Columns Mar 23, 2016 at 4:00 am

Fixations, Oral and Otherwise

Comments

1
NOPE, I recommend telling the guys that tongue doesn't do it for you, and that you love dick. If they persist, tell them they are sweet but you would prefer they believe you when you tell them what you want.
2
Is there any way I could tell Agnetha (LW3, who seems to be suffering from Faltskog Syndrome) sorry that would sound at all sincere?

*****

Mr Savage overlooks one thing about the first LW. If he wants to acknowledge LW's right to a religious lifestyle, he can't be quite so blithe about divorce - at least not until we learn that LW1 attends the same church as Mr Gingrich or Mr Trump.
3
"I used to look at porn, which almost ended our then-dating relationship." The pathos in that sentence!
4
LW1/SF: My wife and I are religious and were both virgins when we got married...
She's got a bad case of "sex is dirty, shameful and only for the heathens." Better heed Dan's advice and find yourself a nice heathen girl next time. Oh, and I'm curious about the "I'm religious" but like watching (unmarried, multi-partnered, dirty-talking, cock-sucking) people fuck on the Internet. Which book of the Bible is that endorsed in? You're gonna get turned into a pillar of salt!

LW2/NOPE I love giving blowjobs and can orgasm from PIV sex... Girl of my dreams, partners worth keeping respect your preferences, and should want to do that which gives you pleasure, so any guy who insists on licking the weasel ad nauseum doesn't care that much about what you like. Move on. HOWEVER...that door swings both ways. I like giving my gal head, like the taste, like the whole deal, so maybe you could look at it as one of the many pleasurable things you can do in bed (that he likes) and stop focusing on the orgasm you're not having. You don't have an orgasm every time you're in cowgirl position, right? Oral is just one more position. That being said, c'mon, find a guy who also doesn't focus on the orgasm and likes eating pussy for it's own sake (for a reasonable amount of time). We're out there.

LW4/PISS: Ick. And, "Your lovely, smart boyfriend is a lousy, selfish lay, and two aren't sexually compatible. DTMFA." Dan nailed it.

LW5/CALF: I love asking my friends and people I barely know if I can stick my thumb up their butt, but almost everybody turns me down! What could I be doing wrong? I'm beginning to think I should save that stuff for more intimate relationships, or at least people I definitely know are into it. Damn!
5
Religion is not an ancillary fact in SF's problems; it's the cause. Fundies have gay reparative therapy. Perhaps Dan should find an expert in undoing the anti-sex psychological damage caused by a religious upbringing. It seems to be a mental health epidemic that goes largely undiagnosed and untreated.
6
When we hear about a kinksters in this column who are unable/unwilling to be GGG without their kink, disproportionately, it is diaper fetishists. Is this a statistical blip, or is a diaper fetish more all-consuming of one's sexuality than most others?
7
When I got to Sexually Frustrated's first question, I was thinking that a good way to get a woman to try giving oral sex is to wear a condom. Since it's likely that her icky feelings stem from a being afraid he'll come in her mouth, she could get used to it that way, see how wonderful it makes him feel, become more familiar, and then, on a timeline she chooses, get to where she's okay with putting real skin in her mouth, not yucky latex.

Then I got to the second question about how she won't touch him non-sexually. No cuddling, kisses or massages, and I realize that something is terribly the matter, and it has nothing to do with blow jobs. SF thinks it's about how he can get oral sex. He should be wondering if she'll be willing to nurse a baby or give a 4 year old a hug. Will she spoon in bed? Humans need to be touched. Withholding touch is a form of punishment.

Yeah, follow Dan's advice and find someone you're compatible with, but don't do it citing blow jobs as the reason, and don't put blowjobs on the top of your list when looking for compatibility. Look for someone who's a normal compassionate human being to start with. Hint: You're more likely to find that outside a deeply religious setting.
8
LW1, if you are truly religious then can't you tell the wife it is her duty to be better in bed? Or, if you have respect for her, then get you both some therapy and/or a divorce.
9
SF LW 1-
Show the wife that oral sex is an intimate act of love by the way you perform it, ask her how she likes it and what makes her happy as you do it.
Once she’s done offer to take a shower together. Have her wash and soap your penis and play with it. As you step out have her dry you and take you by the penis back to bed. At least the germ issue is gone.
And be mindful of Dan’s advice: no children.

NOPE LW 2- The week in preview:
By Friday afternoon your letter will turn into yet another endless argument, just like the one we had at the end of last week’s as well as many others.
Is “forced” cunnilingus a form of rape?
Is she “depriving” her partners from eating pussy?
Can’t men just respect a woman and do as they’re told?
Can’t women relax and enjoy?
Those are all very enlightening arguments that never repeat themselves. Some people will get angry and frustrated in the process, others will do their best to make sure they stay this way.

10
Last letter: "A lot of people think of foot rubs as intimate..." If you don't believe this is true, why not ask your brother if you can rub his feet? No? NOW it gets creepy? Damn, buddy, you need to develop some respect for boundaries.
11
Ouch, CMD. Do as they're told?
12
4-DonnyK-- You've got the wrong idea about fundamentalists. The belief is not about doing what they think is prescribed in the Bible. The belief is about doing whatever they want, making a big deal about public shame, and being forgiven for it. Look at the doings of celebrity fundies in this light, and you'll see the consistency in it. People actually rise in hierarchy, they get more respect, by getting caught in misbehavior. It's not about keeping to the straight and narrow in the first place.

