Posts Tagged ‘romance’

When it comes to sex, lying is not a good idea!

Thursday, March 17th, 2011 by Bat Sheva Marcus LMSW MPH PhD

Yesterday we saw a wonderful patient of ours. She originally came in because she felt like “there was something wrong with her.” She was having a difficult time having orgasms and, more often than not, she could not have them with a partner.

We’ve worked with her for a while to help her understand that most women don’t have an orgasm from intercourse; and that if having an orgasm with a vibrator was the best way for her do so, she shouldn’t feel badly about feeling good! We’ve also tried to help her have orgasms more easily since it really did seem like there were physiological reasons that she might be having a difficult time.

Two days ago she was in our office and told us she was dating  a new man who was interested in having sex with her. She was turned on and excited about the idea of having sex with him but nervous that she’d have problems with orgasm with him. She needed advice… and her therapist told her a)not to come clean with him about her orgasm concerns and b) “maybe you can just fake it in the beginning so that you don’t have an issue!!!!”

I almost fell off my chair.

She loves her therapist and I’m sure her therapist is good for her in some ways. (Okay, maybe not… who know?) But I do know that this could not have been a worse suggestion. Lying in this way just creates so many problems in the long run and in no way sets the stage for a normal, healthy sexual interaction.

Here’s the RIGHT answer:

Before you get involved in sex with him, talk to him. Tell him:

  • you feel anxious because sometimes you have a problem with orgasm in a relationship.
  • The easiest way for you to have an orgasm is with a vibrator, and at some point you may want to bring that into the relationship.
  • In the meantime, you hope he can understand that you really want to have sex with him and he turns you on but it would really help if he didn’t focus on orgasm so strongly. You will have fun anyway.

Our hope is that, ultimately, they’ll have great sex, she can bring her vibrator in to the room and have great orgasms and all will be right with the world.  We believe this can happen.  If, that is,  you start out being honest and open from that very first intimate encounter.

Twilight, and the art of foreplay

Monday, May 17th, 2010 by Stephen Snyder, MD

Foreplay. Women traditionally complain they don’t get enough of it.

Often this gets interpreted as being due to a woman’s needing more physical stimulation to get fully aroused. OK, maybe sometimes that’s the issue. But I don’t see it as the essential thing.
The essential thing, I believe, is this: Foreplay represents the one time when a woman can get a man’s full and undivided attention. That is, if it’s good foreplay. In good foreplay, she is his entire focus. She feels his desire for her — his heightened interest in the small details of her body — made more intense by his anticipation of even greater pleasures ahead. In those moments, if all goes well, he’s really paying attention.

Having your partner’s complete attention – a very important part of sex. One of the most important parts.

It’s in every romance novel since Jane Austen. The heroine meets a man who attracts and puzzles her. She spends the novel trying to figure him out, only to discover that he is crazy in love with her, and that he has spent every second since they first met thinking about her. And that he can’t stop thinking about her. Because she’s just that fascinating.

I’m inclined to think that this basic formula is so appealing because in the average woman’s life experience it is so rare. The average heterosexual woman has been sorely disappointed by the fact that she thinks about the men in her life much more than they think about her. Usually she has more capacity for sustained attention than a man does. Men tend to be oblivious.
Good foreplay, like a good romance novel, provides a welcome respite from this everyday state of frustration. In good foreplay, he’s really paying attention. Who wouldn’t want that to last a little longer?

The immensely popular novel Twilight follows the standard romance novel outline, but with a twist. Bella, the teen heroine, comes to realize that her extravagantly handsome biology lab partner, Edward, in addition to being a vampire, is absolutely obsessed with her. That he can’t stop thinking about her. Being a vampire and unable to sleep, he has spent all night every night since they first met simply watching her sleep. His eyes and his body are always focused on her. She finds it uncomfortable, but also sexually intoxicating.

In one of my favorite scenes, he says he’d like to ask her about herself, and she consents. She’s stunned by the detail of his interest in her. He wants to know all about her favorite food, color, flower, memory; all the details of her childhood, including friends, teachers, triumphs and disappointments. The questions go on for days. She never knew she was so interesting.
The male reader of Twilight will find much to learn about good foreplay from this scene.

© Stephen Snyder, MD 2010 All rights reserved

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