Professional Censorship

Some time ago, I was invited to present a lecture on cancer and sexuality to survivors sponsored by a faith-based institution. This is not the first time I have given such a lecture, and I always enjoy interacting with survivors and their partners. Just a couple of months before, I gave a similar talk to an audience of breast cancer survivors at a beautiful conference center in the countryside, owned and operated by a faith-based organization. I talked openly with the women in the audience about vibrators and lubricants, about alternatives to intercourse, and about open communication with one’s sexual partner and one’s oncology care providers. The women laughed, some cried, and no one seemed offended by the images on the slides.