Betty Dodson with Carlin Ross

Better Orgasms. Better World.

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We've been talking about it for months.  The ebook edition of Betty's memoir is finally available on Barnes & Noble, Amazon, iTunes, and the site for $1.99. 

Betty finished writing her memoir back in the 80's - her publisher agreed to release it but only if she made it a novel.  Ala Betty she told them no way and decided to hold on to it until the world was ready for her autobiography. 

Betty:  I'm referring to December and January when I say Seasons Greetings. Now that I'm past obligatory family stuff and simply dealing with a few close friends, these two months are a great time for me. Instead of frantically shopping for gifts and making the party rounds, I actually have time to enjoy reading back New Yorkers, clearing out a closet and rearranging my back room to accommodate a new stationary bike.

(photo credit: Eric Francis)

The second of the two questions in our Bodysex circle framed my answers to both. How do I feel about my orgasm? I hadn't considered it before. At least not directly. Do I feel anything specifically about my orgasm? I asked myself. Or do I simply feel my orgasm?

The first question, how I feel about my body, was one I chewed on at length. But mulling how I felt about my orgasm was unfamiliar. Taking my time to consider the questions before, during, and now after the Bodysex filming, has in itself been enlightening.

I just sent over the final edit changes for Betty Dodson's Bodysex Workshop.  We're releasing it online by November 16th in time for our debut on Norwegian television.  Then, we'll have dvds authored and ready for release by xmas. 

Thank you for your support and donations.  We couldn't have pulled it off without you.  I can't wait to send out the dvds to our Kickstarter donors.  It's more exciting than words can express.

I cry every time I watch it.  It's so moving and I was in the circle.  There isn't a moment that I'm not completely riveted.  One hour and 40 minutes - it just flies by. 

How do you feel about your body? How do you feel about your orgasm?

These two questions focused and grounded my Bodysex experience into a tangible, personal narrative. They rang in my mind over several months, peaked with the documentary's filming, and have continued clanging since I returned home.

In tandem, the questions bounce off each other. Taken together, they intertwine, snaking into and around the other until they cannot be pulled apart easily.

This is the moment when we got to see Sheila's huge clit...amazing. 

Nearly a moon cycle has passed since I rode the elevator up to Betty's temple for the Bodysex filming. I've needed these weeks since returning home to integrate and breathe and begin to recognize the impact that Bodysex is having on me. My off-the-cuff description of the smells of our masturbation ritual rolled off easily. But to share what happened in a more fundamental sense, and what it means, has needed time to gestate. It will probably take several posts, an ongoing conversation.

This is one of my favorite moments from the shoot.  Francie was part of our crew.  We kept on joking that every person on the set was female because she's carrying a girl. 

After we wrapped Day 2 of the bodysex group, we started getting dressed.  Francie asked if we could get naked again.  She wanted to take this pic of her pregnant belly exposed with all of us for her daughter.  What a moment. 

Saturday September 17, the day after our closing party at Carlin and Geof’s apartment and I am one exhausted, happy and very fortunate octogenarian to have had the opportunity to document a workshop that I ran for 25 years. Then to have it be spectacularly successful is a dream come true.

As many of Betty and Carlin's readers know, this is the week that they are filming a Bodysex workshop for a DVD. This is an all-women's event. I consider myself one of the men close to Betty and her work who is holding space for the experience, from the outside. Over the next few days I will share my thoughts about how that feels and what it means to me.

This is one of Betty's drawings from her Love Picture Exhibition - and that's Betty.  She and her boyfriend rigged up their polaroid camera and took pics of themselves in the throws of passion. 

She drew sex from her own sex life.  Love this one.

View Betty's art gallery

This is my favorite self portrait of Betty.  She painted it in in the 1950s.  I love her perky breasts, long hair - she still has the same ass. 

I wonder if she knew then that she was going to be the greatest sex positive feminist of all time.

Click here to view Betty's Fine Art Gallery

Thousands of years before the time of Christ, the cannabis hemp plant was Earth's largest agricultural crop that produced the majority of fiber, fabric, lighting oil, paper, incense and medicines. Hemp was also the primary source of essential food, oil and protein for humans and animals.

From 1776 until 1937, hemp was a major American crop that supplied textiles, paper and medicines. This hardy plant grows 6 to 8 feet tall in one season and sends oxygen into our atmosphere. Using hemp could slow down deforestation that also provides our atmosphere with oxygen along with all the other material goods. So we might wonder why America would declare war on such a beneficial plant.

Oh, Cajun!

People keep asking me "what's bodysex?" because I've been blogging and tweeting about our production of Betty Dodson's Bodysex Group. I figured I should explain Betty's work and why it's so important to our feminist history.