This is what makes me think that Mrs. Sexually Frustrated hasn't necessarily absorbed the sex shaming lessons of her church (though that may be part of it). I'd guess that she's merely doing what she wants (not being sexual or physically affectionate), and bingo, turns out that's what God wants for her. (Funny how it always works that way.) She won't gain status like that; she will get by. If Mr. Sexually Frustrated cared about gaining status in his church, he'd take up with affectionate sex workers (or at least have a long standing affair), get caught after 15 years, and make a big stink about how he's sinned,
13
Foot fetish guy. God I love foot massages. Is it just for intimate relationships? No. I pay to get mine done. A professional foot massage is like being in heaven.
Funny, Dan. Telling the anti- oral woman to just fuck boys in their 20s.
Were you reared a Catholic, LW?
It took me a long while to let go and enjoy something I'm sure those nuns would have dissaproved of. Maybe self pleasure and really get into having fantasies about it. Coming while having the fantasy of a man licking you. Rewire your brain.
14
Crinoline, this seems to be case either of a woman with massive religion-inspired hangups about sex or a woman who isn't sexually attracted to her husband--probably a bit of both. But I don't think that her unwillingness to touch her husband affectionately means she wouldn't be able to breastfeed a baby or be physically affectionate or nurturing with a child. Maybe she's afraid if she she shows her husband any physical affection at all he'll assume she's up for sex and she's sacred of/disgusted by/inhibited about sex or sex with him.

Given their religious background, it's possible she could overcome her shame and aversion, but I'm a big fan of "life's too short," and would advise the first lw to cut his losses and try again.
15
14-Nocute-- I suppose you're right. There could be more explanations for her behavior than I listed. Asexuality is a possibility. (That would come under the subset of "not attracted to her husband.) We come to the same conclusion either way. Instead of making this about her, make it about how to improve his life. He needs to get out.

6-Aurora-- I've often wondered the same thing. Dan once registered shock that a man who'd found a woman willing to go so far in satisfying his diaper/baby fetish wasn't interested in doing anything vanilla that she preferred. You'd think that having someone so rare he'd do whatever it took to keep her satisfied.
16
@seandr: I tried, pretty clumsily, to address the "rape culture" question/issue from last week at last week's comment thread.
17
@2: "If he wants to acknowledge LW's right to a religious lifestyle, he can't be quite so blithe about divorce"

He's giving love and sex advice not go to arbitrary heaven but not really because it doesn't actually matter even for most stringent faith's advice. He has zero need to take that into account. If he wants to be miserable, he has the option to ignore Dan.
18
@13: Context is everything. You won't be so excited if a rando off the street or someone you barely know starts trying to angle for your feet.
19
Regarding LW1: As someone who grew up in a fairly religious household (watched many a video/lecture from Pam Stenzel, for a frame of reference), I 100% think this is a case of the wife not being sexually attracted to her husband and not admitting it. In my experience, religious, sexually-repressed groups tend to promote the idea that a person marries for love and not physical attraction - and that the two are mutually exclusive. This is particularly hammered into women who are also told that it is abnormal for them to have a sex drive or to be sexually attracted to men's bodies. This combinations leads to women choosing husbands that they aren't attracted to because it's not seen as important, and not a valid reason to marry someone.

The complete lack of physical contact definitely suggests that she is just repulsed by him but unwilling to admit it because she focuses on things that are "more important" in a marriage (compatibility of personality, beliefs, etc.). Again, speaking from experience: I've had sex with men that I wasn't really attracted to because they were convenient, nice, respected me, safe, but the more time I spent with them, the less I wanted to have any physical contact with them. I imagine this is what's happening with her, but she's unwilling to admit it because then that would mean admitting that she, a woman, does have a sex drive and is influenced by the physical/sexual attractiveness of a man, which is just so atypical in this sort of religious dogma.

I second #5's suggestion for a therapy for people coming out of this fundamental "sex is dirty" upbringing. I had the good luck to be able to get out of the mindset and fuck my way to (mostly) normalcy, but I don't think everyone gets to do that, especially if they're married young like this couple. It's very sad.
20
@18. You know this, how?
21
I'm a whore when it comes to foot massages, undead.
22
@Lavagirl, I don't think that NOPE needs to rewire her brain to enjoy oral sex. It's okay for her not to enjoy it. I think she's wanting advice for how to keep her partners from pushing it on her.

@DonnyKlicious, If NOPE's partners really enjoy giving oral, she might decide to be GGG and let them have a go for a while for their sake, but if they're convinced she's saying they lack skill or that they just need to try harder and lick longer to blow her mind (which is what it sounds like), that's no fun for anyone. They're headed for disappointment, and she'll be trapped into ever more uncomfortable conversations when she doesn't come.

Some women just aren't into oral for whatever reason. I'm one of them. I prefer that a guy trust a woman to know what she does and doesn't like, rather than assuming she must be repressed or just not have met the right tongue yet.
23
@19 (love the user name btw), yep. I'd say it's not just abnormal to be sexually attracted to mens' bodies, but actively shamed for expressions of sexual desire even to the man they married. Nice Girls don't DO that, doncha know.

