While puttering around on the internet recently looking for examples of sexually explicit Fine Art, I stumbled upon fascinating pieces by a woman I’d somehow never heard of before: Betty Dodson. An icon of sex-positive feminism (and feminism in general), Dodson famously popularized the Magic Wand, clitoral stimulation, and women’s masturbation in the public sphere. Although probably most famous for leading women’s workshops, Dodson’s near century of life was packed with game-changing accomplishments. Frankly, the more I learn about Dodson the more shocked I become that I’ve only recently found out about her career. Whether you’re as in the dark as I was or you’ve attended a Bodysex workshop yourself, I hope you’ll stick around to learn some more about Dodson’s legendary life.
Betty Anne Dodson was born on August 24th, 1929. Raised in Kansas by an alcoholic father and mother who “just barely learned to read and write”, it might be easy for outsiders to assume Dodson was raised conservatively. Far from it! In Dodson’s opinion, her mother Bessie’s lack of formal schooling allowed her to avoid sex-negative brainwashing, instead masturbating from a young age, considering it natural when her children touched themselves, and always being willing to answer questions openly without judgment. Bessie’s support never waivered, even when her daughter decided, at twenty, to pursue an art career in New York City.
Dodson moved to the city in 1950 and faced challenges from the jump. Her interest in fashion made her an eye-catching target for leering men, her artistic talent was sidelined because of her gender, and rampant systemic sexism barred her from accessing housing, financial services, and birth control as an unmarried woman. Despite everything, Dodson was able to be formally trained in art (her specialty being classical nudes) and even managed to procure a diaphragm with the help of a friend’s engagement ring before eventually marrying in 1959.
Despite being a relatively short-lived partnership (ending in divorce in 1965), Dodson didn’t seem to have entirely regretted her decision to marry Frederick Stern. On the one hand, the couple was painfully sexually incompatible and the therapy they sought to resolve the situation positioned Dodson as problematic for desiring sex. On the other hand, they were good friends and Stern not only financially supported Dodson’s artistic career throughout their marriage but insisted she keeps the rent-controlled Manhattan apartment post-divorce that eventually became the site for her Bodysex workshops. “We were always friends” Dodson reminisced half a century later “He was a good guy and I liked him.”
Dodson’s life really began to bloom post-divorce, and the Sexual Revolution that was quickly gaining steam at the time proved the perfect soil for her growth. A new partner, the then 42-year-old English professor Grant Taylor, helped break Dodson into a newly sex-saturated life. He welcomed her into ethical non-monogamy, helped her overcome shame around her vulva, and even exposed her to orgasms from vibration for the first time, using an electric scalp massager to get her off. Dodson loved her new life of weekly orgies and plentiful sex partners, they even greatly influenced her art, but one thing stood out to her that upset her: “I was aware of all of the faking that women were doing to please the men [...] it broke my heart and I knew I – I had to. My feminist commitment was going to be to teach women how to have orgasms.”
Dodson was beginning to be involved in the women’s movement at this time, especially with the popular grassroots practice of consciousness-raising. Consciousness-raising groups would meet to tell personal stories, spreading the women’s movement interpersonally by allowing women to hear the issues facing other women and discover what connected their experiences. It was through experience in these groups that Dodson was inspired to start her own CR group focused on sex and the body, and run with the help of her “feminist [...] fuck buddy,” Sheila.
Although it was a bit experimental at first, eventually these CR sessions (which Dodson decided to call Bodysex Workshops) grew to involve basic anatomy education, genital show-and-tells to help reduce body shame, education on masturbation techniques, and group masturbation among other things. These workshops became very popular, helping Dodson become famous for both her expertise in sex and masturbation and the ease with which she discussed them. She was approached to present at the NOW Sex Conference and write an article for Ms. Magazine. Despite the article being severely edited and shelved for years, it eventually became the first of several books Dodson published – the famous bestseller Sex for One: The Joy of Selfloving (1986).
Along with leading workshops and presentations, writing books, and self-publishing, Dodson continued to create gorgeous and masterful pieces of artwork. Her specialty was always classical figure drawing, a fact that shines through clearly in her online Fine Art collection. Before her Bodysex workshops even began, Dodson was making waves in the art world with her frank depictions of sex, both solo and partnered. Her artistic skill helped her market her workshops with intriguing erotic designs and added a core component to her published works. She intricately drew women’s vulvas, helping spread information on the visual variation of genitals. When showing slideshows of vulvas, Dodson took joy in describing them with terms like “Renaissance cunt” and “Art Deco cunt” that reframed descriptions of vulvas and utilized her formal art education to express the beauty and diversity of bodies.
