Sex Quote by Hanne Blank
““For Hitschmann and Bergler, 'frigidity' had a single criterion: 'absence of the vaginal orgasm.' The standard was unqualified and absolute. A woman who did not enjoy intercourse: frigid. Women who derived sexual pleasure from acts other than intecourse were frigid too. Nothing else mattered, only whether a woman had an orgasm because a man's penis was inside her vagina. Sexually agressive women were labeled 'frigid' because of the association between masculinity and aggressiveness. Womanhood that was not passive was not properly womanly. "Frigidity," as Jane Gerhardt points out, "thus became a label and a diagnosis that defined how much sexual desire a woman must have and in what kinds of sexual behavior she must engage to be 'healthy'.””
About This Quote
Source Book: The Unwanted Baby? (or similar) – scholarly article on sexual norms, 2000s
Frigidity was historically defined narrowly as the lack of vaginal orgasm, labeling women who sought pleasure elsewhere or were sexually assertive as abnormal, reinforcing passive female sexuality.
In simple terms: A restrictive definition of female sexual health based on vaginal orgasm.
Key Takeaway
Question narrow sexual norms.
Themes
gender
sexual health
medical labeling
feminist critique
historical perspective
Mood
reflective
critical
Type
feminist
educational
When to use this quote
- sex education
- therapy practices
- gender studies
- women’s health advocacy
- counseling approaches
Key Concepts
sexual agency
diagnostic bias
patriarchal standards
sexual autonomy
medicalization
Questions to Reflect On
- How do current sexual health standards differ?
- What impact does labeling have on women's self‑perception?
A Different Perspective
Modern definitions of sexual health are broader, challenging past labels.
![“[A]ll gastronomic pleasure [is] a co-opted form of sexual desire. We interrupt the organic process of a plant or animal in order to eat it and we exhaust our own voluptuousness, our own perverted sexual desire, in the pleasure of eating.” quote by Luis Fernando Veríssimo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/139/luis-fernando-verissimo-44133_desire_a-ll-gastronomic-pleasure-is-a-co-opted_267212.jpg)
![“[Masters and Johnson found] the so-called vaginal orgasm was actually not vaginal. When it happened at all, it was the result of friction between clitoral hood and clitoris that some women experienced when the thrusts of the penis tugged at connected flesh.” quote by Hanne Blank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/415/hanne-blank-28457_sex_masters-and-johnson-found-the-so-called_1282251.jpg)