Add in that she might be from that particular flavour of religion that says sex is for procreation and not recreation. Oral on him has no possibility of procreation, thus, no.

Either way, for LW 1, it means, if you stay in this marriage, you are choosing to stay in a marriage where your sexual needs will not be met, or you can leave and face serious community fallout.
25
@22 strange; it's just a suggestion.
Of course she doesn't have to like oral.
Just giving her my experience. If she explored why she hates it...and it doesn't have to lead to orgasm...then maybe she would find she could enjoy it.
Or as Dan suggests, go fuck younger men who haven't developed such a taste for it.

26
I'm with Lavagirl. I think I would let just about anyone massage my feet (if they weren't horrible at it. Some people are pretty bad). It would for me be more an issue of where it would happen, because I wouldn't want to go to some stranger's house, but I also wouldn't want them in mine. But if I was already friends or even just friendly with a gay guy who was into my feet, I would absolutely be down.
27
@9, 11: It's like one of those time travel movies where by mentioning the future you cause it to happen. :P
28
@27, I like how CMDwannabe @9 elegantly demonstrated rape culture by putting air quotes around my experience (described in last week's thread) of being held down and licked against my will.
29
EricaP @ 28
I never read the comment you're referring to. My @ 9 was based on SL week ends we seem to be having semi-regularly with more or less the same people discussing more or less the same issues and getting more or less nowhere. I only skim those posts.

Sorry you went through what seems like a horrible experience. Again, I would have never turned it into a joke.
30
My wife and I are religious ... She is a germophobe... she believes fellatio is done only in porn...I used to look at porn, which nearly ended our then-dating relationship... It's like having sex with a sex doll.

This is simple. You're wife is possessed by Satan.
31
@29 CMD. It does look like that, to be sure. Yet, I find what can often happen in those discussions is that people then spontaneously share, and some deeper virtual intimacies are formed.
I'm sure you meant no ill will.
32
@nocutename: Thanks, read it, and i appreciate it. I've been thinking about this more, and there are ideas I'd really love to be able to bounce off you and some of the other women around here. I don't know about you but there isn't any other forum in my life where I can have discussions like this. Alas, the topic is just too fraught and dangerous, but I'm grateful to have benefited from hearing what you all have said.
33
Hi DonnyK @4 - depending on the religion ... in judaism, the husband owes his wife sexual satisfaction ... or so I'm told. Venomlash - care to back me up?
Hey CMD @ 9 - don't go away because you're getting bored! I like your posts.
Seandr @ 32 - I think if you pose questions thoughtfully, and read the folks that respond in kind, even if they are triggered, you might get some food for thought.
34
LW1. You found your way here, how?
I notice she doesn't mind receiving oral, no worry about germs there , then.
Such a young man, it's really sad to read what a sexual straigh jacket you've got yourself into. She is a sexually selfish young woman. This has nothing to do with religion.
I suggest you withdraw giving her oral, stop touching her, and see how she feels. Then point out to her that that is how she is treating you.
I'd also suggest, once she wakes up a bit, you find a strong voice and tell her that being with her is like being with a sex doll, and that if she isn't prepared to go with you to workshops or individual therapy with people to help you both become more sexually compatible, or, help her become a wife who looks after her husband's sexual needs, then I agree with Dan, think to leave her.
35
Clarification for seandr et al. - I *don't* mean to try to trigger people. I just mean that there are some people who can manage their reaction to something that triggers them in a way that allows them to engage in dialogue. Others just go ballistic. I won't name names, but I think we can all think of examples.
36
LW 1 - SF - you don't say whether your wife experiences orgasm from PIV or oral sex, or even whether she seems to have a preference. Regardless, it seems to me that you'd best find out what her barrier is. You'd tackle the problem differently if it's religion, or being asexual, or not being attracted to you in particular, or being a lesbian, or just being selfish, etc. Generally, I agree with Dan and the commentariat that things probably won't get better.

LW 2 - NOPE - I've known other women who didn't like receiving oral, or who were too sensitive to tolerate direct clitoral stimulation. So you're not alone out there. Some guys like quantifiable information, like "If you really like eating out, I can go along for the ride for about 5 minutes. After that, it starts to hurt." But if someone doesn't listen after the first or second time, toss that fish back in and try again with another.
OTOH - for a long time - like decades - my nipples weren't particularly sensitive, and I would have been bored out of my skin if that was all a partner focused on. But in the last decade, they have started to perk up, and under the right conditions, attention there certainly enhances the, ahem, experience.

LW 4 - PISS - agree with Dan. GGG involves trading off, and your dude isn't trading; he's hogging.

LW 5 - CALF - fetish doesn't have to mean you obsess over EVERYone's feet. You are not too young to know about treating friends, foot fuckbuddies, uninterested strangers, and family members differently.