Dodson’s work, especially the Bodysex Workshops, has become legendary, almost mythic. References to them appear all over pop culture in places like The Vagina Monologues and the television show Broad City. Far before I ever heard the name Betty Dodson I’d heard jokes referencing women’s masturbation workshops. That’s the sort of bitter-sweet aspect of Dodson’s story. Her workshops changed the landscape of feminist thought and female sexual pleasure, yet in some ways, she’s been historically sidelined.
For example, she’s the origin of the modern resurgence of vibrator masturbation and popularized the Hitachi Magic Wand, probably the most famous vibrator of all time. Yet she never received credit, thanks, or compensation from Hitachi for her likely momentous impact on sales. Her workshops are so well-known that they’ve leaked into all sorts of popular culture, but the section of The Vagina Monologues that talks about her workshops doesn’t reference her explicitly and makes the workshops into a kind of joke. Dodson was insulted to view the show and realize that her workshops were misrepresented and the word clitoris wasn’t mentioned once. In my own experience, when women’s masturbation workshops have popped up in conversations around me there’s usually a dismissive, mocking tone. These workshops are often subtly framed as stuffy, and self-serious, removing all the horny goofiness out of sexuality and reducing it to some sort of momentous spiritual experience devoid of fun. Although I’ve never had the pleasure of attending a Bodysex workshop, after learning about Dodson and hearing her speak, I seriously doubt these assumptions are true.
Listening to Dodson talk, she was anything but stuffy. She loved the word “cunt” and refused to stop using it because, in her words, it turned her on. She talked openly on stage about how she’d get so hot and bothered drawing scenes of rape and the Lolita archetype being fucked that she’d have to stop and masturbate. She even proudly admitted to fantasizing about having sex with dogs in a YouTube video she posted with her long-time friend, business partner, and chosen family member, Carlin Ross. The way she talked about sex and taboo fantasies may be offputting to some, and occasionally her blunt unapologetic attitude could reasonably offend, but she’s far from the boring removed feminist stereotype people might imagine when they hear about women’s sex workshops. She took sex and orgasms very seriously, as a core component of life, but that seriousness never took the eroticism of taboo fantasies or fun, horny goofiness out of sex for her. She was a pervert and proud of it.
I have to admit, I got distracted by all the descriptions of Hitachi Magic Wand orgasms while researching for this blog post and ended up taking a break to use mine with my roommate. While I watched her rub herself on the wand and bring herself to a beautifully messy orgasm, I felt simultaneously deeply indebted to Betty Dodson and irked by the awareness of how her method might need to be updated. Where could the pleasure that my and my roommate’s bodies experiences fit into a metric that treats womanhood and vulvas as necessarily tied? The ability to create an openly sexual community, overcome body shame, and learn how to pleasure oneself fully should ideally be available to everyone, especially every woman, so I was a bit worried that Bodysex hadn’t evolved to make that possible. Thankfully, after some research, I found that Bodysex workshops are trans-inclusive, although it seems like the majority of participants are cisgender.
Bodysex workshops sound amazing and their life is thankfully continuing, like Dodson’s legacy in general, through her business partner and close friend Carlin Ross (who the Sexual Health Alliance actually had the pleasure of platforming in 2021). The workshops themselves are currently only offered virtually, making them much more accessible to women around the world. Dodson’s books are still available as well and you can purchase them in our Bookshop with at least three of them published as audiobooks.
Synthesizing art, community building, activism, and pure pleasure, Dodson’s courageous sexual life was game-changing, groundbreaking, and quite inspirational to say the least. I highly recommend anyone interested visit her online gallery and check out the hours of video available of her discussing her life, presenting her artwork, and giving advice. In 2020, Betty Dodson left this planet at the young age of 91. Though she is sorely missed, the sexual energy and well-wishing orgasms of countless people whose lives were changed by her practical advice and liberating mindset remain.
By Aiden/Estelle Garrett
Written with consultation from Sophie R Galarneau