Archive for May, 2009

Does Porn Desensitize Men to Sex?

We have a guest author today!  It’s a woman.  She’s going to tell us what her point of view is on the raging porn issues, and why she thinks the way she does as a woman.  Most guys have no problem with it, unless they are speaking from a religious or belief agenda, so I thought it would be good to get a woman’s point of view on the subject.

There has long been a debate over whether pornographic images, films, and increasingly graphic and plentiful online porn sites, can be harmful to a relationship if a man gets addicted to looking at these images.  The reason it can be harmful is that the images are usually unrealistic, with the female partner always willing and doing crazy sex acts that most normal women, and yes, even these porn stars in their real, every day lives, aren’t always up for or simply do not want to try at all.  There are also proponents of plentiful porno who say that it helps people to find new ways to sexually please eachother, and that it actually can bring a couple closer when they watch it together.

As a woman, I can say that I feel a sort of dichotomous way about porn.  I feel like, when used in moderation, it can be a good thing for a relationship when you watch it together as a couple.  I know guys will always look at this stuff on their own, and I’m fine with that, I think it’s totally healthy and natural.  However, I’ve known too many men that take their online porn to an extreme where it almost becomes an addiction.  If you watch a lot of the porn today, I’ve gotta say as a woman, that a lot of the bodies on there are unrealistic. You have women with gobs of makeup on with these super skinny bodies and huge breasts.

When guys see their partners, we feel like maybe we’re a let down from the impossible body type, and that can make us feel inferior.  There’s also the aspect that the women in porno films are always acting like they just can’t wait to give the dude oral pleasure, and that they take it any way they can, doing things like having you know what allover their face or in their mouth, doing anal sex and things like that, which is something that not all Average Janes are up to doing. Men can get the wrong idea when they watch too much porn, and I do feel like an addiction to it can desensitize them to the real life thing because they’re used to seeing what they want on the screen and pleasuring themselves to that, and then when the real thing happens, they have trouble getting into it.

Sex Themed Park Opening in…..CHINA!?

When I read this, I really just about choked on my cornflakes (no I wasn’t really eating cornflakes, nor was it even breakfast time when I read it, but you get the euphamism I’m using – I was shocked).  I was shocked first when I read that a whole theme park was opening based on sex and sexually explicit themes.  That wasn’t the real shocking part though, I could actually see that happening here in the US, or especially somewhere that sex is more openly talked about and not as taboo of a subject, like over in Europe somewhere, but this sex themed park is opening up in non other than the ultimately opressive culture of China.

China has long been known to censor things that are sexually explicity, right down to policing the internet against pornographic images and taking this as a very serious offense if it is breached.  Heck, you can’t surf the net today here in the US without coming across some very explicity ads for this stuff it seems, so it’s weird that there are still cultures that take this stuff so seriously.  I mean, sex is natural, and everyone does it and everyone (just about everyone) loves it.  I get that we are a little too sexually charged and preoccupied here in the US, but nonetheless, at least we have the freedom to sexually express ourselves.

The picture I saw in the article showed a picture of a woman, off to the side of a sink washing her hands.  Apparently she didn’t want to be in a compromising position with the sink, because the sink was in the shape of a naked woman’s butt bending over in spiked high heels.  Like, I said, this is a pretty wild park!  The park is set to be called an aptly named “Love Land” and it has not officially opened yet but is still under construction.

While some approve of it and think it’s long overdue and will supply many Chinese people with sex education and get them to enjoy a more satisfying and open sexual relationship with their partner, some view it as vulgar and unnecessary.  Others view it as a coming of age thing, and a sign that Chinese government is more open to allowing it’s citizens more freedom of expression, and more concerned with their sexual well being as well as the feeling that the government is supporting this sort of effort.  What do you think?  I think it’s a little over the top, but I’m glad they’re open to it.  Seems like a quantum leap from extreme conservatism to over the top openness, but hey, whatever works!

Free Viagra for the Unemployed?

The maker of the most popular (arguably) impotence and sexual dysfunction drug on the market, Viagra, has decided to really throw itself into this whole corporate goodwill thing with both feet.  Pfizer has made the announcement that since we are in a recession and jobless numbers are going way up and out of control, they have decided to start a program for those that have lost their jobs and their health insurance, to give them free prescriptions to several of their top selling drugs such as Lipitor, a drug that helps control cholesterol levels, and Viagra.  However, the only catch is that you must have been on them for the last three months at least before you lost your job.

