Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: Rethinking the History of Female Circumcision and Clitoridectomy in the United States
- 1 Women, Masturbation, and Clitoral Surgery, 1862–1945
- 2 Children, Masturbation, and Clitoral Surgery since 1890
- 3 Female Sexual Degeneracy and the Enlarged Clitoris, 1850–1941
- 4 Female Circumcision to Promote Clitoral Orgasm, 1890–1945
- 5 Female Circumcision as Sexual Enhancement Therapy during the Era of the Vaginal Orgasm, 1940–66
- 6 Female Circumcision and the Divisive Issue of Female Clitoral Sexual Pleasure Go Public, 1966–81
- 7 James Burt and the Surgery of Love, 1966–89
- Conclusion: Genital Geographies
- Appendix: The Clitoris in Anatomy and Gynecology Texts
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
7 - James Burt and the Surgery of Love, 1966–89
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 March 2018
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: Rethinking the History of Female Circumcision and Clitoridectomy in the United States
- 1 Women, Masturbation, and Clitoral Surgery, 1862–1945
- 2 Children, Masturbation, and Clitoral Surgery since 1890
- 3 Female Sexual Degeneracy and the Enlarged Clitoris, 1850–1941
- 4 Female Circumcision to Promote Clitoral Orgasm, 1890–1945
- 5 Female Circumcision as Sexual Enhancement Therapy during the Era of the Vaginal Orgasm, 1940–66
- 6 Female Circumcision and the Divisive Issue of Female Clitoral Sexual Pleasure Go Public, 1966–81
- 7 James Burt and the Surgery of Love, 1966–89
- Conclusion: Genital Geographies
- Appendix: The Clitoris in Anatomy and Gynecology Texts
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
In the late 1970s, journalist Barbara Demick interviewed gynecologist and obstetrician James Burt for a small Boston-area magazine, the Real Paper. The Dayton, Ohio, doctor had recently begun generating publicity for a surgery he had designed to improve the sexual capabilities of women. Burt, in an effort to show the positive effects of the surgery, had his secretary arrange for Demick to interview in his office eight women who elected to have the surgery and who were happy with the results. One of these women was Judy (Demick did not use last names). Twenty-seven and married for eight years, Judy told Demick she had not had any problems with sex until after giving birth. In 1977, needing a hysterectomy and bladder repair, she learned about Burt's surgery from a niece and decided to undergo it as well. Her husband, Bruce, went with her to meet Burt, and the doctor showed Bruce, as Judy told Demick, “exactly what he was going to do.”
Judy and Bruce were both impressed that Burt took the time to explain the procedure to them, and they were equally happy with the results. Sex was, Judy told Demick, “a whole new thing now.” During intercourse “Bruce hits me exactly where he has to.” Judy recalled that prior to love surgery she seldom reached a climax during intercourse, but “now I can have as many as I want.” The surgery “actually changed my life,” Judy said. “Even though I am not the greatest person in the world, to him [Bruce] I am. I feel the pleasure that he does and I feel that I am good for my husband, that I am really extraordinary. I feel more confident in bed, more confident socially.” Judy further told Demick that her early sexual experiences were a disappointment—no explosives, no rockets—and she figured that was how it was for all women. But since her surgery she believed differently and was adamant about its benefits: “Women should know they don't have to live the rest of their lives like that. I feel that women just are not made right, seeing how much better I'm made now.”
Her words echoed those of James Burt. In the mid-1960s, Burt decided women were made wrong for sex and that he could make them right.
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- Female Circumcision and Clitoridectomy in the United StatesA History of a Medical Treatment, pp. 149 - 176Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2014