The Myth Of The Vaginal Orgasm Essay

The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm is an essay written by writer, artist, and radical feminist Anne Koedt. It was published in 1970 during the time of second wave feminism. Anne was originally from Demark and moved to the United States in her early childhood (Love 2006, 259). Koedt was known for her activism in the formation of the women’s liberation movement in New York City. She was also a founding member of the New York Radical Women, a feminist groups who’s goal was to change the patriarchal system they believed all societies lived in (New York Radical Women 2014). The essay was written during the sexual revolution of the 1960’s. This was a time when sex outside monogamous, heterosexual marriages was increasing. The pill was introduced and started to give women more power and control (Bailey, 1997, 827). Koedt argues in her essay that female’s are being oppression sexually by men. Focusing greatly on the “myth of a vaginal orgasm” and that woman can only achieve sexual pleasure though clitoral stimulation. She continues to states that the vaginal orgasm was an idea constructed by men because “men have chosen to define women only in terms of how they benefited man's life” (Koedt 1970, 115). Essentially saying that men benefit more from a vaginal orgasm then they would a

First wave feminism mainly focused on suffrage and changing legal obstacles like voting, while second wave feminism brought about of issues of inequalities within the family, workplace and sexual pleasure (Women’s Movement 2014). It’s a great example of how women were trying to educate other women on the inequalities of the genders, specifically of sexual pleasure. This document reveals what issues were important to the feminist movement during the 60’s and how radical feminist viewed a woman was being defined sexually. “The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm” is a prime example of historical feminism, a small window into the feminist