Tuppy Owens

Tuppy Owens

Tuppy Owens in 1998
Born Rosalind Mary Owens
(1944-11-12) November 12, 1944
Cambridge, England
Occupation Writer, therapist, campaigner
Years active 1970–present

Rosalind Mary Owens (born 12 November 1944), known as Tuppy Owens, is a British sex therapist, consultant, campaigner, and writer.[1][2]

Education

Tuppy Owens was born in Cambridge. She gained a degree in zoology from Exeter University, and then worked in ecology in Africa and Trinidad.[1] She settled in London, and worked as a scientific administrator at the Natural Environment Research Council.[3] Then, in the late 1960s, she established a sex education book publishing company, for which she wrote and published The Sex Maniac’s Diary[4] successfully between 1972 and 1995, and which she operated as a thriving business from her Mayfair flat[3] — for example, the 1975 Sex Maniac's Diary was launched in August 1974 with a reception at the Bristol Hotel in London which was reported on the following day in the Financial Times.[5]

Work

From 1974, Owens also began lecturing on the subject of sex.[6] In 1979, she started Outsiders Club, for people with disabilities seeking new friends and partners. From 1984, the Sex Maniac's Diary was published as The Safer Sex Maniac's Diary and provided the first visual instructions to the public on how to put a condom on securely; it also reviewed condoms and offered safer sex advice, all at the beginning of the outbreak of HIV.[7]

In 1979, Owens started the Outsiders Club for socially and physically disabled people to find partners. She was helped by Nigel Verbeek, who had recently lost his sight. Both worked voluntarily, which Tuppy continues to do today. Outsiders is a warm and friendly club providing peer support to members, a beautiful online Clubhouse, and lovely monthly lunches around the country.

In order to ensure she answered the members' questions with accuracy, Owens trained as a sex therapist at St George's Hospital Medical School in London, where she gained a diploma in Human Sexuality in 1986.[2] She was also subsequently awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Institute of Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco.[2] In 2009 Tuppy was named one of the Family Planning Association‘s 80 most influential achievers in the field of family planning.

For disabled men and women who want to learn what pleasures their bodies are capable of enjoying, and how to please a partner, Owens set up the TLC Trust website, where they can find responsible, safe sexual services.

In the 1990s, after more than 30 years living in London Tuppy Owens moved away and has, since then, lived in a croft in the North of Scotland.[8]

In 2005, Tuppy Owens founded the Sexual Health and Disability Alliance (SHADA)[1] to bring together health professionals interested in sex and disability. In November 2009, a conference with the title "Disability: Sex, Relationships and Pleasure" was held by SHADA with the Royal Society of Medicine.[9] Tuppy produced the Sexual Respect Tool Kit and started the sexual advocacy service, ASAP. Tuppy also answers the Sex and Disability Helpline. Her book "Supporting Disabled People with their Sexual Lives" was published by Jessica Kingsley on 19 November 2014.

Owens remains active in running Outsiders.[10] At the same time, she also oversees the Sex Maniacs Ball to fund Outsiders, and is the founder of another fundraiser, The Erotic Awards,[11] now called The Sexual Freedom Awards. Owens is the chair of the Sexual Freedom Coalition[12]

Owens is working with the Bath Institute of Medical Engineering in the hope that they will be able to create sex toys that can be used by disabled people who, without them, cannot masturbate.

Award

Owens has won the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award from the European Lifestyles Awards. She is also a Winner of the Innovation Award of Sexual Health and Human Rights UNESCO 2015 Finalist (Lifetime Achievement) in the Directory of Social Change Awards 2015.

Publications

References

  1. 1 2 3 Cole Riley, SexIs magazine & website, 18 November 2010: article Dr. Tuppy Owens: The Sensual Patron Saint of the Disabled
  2. 1 2 3 "Tuppy Owens: Interview with a Love Doctor". The Skinny. 17 June 2008. Archived from the original on 11 February 2009.
  3. 1 2 The Observer Review, 24 September 1972: article by Pendennis Tuppyware
  4. ↑ Excerpt at allmediaScotland, 2 October 2008 from memoirs of Scottish war correspondent Paul Harris More Thrills than Skills — A Half-life in Journalism, Part 68
  5. ↑ The Financial Times, Thursday 22 August 1974
  6. ↑ The Evening Standard, Tuesday 9 April 1974, page 5: article by David Bentley Tuppy finds a way with the little red love book
  7. ↑ The Sex Maniac's Diary and The Safer Sex Maniac's Diary published annually 1972–1995.
  8. ↑ "Northern sexposure". 8 June 2008.Highland News: article about Dr Owens
  9. ↑ "Disability: Sex, relationships and pleasure". Royal Society of Medicine. 13 November 2009. Archived from the original on 29 October 2009.
  10. ↑ The Realist, Number 136: article by David Steinberg The Hookers Convention
  11. ↑ Grayson Perry (30 August 2006). "I'm all for good, clean dirty fun, me". The Times. Archived from the original on 1 May 2009.
  12. ↑ Marie Claire March 2009: article Meet the Sex Professionals
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