Is women's sexual desire in the western world at an all time low? Australia's most popular sexual anthropologist investigates in this provocative new book.

For many women an active sex life is on the bottom of their list. Recent studies tell us that despite the sexual revolution that was meant to liberate us, lack of libido is Western women's most common sexual problem. And, that once in a secure relationship, women's sex drive begins to plummet. This has led to an increasing number of women with "low libido" being diagnosed as "sexually dysfunctional." What has happened to their sexual desire? Is it a medical issue, a matter of competing priorities, or something more complex?

Dr Bella Ellwood-Clayton has devoted years of research and interviewed women of all ages and backgrounds to find out why sex is not on top.

She asks is "low libido" a construct? Or does it reflect contemporary urban life and its mind-body disconnect in which women don't want sex because they don't feel sexy?

'A constellation of questions led to the birth of this book,' says Ellwood-Clayton. 'They included, what do we really know about the female libido? Do we have unrealistic expectations about our sex drive? What defines normal and abnormal sexuality and could "low libido" in fact be the natural order of things? Perhaps it's not that our libido is "low" but that our creative energy is being de-railed elsewhere.'

At a time when women's sex drive is being threatened by the wider forces of media, marketing and medication, Bella investigates the race to create the 'pink Viagra,' a sex drug for women. Exploring how libido is affected by body image, marriage, parenting, psychology, advertising, culture, pharmaceuticals, and ageing, Sex Drive sets out to define what really is 'normal' and ways in which we may reclaim our sex drive.

Authoritative and engaging, Sex Drive is a fascinating read that is sure to create passionate debate.

Ellwood-Clayton's Sex Drive is an intriguing and insightful journey across the female libido, challenging the accepted truths and answering those who seek to define and limit what is 'normal'. Armed with fascinating research, shrewd insights, intelligence and wit, Ellwood-Clayton provides a lucid account of the current thinking on female sexuality. Examining the history, the vested interests, and the science, Sex Drive is a book that debunks the myths that restrict women's sexualities and constrain our potential.

With honesty and compassion she explores the way that the media manipulates our desires, what becoming a mother really means for our sex life, the impact of anti-depressants on our libido, how our desires change as we age, as well as the problematic search for the 'pink Viagra'. Her call for women to reclaim their sexualities is as liberating as it is intelligent, offering a long-overdue critique of the vested interests that would wrest our desires from us.

Monica Dux - writer and social commentator

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Sex Drive review at thehoopla.com.au

DR BELLA

Dr. Bella Ellwood-Clayton was the resident sex and relationship columnist for the newspaper mX, printed in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane (from 2006 to mid 2009). As well as writing weekly opinion pieces, she answered readers’ letters, advising them about relationships, sexual health and sexual desire. From 2009-2010 Bella penned a weekly relationship column for the Sunday Life magazine, which appears in the Melbourne Age and Sydney Sun-Herald. Samples are below.

Sample Sunday Life Columns

Sample mX Columns

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