Summary

In Chapter 8, “Mothering for Pleasure,” Garbes describes her relationship with her body as a young girl. She knew little about her anatomy as a teenager. She recalls her first boyfriend and the way they would touch each other. Though it was years ago, she often feels “nostalgic . . . for this relationship” (169). They never had sex, but the relationship made her feel “experienced, grown up” (169). When she did start having sex, “the default goal . . . was male climax” (170).

Garbes references Peggy Orenstein’s Girls & Sex to discuss the female climax. She feels “angry at the culture” for leaving girls with “so many questions” (170). According to Orenstein, while “males’ puberty is characterized by “ejaculation” and “masturbation,” girls’ is characterized by menstruation and “unwanted pregnancy” (171). She goes on to discuss the different ways in which men and women regard sex. She cites...