Closer

A provocative look at why our current understanding of female sexuality isn't getting us off.QUILL & QUIREBEST OF 2016QUILL & QUIREBEST COVER OF 2016We think of the modern woman as sexually liberated if anything, were told were oversexed. Yet a striking number of women are dissatisfied with their sex lives. Over half of women report having a sexual complaint, whether thats lack of desire or difficulty reaching orgasm. But this issue doesnt 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 isnt one that can be addressed by a pharmaceutical fix or isnt 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 whats 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 womens 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.