Education

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PhD, Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality – 2010

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Graduate Seminar in Sexuality Studies, San Francisco State University – 2004

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M.A., English Literature, Florida State University – 1975

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B.A., Political Science/Humanities, Florida State University – 1966​

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Career

 

From 1978 to 1981, Chalker worked at the Los Angeles Feminist Women’s Health Center (FWHC), serving as a lay health worker in the abortion clinic where the staff did everything except the abortions, and taught gynecological self-help workshops in the clinic and to university and community groups. During that time, based on research and the clinical experience of the staff, she also edited, with Carol Downer, How to Stay Out of the Gynecologist’s Office, and A New View of a Woman’s Body.

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A New View included “The Clitoris: A Feminist Perspective”, a chapter researched by a group of the lay health workers and staff member Suzann Gage did the illustrations. This research, including study of modern anatomy texts as well as classic seventeenth to nineteenth century studies that detailed the clitoral organ complex, one part of which, the female prostate, continues to be missing in many standard anatomical illustrations.  In two groundbreaking articles detailing the clitoral anatomy, Helen O’Connell, M.D., and her colleagues, cited the Health Centers’ early, prescient anatomical research.

 

In the face of the virulent politicization of abortion and increasing threats to its necessity and availability, Chalker wrote, with Downer, A Woman’s Book of Choices: Abortion, Menstrual Extraction, and RU-486.  Barbara Ehrenreich, in the Forward, and Barbara Seaman, on the cover, termed Choices "the most important book on reproductive rights ever written," and Publisher’s Weekly called it “…the ultimate guerilla guide to reproductive choices”. Front page articles featuring Chalker’s knowledge of menstrual extraction appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer and the New York Post and The New York Times Book Review called Choices “…a declaration of independence”.  The book became something of a sensation in England and Ireland and was covered by The Guardian, The Times of London, the Evening Standard, and The Irish Times. Chalker appeared by satellite on London’s The Morning Show and both authors discussed menstrual extraction on ABC’s 20/20.

 

Chalker’s germinal book on sexuality, The Clitoral Truth: The Secret World at Your Fingertips reprised the work of the FWHCs on the multifaceted clitoris and included corrective information on female ejaculation that was finally beginning to be discussed by pro-sex feminists and a few sexologists.  This edition also included a chapter on "The Case of the Missing Clitoris: An Anatomical Detective Story".  In an extensive Salon interview comparing The Clitoral Truth to Vagina Monologues, Chalker asserted that “[t]he clitoral truth is that women's sexuality is more powerful, complex and unknown than has been acknowledged”.  

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The first edition was featured on "Sex and the City" and the second edition, The Clitoral Truth About Pleasure, Orgasm, Female Ejaculation, the G Spot, and Masturbation, greatly expanded and enhanced, was published in 2018. 

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Activism

 

Chalker and Downer traveled to Iran with a delegation fact-finding delegation to investigate and report on media coverage of the Iran hostage crisis. 

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1987 – 1998: With Erica Gollub, DrPH and Isa Coffey, RN, founded WomanCap in New York City.  They provided the cervical cap, a barrier method of contraception in a Greenwich Village doctor’s office and trained over 50 physicians to fit the cap.  Based on her knowledge and experience in providing the cervical cap at the Los Angeles Feminist Women’s Health Center and WomanCap, Chalker wrote The Complete Cervical Cap Guide.

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December 5-15, 1992: Chalker investigated research on RU-486, the premarket name of the abortion pill, at Rousel-Uclaf, a partial owner of the pill, in Paris, and in Frankfurt am Main, at the headquarters of Hoechst AG (renamed Aventis Deutschland), the other partial owner of the pill that was refusing to distribute it, reportedly because of pressure from the Vatican. She then attended an international conference in Frankfurt, where researchers, physicians, and activists reported on and advocated for swift approval and wide distribution of the pill.

 

2000 – 2017: Chalker participated in the New View Campaign Against the Medicalization of Sexuality. The group opposed the commercialization of female genital cosmetic surgery that has been equated by various critics with female genital mutilation and participated in the FDA hearing on intrinsa, a testosterone patch that its manufacturers claimed would improve women’s sex lives.  The drug failed to win approval.  The group’s activism is documented in Orgasm, Inc., a film by Liz Canner 

 

2006: Chalker is listed in Feminists Who Changed America, 1963-1975. 

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2017: Received the Pace University LGBTQA & Social Justice Center Trailblazer Award.  The commendation cited her “consistent involvement, leadership, support and advocacy of the LGBTQA community throughout [her career] at Pace [and whose] service has been transformative, impactful and above and beyond the call of duty”. 

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Books 

 

The Federation of Feminist Women’s Health Centers, How to Stay Out the Gynecologist’s Office, edited by Carol Downer and Rebecca Chalker, Woman to Woman Publications, 1981, Peace Press, 1981; Woman to Woman Publications, 1986. 

