Mama Gena's School of Womanly Arts: Using the Power of Pleasure to Have Your Way with the World

by Regena Thomashauer

Mama Gena’s School of Womanly Arts shows women how celebrating their sensuality can help them achieve their dreams—“think of it as The Power of Positive Thinking as interpreted by Anais Nin” (The New York Times).Relationship expert Regena Thomashauer teaches the lost “womanly arts” of identifying your desires, having fun no matter where you are, knowing sensual pleasure, befriending your inner bitch, flirting (in a way that makes your day, not just his), and more—because making pleasure your priority can actually help you reach your goals. So if you need a refresher course in fun—and you know you do—come to Mama.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Relationships, Personal Development, Sexuality, Spirituality, Love

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2002

Reviews

[k8beeZ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorry Mama Gena, I guess I was expecting too much from ya. ;-) I suppose, if you are a woman, and feeling kinda down for whatever reason, this may serve as a nice light, 'pick-me-up.' Know that you are jumping onto some light banter of which you already know, if you decide to embark on reading this book. I'm about clarity of intention, especially in relationships. I'm not exactly sure where Mama Gena is coming from besides the whole 'HEY GIRLS, LET'S FEEL PLEASURE', and just that there feels muddled, unclear and vague to me. Overall, with the path of mindfulness I'm on, with the awareness and loving attention I give to desires as they arise, a book that just tells you act upon every sexual craving and desire that arises feels a little lop~sided for me. We don't have to live in polarities to experience fun in life. Clarity, Integrity, Diligence, Grace. :-)
If you wanna read a bad ass book about sex and love and relationships...."The Alchemy of Sex and Love" Wonderfully balanced, middle road and healthy teachings to revel in!

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Superficially, the ideas promoted in this book (making time for pleasure, speaking up and going after what you want) seem good. But she makes it sound too easy--life is way more complicated than "just think about that new job/man/diamond ring you want and it will fall in your lap!" But I definitely agree with the premise that a happy self makes for happier people around you. On a side note--the author of this book must be mad that "The Secret" got a lot more press than hers did!

[JHM · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first picked up this book a long time ago, and put it back because I didn't need it. I was doing well at having pleasure in my life, and Mama Gena's approach seemed a bit silly and simplistic.

I don't feel that way now.
Reading this book has helped me make a major transition out of three years of grief (after my beloved's death) into a normal life again.

Mama Gena's message is that pleasure and delight are not luxuries, harmful indulgences, or frivolous -- they are necessary to our emotional well-being. It's only when we feel satisfied and happy with ourselves and our lives that we can give our best to the rest of the world.

Each woman will define "pleasure" a different way, and that's all right. The point is to understand what pleases you and make sure that you get what you need to feel fulfilled. A happy woman is a generous, loving, powerful woman. And she has a lot more fun.

Our culture often swings to extremes in its attitudes on pleasure and asceticism. I think Mama Gena preaches a joyful balance.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite, female centered relationship books out there. Why? Because it reminds the reader to love and honor what gives her pleasure, NOT by bending and sacrificing herself to her partner (and manipulating him to keep him).

So many books focus on just GETTING A MAN. This book, more than any in the Mama Gena series, shows you how to be in a relationships - but still be your own #1.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a fluffy read but my goddess is there some genius wisdom in this book AND it's all about pleasure, learning how to have it, own your desires and have more fun. I so needed this book!!! it changed my life. bring on the feather boas, conjuring, receiving and owning my desires.

[Fostergrants · Rating 2 out of 5]

this woman is a total enabler. i thought this book was funny, although a bit corny and over the top. she makes a few good points here and there about not waiting for everyone else to make sure you're happy. i have read so many of these 'i am woman kiss my butt' books i could write one in my sleep. they are all the same. if you are a bitch some people will not like you, but some will so if you can get away with it then you should. do i agree? i aint sayin.

[Sylvia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great One! this book helps me too boost my confidence by positively taking advantage of my womanhood n everything that attaches like great underwears would. Embrace your womanly figure, act like u deserve to b treated like a queen because seriously, woman, u do, and see that the world will worship the ground beneath your feet. Highly recommended!

[Liza · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this book is rather ridiculously cheesy, it's also quite a lot of fun. Not the kind of book I'd bother to give to a skeptic but if you really follow the advice you'll find it works rather well. A fun girls night in read, for sure.

