History of the New View Campaign

The rapid incursion of pharmaceutical industry influence into sex research and professional education in the 1990s provoked our "New View" campaign in 2000. Our goal is to expose the deceptions and consequences of industry involvement in sex research, professional sex education, and sexual treatments, and to generate conceptual and practical alternatives to the prevailing medical model of sexuality.

The centerpiece of the campaign is the "new view" document which is on the MANIFESTO page of this website. In summer, 2000, Leonore Tiefer, Ph.D. convened a group of feminist social scientists and clinicians who wrote the manifesto and planned an academic and public campaign to follow it up. Many of the pieces on our PRESS page are the result of our publicity efforts. Many people signed on to our campaign as ENDORSERS, and we welcome new endorsers at any time.

Our first CONFERENCE occurred in San Francisco on March 9, 2002. It featured Thomas Bodenheimer, MD, Carol Tavris, PhD and Judy Norsigian (of Ourbodies, Ourselves), and was an intellectual, political and networking success. Our first BOOK, titled "A New View of Women's Sexual Problems," edited by Ellyn Kaschak and Leonore Tiefer, was published on March 1, 2002.

In 2003, we put together a TEACHING MANUAL for the New View. It contains 12 classroom and workshop activities that allow participants to think about women's sexual problems in a variety of ways. The Manifesto is also reprinted as are some press pieces.

One of our major activities has been to monitor the drug industry's activities as regards new drugs for women's sexuality. On December 2, 2004, members of the New View Campaign participated in a historic hearing of the FDA¹s Reproductive Health Drugs Committee that voted against the first drug for "female sexual dysfunction." In preparation for this event, the Campaign produced several factsheets and statements which can all be found on our FDA HEARING ON INTRINSA page. Because our side won, the Campaign was featured in much of the PRESS coverage in December, 2004.

The New View Campaign convened a SECOND CONFERENCE in July, 2005 in Montreal. Its theme was “Women and the New Sexual Politics: Profits vs. Pleasures.” Barbara Ehrenreich and Susan Bennett set the tone for the conference by presenting sociopolitical and medical contexts for the current state of women’s sexual health. Many plenary talks, papers, and workshops were presented along with a new hilarious insider film about the pharmaceutical industry called "Side Effects." You can read a summary of the conference here.

The conference made it clear that the New View perspective and goals have become important to activists, educators, and social scientists who care about women’s sexual well-being. To foster continued communication and action, the New View Campaign launched a LISTSERV in August of 2005. Currently, there are about 200 members on the list. Members share resources and ideas for implementing New View work into various settings.

In 2005 we decided to expand our activities to include on-line CONTINUING EDUCATION. Our first course, "The "New View" Approach to Women's Sexual Problems" is available through MEDSCAPE. A second course was titled, "The "New View" Approach to Men's Sexual Problems" is also available on MEDSCAPE. They are free and anyone may read them and benefit.

We began in 2008 to develop courses for mental health professionals on topics related to the New View, and they are available through the Zur Institute.

Also in 2008, we will have a special issue of Feminism and Psychology devoted to the New View.

Our critique of the pharmaceutical industry's undue influence dovetails with that of others you can find on our LINKS page.

Please join our LISTSERV and our activities.

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