37
Still thinking. Go ahead, name names. I have no problem being outed.
If some people insist on not hearing the truth of others' experience, after many words are written, going ballistic comes from the frustration of such ignorance. I'm done bothering to engage with deaf men anymore.
Men who ignore what many women, over time, talk about. Nicely, sweetly, with confrontation.. doesn't matter how it is spoken, they stay wilfully ignorant.
38
Ms Rand - Not objecting to the destination, but the path. The way to get from X to divorce is to remind LW how he'd already (temporarily, at least) gotten over the porn bump. LW1 may well just think to himself, "But True Scotsm... er, Christians, Never Divorce," and add another five years to the self-imposed matrimonial sentence.

Now, if Mr Savage framed his reply so because he discerned in LW1 a Cruz supporter and he was *trying* to get LW1 to double down on the marriage, then I'll give him a Well Played.
39
Ms Lava @37 - You remind me of Mr Woodhouse in the opening chapter, just after the Westons' wedding. Mr Knightley, taking into account Mr Woodhouse's great dislike of anybody's marrying, reminds him that the former Miss Taylor will gain in having only one to please instead of two. Emma jokes, especially when one of the two is such a fanciful, troublesome creature. Mr Woodhouse candidly regrets that he is often troublesome, which appalls Emma, who'd meant her statement as a joke about herself.
40
SF: "About every six months, I bring it up..." Doing it right. Unlike our recent novelist's ex who brought up threesomes constantly after being told no.
SF and his wife should go to a sex therapist, even a Christian sex therapist. She needs to hear from a second source that sex, including oral sex, is normal and not just for porn.

Donny @4: "I like giving my gal head, like the taste, like the whole deal, so maybe you could look at it as one of the many pleasurable things you can do in bed (that he likes) and stop focusing on the orgasm you're not having."
Exactly. Maybe stop thinking of oral sex as something he is necessarily trying to do *for you*, and try seeing it as something he is doing as foreplay *for him*? Hint, guys in their 30s and 40s don't get as hard as quickly as guys in their 20s. Maybe he needs to go down on you for a while to give his dick time to get hard. And if you're neutral on it -- as opposed to actively disliking it, in which case they should totally respect your "no" -- why not indulge them? So long as they accept it won't lead to an orgasm and that that's no reflection on them.

Slinky @23: "Oral on him has no possibility of procreation, thus, no." Oral on her has no possibility of procreation either, yet she doesn't seem to stop him from doing it. Hmm.

Lava @25: Dan's comment was funny but inaccurate. If younger guys didn't go down, I wouldn't date younger guys.

Sean @32: "I don't know about you but there isn't any other forum in my life where I can have discussions like this." Amen!
41
"It would be great to have this named."

Let me help: "Normal."
42
I'm not surprised at all when I hear that some women aren't into receiving oral sex. So many men are ridiculously terrible at it. I think it partly comes from using mainstream pornography as a tutorial.
43
@LavaGirl: I'm pretty sure it was me who Still Thinking was referring to as the "ballistic" one, not you. 😂😂😂
44
Good one Fan. You just blew those older men's cover.
Venn. Not sure what you are talking about. Were those people wilfully ignorant too, doesn't matter how many ways a dynamic was shown to them?
Hear you Fan. Dan is wrong about the boys in their 20s.
45
Somewhat off topic but excellent essay on pornography, sex ed (or lack of), intimacy and sex in the NYT. Not completely irrelevant to this thread in that it continues the theme of who is pleased and who is not.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/20/opinio…
46
Also: Any relationship that can be destroyed by watching porn, should be.
47
I think the advice to NOPE was a bit too flippant but I don't have anything better than to kick anyone to the curb who can't grasp her preferences. I can't argue about anything else on the advice this week. I do have some thoughts on PISS, though.

I find it interesting that PISS' problem keeps coming up. My pet theory (I'm an engineer, not a psychologist) is that PISS' partner's behavior is fueled by pent up need. Since diaper play is so on the fringes, this guy has probably been fantasizing about this for years (potentially a decade+) with no real hope of getting it fulfilled. He may feel like he can breathe for the first time in his life and his emotional cup is far from full. It's *possible* that he will normalize and be able to be giving with enough time. Pent up need is a poor excuse and PISS, actually anybody, deserves better than hoping her partner will someday be ready to give back. I'm with Dan, DTMFA.
48
@42: Did you seriously just try to blame women's preferences on men?

Women are people, dolt. They're not just bits of evidence that men are horrible. Why are bigots always so stupid?
49
Marcelina @42: Yeah, what a completely moronic comment.
Tell me: Are you really a man, posing as the most feminazi extremist ever, just to "prove" men are right about how ignorant and bigoted feminists are? If so, well done, it's working.
Some women like the feel of tongue on their clits. Some women don't. This includes straight women, bi women and lesbians. Don't be just as disrespectful of their preferences as the guys who are insisting "she just hasn't had it done properly yet."
50
Eudaemonic @48: "Women are people, dolt."
Actually, perhaps you're crazy like a fox. Never thought I'd hear Eud take women's side.
51
@seandr: I find some of the discussions that have taken place here to be really enlightening and helpful in understanding other people's point of view or experience, which sometimes causes me to reconsider and maybe change my point of view. I also find some of the discussions valuable in letting me really understand myself better--make sense of my experiences, try to figure out why it is I think the way I do about something. I find it so disappointing when discussions degenerate to name-calling or attacks. But I suppose that there are some topics that are just hot buttons to some people and its inevitable that some of the things that come up here will set someone off from time to time. I'm trying to engage less when it becomes obvious that more heat than light will be generated.
But if you want to talk about something you think is too sensitive for the general comment thread, you can email me at ballerinacowgirl@yahoo.com. I always welcome interesting discussion.
52
Sorry, this is a long one...