[Cj · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not to be taken too seriously....but a good read if you are needing a pick-me-up. Girl POWER!!!

[Melanie Lofstedt · Rating 1 out of 5]

I borrowed this book from a friend, and I was sorely dissapointed. I was thinking that this book would empower me as a woman, but that it did not do. I thought the "homework" was ridiculous and cliche. I really didn't like that Mama Gena advocated promiscuous sex and never mentioned anything about protecting yourself from diseases and pregnancy. She made it seem like it was ok to throw yourself at as many guys as you can to feel like a "woman". As a vegan, I was upset that she mentioned fur so many times. Yes, her fur was a hand-me-down, but she did encourage the readers to get their own for "pleasure". I couldn't stand that she had to put S.G. in front of everyone's name, especially because I kept thinking Suicide Girls instead of Sister Goddess. Yes, I do agree with some of the points in this book, but the rest was crap.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

My family does not read self help books. We have pride issues but I was coerced into reading it and I really enjoyed it. It is for every woman who forgets herself too much. There is a danger in that because you don't want to run yourself ragged and turn into a slave. Your husband might forget who he married.

Warning: There is a chapter on masturbation. She seems to feel it is super important so she does refer to it a lot but just ignore that and gleam all the rest of the good that is in it. She gives you homework assignments in the book. DO THEM! It's a fun read. Ladies you need this book.

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is magnificent as Mama Gena encourages we women to be radically positive about pursuing our desires and indulging our pleasures. I love that she acknowledges the fact that we have a dark side to contend with such a going against the grain of societies expectations and it's conditioning upon us. She's such a cheerleader and can feel her love for me as a sister goddess full of life potential, reaching me through her publication, blog at mamagenas.com and her teleconferences. If you want to a read to inspire "girl-power" this is it.

[Erin Hearts · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are feeling like there is not enough joy in your life, this book is for you! It is new-agey and pretty laughable at parts, (example: the author wants you and all other women to refer to themselves as SG's- "sister goddesses." Yeah.) but if you stick with it, she really does have a great sense of humor and her happiness shines through. I liked the tone of the book and it really made me feel better about the world after reading it.

[Janai · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be read by all wemon! "Mama Gena" puts such a fun and almost outragous spin on life for wemon, you come to realize she is absolutely right on the money!! I give her 5 stars for being vulgar, blunt, no non-sence, tell it like it is... you will be thanking your "Mama G" later for knocking some sence into you! Life is too short ladies...read it & start living life "Sister Godess" style! You won't regret it. **XO- S.G. Janai

[Sunflower · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mama Gena is one of life's truly positive people. She has made it her mission in life to remind women to stop and smell the roses-preferably while wearing something soft and clingy. She is all about pleasure, and about empowering women to maximise their power, passion, enthusiasm and creativity.
Even if you don't agree with her, you just have to smile at her audacity!

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I give it 4-stars for the playfulness and sensuality it evokes. Girls, get a glass of wine, put on something comfy (preferably) sexy and a notebook then see how much fun it is to make your 'desire' list. You just might surprise yourself!

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was pretty interesting. It was a LOT of fluff, but it has a lot of good exercises for helping women to basically accept their femininity and awesomeness. This book has helped me to realize that I still have a lot of work to do in terms of my self-image and confidence level.

[Jenne Hayden · Rating 3 out of 5]

juicy and fun!

[Lenny Husen · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Rounding up because of the Vagina chapter. This book would be fine if it weren't so mostly poorly written and extremely simplistic.
It is fun, like a magazine article made of cotton candy. Mama Gena is super likable and seems like a genuinely nice woman and some of her advice is amazingly good.
Fabulous advice examples:
She talks about making the most of the good imperfect man you have (or can have) who treats you well instead of pining over the one you can't get (or can get but treats you like trash and makes you feel miserable).
She talks about never being jealous of another woman's achievements but celebrating her success and using it to encourage you to chase your own.
There is a LOT of body positivity here; about loving your own body, whatever shape and size it is.
Belongs on a shelf about fat acceptance for that reason.

[Danielle · Rating 1 out of 5]

This isnt a book that's gives much solid, practical, helpful advice. The "feel" of the book seems like it would be empowering to women that may not have much agency in their lives. But in actuality, it doesn't give much specific direction. The pronouncements and statements the author gives for succeeding in life are vague and starry-eyed. Some of her facts are easily refutable with a quick Google search.

[Ruiying Snowy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I cannot even begin to articulate all the things that are wrong with this book.

The entire book goes like this: “If you want it, really truly want it, it will happen. Look at S.G. (Stands for Sister Goddess – I have come to loathe this term and abbreviation as the book went on) ABC, she wanted it and then it happened for her.” All the examples are absolutely ridiculous: “This woman was unfulfilled in her life, never been attractive and never been happy in her life, then she took my course and voila, she’s now this sexy goddess who gets everything for free, all men fall in love with her, and she lives a fabulous life with heaps of money and wants for nothing” Seriously every single page is filled with some variation of this. One such example: a woman wanted a parking spot in a notoriously impossible area of town, and because she wanted it, it so happened that there was one right in front of the place she needed to go. Not once, but consistently for weeks…I call BS on this! This is just one of the many, many, MANY ridiculous stories that I kept eye rolling and mentally saying "today on things that never happened..."

I also really didn’t like the fact that Mama Gena advocates for absolute selfishness above all, usually at others’ expense. The example she gave of a woman holding up an entire plane because she needed to buy sex toys? C’mon! I get there is a time and place for some TLC, but those stories are just of bratty women rather than enlightened ones.

The only reason I gave it two stars: 1) the central message of really going for what you desire, and try not to be so hard on yourself is good, just the practical advice (as far as it can be called that) is dirt poor; and 2) a very dear friend gifted this to me as she believed it would transform my life, slightly misplaced but I still appreciate the gesture nonetheless.

[Carrie Ann]

Every woman should read this book!!! As hokey as it may sound, before you know it the advice and skills in this book start changing your life in ways you've only dreamed of. Not only will this book teach you to love yourself and your life, it'll also give you the confidence and inspiration to create the life and career you want for yourself. This book has literally saved my life in ways too personal to even share here, and I'm now planning on taking Mama Gena's Sister Goddess Mastery Course this summer or fall (I wish I could've made the Spring Course). If you don't want to buy the book or can't get to one of her courses, definately check out Mama Gena's site and subscribe to her newsletter at www.mamagena.com. Her own story alone is inspiring enough to get you out of any rut and pursuing what you really want. And the guys out there can learn a lot from her too!

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Able to only reach page 35, I had to accept that this book isn't for me. I do understand that everyone has a different path to healing, so maybe it's for people who are able to "just have fun" in order to change their lives. Fortunately, my attempted reading occurred at a time in my life that I've done a lot of inner work to heal a traumatic past and am able to invite and invoke pleasure in every day living - so I do understand where Mama Gena is coming from. But. I had/chose to sort through and heal the muck in order to reach this point. Way more than the simplistic, "fake it 'til you make it" approach I found in those first 35 pages. Maybe it's just me...

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must for achieving the ultimate power and pleasure as a sister goddess. My girlfriends and I have used this book over and over as a guide for life.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contained lots of good lessons and reminders for alpha-male careerist types like me ;)

[Dearwassily · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was recommended to me; I think I was being trolled. This is absolute garbage. The premise boils down to: "Masturbate and you'll get everything you want!" B.S.

