ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with the sense of not wanting to be 'that sort of girl' that can be felt at all ages. As doctors who are used to talking about the details of the workings of the body, people can sometimes see how closely the sense of anxiety and disgust is linked to the sensations of physical arousal. Sexual confidence may have become established, only to be rocked by the various life changes to which people are all heirs. The strain of long-term relationships, pregnancy and childbirth, or the absence of children for whatever reason, middle age, the menopause and old age have somehow to be negotiated. Outside events such as unemployment or illness can unsettle and disintegrate the picture of oneself as a whole man or woman, able to be at the same time loving and sexual, silly and responsible, grown-up and childish.
