From Sex Appeal to Self Appeal

What happens when a middle-aged scientist gets sober, then embarks on a second career—as a stripper? 


This is the story of one woman’s sexual odyssey as she turns the microscope on herself and looks inward to determine what is real and what is not, what is merely dogma and childhood and cultural indoctrination.


Uprooted and shuffled around in a military family, Susan turned to drugs and boys. Although she was intelligent and beautiful outwardly, internally she was chaotic, confused, hollow, and disconnected. At 34 she sobered up. Then, desperate to escape her drab twelve-year career in science and having bought into the culture’s fixation on appearance, sex, and money as a way to happiness, she became an exotic dancer. This is when “Vixen” was born and Susan’s real scientific journey began. 


From Sex Appeal to Self Appeal chronicles Susan’s life as her sexually-empowered, carefree night persona is pitted against her good-girl, people-pleasing, repressed daytime self, and she confronts feelings and actions she always considered unacceptable. Ultimately, her exploration grounds her in a morality and value system of her own choosing and her two selves merge. She learns how to stay grounded in and with herself and how to resurrect a relationship with her body, mind, and sexuality that will serve her well for the rest of her life. Susan’s story is a powerful and compelling memoir about sexuality, self-respect, and Self Appeal.