Reclaiming our Pleasure: A Powerful Conversation with Clinical Sexologist Marie Morice

Today, the terrain of female pleasure is more complex than ever. On one side of the coin, we’re witnessing a welcoming rise in the sexual wellness industry, with the global market projected to reach $115 billion by 2030. In the same breath, we’re grappling with global attacks on reproductive rights, bodily autonomy, and regressive policies. Real depictions of female pleasure are few and far between - often buried beneath shame, stigma, or misinformation (mainstream porn, I’m looking at you!) 

What’s clear is that the conversation around female pleasure is in dire need of taking centre stage. Luckily for us, people are taking up some much-needed space in this arena, including the formidable Marie Morice, clinical sexologist, fierce advocate for female pleasure, and someone I’m beyond proud to call both my trusted collaboration partner and friend. 

In this exclusive interview, I sit down with Marie to talk about her journey from leading global climate campaigns for the United Nations, to tuning into her desires and advocating for the sexual awakening of the women around her - as well as what lies ahead as she continues to make her mark on the sexual wellness industry. 


Can you tell us more about your transition from 'Climate to Climax'? What prompted this epic shift in your career?

After 25 years leading global campaigns in climate, sustainability, and gender equality —at institutions like the UN, WWF, and Barclays—I realised something powerful: we can't build a sustainable future without also healing our relationship with pleasure, intimacy, and the body. The climate crisis is also a crisis of disconnection—from ourselves, from joy, from embodiment. For me, the journey from “climate to climax” was personal and political. It meant bringing the same systems-thinking I used for planetary healing into the most intimate realms of our lives. Pleasure is not separate from sustainability—it’s part of what makes us whole.

At the same time, I was going through my own personal transformation — navigating life post-divorce, rediscovering desire, and asking myself: What now? What next? Who am I when I’m fully alive?

It was wild and beautiful and sometimes messy, and I often thought, Wow, imagine if there were a sexologist I could call right now. That moment planted the seed. I retrained, certified, and eventually became the kind of guide I wish I’d had. That journey is what inspired Manhunting in Manhattan—the book I co-wrote with you, which captures that post-divorce sexual awakening in a fun, fictional (but emotionally true) way.

Your novel, Manhunting in Manhattan, like you said, is based on your own journey of sexual discovery post-divorce. How has your journey shaped your perspective on female pleasure?

That book, Manhunting in Manhattan, was both a love letter and a rebellion. It captures the exhilarating, raw, sometimes awkward beauty of reawakening desire after years of marital disconnect. That journey taught me that pleasure isn’t about performance—it’s about truth. About being fully seen and fully felt. It shaped my work because I saw how many women were, like me, hungry for something more, but lacked the tools, language, or permission to go after it.

Your coaching platform, Lilith Your Life, is centred around helping midlife women reclaim their sexual selves and feminine power. What's the story behind the business name, and why the focus on midlife women?

Lilith was Adam’s first wife, before Eve, and she refused to be submissive. When he tried to dominate her, she said no, grew wings, and flew out of Eden. She’s since been demonised, but I see her as the OG feminist: fierce, free, and fully in her power.

Lilith Your Life is a call to live on your own terms—bold, sensual, and unapologetically you. I focus on midlife women because we’re told our pleasure expires. But midlife isn’t a decline—it’s a sexual awakening waiting to happen. This is where the magic really begins.

You're a fierce advocate for female pleasure. Do you think pleasure can be a form of healing and/or resistance? If so, how?

Absolutely. Pleasure is revolutionary. In a world that tells women to shrink, to please others, to ignore our bodies, choosing pleasure is a radical act of self-trust. It heals trauma, rewires shame, and builds resilience. It’s also resistance. Because a woman who owns her pleasure is a woman who cannot be controlled.

What impact do you think porn has on women's (and men's) expectations of pleasure?

Porn is not inherently bad—it can be playful, creative, even educational. The problem is that most mainstream porn centres male pleasure, lacks consent narratives, and rarely shows real female arousal. It teaches performance over connection. Many women come to me believing they’re “broken” because they don’t orgasm like porn stars. And many men have learned to prioritise friction over feeling. We need more diversity in erotic storytelling—and more real talk about what pleasure actually looks and feels like.

If you could rewrite sex education from scratch, what non-negotiable would you include?

The clitoris. Pleasure. Consent. Anatomy that actually reflects real bodies. Conversations about desire, boundaries, queer identities, and communication. I’d also include emotional literacy, because good sex starts with knowing what you want and how to express it. Oh, and please, let’s talk about menopause and midlife sex too.

Some people may not know that the clitoris was only fully mapped out in 2005 (!!) What's something surprising about female anatomy you wish more people knew about?

That the clitoris is not just a “button”—it’s a whole internal structure, with over 8,000 nerve endings and legs that extend deep into the pelvis. It’s the only organ whose sole function is pleasure. And yet most medical textbooks still ignore it. Understanding it isn’t just anatomical—it’s political.


You're working on all sorts of exciting projects at the moment, including a collaboration with Get Your Guide and Passage du Désir in Paris for solo female travellers. Can you tell us more about this?

Yes! It’s called The Pleasure Atelier: Self-Love in the City of Love, and it’s a curated experience for solo female travellers. We explore confidence, style, sensuality, and self-pleasure through workshops, guided shopping, and Parisian flair. It’s part retreat, part adventure, and all about reconnecting to your erotic self, on your own terms. Because self-pleasure is powerful pleasure.

What specific self-pleasure rituals do you recommend for women who feel disconnected from their sexuality and sensuality?

Start small. Set the scene—light a candle, play music, wear something that makes you feel beautiful. Don’t jump to orgasm. Touch your body with curiosity, not expectation. Use breath, sound, and movement to feel rather than perform. I also recommend mirror work and writing a pleasure journal—reclaiming your story is part of the ritual.

Looking ahead, what plans do you have for your practice in the next few years? What do you hope to achieve?

By 2030, I want to support 1 million women around the world to enjoy their sexual pleasure—to use it as a source of confidence, wellbeing, and power in every part of life. I’m expanding Lilith Your Life as a global platform, researching pleasure and the workplace, launching a digital course in the workplace, co-leading the Festival of Female Pleasure, and writing a new book. It’s ambitious, but the world is ready. And the revolution is one orgasm away.

Feeling empowered? I know I am. And that’s exactly the way we should feel. Because by taking control of our pleasure and owning our desires, we pave the way for deeper intimacy, better connections, and radical, unapologetic self-love. 

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Amy Killingbeck is a copywriter, ghostwriter, and author who, after a short-lived but intense career in law, now writes on all things taboo and for all those rebellious. As a curious child with a vivid imagination, her love for telling stories and expressing herself grew from here, alongside a desire to openly share, smash stigmas, and get people talking. A fierce advocate for standing up for what you believe in and following your own path, Amy is on a mission to amplify women's voices through self-expression and the power of words. 

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