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Cuck You
February 6, 2013
I'm a 27-year-old man in a two-year relationship with a 26-year-old woman. My last partner cheated and lied and did some unforgivable things. I wasn't blameless-I stayed with her long after I realized it wasn't working-but our relationship did unearth a kink. After I found out about her cheating, I got extremely turned on thinking about it. I never told her.
Enter my next girlfriend. We were together a few months before I brought up my kink. She was very accommodating (dirty talk about her cheating, making up stories about cheating) and then, after some months, she admitted that it was something she wanted to try in real life. I said I was okay with it as long as I had the option to pursue other partners as well. We agreed on some rules and gave it a shot. She set up a date through OKCupid and had sex with someone; I hooked up with an ex. Everything seemed to be turning out great. Then two weeks later, she got drunk and told me she had seen the OKCupid guy again without asking. I was so upset, I nearly broke up with her. Having the guidelines ignored felt like a betrayal. She later admitted to seeing him one other time without talking to me first.
Are we going through the normal trip-ups of a newly open relationship? Or are these lies an indication that she can't be trusted? I feel like it might be hard to find someone else who is into my kink and maybe we're just having a hard time navigating polyamory. I love my partner, and I want to make this cuckolding thing work if we can. Suck it up or break it off?
Confused Upon Cheating Kink
Your letter confused me, CUCK. Here's why: You describe your relationship as open, then as poly, then as a "cuckolding thing."
First things first: Polyamorous relationships and open relationships are two different things. Some poly relationships are open, but many poly relationships are closed—that is, three people (or more) are involved with each other exclusively, i.e., no randoms, no romancing potential fourths, fifths, or sixths. The reverse is also true: Not all open relationships are poly. Two people in an open relationship may allow fucking around with other people with the understanding that there will be no dating or—God forbid—falling in love with anyone else.
And then there's cuckolding. The whole "cuckolding thing" is about the female half of a heterosexual couple breaking the rules and then rubbing her partner's nose in the evidence of her cheating. (Some cuckolds get off on literally having their noses rubbed in the evidence.) Cuckolding is eroticized betrayal, CUCK, and you spent months fantasizing with your girlfriend about being betrayed. All that dirty talk, all those made-up stories—remember? But when it came time to turn your fantasies into reality, CUCK, you laid out the rules for what sounds like a fairly standard open-not-poly relationship: She could fuck other people and so could you. Once again, I'm confused: The cuckold in a "cuckolding thing" typically doesn't get to fuck around. He gets fucked around on.
If your discussions with your girlfriend were as confusing as your letter, CUCK, it's possible that she was likewise confused. It's possible that she thought the rules applied to you and not to her. It's possible that she figured she was free to break the rules because betrayal turned you on. Now she knows that betrayal turns you on as a fantasy and not a reality.
I'm giving your girlfriend the benefit of the doubt here, CUCK, but seeing as you love her and want to make this work, and seeing as girlfriends who are open to cuckolding are hard to come by, on, and in, I think you should give her the benefit of the doubt, too. Time will tell if she's an honest "cheater" who can be trusted or a lying cheater who must be dumped.
I'm a guy who can't orgasm during oral sex. I can during vaginal. It's frustrating, as I can see it bothers my girlfriend. But while I get close, I don't quite reach the apex of that hill. I suspect it's a control issue. During vaginal, I have some level of control—during oral, I don't. Help.
Almost There
Maybe it's not a control issue, AT. Maybe oral doesn't do it for you—it can't get you up and over them thar hills—because... oral doesn't do it for you. If it were your girlfriend who had difficulty climaxing from oral alone—let's say she required a vibrator to get her over them thar hills—the standard-issue, sex-positive, lady-empowering advice would be to accept that it's just the way her pussy works. I would order you to incorporate the vibrator into oral and/or vaginal sex and not stress out about it. And if you were putting pressure on your girlfriend—if you were making it clear to her that this "inability" to climax from your oral skills alone bothered you, if you were having a sad each time she "failed" to climax during oral—I would slap you around for being an insecure prick.
Why shouldn't the same advice apply here?
Vaginal gets you all the way there, oral gets you almost all the way there—maybe that's just how your dick works. On the off chance there could be a psychological block, AT, experiment with letting her get you almost all the way there and then stroke yourself to get the rest of the way there. Stroke to the point of no return—"orgasmic inevitability"—and then put your dick back in her mouth and blow your load. With time and without sads, AT, you may find the number of strokes you need to get up and over the hill diminishing until you don't need them at all. Or you may not—because this may be how your dick works.
My girlfriend and I are having sex on a not-so-every-day basis, but that doesn't matter anyways. The thing is, I've been lasting longer and longer every time we do have sex. However, she can't last as long as I can, and eventually we'll start having to use lube and then maybe 30 minutes later, it'll start to hurt more. As if I'm "tearing" her or something. I'm left "blue balled" for fear of hurting her further, and she feels bad for not having me finish. What do I do? Fake it or just use copious amounts of lube?
Bluer And Bluer Balls
Who says you can't finish? If it's taking you forever, and your girlfriend's pussy is giving out, pull out and stroke yourself until you finish. You could also incorporate strategic stroke breaks into your fuck sessions, BABB, to get you closer to the edge and give her pussy a rest. And you might find she's able to last longer if you engage in a little midplay—think foreplay, but halfway through—during those stroke breaks: Make out while you stroke yourself, eat her pussy, play with her clit. I bet your girlfriend will need less lube if she's less bored and/or more turned on during those epic fuck sessions.
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2
What am I missing?
What you're missing is that different people are different :)
4
6
A: I would love it if you cheated on me!
A: You cheated on me wrong!
B: Yeah, I think I'll go back to guys who don't like this idea.
And what 3 said.
8
Since when does oral sex preclude the male from being in control? That is some nonsense.
9
Som people are just inclined towards monogamy. When you're with the right person, fucking someone else is just a step down - that's why cuckolding wouldn't appeal to me.
11
You can also try a variant: have vaginal sex where you aren't allowed to move at all. Tell her she can tease you as much as she wants-- slowing down or stopping when you're getting close, etc. The resultant orgasm should teach your dick that no control can be pretty hot.
Why are you expecting your girlfriend to be able to have sex without lube? You sound like an ass.
And complaining about needing to use lube? Using quotation marks for "tearing" her or something? You sound disbelieving, like you think she's unfairly depriving you of sex without a good legitimate reason. Grow up. If you weren't treating lube like the enemy instead of an ally, you wouldn't be deprived of sex at all.
I feel bad for your girlfriend for having to put up with a guy who thinks needing lube is some kind of failure. Confidential message to BABB's girlfriend: tell your bf to get over his sqeamishness and use more lube, or DTMFA.
Thanks for the advice to AT and BABB. I'm definitely a girl who needs a lot of lube!!
If you don't, then she's still operating under whatever misconceptions she has about how you want it, and is going to break the rules again -- all unknowing, if giving her the benefit of the doubt is the correct interpretation and she isn't just being a CPOS, but one way or the other it will keep happening. If you don't want it to happen, better make the rules abso- fucking-lutely clear this time around, and make it clear what your response will be if the rules get broken again. E.g., "I WILL kick your ass to the curb, and I WILL take the next incident to mean that's what you want to happen, and there WILL NOT be any more second chances."
You might want to consider introducing the concept of "safeword" to her, and then invoke it right before discussing all this, so she is clear that no, the discussion isn't some sort of roleplay aspect of your kink.
BTW, if you want her to have to ask your permission for every encounter, then what you are doing really isn't cuckolding. Open Relationship, yes (since you both get to fuck around); Hotwife, maybe (since you have eroticized her outside sex); Cuckolding, uh, no. Probably a good idea to stop calling it that.
Also, he's uncut, and I find that makes prolonged hard vaginal intercourse just sooooo much more pleasurable. I used to get quite chafed with past partners after a certain amount of time without lube, and every last one of them was circumcised.
Like I said, lottery. (:
http://wellnessmama.com/2162/seven-great…
If you can find a water-based lube that doesn't have either of those things, you may find she finds lube-sex less unpleasant.
But yeah. Fucking water based lubes.... :\
23
I used to feel this way too. Who wouldn't want a free pass?? Until, due to my high libido and his low libido, my husband and I opened our marriage and it became very clear that he is deeply monogamous. Sighhh. I wish he would put himself out there, but it's just not his thing. So I guess we're only partially open. He chooses to remain emotionally and sexually committed to me while I choose to always have a (fully disclosed) lover on the side with whom I can have mind-blowing sex and an emotional connection. It's my own personal version of polyish openness. And it's absolutely natural and necessary for me. Him, not so much. To each his own.
Be careful with silicone lube if you're having sex more than three times per week. The silicone isn't absorbed into the body like the water in water-based lubes, so it can sometimes lead to a "build up" of silicone on the vaginal wall that can cause discomfort. Not all women experience that, but it sucks for those that do.
Lube is not something bad or boring and there should be no sense of "failure" for needing to use it, especially if the man is cut and/or large. In fact say after me: Lube is good. Unless you're very below average size-wise, it's practically impossible to use too much.
Or there's always the finger in the ass.
Absolutely agree with 25 and 27. I ALWAYS have pain during sex without lube with any partner who has an average or above average size cock.
You may have more luck if you start to use your fingers on her pussy for a few minutes before you go in with your cock. Start with 1, then 2 - the idea is to loosen it up slightly.
You may also find certain positions are better for her comfort level. I personally find it almost painless if I'm on top, but doggy style becomes painful after less than 5 minutes (which sucks because it used to be my favourite position.)
My fella and I now tend to fool around with mouths and fingers for a good 20 minutes before attempting vaginal sex, so that he's fairly close to blowing his load anyway. That way penetration doesn't last more than about 5 minutes for me with much less pain as a result. In fact we probably only have vaginal about 1 in 3 times we have sex - the rest we just finish off by oral or manual. (That's still "having sex", you know. Penis in vagina is not the ultimate goal here - the ultimate goal is that we both have a great time.)
BABB, do you have this problem with oral? I'm wondering if you used to use the Death Grip when masturbating (holding your dick too tight) and that makes it harder for you to come during other forms of sex.
Another fella I met with this problem of not coming even after a long period of vaginal, he was a heavy drinker, and it was particularly bad when he was drunk. Often we just used to give up. I think the alcohol probably dulls the sensation or something. So if you're drinking before sex - stop.
And Thanks to 24 for the tip about Agape lube, I'm gonna see if I can get some.
30
Ummm... no.
Some people produce a lot naturally and adding anything would cross over into "too much" (regardless of size). Speaking personally, I detest lube. Needless mess that adds nothing and actually just creates and unpleasant sensation.
31
My endurance has improved with age (to put a positive spin on it), and originally I thought this was the best.thing.evah, but after a couple of different partners were like, 'um, aren't you done yet" (bored, dry, or getting sore) I realized that the marathon thing is mostly another porn fantasy.
Natural lubrication is affected by age and arousal and if she's already gotten off and the pounding is boring.
Riffing on last week: introducing lube, particularly if you're a guy, should be done diplomatically so as not to come off as "you're all dry and defective".
So glad my current partner generates copious natural lube and does not leave me feeling like a ten minute session is too short (no pressure any longer to try to hold out longer).
My guess is that since he discovered his kink "accidentally," he hasn't done much research or looked at what others do, just tried to piece it together based on the idea that cheating is hot. Whether or not he wants a poly or open relationship is a question he needs to figure out separately from the cuckolding question. Not only does he need to figure out if he wants to be open or poly or not, he also needs to figure out if he wants whatever open or poly rules to apply to him if he goes in that direction.
It's possible that once he told his GF he was into cuckolding, she did her own research on it and figured he would really like it if she "cheated" without him knowing, and when that's not how it went she felt bad. Or it's possible that once she met the OK cupid guy, she realized she liked him better and he came with less confusion than CUCK. Or she could simply be confused as fuck, as we all clearly are by CUCK's story.
Before you have that talk, and probably as you're having it, and then a few days/weeks later as you process it, and perhaps over the next few months, as you begin to put into practice what you're learning about yourselves and each other, you are bound to discover new feelings, reactions, and desires. You may refine your fantasy or its expectations. So, undoubtedly, will she. Share these revelations with each other. Communicate. Don't blame, shame, accuse, or storm out.
You two are making major changes in a relationship that has lasted for two years--it's bound to be a bit bumpy, especially if the communication about what each of you want or how you define terms or how parameters/rules are set is unclear and not mutually understood and agreed-upon.
You say you love her. She's not your ex. There is no reason to think you can't trust her: she thought that you wanted to be cuckolded, which is what she did, then she reported to you (which is what a cuckold fetishist wants, because if he didn't know about the cuckolding, he couldn't get off to it). You introduced the idea and she went with it--and now you think maybe you can't trust her and need to dump her. That's unfair.
The other thing is, sometimes we think we know what we want, but it's not until we try it that we discover that no, we don't really want it after all. Maybe you really don't want an open relationship. Maybe you want an open relationship that doesn't include cuckolding. Maybe your fantasy is more the hotwife fantasy--in which the man sets up or is in on the woman's extra-relationship sex, perhaps watching, perhaps not, but not particularly humiliated by it. The boyfriend definitely knows about the sex that happens between the other guy and the girlfriend beforehand/during. Of course, now your girlfriend has had a taste of non-monogamy, too. She may quite like having opened up your relationship. Her feelings and interests need to be considered, as well.
Good luck working this all out. It's tricky sometimes, but in the end, good communication skills, knowing what you really want, and the ability to share that with your partner will pay off in many ways far outside the bedroom. Have fun and stay connected.
@Dan, Re: AT: I think you can do a lot better with your advice here. I've been on both sides of the story -- I rarely come from oral, and I have a partner who doesn't come from oral. We both like it. The thing is, we both get off on coming in each other's mouths. So it's not about insecurity, it's about we want to make this happen because we want it. The-end.
Your advice of stroking it and then sticking it in her mouth at the point of no return is the solution we've found most satisfying. I've also rubbed my own clit for most of the journey and then let my partner finish me off. Sex isn't just about getting off, you know, there's a lot of emotion involved and that needs to be given its fair share of consideration, too.
So BABB's girlfriend "can't last as long" and then after she has an orgasm he just keeps pounding away for another 30 minutes during which she is not aroused?
WTF. I mean I guess maybe she doesn't have more than one orgasm? The real question is, why not?
Pro tip: if after she comes once you continue doing things that turn her on, it is likely that the whole endeavor will be more fun for everyone.
He said he was into cuckolding, but within limits. She transgressed those limits. Whether it was an selfishness, or an error as she tried to find where the boundaries were are separate questions. There's really no point in having Savage Love bang on endlessly about the importance of rules and agreements and boundaries as one extends one's sexuality out beyond one partner and then say, "well, if you broke those rules that might be okay". The letter was confusing only in its terminology, not the parameters of the agreement: she had to ask; she didn't. If the ROE aren't clear it is up to both partners to make 'em more clear, not go out, find the best interpretation for one's own benefit and then seek forgiveness after. That's not a relationship that's loophole-finding.
I find it distressing, an example of what Mr. Ven calls "dump culture," that CUCK expresses his only choice now as "suck it up or cut her loose."
They tried something new and it may have opened a Pandora's Box. The girlfriend may be surprised at what happened; clearly she felt guilty about the secrecy and rule-breaking. He seems to be projecting the ex-girlfriend's behavior onto the current girlfriend. These people need to get clearer, individually and as a couple, about what they want. And start from there.
I sometimes wonder (but I haven't reached any conclusion) whether dump culture is merely a pendulum swing away from "stay together no matter what" culture, which was so ascendant for so long. Or is it related to the gross impatience and often unrealistic expectations of our current metaculture? I don't know.
Normally I'd consider banging another man without permission the one thing that'd put my lover in the dump category without any question. I think CUCK's gf gets more slack simply because, well, he wanted her to bang another man and I'd imagine that fixing the parameters of that are, um, difficult.
To say that you can't have too much? Well, besides being messy, there are a few positions that, once I've been having sex for awhile are almost impossible because it's too slippery and slipping out happens enough to be more than frustrating.
I do agree that it's ridiculous to act like needing lube is a bad thing, it's not. But acting like everyone should use barrels full of the stuff (which I understand has not specifically been said here, but has damn near been said in previous comments on this subject).
47
50
So I'd suggest this to CUCK. Go back to your girlfriend and tell her that you weren't clear because you weren't sure yourself and ask her if she'd be willing to redefine the relationship back to what you had originally. That's the one where you're monogamous and engage in all the fantasy kinky play that you want. Make sure you ask her if there's anything that she'd like; ask her for her input for the new/old redefined relationship. Think of it as a computer reboot. You go back to the point where everything was working smoothly and take it from there.
Next, you pay attention to how it's going. You keep communication open. She gets to tell you how it's working for her. Does she want to fuck someone else? Why? Is it something for her, or is it to make you hot? All open communication. Same for you. Are you okay with just the fantasy about being cuckolded, or do you want to go back to her actually doing it? Explore your feelings-- with her.
And while you're doing all this open communication, keep clear of the parallels with that first cheating girlfriend. That was a different situation because THERE WAS MORE WONG THAN JUST THE HOT CHEATING.
Reminds me of the conversation from last week about lying about porn. By making the consequences of infidelity so severe, you definitely increase the odds of your lover lying to you.
Dan is right, your terminology is wrong. The "current" understanding of cuckold is a husband who gets off knowing his wife is fucking other guys. In the more advanced form, he enjoys watching.
But your behavior is approaching this new view. You didn't enjoy going strange. You like her doing it. Keep her.
That is an amazing statement - I have a 'slight-cuckold' kink that involves being told that other men are better in bed than I am and watching my partner indulges with other people – which sounds similar to CUCKs kink. Does this make me a cuck? Am I breaking some rule that say's I have to also be into cross-dressing and creampies? Is it not up to each person to define their own boundaries?
I think CUCK is the victim of a need to come up with a witty signoff name. In his letter (at least the portion we saw)he does not say that he is a cuckold or subscribes to all the entails, but even if he did that does not mean that he wants no input into the activities his partner has – about that, he was very clear.
Perhaps he's feeling that going back two more times and not being honest about it changes it from a sexual fantasy into her getting something she's lacking in the relationship and all the other standard cheating tropes. The fantasy is over.
Now he has the bonus of feeling both betrayed by the cheating and responsible for it because he brought the issue up in the first place. What she did was cheating, plain and simple, the fact that he has a particular kink that he was honest about should not be a factor.
And it was, partially, a control issue as well. Thrust into her mouth a little. You may just like feeling like an "active participant".
You are correct that it was just a tilt, not something I'm willing to defend full on. What tilted me in that direction? Only a knowledge that most of us tend to downplay our own faults while magnifying the blame of others. The sort of insight that allows us to take good hard looks at the ways we contribute to the outcomes in our own lives usually comes years later, not when we're writing to Dan. So when a letter writer admits to possibly being a little responsible, I automatically read that as being quite a bit responsible. It's my cynical nature, nothing I can prove.
It's also in the way I swap out variables. I read a letter and start to ask myself what I'd think if one element were changed, what if one part of the letter were greater or smaller or if roles were reversed. It started as a test of my sexism. I'd read a letter written by a straight woman, form an opinion, and ask myself if I'd hold the same opinion if the letter were written by a straight man, a gay man, a lesbian woman. In time, I started applying my test to all parts of the letter. Thus, in the letter above, if I think one thing if CUCK's former girlfriend was responsible for their break-up, do I think something else if CUCK himself contributed more.
For me, the more important variable in CUCK's letter was the open relationship one. I ask myself what I'd think if their base assumption was one of monogamy. I took it from there. How would it change things if CUCK didn't admit to his cuckold fantasy and his girlfriend said she wanted to have sex with someone else out of the blue? I did little thought experiments in that direction and came up with the advice I did in 51.
That I don't feel comfortable telling her this after 15 years of marriage might have something to do with it too, y'think?
Here what struck me as interesting were the LW's choices in phrasing. Sticking around too long as an example of not being blameless made me ask myself exactly what he was admitting about which not to be blameless. Very unclear. And his earlier sentence - "My last partner cheated and lied and did some unforgivable things." Interesting indeed, as it inclines one to wonder what on such a scale would be deemed unforgiveable.
We may have stumbled onto part of the great opposite-sexer/same-sexer divide here. The OS crowd always has the possibility of a natural empathy bias, of which my favourite example is provided by Mizz Liz Probert in *Rumpole and Portia* when she explains (to the indecisive, ineffective Claude Erskine Brown) that, when a woman cheats, she is striking a blow against the patriarchy because she resents her partner's dominant male power, so that, when a woman cheats, it's a man's fault. And when a man cheats? it's his fault, of course. Your analysis did NOT remind me of Mizz Liz, whom I'd love to cross-examine on why it's a man's fault when a lesbian cheats (but I am grateful to the young radical barristerette for embodying so much of the erasure of same-sexerity that prevents me from ever being enthusiastic about the coming feminist Utopia). I appreciate your process, which strikes me as basically necessary due diligence for an OS response, particularly to an OS letter. Some SS readers will have a tendency to lean to one side or the other in response to OS letters, but it strikes me as rare for it to be so strong (save perhaps for open misogynists/misandrists). The closest I can come to devising an equivalent might be for someone who presents as exclusively "top" or "bottom" (perhaps for women "butch" or "femme") having a very similarly unmixed natural empathy when reading a SS letter describing a similarly rigid-role relationship.
In this letter, I suspect I may be over-correcting in the LW's favour because I find that very few cuckolds present their cases in a way that inclines me to feel any sympathy for them at all. I much prefer LWs who trigger a dislike that I know to be based on something petty; then I can blast away and enjoy it. But I don't like to push a serious complaint too far.
I probably wouldn't even have put up the earlier post, except that I got annoyed at lunch today. In one of my stepmother's soaps, a woman was asking for clarification about a mixed signal, and the man in the scene with her said she was great and probably just his type, but he would never make a move on ANOTHER MAN'S WIFE (it would have been so hard to write A MARRIED WOMAN instead?). And apparently he was supposed to be one of the admirable characters (I no longer follow soaps, but remember enough still to pick up these things). Hence my really crabby mood all day.
63
We needed you for gay issues back when few spoke to us; we need you even more now. Please return to your people and let the breeders cry to less fabulous advisors. Your base is not PIV. It is PI (noun).
The answer you wrote last year to the gay teenager about to have anal for the first time was great literature (IMHO), addressing a real person's real fears. Your advice will help him and dozens of scared gay boys. And many silent LGBTs that don't write in. But they do read and remember.
Breeders can get their advice from Cosmo or Dr. Ruth.
BTW... we (even us geezers) read and love you in Palm Springs.
But straight to dumping for a one-time infidelity? And seeker said it was "the one thing" and that there wasn't any question about it. Surely we can all think of worse things... violence, years of secretly stealing, years of hiding their sexual orientation...
I would have thought that any regular reader of Dan's would at least try to reconcile if a beloved partner confesses to a brief infidelity.
@61, how can you say you want your wife to take control, and then act aggrieved that she's doing it her way and not yours?
Here's the variable swap-out I consider relevant. In one scenario, the rules of the game are monogamy. A woman violates those rules by having sex with another man. In the next scenario, the rules of the game are open relationship. A woman violates the rules by having sex with another man without giving proper notification of intent. I just don't see those as equivalent. Maybe it's a fault in me, but the former seems like a gross violation of trust. The latter seems like a bureaucratic error, more in line with going back and correcting the date a form was filled out.
Yet the emotions associated with the first are given as the reason for emotions associated with the second. My advice to CUCK would be to separate the two in his mind.
(I prefer the references to Sartre and Spark to Rumpole. I'm really not up on my Rumpole.) (I would study up on my Rumpole for you.)
The idea that fellatio automatically denies men of
control in the act is ridiculous. Get on your fav porn site and search 'throat fucking' or something like that and you will see extremes on the male control motif.
Being an active suckee for a man does raise issues of dominance and submission and it's not all men or women that are comfortable with those. I agree with @59 that thrusting may make a difference. Try having her lay on her back and use a vibrator on herself as you control the oral.
There's even an obscure Latin word for it: irrumatio
And I also want to go on record as one who appreciates Dan advising both same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples. Other advice columnists, though they are often very good, just aren't Dan Savage good.
I agree with EricaP @64. You want your wife to take control of the blowjob. Just not her way. Because her way doesn't get you off.
Instead of focusing on what she is doing wrong, try focusing on what she is doing right. And in real time (Oh I love the way your mouth feels. You look SO sexy sucking my cock. I love when you suck my balls. etc). Most lovers, when given positive feedback (knowing that what they are doing is turning you on=positive!), will gain confidence in their skills. And thus enjoying it more. And who doesn't love an enthusiastic blowjob?
Once you have praised her skills and she can see the fruits of her labor (you are super turned on, your dick is really hard), then you can add suggestions. It's not what you ask, but HOW you ask. Demanding might get you shut down. But a sexy idea is always worth trying.
70
Most women don't read minds, don't watch tons of porn, and don't have some kind of natural blowjob instinct that causes them to, say, put their hair up in pigtails, strip down to nothing but a pair of knee socks, and assume a sexy and provocative pose while nibbling on your dick in exactly the way you'd like.
You have to tell them, nicely and without mumbling, what you want them to do. And you might even have to remind them the next time. Believe me, even a woman with a sexual IQ in the retardate range can learn to give an awesome blowjob if she's willing to take instruction.
But, assuming you've communicated what you want, and she simply isn't responding, you need to make her understand that her neglect is hurtful and making you unhappy. Don't say anything about her motivations or character, don't take the bait when she inevitably blames you, don't do anything that will justify her feelings of defensiveness. Just focus your discussions on how this situation feels to you and your desire to build a satisfying sex life with her.
I'm sure 15 years of miserly blowjobs has taken its toll on your self esteem, so you might find this easier to pull off if get yourself into shape and find opportunities to flirt with other women.
When I read "because she won't take control" in 61, I read that less as actually controlling the blow job and more as assertively wanting to give the blow job. I enjoy giving head, and I'd be willing to bet that most of the guys I've been with would consider me a "take charge" kinda girl in that respect, even though I happily take direction, and will ask for it if it's not readily given from a new partner.
I'd like to think you're not SOL on getting good head Steeeeverino, but I think it's a lot easier to teach someone who's enthusiastic than it is to get enthusiasm from someone who's already skilled but doesn't really care. I'd suggest trying to determine if there's anything that would make her enjoy it more, instead of coming at it in a way she may consider an attack.
KateRose@71: good advice and thanks for explaining Steeeeverino's point to me.
73
More importantly, I can't believe EricaP and KateRose spelled Steeeeverino with the accurate amount of "e"s. That is the kind of attention to detail that, combined with the fact they enjoy giving of head, makes me wish I were Mr. P/Rose
Now there's a book that might have fit into the Straight Men's Stress thread, although the one lament that really stood out for me was how Elsie (though not a very sympathetic character) hated the way men treated her with their packets of contraceptives like wrapped sweets and only going so far when she wanted, despite not particularly wanting to be a mother, to conceive a child with a man she loved.
I think part of the difficulty with blowjobs is that somehow people get the idea it's terrifically easy for a guy to get off that way, when actually it's not necessarily so, and it may be not-so for a zillion different reasons on both sides of the game. But one thing to keep in mind is that fellatio can also be awesome foreplay, and it can be a lot easier to enjoy it that way first, where there's no pressure except to just feel pretty good, and later try to get it further and further into the realm of things-that-make-him-come.
77
'Believe me, even a woman with a sexual IQ in the retardate range can learn to give an awesome blowjob if she's willing to take instruction. '
Willing to take instruction. That goes both ways. For women and for men.
I find that the average man isn't keen on taking instructions or suggestions. No matter how delicately I couch the suggestion, I am often met with huffing child-like behavior. Usually the relationship doesn't go beyond that. Just because you saw something in a porn or that is what the last woman responded to doesn't mean it will automatically work on me. I find these rigid assumptions useless. And I certainly won't come from it.
The best lovers I had viewed sex as play. Playful curiosity and discovery. Not an activity that marched (or thrust) to the goal line. Losing the preconception that we have to do this and it has to end like this changes the game. In the best possible way.
You want her to tell you the truth about what's going on, don't you? Because that's necessary for this to work. For that to happen, she has to be comfortable with telling you the truth, and for her to be comfortable with telling you the truth, you need to give her positive feedback when she confesses to you, however little you like what she's confessing. Difficult, but it's part of the price of admission. From the sound of things, she's afraid to tell you what's going on (she only told you when she was drunk), and rightly so (you're considering dumping her, and you wouldn't be if she hadn't come clean to you.)
So, normal trip-ups.
81
"The idea that fellatio automatically denies men of control in the act is ridiculous."
Was it not clear that that was my point?
I remember (many moons ago) the first time someone didn't put his hand on the back of my head when I went down on him and being like 'well this is different'.
As far as liking to give head... I'm confused by people who don't like to do things that get a positive reaction from their partner. Hearing moans or growls of enjoyment are worth an occasional sore jaw. And a well placed, sincere compliment works wonders as an aphrodisiac.
84
That is just so sad.
I've had a couple relationships with women who were (for lack of a better term) projects, sexually speaking. In one case, it was a sexual abuse thing, and the other had simply not yet discovered her sexuality. Both were eventually able to open up (giving and receiving), and the whole metamorphosis was super hot.
85
@Steeeeeverino: Ball's in your court. I think auntie grizelda might be into you.
I cannot imagine anything more off-putting and more likely to kill my libido than to be considered someone's "project".
(Disclaimer: I was exaggerating, coprophagy would be even more off-putting.)
It's perfectly acceptable to throw in the towel if you can only make it so long. That's why hands and whatever else you want to use are there. And if it's always really painful, that I don't think you get your GGG card taken away for not being able to.
But for people who don't find it painful, or perhaps those who only experience mild discomfort, I can't fathom not only being willing to do something that isn't your favorite, but enthusiastic to please them.
The caveat of course is that this applies only to partners who are enthusiastic to please in return or beforehand. A partner who is only into his own pleasure is not deserving of an enthusiastic blow job.
89
Um, OK, although your defensiveness sounds a bit like the "huffing child-like behavior" @albeit referred to.
Anyway, in the off chance you and I start falling in love but you turn out to be kind of a project (for lack of a better term), sexually speaking, I'll be sure not to use that term. We'll refer to you instead as a seedling who just needs a little water and sunlight for her flower to bloom.
90
Exactly that. I'm a dude and all the difference in whether or not a blowjob - or for that matter any kind of sex - is hot is whether or not my partner is also enthusiastic about it. The first time I ever got off from oral (and it wasn't until I was in my 30's) was with a woman who loved sucking. She was intent on getting a mouthful and the act of sucking itself as well as swallowing and really got off on it. So did I...some of the most amazing powerful orgasms ever (left my ears ringing!).
I've had two relationships with women I dearly loved where they just weren't into it - they'd do it out of "duty" and "because it's supposed to feel really good" or "if you give your boyfriend/husband blowjobs, he'll stay in love with you and won't stray" or whatever. It was obligatory. And clearly something they'd just as soon never do - fake enthusiasm...isn't this the big complaint about porn? Why can't we have something real?
My fiance is not very skilled, but she likes it - she even likes being passive and just letting me "f**k her mouth" while she lays back. The fact that she actually likes it makes all the difference.
Please read it again. I specifically wrote the following:
"Sorry, not interested. Steeeeverino is a total stranger to me, guys, and a married man at that."
What part of NO, THANKS don't you get?
95
Where I'm from, if a woman says "not interested", "fuck off", "you're violating your restraining order", or "the cops are on their way", that's a good sign she likes you.
Joking of course! Ha.
97
Irrumatio (being the active participant while getting a bj) is the easiest way to assume control. If the girlfriend isn't experienced enough to be the passive recipient with a cock thrusting into her mouth for long, they can try a variation ... such as having AT kneel over her, thrusting his cock between her breasts (I only recently found out that's called "Russian"; who knew?) and only entering her mouth close to climax. That way, he still maintains the level of control he requires without leaving her with a sore jaw. And, hey, it provides new visuals, fun for both parties.
@94: Hunt, Overtrolls?
@95 seandr: I eventually figured that you were joking,or trying to, but when a woman really DOES say and mean no, I'm not among those laughing.
Are you from the southern US, by any chance? Such views on women--even when "joking"--- is why I choose to avoid states like Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, Alabama, and Arizona altogether.
Some may feel I'm "over-reacting" here, but that's just how I feel.
99
There's not much creepier than people suggesting that verbalizing a lack of interest in a man means you're really interested and he should give you more attention. It's really just thinly veiled schoolyard bullying ("haha, suzy doesn't like it when I touch her hair a little bit, imagine how upset she'll be when I touch it a LOT!!") couched in 'hurr hurr women don't know WHAT they want'.
Oh and P.S. using Shakespeare to bullshit legitimize it is super lame. It might work on your 14 year old girlfriend, but it won't work here.
One of the more difficult things about deciding what to do sexually, especially if it concerns orgasm, is to figure out when to take on more control and when to let go and just let stuff happen. Sometimes it's more of an internal letting go than anything specific you do outwardly. Men especially can feel a lot of pressure for everything they do sexually to be performative, and it's not surprising that sometimes gets in the way of their own pleasure.
During vaginal, I have some level of control—during oral, I don't.
You need to take more control.
Steeve,
That I don't feel comfortable telling her this after 15 years of marriage might have something to do with it too, y'think?
You understand you and your wife epitomise lives of quiet desperation. That's why cheating is the quick and easy way to make change. If you want it.
102
Oh dear, there's been quite a misunderstanding.
My post @77 wasn't meant to be taken seriously. The idea was to a present an earnest and deluded male character (assumed by me) whose beliefs about heterosexuality (specifically, that women would out of pity rally to give a random guy on the internet a blowjob) diverge, radically and obviously, from the way our world actually works. It made me laugh, so I hit Post.
After you gave it a serious response, I couldn't help but mess around a little more @85. So, I feigned misinterpreting your overstated (and unnecessary) rejection of poor @Steeeeverino as meaning you were into him. The joke could be on me, the protagonist, for being a stereotypically obtuse male, or on @Steeeeverino given that it's obvious to everyone that you aren't actually into him, or on you for protesting a little much.
When you didn't get where I was coming from on that, I attempted another goof @95. The idea was to gradually reveal, over the course of a sentence, another deluded male character who is bizarrely unaware of his problems with women even though they become immediately obvious to anyone listening to him. For this to work, I probably needed a more absurd quote than the one's I came up with. Ah well.
I grew up in the Twin Cities, but have spent a majority of my life living in various liberal urban Seattle enclaves, mostly Capitol Hill. I guess you'll have to add Seattle to your list of places to avoid. Sorry about that.
@102 seandr: No sweat---I'm not out for blood. Hey, I've made attempts at humor that severely blew up in my face in Dan's column, too, so you're not alone there.
I'm glad that you really were joking, though. I guess I didn't catch the sarcasm the first and second time. But even if you were joking, I am totally with mydriasis here: creepy, not funny. That must be a guy thing.
I'm a Seattle-born Washington native; Capitol Hill is a happening place, and while I no longer live in The Emerald City, I certainly wouldn't add Seattle to my list of places to avoid. Actually, I harbor a rather "Louise Sawyer"-like fear of red states (i.e.: '...believe me, if you shoot off a guy's head with his pants down, Texas is not a place you wanna get caught!').
I don't own a gun, nor would I ever think to shoot anybody. The point I'm trying to make is that people living in Republican run red states would most likely want to shoot someone like ME.
104
Haha
I feel your pain. I remember trying to make a humourous remark by portraying myself as clueless and everyone lost their shit on me.
'Men especially can feel a lot of pressure for everything they do sexually to be performative, and it's not surprising that sometimes gets in the way of their own pleasure.'
The beauty of the blowjob is the Power Dynamic. You wife is naked on her knees with your cock in her mouth servicing you, yet she literally has your pleasure in her hands (and mouth). She controls the speed, depth and grip. Knowing your signs, she can pull back and keep you right on the cusp. Maybe she wants to watch you squirm a bit. Maybe she wants you to beg for your orgasm. She will decide when you come because she's in control. Because you gave her that control.