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The Federation of Feminist Women’s Health Centers, A New View of a Woman’s Body, edited by Carol Downer and Rebecca Chalker, Illustrations by Suzann Gage. Simon and Schuster, 1981; Feminist Health Press, 1991.

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Rebecca Chalker, The Complete Cervical Cap Guide, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987.

 

Rebecca Chalker with Kristine E. Whitmore, M.D., Overcoming Bladder Disorders: Medical and Self-Help Advice on Incontinence, Cystitis, Interstitial Cystitis, Prostate Problems, and Bladder Cancer, HarperCollins, 1989.  Named one of the 30 Best Popular Medical Books of 1988-89 by Library Journal.  

 

Rebecca Chalker with Carol Downer, A Woman’s Book of Choices: Abortion, Menstrual Extraction, RU-486, Four Walls Eight Windows, 1992.

 

Rebecca Chalker, Illustrations by Fish, The Clitoral Truth: The Secret World at Your Fingertips, Seven Stories Press, 2000.​

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Rebecca Chalker, Lectorat/Editor Claudia Johann, Klitoris: Die Unbekannte Schone, 2012. 

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Rebecca Chalker, illustrations by Fish, The Clitoral Truth…About Pleasure, Orgasm, the G Spot, Female Ejaculation, and Masturbation. 2nd Edition. Seven Stories Press, 2017.

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Selected Articles  

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“Updating the Model of Female Sexuality,” SIECUS Report, Vol. 22, No. 5, June/July 1994, pp. 1–6.

 

“Recent Experience with the Cervical Cap in the United States”, in Runnebaum, et al.: Female Contraception, Update and Trends. Springer-Verlag, 1988, pp. 280–285.

 

Updating the Model of Female Sexuality, Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS Report), Vol. 22, No. 5, June/July 1994, pp. 1-6.

 

“Sexual Pleasure Unscripted”, in Human Sexuality, Dushkin Publishing Group, Spring, 1997.

 

A Collaborative Approach to Treating Interstitial Cystitis, Journal of Urology (Supp.), May 1997, with Vicki Ratner, M.D., and Debra Slade, pp. 10-13.

 

Review of Hetero/Sexual Politics edited by Mary Maynard and June Purvis.  Journal of Sex Research, 34(2), 1997.  

 

Etude comparative de l’anatomie clitoridienne, Cahiers de Sexologie Clinique, 22:132, 1997.

 

“The G Spot:  Some Missing Pieces of the Puzzle.”  Letter in American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 187(2).  August 2002. 

 

“Hot Unscripted Sex:  How Women Are Redefining Sensuality & Pleasure”.  Ms., November/December 1995, Vol. VI, No 3. Review of Handbook of Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health in Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy.  Vol. 30, No. 1, Jan.-Feb. 1996.

 

Articles in Sexuality:  The Essential Glossary, Jo Eadie, Ed.  London:  Arnold, 2005.  “Cervical Cap,” p. 28; “Clitoris,”, p. 31. “Female Ejaculation,” p, 67, and “IUD”, p. 108. 

 

“Susie Bright”, Encyclopedia of Erotic Literature, Gaetan Brulotte and John Phillips, Eds. New York:  Routledge, 2006, p. 173-175.       

 

“Strategies for Staying Sexual After Menopause.”  The Women’s Health Activist, The Newsletter of The National Women’s Health Network, March/April 2009, pp. 3-4.

 

“Perfect Porn Vulva”.  AlterNet, August 11, 2009. 

 

“The 'Perfect' Porn Vulva: More Women Demanding Cosmetic Surgery”.  https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/08/11/18615309.php?show_comments=1.
 

“Why Is It Creepy to Think About Parents Having Sex?”  http://dodsonandross.com/blogs/rebecca-chalker/2012/03/why-it-creepy-think-about-parents-having-sex.

 

“The Pleasure Revolution.”  In Momentum in Sexuality, Feminism, and Relationships. Tess Danesi, Ed.  E-book:  Barnes and Noble, 2012, sponsored by the Woodhull Freedom Foundation. www.woodhullfoundation.org.

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“Rebecca Chalker,” in How I Got into Sex…Ed. Karen Rayne, Catherine Dukes and Bill Taverner, Eds.  Center for Sex Education, 2014, pp 55-58.  ISBN 978-1-941843-10-9.

          

“Genital Cosmetic Surgeries:  Unresearched Claims of Unregulated Body Modification and Sexual Medicine Industries Prey on Women’s Sexual Insecurities”.  Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, St. Petersburg, Florida, June 5, 2009.

 

“The Pleasure Revolution”, Basic Lecture Series, The Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, October 14, 2010.

 

“A Walking Tour Through the Clitoris,” SUNY Old Westbury, NY, March 1, 2010. 

“Evidence-based Responses to Anti-abortion Myths”, on “Abortion and Birth Control:  Universal Rights and a Condition to Women’s Autonomy,” organized by the Mission of France for the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women Program, March 15, 2017.

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“Clues, Confirmations, and Questions About Hot Flashes”.  The Women’s Health Activist, The Newsletter of the National Women’s Health Network.  May/June 2017, Vol. 42, Issue 3, p. 2. 