I’m thinking the idea here from a business angle is that they are hoping they will retain all that business after the jobs start rolling in again, and when this recession is over, people will be so used to their drugs that they won’t want to go without, and will keep the prescription going with their new health plan when they have it again.  However, Pfizer has definitely scored in the goodwill category and this will generate some very positive PR for them over the next year or two, which goes a long way in the form of publicity and public relations that you can’t necessarily put a price on these days.

Pfizer made news recently also when it bought out another company. It’s stock price has been suffering, but this may be just the boost the business needs to get over certain negative publicity about their drug price control practices and cornering the market and things like that, which actually most drugmakers have to face since the pharmaceutical industry is sort of looked at as a necessary evil by a lot of people, especially with our increasing interest in natural and herbal medicine.  Herbal supplements for male enhancement have gained immensely in popularity, giving medications like Viagra, Cialis and Levitra a run for their money but certainly not totally devastating their market share by any means.

Relatively speaking, the male enhancement industry is a fairly new one, if you consider how long the erectile dysfunction problem has been present.  The first major drug was Viagra, and that was introduced about fifteen years ago now, which is not that far in the past if you think about it.  There are most likely leaps and bounds still to be made in this area of medicine, so it’ll be interesting to see what the next step in male sexual performance enhancement is.  Bet the ladies can’t wait!

An Orgasm A Week Keeps the Doctor Away?

It has been well documented that frequent sex can have a multitude of health benefits, but what are the benefits?  Are they quantifiable, or is it just one of those things we like to believe because it’s just so darn fun to do all the time, and if there are health benefits too, then that just makes it all that much more fun and justified. You see, not only is sex our human race’s natural way to further our species and reproduce, but nature also made it so that having sex frequently is good for us and feel so good that we want to do it a lot.  I think you can probably relate this to your life.  How good do you feel when you’re having sex often?  Probably a lot more relaxed and focused than when you aren’t.

Sexual frustration mounts quickly for both men and women when they are not having sexual relations often enough or when they have not orgasmed in a long time.  The male orgasm is a powerful thing, and having them often transcends into every other facet of our lives (see male orgasm tips on how to have better, more powerful orgasms).  This is only natural.  There is a whole rush of chemical reactions that occur when we – both men and women – have orgasms, that affects us in a positive way when it comes to our physiological responses.

There have been studies that suggest that having at least two orgasms per week for men and women can increase your life expectancy in fact.  So, if you’re not having sex all that often, this might be a good thing to tell your sexual partner so that you two can start making plans to get friendly in the bedroom more often!  The suspected reason for this increase in life span related to frequency of orgasms is that there is a chemical called DHEA (for short) released which improves your immune function, helps repair your tissues, improves focus and mental acuity, and may even improve your mood and your skin.  So wait a second, not only is it a benefit to your health, but  it can also help you look prettier?  Good deal!

This chemical is released both during sexual excitement and during sexual arousal in fact.  Having sex also helps to boost the male and female hormones, respectively, in the body, which are necessary for bone health, heart health and an array of other bodily functions which can potentially lengthen your life when they are released.  Not only that, but the actual act of having sexual intercourse is often an act that requires aerobic activity which is good for the circulation, heart health, mood boosting and also for your overall cardiovascular health.  It has also of course been linked to an array of other defenses against diseases that can be potentially deadly.

Varicoceles of the Scrotum : What is It?

There is a condition, and yes it sounds very icky, and it is kind of icky and makes you want to reach down there when you hear it, just to makes sure everything’s in order down there!  The condition is a male specific one called varicoceles.  The first part may sound familiar to you.  It is a condition where vericose veins sprout up in the scrotum area because of backed up/restricted blood flow in the area.  As you can imagine, this condition could put a serious kink in your sexual function, and it does need to be addressed sooner than later if you want to maintain sexual function and be able to have interourse normally.

Because these vericose veins run along the cord that suspends the testicles, it can be very painful if it gets too bad, and can hamper any sexual hanky panky pretty quickly due to discomfort or simply not being able to get an erection.  The condition can be fixed via surgery or something called an embolization, which is I assume, similar to what they do for vericose veins elsewhere on the vast human anatomy.

It may be cause by or exacerbated by excess weight and obesity.  Losing weight can give great benefit when it comes to this and multiple other potential sexual dysfunctions.  Surgery is always a risky procedure, especially when you are dealing with any male sex organs.  I mean, how many horror stories have you read about penile enlargement surgery?  Everything ranging form a botched surgery to loss of sensation, to  a complete loss of the use of the penis.  Now that’s scarier than any condition of the scrotum I could think of!

