Title: Women's Sexual Desire: A Feminist Critique.
Authors: Wood, Jill M.; Koch, Patricia Barthalow; Mansfield, Phyllis Kernoff
Abstract: This article offers a critical feminist analysis of the biomedical conceptualization of women's sexual desire. The five major features of the biomedical model of female sexual desire examined and critiqued are (a) use of the male model as the standard, (b) use of a linear model of sexual response, (c) biological reductionism, (d) depoliticalization, and (e) medicalization of variation. A "New View," an alternative to the biomedical model, is offered for reconceplualizing women's sexual problems. This analysis concludes with recommendations for feminist-based biopsychosocial research.
Subjects: FEMINISM; FEMINIST criticism; WOMEN'S sexual behavior; SEX customs; REDUCTIONISM; MEDICALIZATION; SOCIAL medicine; DIAGNOSIS; MEDICAL model
Publication: Journal of Sex Research, 2006, Vol 43, Issue 3, p236
ISSN: 0022-4499
Publication type: Academic Journal
DOI: 10.1080/00224490609552322

Women's Sexual Desire: A Feminist Critique.

Wood, Jill M.; Koch, Patricia Barthalow; Mansfield, Phyllis Kernoff