Dan, disappointingly glib answer to LW1 (SF). Yes, this marriage sounds doomed to unhappiness and misery for BOTH the LW and his wife but the LW deserved a better explanation.

With the limited info the LW provides, as @7 basically said, the LW and his wife are incompatible not only sexually but also on a non-sexual intimacy level, both of which she has problems expressing. Is she going to mature out of these issues with out counseling? Nope. They are young, having married when he was 21 years old. If she grew up in a sex and body shaming environment reinforced by abstinence-only "sex" education and religious teachings, unlearning this will require counseling (by a certified/licensed social worker or psychologist) and will be a challenge that requires her and his dedication. Marriage counseling is another alternative or adjunct to counseling for her.

LW1 doesn't say whether he's actually talked to his wife about their relationship and what his needs are. She might see no problem or she might be willing to try to have open and frank conversations (this is an issue that will need multiple discussions) about this.

After it is all said and done, is LW1/SF willing to live without sexual and non-sexual intimacy forever? To paraphrase @7's comment, is he willing to subject his children to a cold and unloving home, which can emotionally injure them? Does he want his children to pass this pain on to their own children? If all else fails, there is life and can be love after divorce if he is open to it and seeks out compatibility in his friendships and love partners. Divorce can be a positive step for both partners, especially when they are incompatible sexually and in expressions of intimacy. There are plenty of marriages between religiously compatible couples that are hell on earth and marriages "made in heaven" between couples of different religions and belief systems. Life is short and he needn't spend it alone inside a marriage.

**Incidentally, LW1, not all religious women are anti sex and intimacy. I seem to recall seeing, many years ago, a 60 Minutes segment on evangelical Christian women having sex-toy parties (like Tupperware parties but with more giggles) to spike up their marital beds, so to speak.
54
@48 and @49: Not sure how my statement warrants calling me a "dolt," "moronic," and a "bigot." I'm none of these things. Also, please spare me "feminazi." I thought only MRAs used that BS term.

How does stating a fact (that a woman might be turned off by oral sex because most men aren't very good at it) make one a bigot?
55
@46: Quotable!
56
@50: Lol. You've heard me take women's side many, many times, as you know very well, since plenty of times I was taking their side against you. Such as in this comment, for instance; women aren't you. Pointing out when you lie is not siding against women, it's only siding against you. Women are people, not just convenient extensions of yourself. And most of them aren't liars, even though the shitty ones love to equivocate about that.

And you've thanked me for it before, which is why it's so obvious that you're lying. But I love watching your bafflement at seeing someone not acting like an unprincipled tribalist. Your type never realizes that other types exist, do they? I can see why, but it's still funny.

And for what it's worth, watching you do a "no true Scotsman" on Marcelina is kind of hilarious. Props for recognizing that she's doing the same thing as the idiots the LW talks about when she says "I've tried being up front about not liking it in general, but guys either get offended or double down and do it more because they assume I've never been with a guy who "could do it right."

Lil' bit rapey, innit?

Pro tip: If someone says they don't want you to do something to them in bed, you shouldn't do it. Declaring the reasons for their preference to be invalid and doing it anyway? That's the wrong choice.
58
@55: Thanks. ;)

It was only kind of a joke. Think how much happier the LW would've been if he'd said "If you make me choose between you and porn, I choose porn." Partly because then he'd be able to go find a tolerable person to date, and still have porn! Win/win.

@54: You chose to be a dolt who said something moronic and bigoted, in public. If you don't want people remarking on that, be a little more subtle about it. It's even funnier that you call BiDanFan an MRA, since she's exactly the same type of person that you are, just smarter and slightly more subtle. You could learn from her: Whenever she feels her own personal privileges aren't being called into question, she does a passable job of pretending to have principles.

But hearing you go rape-apologist while trying to out-group your own in-group is adorable. I'd say "don't ever change," but there's no need. You won't.
59
@32 seandr, @51 nocute: ditto, and ciods8128@gmail.com.

@54 Marcelina, about this: How does stating a fact (that a woman might be turned off by oral sex because most men aren't very good at it) make one a bigot?

I think it's the *most* that makes this statement sound bigoted. You might try: I suspect some women don't enjoy oral because they've only been with men who weren't great at it. Saying "most" men aren't good at it is hyperbolic. If that's your experience, that's fine to say so, but it's certainly not the experience of everyone here--in fact, I'd be inclined to recommend you start hanging out with a different set of men :)
60
@57: Cunnilingus is sometimes found in mainstream porn, but it's always 1) totally blink-and-you-missed-it, 2)
so goofy and ridiculous that I can't imagine any woman actually enjoying it. The over-the-top screams and moans are obviously done only for the male benefit, both actor and viewer.

@58: I didn't call BiDanFan an MRA, ya fool. I said that it's unbecoming of her to use a term like "feminazi" since that's usually a term used by MRA idiots. And since she isn't one of them, I'm surprised she'd use it.

