My question: When I am going to have casual sex with a woman, when do I put the condom on? Right before I put it in? Or before we start having sex? Or do I put one on before the date and leave it on all night, just in case? (Just kidding.) I'm sure there are a lot of readers who are going to laugh at that question, but I'll bet there are some who are going to be paying close attention to your answer.

Need To Know

According to leading condom experts, you put the condom on after your dick is hard but before you stick it in your casual sex partners. I hope that clears things up.

Now I'd like to address the real issue at the bottom of your problem: You want me to tell you how and when to put the condom on because you're afraid of appearing inept. If you make a mistake putting on that first-ever condom, your casual sex partner will realize that this is the first time you have ever used a condom. Once she realizes you've never used a condom before, you worry that she'll point at your dick and laugh, get up and get dressed, and then go home and call her girlfriends and tell them you're inept.

Let me clue you in to something, NTK: No decent sex partner, casual or formal, expects her lover to be an expert at something the very first time he tries it. We're all inept and nervous the first time we, say, use a condom, eat pussy, or release our bowels while squatting over Ann Coulter's face. First-time jitters are forgivable--but your partner can only forgive your first-time jitters if they know it's your first time. If you lead your sex partner to believe that you're an expert at putting on condoms, eating pussy, or defecating on Ann Coulter (DOAC for short), then they'll be annoyed when you turn out to be inept at putting on condoms, eating pussy, or DOAC. Your partner will then be forced to conclude that you lied about being experienced--or, worse yet, that you didn't lie. ("He's had years of practice using condoms/eating pussy/DOAC and he's still lousy at it! Christ!")

So here's what you do: If it's your first time using condoms/eating pussy/DOAC, tell your partner. Promise to give it your best shot, and ask for help, pointers, and encouragement. That way, your casual sex partner will be rooting for you, forgiving your missteps, and offering words of encouragement (or cups of coffee, in Ann's case) instead of wondering why you're so friggin' inept.

I am dating a Japanese girl who is so into keeping her pubic area hair-free that she actually plucks the hairs out. Previous girlfriends had trimmed a bit off the top, but none plucked themselves hairless! Since we got together, my girlfriend has asked me to do the plucking for her, and I have happily obliged. This has been going on for about five months. Now the tables (or the tweezers) have been turned: She wants to pluck me. I'll admit it: I'm a wimp and I don't want to experience the pain of plucking. She claims that this is unfair, since I pluck her. I've reminded her that she asks me to pluck her, not the other way around. Now she is growing out her bush to spite me, although our sex life remains passionate.

I trust your opinion, Dan. Am I being a hypocrite?

Plucker, Not Pluckee

No, you're not being a hypocrite. Let's say I enjoyed being hit in the face with a cream pie during sex. It would be within my rights to ask my boyfriend to indulge me, and it would be decent of him to do so. But indulging me in my passion for pies does not obligate my boyfriend to submit to being hit with a cream pie himself.

So, yes, I believe your girlfriend should allow you to continue plucking her without demanding the same right in return. However! You have come to enjoy plucking your girlfriend and you prefer your girlfriend plucked. She would prefer you plucked--and your enjoyment of plucking/plucked gives her some leverage. Blackmail is an ugly business, PNP, but I'm afraid your girlfriend has the advantage. To wit: Just because she enjoys being plucked doesn't mean she has to allow you to pluck her. If she wants to remain unplucked so that you will endure a plucking to regain the right to pluck her, well, that's her right.

I'm a male college student who's working to become a teacher. I really love kids a lot--for many reasons--but there's one problem: Even though I love kids because they're interesting, fun to work with, and all-around great, I have a sexual attraction to them. Mainly boys. I would never hurt one intentionally and have never hurt one, but the attraction is always there.

Am I a pedophile? What can I do? I'm really ashamed of my feelings because I do love kids. Please help.

Scared And Depressed Because Of Young'uns

Are you a pedophile? YES, you're a pedophile. Worse yet, you're a FUCKING CLUELESS pedophile.

You are the LAST PERSON ON EARTH who should be going into teaching. You don't need a teaching certificate, SADBOY, you need a therapist, someone who can help you understand, control, and refrain from ever--EVER!--acting on your desires. If you surround yourself with children for your entire working life, one day a "special boy" is going to come along, and even if he tells you he's sexually attracted to you, and even if you dupe yourself into believing that he's mature enough to give his consent, IT WILL STILL BE RAPE. If the boy's parents find out, they'll call the police. Or if they don't find out, years later the boy you molested, now a man, may decide that what you did damaged him, and he'll call the police. And you? You will go to jail for the rest of your life--which may be short, since child molesters aren't the most popular people in prison.

Get into therapy, SADBOY. You're going to have to police your desires, and to do that you're going to need help. It will be easier to keep your hands off kids if you're not surrounded by them all day, every day, for the rest of your career.

In response to the man who wanted to know if there were people who loved big balls: YES! I love and admire big balls, whether men are trying to hide their baubles under their pants or swinging them in the shower room or putting them on display on the Internet. Balls are basic sexual equipment and deserve to be celebrated! Here is one website that does just that: www.testiclefetish.com.

Tasty Enough, Swing Them Enormous Spheres

Thanks for sharing, TESTES.

Dan Savage's new book, Skipping Towards Gomorrah: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Pursuit of Happiness in America (Dutton), goes on sale October 10. Send your Savage Love questions to mail@savagelove.net.

mail@savagelove.net