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'.


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Author Bio


  • NameHanne Blank
  • DescriptionHistorian, writer, editor, activist, public speaker. Recent author of Virgin: The Untouched History (2007)
  • BornFebruary 25, 1969
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionHistorian