ABSTRACT
Northern Europe, as the title of this chapter suggests, is noted for its liberalism, including and perhaps most especially, the value placed on gender equality. While sexual pleasure is accepted for men worldwide, the same acceptance does not hold true for women. The authors of this chapter insist that pleasurable sex for women, as well as for men, must be the cornerstone of sex therapy. Using a case of a woman suffering from dyspareunia (painful intercourse), they describe an innovative treatment approach that focuses not on numbing medications or vaginal dilation, but on increasing sexual pleasure. The authors assert that the physiological changes that occur when women are sexually aroused are as indispensable for sexual intercourse as are erections for men.
This chapter stands in stark contrast to the treatment prescribed for women suffering from sexual pain in many other parts of the world, including that described in the chapters from Hong Kong, Turkey, and especially from Iran. In other cultures it appears that reproduction and performing a necessary marital duty take precedence over female pleasure. It will be left to the reader to determine whether the treatment described in this chapter might be appropriate for other cultures.