If you want to receive, then you will have to let go.
108
You think giving head is a power dynamic where the giver has all the power?
Dude. Not always
My ex seemed more intent on choking me during BJs, then later with his own bare hands, rather than showing any concern for my actual pleasure. Whenever he offered to eat me I was left feeling like he was only doing so out of a marital obligation and that his heart really wasn't in it.
It's all water under the bridge now, and I've moved on since, but I finally
had to leave after nine years of doing most of the giving. Isn't good sex supposedly a two-way street?
110
Wait I didn't say that at all.
I prefer a dominant partner, especially if he doesn't give up the dominant position, even I'm on top or if I'm giving head. *swoon*
I'm pretty decently versed in not choking/gagging so thrusting doesn't bother me at all, in fact the aggressiveness kinda does it for me.
113
@114 tachycardia and all southerners: Rats--sorry! I was trying not to generalize, as I know not everybody from any one part of the world is all the same. I'm a little bit of the following: progressive somewhere in the center veering left, a bit quirky (ask any of our regular bloggers!), and tend to vote Democrat. My hesitation towards visiting the Southern US is based on my belief that a lot of people there in the red states lean towards the right-wing conservative side, and might hotly disagree with---and disapprove of---my personal views.
But I'm glad to hear that southern gals know how to fend off unwanted attention, too.
117
@albeit @107: Wow. That post dialed right into my frequency.
and finding out new ways to pleasure each other. I would recommend it to anyone!
119
Heaven help us.
I think of all intolerant religions a little like I think of breaking up with someone not suited for me. At the time of the break-up, I'm disappointed, hurt, unhappy, but in the long run, I wish them well, just not near me. Some time goes by, and I realize it doesn't matter what horrible ideas my ex had; he can't hurt me anymore. Thus with Catholicism. Don't like Catholicism? DTMFA.
The idea of a pope resigning is shocking only in its modernity. Used to be, with the state of medicine as it was, people had short deaths. They went from productive to dead without much lag time in between. It's only in the days of modern medicine and modern care that so many people can linger the way we do. So the pope is sort of nodding his head to what modern non-believing doctors can do.
122
Like JPII, Benedict has been packing the College of Cardinals with ultra-conservative reactionaries from Italy - this is analogous to presidents appointing to the SCOTUS - the next Pope and the direction of the RCC is largely determined by the College. I'm not sure that any of the people responsible for the thaw in theological rigidity expressed in Vatican-II are left around anyway, so it's likely that the new conservatives were replacing existing conservatives.
I think, to survive outside the 3rd World, the RCC will have to change - dramatically - in the next couple of decades and that it is unlikely to do so. I dunno - ever since I was touched by His Noodly Appendage, I've kind of stopped caring so much what the RCC does.
Oh, and @120: congrats on the diet!!! Keep it up!
I mentioned, I'm big-boned and broad framed; if I weighed 112 lbs, I'd be
horrifyingly skeletal!).
Unfortunately, my doctor is in the hospital with a complicated illness right now, and I am praying for her recovery and that she's much better soon. I am experimenting with gluten-free products, and tried some pretty good rice-flour (Annie's organic) macaroni & cheese pasta. I can't eat it all the time, though because of the carbs.
My example will be Marigold Featherstone in "Rumpole and the Miscarriage of Justice". Having been presented with evidence that her husband Guthrie has boasted of committing infidelity (again), the formidable Marigold presently is asked by Guthrie for her decision. She declares that she's not going to leave him; that would make things far too easy for him. But she's certainly not going to forgive him. "I'm going to stay here, and NOT forgive you."
Or with Marigold. How far back does one have to go to find blame? We can can say that it's all Guthrie's fault for being unfaithful, but that negates the possibility that she was making him miserable in the first place. Certainly her willingness to make him miserable after his infidelity would suggest that she was doing so before. And while this isn't in Mortimer's original, Marigold might have done a neat calculation. She may have figured that she would not become measurably more happy if she did leave him.
YOU ARE A FOOL FOR AGREEING TO AN OPEN RELATIONSHIP. IT IS HUMAN NATURE TO GET "CAUGHT-UP" IN SUCH FEELINGS OF, PSEUDO-FREEDOM. SINCE DATING COUPLES WILL EVENTUALLY HAVE SEX, IT IS IMPORTANT TO DISCUSS SEXUAL TASTES DURING THE EARLY STAGES OF DATING. "Confused ... ," YOU MAY BE SURPRISED TO FIND-OUT YOUR PROSPECTIVE COMPANION SHARES YOUR SEXUAL TASTES. TO ONLY LOOK AT A PARTNER IN REFERENCE TO HER/HIS EARNINGS-POTENTIAL AND LONG-TERM SUITABILITY USUALLY LEADS TO DISSATISFACTION - OFTEN, SEXUAL - "DOWN-THE-ROAD."
CHRISTOPHER ALLEN HORTON
So-o-o....moving slowly on from Atkins (South Beach) to the Paleo ("some carbs are okay now") diet. I may be able to graduate to dark chocolate!!
Even Smitten Kitten's glowing red penis looks good! Yoiks!!!


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