Can we talk about sex?
Yes we most certainly can but we often don’t.
Guys, think about this scenario: -your wife makes you a new dish for dinner and afterwards she asks “How did you like it?” She wants feedback because she wants to know whether she should make it again or change it anyway before she does. You say things like “Needs a little more spice” and “I like this part but not that part”, or “It was totally delicious.” Hopefully you used phrasing that was clear, helpful, complementary and thoughtful of the effort she put into cooking the meal. She, on the other hand, is hopefully receptive to hearing the feedback because she wants to please you. If so, she can take the information you provided into consideration and next time make the meal even more delicious and to your personal liking.
Gals now it’s your turn. Imagine this: You go to your hairdresser and she says what “What would you like?” Now admittedly there are occasional times when you don’t know and might tell her to surprise you. But more often than not, you have the placement of every curl down to a science. In fact, you may very well pick up the hairdresser’s tools and show her exactly how you want it done.
I have long fantasized about writing a book or at least book chapters with the following titles: the male version would be, You Can Have My Penis But Not My Heart and the woman’s would be, You Can Have My Vagina But Not My Heart. These titles represent for me the idea that, so often people give up their bodies without really giving to the other, what’s in their heart about what happens to them in terms of emotional satisfaction. More specifically in this blog it refers to the unwillingness to give of one’s desires that will result in satisfaction.
Of course food and hair are not as intimate as sex. On the other hand, food and hair are not as intimate as sex. That wasn’t a typo. The argument is that we don’t want to “talk” about something so intimate… but then why are willing to DO something that is so intimate? It’s easier to talk about things that are less intimate because we may feel shy or even embarrassed or we don’t want to upset the other person. Yet, the idea is, if we are engaging with something so intimate, we should be doing that with someone with whom we feel safe and very close. These are the people we need to trust and believe will trust us, thereby making talking a very safe act.
If we are having intimate relations with someone we believe loves and cares about us, then why would we withhold information that would enable him or her to make that the best experience for us? Similarly, why would we not seek out information from them to increase our confidence insuring our efforts are as close as we can get to providing them with the best experience.
This week, how about taking a risk and starting a conversation or two about S-E-X.
This is how sensitive this topic is: I’m hesitant to even write this post
i suspect you are not alone ;-(
I absolutely love your articles! You’re awesome!
thank YOU for taking your time to read and comment!
I love the titles to your future books!!! While I am not offended by the article & its valid point ,it leaves me wondering what makes us so initimidated that we can’t/won’t talk about sex with the very person with whom we are having sex with. Yet we make ourselves believe its the way its supposed to be.
A mind provoking article & I love that you choose to write things that matter even if they are uncomfortable for some to read.
thank you RB! we are all guilty at this on a variety of subjects… then we wonder why the other person doesn’t understand us!