Overview

• What began as a planned three-month break from sex evolved into a yearlong practice after Febos grew weary of performative intimacy
• She reports that abstinence boosted her vitality and creative energy by creating space to understand her authentic desires
• Febos draws on the example of medieval Beguines to show how choosing celibacy can free women from male-centered societal norms
• A platonic bond with a younger queer friend named Ray helped her distinguish between feeling desire and acting on it
• She urges readers to have sex only when they genuinely want to, defining love as enthusiastic consent