[Ves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I'm currently reading it so my opinion might change.
Review. I have never read a book like this. A book telling women that it's ok to feel good and even more importantly: that it's ok to prioritize feeling good, and EVEN more: that we are not just entitled to feeling good but absolutely should stand up for this right and seek out pleasure. It might not be news to some, but it is big news to others. For this reason, I think this is a very, very important message that deserves to be spread around in as many shapes, styles, versions, languages, editions etc as possible!
I suspect that many of the negative reviews come from women who live in very privileged societies and are lucky to be of genetically and socially privileged backgrounds (likely white, educated, upper class North-American women) where women have many rights and/or are way ahead already in their personal womanly development. So some of the statements in the book are either obsolete or obvious to them. But let me tell you that to a woman like me, some of the statements in the book were totally novel, and some were moving to tears. I come from a less privileged culture where the 'normal' is what would be considered verbal/psycho abuse in North America. Sexually, the normal is as follows: if a man sleeps with many women, he's considered a hero. If a woman sleeps with many partners, she's considered a whore. Being sexually active is still considered shameful and disgraceful even in my not-so religious society. Sexually explicit girls are called with a diminuitive word derivative of "whore" by guys discussing them (yes even in front of other women). Among many other synonyms, all with negative connotations. The male words are almost all with positive connotations (think "dude"-class vs "whore"-class). Interestingly, even the words for women who are NOT promiscuous are ALSO with negative connotations. It makes me wonder sometimes if there's ANYthing women can do that would be considered right. We are always blamed for something throughout history, from witchcraft to being too pure.
I have lived in that 'normal' and I am still working on recovering from it. And I'm far from being the worst case. There are still many countries where women suffer terrible physical mutilations, have no rights over their body, over whom to have sex with, or even over their marriage. Heck, until not long ago sexual drive in women was considered not ok even in the US! Let's not forget the sick Freudian ideas.
Personally, I was lucky to move to Canada and start finding the right people and books like this one to open my eyes for another state of reality that wasn't available to me before. I wish one day books like this will sound obvious and obsolete to all women around the world! Until then, any materials that are contributing are useful, this including. And if you have advice and suggestions for other books, please contact me and recommend.
Peace! V

[Zion · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF.

Half way through the book I started skimming until I reached the end of the book. So I don't consider that I read it legitimately.

I admit I was very confused about the purpose of this book, as I went in blind after having it suggested to me about 6 years ago.

A light read, as it's under 200 pages, so that was nice. Content wise? Not so much. The idea of having promiscuous sex and throwing myself at any man to feel like an empowered woman who is in tune with her pleasure is not an idea that I align myself with. More power to others who do, as we all evolve differently, but that's not me. Of course, there is more to this book, but I didn't bother to finish it legitimately, I skimmed half way through.

I was hoping to see more practical advice, exercises, tools, you name it. Instead, the book's content is heavily laced with many stories of many women with different "before and after" scenarios that back up the author's teachings and points of view, with some exercises sprinkled in for you to follow; such as taking yourself out on a date, going out on dates with as many as possible and see how you feel, going for a mani-pedi, spoiling yourself with a massage or self-pleasure, etc...but these are all things I could listen to someone say to me on YouTube. The exercises in the book didn't wow me and some were things I have already done before, long before reading this book.

I liked the little tidbits in Lesson 4 of becoming familiar with your vulva and exploring her and your own pleasure. But I expected more from this book.

[L. Skyford · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the book at the bottom of my TBR. I found myself in a slump and when I’m in a book funk I tend to choose a book that I can check off some mental checklist. This book was given to me by an actor on the first high-level professional play I worked on (read: 2010) and I had NEVER picked it up until recently, but BOY was it the WRONG TIME for this book in my life.

Mama Gena’s is a self help guide to empowering women to find their own pleasure, to break out of society’s molds. I’m am all for that, but I had to DNF. For one, I no longer hear to the “woman” gender, so I was constantly self-editing to make it less woman-centric, which takes all the power out of this book altogether.

I’m also a big believer that self-help books only work if they come at the right time. You cannot force self-help and the person the actor gave this book to, that young, timid, prudish girl is LONG GONE. I won’t say that I’m already living the tenents of this book, but I found myself reading it out of obligation to someone who probably doesn’t remember giving it to me and not for me.

There’s a sticky note above my computer, “read what you want.” And I didn’t want to read an obligation.

This book would be perfect for WOMEN who are looking to indulge themselves in self-care, who want the RahrahRah of a sisterhood, who long for the company of wicca without the witchcraft, or a bacchnalia without the dismemberment. If that sounds like your jam, you can have my copy of this book. -Ford

[Cristine Mermaid · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is cheesy and trite but has good advice about making passion a major part of your life. I totally didn't buy the "think about diamonds and they will appear" bit, sounds a lot like the self manifestation type of books but to focus on a goal is certainly wise. I enjoyed her stories about sister goddesses (students in her class) and how they were able to add more joy to their lives, it was inspiring and delightful (even if ..once again, cheesy)

I very much agreed with her chapters on being an independent woman and not becoming c0-dependent or an appendage of a man and to live your own fabulous juicy life. Overall, a fun read, inspiring but parts of it way over the top. I laughed off the obnoxious parts but by the reviews, sounds like some took it way to seriously.

An excellent book to read when you're stuck in a rut or just need a bit of a reminder to have fun.