Try to work on your reading and comprehension skills before you start hurling insults.
61
LW 5/CALF: I don’t think foot massages are inherently intimate (I would massage my brother’s feet, as a poster above asked). But foot massages, just like everything else, become intimate if one of the people involved gets off on them. A foot fetishist offering a foot massage is no different than someone offering to “massage” my boobs.

You’re asking your friends to let you perform a sex act on them and they know it. Maybe you tried to be subtle about it (pretending it’s totally not sexual) and maybe you think if you were just more subtle you could pull it off. But you shouldn’t trick people into being sexual with you. So stop pushing sex on your friends and instead take Dan’s advice and find people that share you sexual interests.

(FYI: That straight friend that said he’d “consider” it? That’s called a “soft no”. Don’t ask about it again.)
62
Marcelina @60: "The over-the-top screams and moans are obviously done only for the male benefit,"
Yup. Definitely hanging out with the wrong men. ;)
63
@60: Yeah, you threatened to smear her with the MRA label. And now you think you can pivot out of it. Just like you pretended to be confused about how anyone could tell you were a bigot, because you were so sure you were being subtle!

I suspect being a bigot--like believing any other false belief--takes up a lot of mental energy, which is why your type always comes across as so stupid.

@57: Good point. Isn't it kind of cute how they simultaneously insist that cunnilingus doesn't appear in porn and that men got the idea from porn? Adorable.

And sadly common. Unprincipled triballists make up most of the bottom third of humanity, hence the Trump voter.
64
@BiDanFan @62: Ummmm I was talking about pornography, NOT real life. You obviously haven't watched a lot of mainstream porn. If you had, you would know that the cunnilingus in porn scenes is simply laughable, and would in no way ever produce a real-life, unscripted orgasm in a woman.
66
Cunnilingus in porn always reminded me of a pseudo-
eroticized version of the facial expression in yoga's lion pose. Mainstream heterocentric porn pussy eating never seemed remotely erotic to me although it appeared to be a decent exercise for the tongue, which of course is a muscle. Shubhāste Panthānah Santu.
67
Seriously, the line between "most men are bad at oral" and "I'm so good at oral you're compelled to let me do it on the off chance I might get you off" is so thin. It's like a wolf selling wolf tickets and it's sad.
68
@65: I've worked on several academic and research projects about mainstream pornography, and I was featured in an anti-porn documentary.

Unfortunately, due to this, I have seen a shitload of mainstream porn. Honestly, I wish I could un-see 95% of it.
70
@64

Yeah, I don't think showing 15 to 20 minutes of cunnlingus culminating in genuine orgasm happens very often in porn. Someone on jezebel joked that spitoons got more attention.

That said, porn doesn't show anyone how to have specifically personally enjoyable sex. If a guy takes all his cues from porn then he'll only satisfy a lady who likes porny sex (they exist, I dated such a lady) and vice versa.

I think the uproar is caused by the idea that there's like 50 guys across the US who know what they're doing and can communicate to give the right pleasure.
71
You know what's really pathetic? There's barely any "edging" blow job porn out there. It's all deep-throating and gagging with no art or nuance.

Thanks, Obama!
72
@NoExcuses: Right, too many men get their cues from mainstream porn, especially young men. Big, big problem, as mainstream pornography features sex as seen through a very narrow, very male-centered lens.
73
Oh, Monkey dropped by again. Hi Monkey. And Mr E, too. I see the men's rights group is getting a mention. And some add person is on @69, I guess they thought that was funny.
Happy Cruxifiction Day, to all of you in this time zone.
74
Porn doesn't depict realistic sex, sure. Rom-coms don't depict realistic relationships. Action movies don't depict realistic fighting. Political commercials don't depict politicians realistically. Visual media, in general, is not designed to depict things realistically. And even if it were so designed, that's not its goal, and it never has been. Its goal is to stimulate and excite (fear or adreneline or arousal, whichever) so as to sell more media/ad time/whatever.

The problem isn't porn. It's the lack of good alternative sources of information. Parents who are concerned about the affect of porn on their kids would do well to provide those alternatives. Give 'em books, and, ya know, talk to 'em. Most people will figure it out after a while. Those who don't, well, there's no rule saying anyone has to date them.
75
//effect, dammit. >.
76
Gonzo @ 45
Marcelina
Last week ciod @ 158 also referred us to this article:http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/20/opinion/sunday/when-did-porn-become-sex-ed.html?_r=0
which also appeared in the Sunday printed edition. Aren’t those Dutch parents wonderful?
The problem in the US is that there isn’t much in between porn and “abstinence ed” of some sort.

For good or bad, I think that pornography was always a form of “sex ed” to some degree or another. What changed are the mediums and accessibility, from print and film to VHS and internet.
The fact that many youngsters watch porn on the internet should not surprise anyone. It is so easily available.
Accessibility also means that women are more exposed to porn than before.

What haven’t changed much is that most porn is still created by and caters mostly to men.

That said, I still credit some decent lesbian porn for increasing my appetite for cunnilingus as well as for improving attitude and moves.
77
Chi @27. Yes, you were right. The future is here ready. And it's Friday, as CMD predicted. Amazing.
78
ciods. Do parents talk with their kids about oral sex? It's not a topic my sons would have ever allowed to happen and not one Id ever have been comfortable having. Even with my daughter.


