top of page
Becoming Cliterate by Laurie Mintz

Becoming Cliterate

Why Orgasm Equality Matters -- And How To Get It by Dr. Laurie Mintz

​

Winner of the 2021 Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health Media Award

Winner of the 2019 Society for Sex Therapy and Research Consumer Book Award

​

Research shows that women who read it increase their rate of orgasm and sexual satisfaction! They also improve their body image and sexual assertion.

​

Research shows that men who read the chapter written for them (“Cliteracy for Him”)  improve their knowledge of women’s genital anatomy and sexual pleasure, as well as their sexual communication skills. They also decrease their endorsement of harmful myths related to both women’s and men’s sexuality.

​

We’ve been thinking about sex all wrong. Mainstream media, movies, and porn have taught us that sex = penis + vagina, and everything else is just secondary. The problem is, women don’t orgasm this way. We’ve separated our most reliable route to orgasm—clitoral stimulation—from how we feel we should orgasm—penetration. As a result, we’ve created a pleasure gap between women and men:

​

  • 50% of 18-35-year-old women say they have trouble reaching orgasm with a partner
     

  • 64% of women vs 91% of men said they had an orgasm at their last sexual encounter
     

  • 55% of men vs. 4% of women say they usually reach orgasm during first-time hookup sex
     

In Becoming Cliterate (HarperOne, May 2017), psychology professor and human sexuality expert Dr. Laurie Mintz exposes the broader cultural problem that’s perpetuating this gap, and what we can do about it. By dispelling the lies, misunderstandings, and myths that have been holding us back, Becoming Cliterate tackles both personal and political problems and replaces them with updated outlooks and practical skills needed to change our collective perspective on sex.
 

The revolution is cuming—and Becoming Cliterate offers a radical, simple solution to progress and pleasure for all.

​

Instructor?  Download the instructor guide here.

REVIEWS

Praise for "Becoming Cliterate"

testimonial-laurie

Laurie Mintz…wins this year’s award for best book title, pun division, with Becoming Cliterate.

THE NEW YORK TIMES

testimonial-laurie

Down with ill-cliteracy! The tongue is mightier than the sword! Brothers and Sisters-in-arms (and legs and butts and hearts and souls), bring your huddled masses to this book and embrace orgasm equality! Think outside HER box! Viva la Vulva!

IAN KERNER, PhD, LMFT

New York Times bestselling author of She Comes First

testimonial-laurie

An excellent, thorough, inspiring and much needed guide to the source of our deepest energy, pleasure, and power—the clitoris. Everyone needs to read this book and become CLITERATE.

EVE ENSLER

Author of The Vagina Monologues and In the Body of the World

testimonial-laurie

For too long, men and women have assumed that getting a penis inside a vagina is the holy grail of sex. For men, maybe, but women’s sexual satisfaction depends on way more than this. Fortunately, Laurie Mintz provides dozens of helpful suggestions to increase women’s sexual pleasure. I encourage both men and women to read this valuable and insightful book.

PAUL JOANNIDES

Author of Guide to Getting it On

testimonial-laurie

What a fascinating and deeply empowering book. I wish every woman could read what Dr. Laurie Mintz has to teach us about our bodies. It’s strange that sometimes that which is a mystery to us is also that which is most intimate in our lives. Dr. Mintz demystifies a lot of things about women’s sexuality. Education is the best way to dispel shame and fear, and Dr. Mintz’s book really does a beautiful job.

SARA BENINCASA

Comedian and Author of Real Artists Have Day Jobs (And Other Awesome Things They Don't Teach You In School)

testimonial-laurie

Becoming Cliterate will change how we think and talk about female sexual pleasure. The orgasm gap isn’t a consequence of women not knowing how—it’s a cultural problem that we should be reading about to discover what went wrong in the first place.

BETTY DODSON

Author of Sex for One and Founder, Bodysex workshops

testimonial-laurie

Women experience sexual pleasure – and, often orgasm – from diverse ways of physical and mental stimulation. This book provides a wealth of information on the clitoris and ways of imagining and creating a more fulfilling sexual life.

DEBBY HERBENICK

Associate Professor at Indiana University and Author of Because It Feels Good

testimonial-laurie

If you sometimes feel lost on the way to your orgasm, Becoming Cliterate is the map (and the cheering section) you need to find your way. Grounded in research and packed with real-world tips, readers will thank Mintz for her truth-telling.

DORION SOLOT

Co-author of Love Female Orgasm: An Extraordinary Orgasm Guide Co-author of Love Female Orgasm: An Extraordinary Orgasm Guide

testimonial-laurie

This read doesn’t just zero in on the politics of pleasure inequality, it also offers up solutions that help the reader become more hands on (literally) with their own sexuality.

BUST MAGAZINE

testimonial-laurie

This book is set up like a college textbook for female orgasm, with some philosophy and pep talks and then some hands-on experimenting. And a chapter at the end for male partners to read. What more could you need?

BOOK RIOT

testimonial-laurie

A fun and empowering reminder that sexual dissatisfaction is not inevitable….Becoming Cliterate does a good job questioning these basic assumptions, re-orienting us to another vision of what sex can be, and giving practical advice.

FEMINISTING

testimonial-laurie

Brilliant

GOOP

testimonial-laurie

A manifesto for today’s orgasmic insurrection… Mintz is unpretentious and intuitive… Becoming Cliterate will help many women reach their orgasm objectives.

L.A. REVIEW OF BOOKS

testimonial-laurie

Dr Mintz is leading the revolution in how to become more sexually satisfied and understand the cultural forces that have worked against that for so many years.

BUSTLE

testimonial-laurie

Fun, funny, and empowering. A must-read for people with clits, especially those who are having sex with people with penises.

BUZZFEED

testimonial-laurie

Personable, witty, and easy to read … Becoming Cliterate could be considered a book for anyone with a vulva as well as anyone who is interested in having sex with someone with a vulva.

Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy

testimonial-laurie

Dr. Laurie Mintz draws up biology, sociology, and sex therapy to provide a comprehensive manual for both achieving orgasm and raising awareness about female orgasm. Readers will walk away with suggestions for changing our culture of sexuality and, more specifically, female orgasm.

PsycCRITIQUES (American Psychological Association Journal)

testimonial-laurie

Applicable and attainable lessons punctuated with [Mintz’s] characteristic humor … and impudent endorsement of pleasure-seeking as our prerogative. … Unabashedly and refreshingly sex-positive.

Psychology of Women Quarterly

bottom of page