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I have a comedy bit that starts like this:
A gynecologist told me sex toys are good for women’s health, especially older women.
So I went home and wrote to my legislators. “Medicare should cover sex toys.”
And I also share:
“If you go online, you’ll find at least 100 lists: 10 best sex toys for women over 50.”
[Pause]
“So now you know what to give your sweet little grandma for Christmas.”
If you like that kind of humor, don’t miss my book on fighting the stereotypes of aging and medicine. It grew out of those routines.
People get it…except some medical staff.
I’ve mentioned vibrators a few times in my limited medical encounters. (I tend to be healthy and care-avoidant, so I admit I don’t have a huge sample to draw from.)
One female gynecologist said most of her patients use sex toys (I suspect she did too but wasn’t about to ask). She knew the different brands.
Other times doctors blushed. They got that “I feel very awkward but I gotta look professional” look.
A female tech actually laughed.
It’s time for them to get real.
(1) People need to be able to talk openly to doctors and their staff. If you can’t talk about sex toys, how are you going to talk about a strange rash appearing on your most unmentionable parts?
(2) Sex toys are mainstream. Hasn’t anybody watched Sex and the City? Or Ted Lasso? It’s not like those shows appeal to a niche audience of perverts.
From an article in the Chicago Tribune, “Seventy-nine-year-old Jane Fonda is doing for vibrators what 44-year-old Jane Fonda did for aerobics videos: mainstreaming them.”
On a train in France, I was seated next to a thirty-something French female lawyer. She’d studied in the US so her English was perfect.
I told her about my book and trigger warnings for sex toys.
“Sex toys!” she said. “There’s a really great shop in the Marais – very comfortable for shopping. All my friends go there.”
The truth is, knowledgeable doctors actually recommend sex toys to women.
Lauren Streicher, MD, Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwestern University’s medical school, The Feinberg School of Medicine. She’s written extensively about women’s health.
In one article she says directly: If the only thing that vibrates is your cellphone, it’s time to go shopping.
Another gynecologist, Pamela Gaudry of Savannah, GA – writes in her blog, “I frequently prescribe the use of a vibrator in my practice…No woman should die without using a vibrator. “
Time for a new curriculum in medical school. Would love to get comments from any doctors out there.