79
@61. Steamed Hams; where were you when we were discussing No, on the daily thread. A ' soft no' is a perfect description.
80
@63: How the hell can a woman be an MRA? "Threatening to smear her with the MRA label" would be absurd since, as I understand it, she's ummmm.....not a man.
81
@ciods: Not even "Reality TV" is realistic! I want a refund.

Actually, there are an abundance of instructional sex videos out there. You might even call it its own genre of porn. Some of them are about what you'd expect, featuring middle-aged California hippies surrounded by candles blandly demonstrating various elementary techniques while a sitar wails mystically in the background. Or, you can follow along with Belladonna as she demonstrates her preparation routine for santorum-free anal.

I'm not sure these are much better than porn for the purposes of sex education, however. Being good at sex requires knowledge of certain ideas and facts, to be sure. The rest is about learning how to play with your partner. That takes a willingness and openness to try things, to offer feedback, to take feedback, to ask questions, to answer questions, to be patient, or sometimes persistent, to drop the pretense of knowing what you're doing and become a student, or to come out of your shell and be a teacher.

I'd imagine all of this communication would be pretty challenging if you grew up in an environment where sex just isn't something people talk about in a positive light if at all. That, to me, seems like the key difference between the Dutch and American families in the article you linked.
82
@77: I know, right?!
Can we ever know if this thread would not have degenerated into MRA namecalling so quickly or has CMD always already gone back and kicked it off early?
I read too much sci-fi.
83
@40 "So long as they accept it won't lead to an orgasm and that that's no reflection on them."

I think that was her point, that she's willing to go with it for a little while, but gets bored, yet the guys INSIST on it, not because of their enjoyment, but because of their own egos ("You just haven't had it done right!").

Many ladies have had this unfortunate experience. (In my experience, the guys who say "I'm so into eating pussy" are usually the worst at it.)
85
You're funny Hunter. I get the feeling you weren't her favourite commenter, though.
Fair enough point. If a woman doesn't like it, then she doesn't like it. If she doesn't like it because the guy is fixated on bringing her to orgasm, just like the boys in porn do, then that is a different conversation. All she has to do then, when she's had enough.. and it is for her pleasure too.. Is take his head away from her.
86
Ms Driasis was not my favourite; she just had very distinct views on subjects that tend to arise often. In fact, she would miss the podium.
87
NOPE, holla at a dude, eh?
89
Ank was boring until his pedophile-apologizing.
90
@51 so very late to the party but I really appreciate this comment. I lurk more than anything and often jump in with a knee-jerk reaction when I do comment (working on that btw) but this community is a source of introspection for me. So uh...thanks for bringing your true selves here y'all.
91
@74/ciods: Porn can't really be compared to romcoms and action flicks. In romcoms and action flicks, the characters are acting. In porn, all the experiences (the good, the bad, and the truly ugly) happen for real, to real women.

And because of this, people are more quick to dismiss a romcom or action flick with "That's bullshit; that shit would never work in real life." Not so with porn.
92
My favorite gone-but-not-forgotten commenter is that FACTS divorce lawyer dude who appeared here last year, first as a question-asker and later as a commenter defending himself, got in fights with everyone, said he’s leaving, came back a day later as his “friend” to resume all arguments.
Despite being with us for only one week his performance was known as to be powerful, moving, and inspiring.

Tags: “Twenty beautiful women”
93
Ms Lava - Even if Ms Thinking has taken serious exception to some of your posts, I'm fairly certain she would score you rather low on the ballistic scale.ranging from 0 to You-Know-Who-Sets-the-Standard. Time may tell whether Ms Marcel makes a credible attempt to raise the bar.
94
I gave Mr Ank credit for admitting that his (overly?) vigourous defence of the F word did contain a trace of atavistic pleasure for him; nine Wainthropps out of ten who claim to love using the word frequently because it irks straight SJWs will never admit that they are also ever so subtly reminding the Fs of their proper place. But there would be no true competition for my favourite departed poster.
95
Dr Sean - I'm not going to be so bold as to post an email address here, but either Ms Cute or Ms Ods is welcome to forward anything to me or supply you with the appropriate address.
96
Venn, @94: Share with the class? Who is your favourite dearly departed?
97
Marcelina @91: I see your point (although I think we can agree that commercial porn stars are mostly acting, too, even if things are happening to them "for real"). Nonetheless:
And because of this, people are more quick to dismiss a romcom or action flick with "That's bullshit; that shit would never work in real life." Not so with porn.
I am not sure I completely agree. I personally know someone who tried to drive his car really fast to fly over a ditch (spoiler: it didn't work) and I think a sad number of young women expect rom-com style romance in their lives. Do you think that number is really much smaller than the number of men who expect porn-style sex in their lives? It may be, I don't really know. But I wouldn't put money on it.

I wonder, how do you feel about the ever-growing world of amateur porn? I'm not a big fan of porn, myself, although I'm not against it, but of what I've seen (not much compared to what you've seen, probably, given your research) the amateur stuff seems more fun, more light-hearted, and less clearly fake. Are your expressed opinions mostly about commercial porn? Or do you feel the same about all porn?

