cultural, and biological influences on women's sense of themselves as sexual beings. Written for practitioners and educators, its goal is to challenge contradictory messages and meanings that cause many women to feel disconnected from their bodies and from their needs and desires. Themes explored include the development of sexual awareness and sexuality in childhood and adolescence, the critical sexual choices of young adulthood, and the multiple transitions characterizing the middle and later years of life. The book is filled with creative exercises and interventions to help girls and women construct more affirming sexual meanings.