 

Dialogue Panel Presentation:  The Clitoris:  Past, Present and Future with Ian Kerner, PhD, Rebecca Chalker, PhD, and Juliana Guitelman.  Moderated by Laurie Mintz, PhD. June 18, 2017.

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“Clitoral Truth” workshops in Hudson N.Y., organized by Isa Coffey, founder of Wise Bodies, a sex education school for kids, teens, and adults, November 6, 2019, and May 27, 2918.  

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“Evidence-based Responses to Anti-abortion Myths”, Classroom presentation in the Women’s and Gender Studies Program, Florida State University, August 9, 2019. 

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“Whatever Happened to Our Early Historic Sex–positive Attitudes?”  Zoom Workshop, October 7, 14, 21, 28, 2020.

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Selected Workshops and Presentations 

 

“Clitoral Anatomy”. Long Island College Hospital. April 6, 1999. Pleasure Unscripted”, in Readings in Contemporary Sexuality & Student Guide, November/December 1995.

 

“A Walking Tour Through the Clitoris,” Grand Opening! Boston, Massachusetts.  October 15, 2002. 

 

“Sexual Revolutions from the Ice Age to the New Millennium.” Museum of Sex, New York City.  February 12, 19, 26, March 4, 2004.

 

“The Redefinition of the Clitoris”. New York University Women’s Center. November 3, 1998. 

 

“Donor Insemination from an Activist Perspective.”  New School University, December 15, 1998.

 

“A Feminist Redefinition of the Clitoris”, “Reclaiming Women’s Sexuality”, “Techniques for Safe Abortion”, and “The Cervical Cap: A Little-known Barrier Contraceptive”. Co-presented with Suzann Gage OB-GYN Nurse Practitioner, nutritionist, and certified licensed acupuncturist, at the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing:  NGO Conference, Huairou, China, September 4–15, 1995.

 

“Genital Cosmetic Surgeries:  Unresearched Claims of Body Modification While Sexual Medicine Industries Prey on Women’s Sexual Insecurities”. Workshop presentation, Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, St. Petersburg, Florida, June 5, 2009.

 

“A Walking Tour Through the Clitoris”, SUNY Old Westbury, NY, March 1, 2010.

 

“The Pleasure Revolution”, The Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, New York, October 14, 2010.

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“A Walking Tour Through the Clitoris”, A Dialogue Panel Presentation:  The Clitoris:  Past, Present and Future with Ian Kerner, PhD, Rebecca Chalker, PhD, and Juliana Guitelman.  Moderated by Laurie Mintz, PhD. June 18, 2017. 

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“Evidence-based Responses to Anti-abortion Myths”. Panel organized by the Mission of France for the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women Program, March 15, 2017.

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“The Ancient History, Modern Amnesia, and Detailed Anatomy of the Female Prostate”.  Poster Session, Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, November 8 – 12, 2018.

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“Clitoral Truth” workshops in Hudson N.Y., organized by Isa Coffey, founder of Wise Bodies, a sex education school for kids, teens, and adults, November 6, 2019, and May 27, 2918.  

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“Evidence-based Responses to Anti-abortion Myths”, Classroom presentation in the Women’s and Gender Studies Program, Florida State University, August 9, 2019. 

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“Whatever Happened to Our Early Historic Sex–positive Attitudes?”  Zoom Workshop, October 7, 14, 21 and 28, 2020.

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Presentations at World Congress of Sexology (now World Association of Sexual Health)

 

“Clitoral Anatomy” with Shere Hite, Washington, D.C., USA, 1983. 

 

“Recent Experience with the Cervical Cap in the United States,” featured speaker with Hans Lehfeldt, M.D.  Pre-conference Symposium on the Cervical Cap, Heidelberg, Germany, 1987.

 

“A Comparative Study of the Clitoral Anatomy”, Yokohama, Japan, 1995.

 

“Bringing the Clitoris to Modern Anatomical Standards” and “Sexual Revolutions from the Ice Age to the New Millennium”, Hong Kong, China, 1999.

 

“A Cultural History of Sexualities” and “A Redefinition of the Clitoris”.  Paris, France, 2001.

 

“Sexual Revolutions from the Ice Age to the New Millennium”, Havana, Cuba, 2003.

 

“A Cultural History of Sexualities from Prehistory to the Present”. Podium Session, Gothenberg, Sweden, 2009.

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Presentations at the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality (SSSS)

 

“The Rediscovery of the Clitoris,” Minneapolis, MN, April 15, 1995.

 

“Detailed Anatomy of the Clitoris,” Newport Beach, CA, April 14, 2001.

 

“Genital Cosmetic Surgeries:  Unresearched Claims of Body Modification While Sexual Medicine Industries Prey on Women’s Sexual Insecurities”.  St. Petersburg, FL, June 5, 2009.

 

Poster: “The Ancient History, Modern Amnesia, and Detailed Anatomy of the Female Prostate.” Montreal, CA, November 14-18, 2018.

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