The Bedroom Gap

A roadmap for midlife women, couples, clinicians and anyone wanting to understand – and change — the societal, historical and physiological effects of our Sexspan. Sex in midlife can be a bumpy road, especially for women. Our bodies change with age, and those changes can lead to shame, confusion, and the loss of intimacy. The Bedroom Gap shows us how society developed destined-to-fail gender roles and expectations in the bedroom and makes clear how we can level the playing field between midlife men and women. This pathbreaking yet easily accessible guide not only clarifies the physical changes of menopause and how they affect sex in midlife, it also details how we can treat those changes, reframe our views on pleasure and desire, narrow the discrepancy in sexual functioning between middle age men and women, and optimize sexual pleasure after 40.

Author Biography

Maria Sophocles, MD FACOG, MSCP, IF is an internationally renowned gynecologist and thought leader in menopause and female sexual function. A longtime advocate for women’s health, she fought to pass legislation to secure access to contraception in New Jersey in 2023, pioneered the use of carbon dioxide lasers on the vulva and in the vagina to regenerate unhealthy tissue, and started a women’s clinic in rural Kenya. A frequent commentator on Sirius XM’s “Doctor Radio” and TED speaker, Maria lives in Princeton, NJ, where she heads a progressive gynecological clinic that serves over 30,000 women.