98
Venn, I am super flattered to have been rated by you, ya pretentious bastard. :-) I'm thinking of changing my username to "Sets the Standard" as an homage to you. Whadda ya think?
99
@ciods: The problem with amateur porn is that it is so often posted online by men without the knowledge or consent of the woman in the video. Many such acts are called "revenge porn," wherein the male posts the sex scene online as a way to punish and get back at his girlfriend for some (perceived) wrongdoing on her part.

Btw, notice how this trope plays into rape culture as well. Sex being used as a way to "punish" a woman, and showing a woman having sex being the quintessential way to humiliate her.

Also, completely ignoring consent.
100
Marcelina-
I wonder if part of your perspective of porn is shaped by HAVING to watch lots of stuff, all the way through, as opposed to choosing the subject matter while skipping and rewinding as needed.

@ 68 You mentioned you regret watching 95% of what you had to while on research work.
If you’re ok with elaborating on the subject, what made the other 5% more tolerable?
What would you change in regards to porn if you could?
101
@venn, @ciods, @nocute: Thanks, but I don't presume to have anything so interesting and urgent to say that it calls for an offline meeting, and I worry as much about annoying you as I do about being torn to pieces by a frenzied internet mob.

I was just expressing a (thoroughly selfish) longing to be heard and understood, by women I respect, a feeling that arises not infrequently, and lamenting at how elusive that can sometimes be, even in the absence of any substantive disagreement.
102
@101, I've always found your posts interesting and agenda-free, seandr. Oh, and often slyly funny.

@96, no one asked me, but we had a guest writer a few years back who won some kind of contest and was allowed to write some weird ultraconservative post-apocalyptic fan fiction. If I recall, it featured Obama bringing down the Western World with his blackness, all while arguing that we were now post-racial. He also got into a fight in the comments section, and generated a clone/sockpuppet to lend a voice of support. He seemed to be a little unhinged, but nowadays would seem like a calm grown-up at a Trump rally.
103
@102, Ahh, Dennis Dale.
This is one of, I believe, 5 posts of his:

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archive…
104
Lavagirl - no no no, why do you think that I think you go ballistic? And now other people - cf thoughtful Venn - think you think I think ... Eeeeek.
I just wanted to encourage seandr not to be afraid to ask the questions he fears may start a shitstorm. Isn't that partly what SL is for?
I appreciate most of the commenters here, and am sad when people who have interesting things to say start name-calling, bickering and one-up-wo/maning each other, that's all.
105
Marcelina @64: That was a joke. As indicated by the little winkyface icon.
You're correct, though, I don't watch porn, mainstream or otherwise. Nothing morally against it; it just ain't my bag, baby.

No Excuses @70: 15 to 20 minutes!? Firstly, I'm glad to be ahead of the curve in this respect. Secondly, porn is meant to be masturbated to. It's my understanding that most people can successfully masturbate in far less than 15 to 20 minutes. Porn is the highlights reel, in other words. See @74.

I agree with CMD and Lava, porn did form part of my sex education. My mother was very conservative, and sex ed in the schools related purely to reproduction. There was no mention of oral sex, no mention of queer sex, just "this is how to not get pregnant." Porn in the 80s was different to today, of course -- there was body hair, and anal was not standard. I agree that maybe there needs to be some kind of "educational porn" genre that depicts real people having real sex, engaging in activities that both partners enjoy, maybe with a plot line that involves negotiation and consent ("Can I come on your face?" "No, I don't want to do that." "Okay, I'll stop you when I am about to come."), with a variety of orientations and genders represented. Porn is everywhere and kids WILL seek it out, because they don't want to be clueless in their first sexual encounters.

Marcelina @80: Apparently there are a lot of women who support men's rights, and "MRA" is an incorrect term for men who hate women, that's "manosphere." XiaoGui explained the difference between various pro-male types in this thread: https://www.thestranger.com/columns/sava…

Jujubee @90: "So uh...thanks for bringing your true selves here y'all." Except for me. I'm lying. ;)

CMD @100: "I wonder if part of your perspective of porn is shaped by HAVING to watch lots of stuff"
Bingo. Wasn't it Hunter who mentioned losing one's taste for ice cream by working in an ice cream factory?
106
Thanks Still Thinking. I agree, I'm all for people asking questions. And making the effort to listen to the answers would help avoid some of the shit storms.
Dan, after a bit of commenter backlash lately, has avoided telling LW1 to just go elsewhere for a woman to show him some loving. So now he goes to the other extreme and tells him to move on from her.
Yes, sexual compatibilty is very important in LTR, and I agree with Dan.. hold off on any baby making. It's just these guys are married, there must be love there.
They both have come from religious backgrounds, she seems fine to have her pussy licked, so maybe she can be untrained away from the religious brainwashing. It is possible.
He just has to get a bit of steam up and lay down some ground rules with her. Insist on sex positive work thru groups or in individual therapy.
Stop letting her close him down re their six month arguments, and insist on her doing some work on herself. And give her no way out of it, or he does need to leave her. He should give her a clear message first that he's done having sex with a doll, or he's moving on.
108
Hunter, you have your opinion, I'll have mine, ok? God, your ignorance about Feminism continues to astound me.

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