In recent articles, I’ve spent a lot of time giving you my opinion on Dr. Diana Hoppe’s book, “Healthy Sex Drive, Healthy You” and your patience with my blabbering has paid off. Yesterday I was lucky enough to interview the author, collecting her thoughts on the research, content and structure of the book. She was very willing to share her experience with writing this book, and open to my many probing questions. I’m excited to share the highlights with you!
As is the case with many successful doctors, Hoppe entered the field of medicine with a much different specialty in mind: veterinary sciences. However, her undergraduate experience working as a contraceptive counselor opened her eyes to the importance of women’s health. She liked the idea of continuity of care – of being able to establish a longer and more holistic relationship with her patients, offering advice on ways to live life as best as possible. So, she decided to become an OB-GYN. It was her time working with these patients, overseeing life changes, answering questions and soothing concerns in the realm of sexual health, which motivated the making of this book.
Hoppe wanted to create a tool for women that would answer the common questions she was asked about “what was normal.” She hoped to take away the “Sex and the City” myth implying that “normal” means having a constant, unvarying, “Samantha-esque” sex drive throughout your life. By creating a book that didn’t gloss over the scientific explanations but was easy to read, Hoppe wanted to leave women feeling empowered to understand the relationships they had with themselves and their partners, using intimacy to reflect on the healthiness of other life realms. She wanted to assure women that “normal” sex drive is a spectrum of variations over time, and provide reasons why we feel the ways we do.
Dr. Hoppe was quick to assure me that my review was correct – her exclusion of issues facing homosexuals and transgenders was simply due to lack of time and space, not an omission. She explained that for the sake of clarity, it was easiest to pick standard pronouns, rather than include lengthy and convoluted explanations. She recognized that some of her assertions about sex drive or male vs. female personalities were sweeping generalizations, and wanted to make certain that her readers knew she did not mean to offend or exclude anyone. With more space and time, Dr. Hoppe would have loved to explore the issues facing homosexual couples.
As per usual, I also don’t have the space to include all the things I wished to cover from our interview! Check back in for a subsequent Part II and more of Dr. Hoppe’s own words.