Understanding Sexual Pleasure

Peggy Orenstein, author of the New York Times bestsellers 'Cinderella Ate My Daughter,' 'Girls & Sex,' and 'Waiting for Daisy,' discusses why girls aren't as intimately satiated as their male counterparts in her talk on pleasure.

She starts out by explaining conversations that she's had with her mother, and how she never felt fully satisfied throughout her sexual encounters. As her mother was a self-described powerful woman, Orenstein asked her why she described herself as "docile" when it came to sex. Her mother replied by saying, "I guess no one told me that that smart, strong image applies to sex."

Exploring this concept, Orenstein continues her talk on pleasure by describing the shame many girls feels towards their genitals, and how this affects their desire to demand that their needs are met. In addition, she considers the sense of entitlement many boys have in being pleasured, and how this affects sex, masturbation, and self-confidence in girls.

Throughout her talk on pleasure, Orenstein touches on the problematic culture that makes girls feel shameful of their bodies, how dated ideas about virginity continue to affect girls, and how it's tremendously important to introduce open, non-judgmental conversations about sex to teens.