Why Sexual Lubes are So Fun

When you think of sexual lubricants, such as KY Jelly and others with names that tend to rouse a chuckle when mentioned and are the subject of jokes at times, it does give you a little bit of a tingle, doesn’t it?  At least for men it does, and some women too, since women love the lubes.  There is something sensual about putting some lube on your fingers, and rubbing them together, that velvety smooth feeling that only a lubricant expressly used for sexual contact can give, since it has to have these velvety, glide worthy properties to it, unlike something like hand lotion or some other type of moisturizer that is used for multiple purposes.

I know that my favorite is one that feels realy light weight, but very velvety, and it never dries out either like a lot of other sex lubricants.  So, what can you use lubes for, besides self pleasure if you’re by yourself, or making things easier when you go to have sex with your partner if she has any dryness issues or you just want to be able to slide a little bit easier and have a better sensation?  Well, you can use lubes in foreplay for one thing.

You can use lubricants on sex toys to make them a little more warm and a little less frictiony, for example.  Some people I know have even told me that they use a lubircant on eachother’s chests since it is usually nonirritation and adds a nice little iridescent, playful look to the chest area, and also feels good when bodies are rubbing together, adding to that feeling of reckless abandon one gets when they are having sex (it’s like a naughtier feeling I suppose).

There are actually physiological issues that make comfortable ,erotic sex harder than it should be that can be helped by a good lube as well.  These include pregnancy, where a woman may experience dryness or discomfort during sexual intercourse, alcoholic beverage consumption, which can also dry a person up, or medical conditions that can make sex harder by drying up the vaginal area and making sex harder and more painful for both parties because of the lack of sexual lubricant.

What’s your favorite lube? Come on, I know you have one!

Abstinence Before Your Wedding : Good Idea?

I have to admit, I’ve heard this old abstinence thing for a few weeks (some people even do months, oy vey!), before you get married is a very curious thing to me.  Not so much because I don’t get it.  As a guy, I have a hard time believing that this makes for anything other that a lot of sexual frustration – at least for the guy, since most guys have more of a need to “release themselves” more often than women do – it’s just a physiological truth if you ask me – but more so because I wonder what it accomplishes for the couple who decides to do this novel idea before they get hitched.

Let’s clear up what we’re talking about.  We’re talking about an engaged couple who decides that (usually the woman decides this, in most cases I’ve heard), they will not have sex or sexual relations for a couple of weeks before they get married. The idea is to build up a steaming passion that will just burst on your wedding night into a night of erotic ecstasy.  However, sometimes it doesn’t really work out that way.  Think about it, on your wedding night, sex may be one of the last things on your mind for all you know.

I will say however that as a guy, when it’s been a while since we’ve had sexual intercourse or any type of sexual touching, we are ready to burst.  However, it’s not always good, because this frustration can actually leak out into other parts of our lives and make us feel angry, frustrated, and more anxious.  Yeah, men really are that affected by sex sometimes!  It does of course make you crave it all that much more as well, so I get the idea behind this approach to making sure you have a great night of passionate love making on the night of your wedding, or heck, the day after for that matter.

I also must warn the ladies who think this is a good idea about this before the final decision is made.  Well, there’s this little piece of physiological truth about men . When you haven’t had sex for a while, when you do finally have sex, well, you don’t really last long at all.  In other words, yes, you will have a two pump chump on your hands, so don’t expect any long winded, romantic lovemaking session, it may very well be just minutes long!  However, you can try taking a supplement like Deer Antler Plus or Natural Gain Plus to get the necessary momentum going and keep it going for a longer time.

Complaints on Old Female Condom – It’s “Squeaky”

Experts are hoping that the second iteration of the female condom will be a bit more well received than it’s predecessor, who had complaints that it wasn’t as user friendly and easy to “install” as the male version of the condom, and also users tended to think that it made too much of a squeaky noise during vaginal intercourse, making it undesirable for the fact that could be a bit unnerving if you were having sex and kept hearing an incessant squeak coming from your nether regions.

The female condom is the only female contraceptive that is supposed to help protect against STD’s and the HIV virus, as all the others do not make any suggestions that they can contain these viruses.

The female condom, however, can, because it does the same thing as the male condom, only it is not slipped on over the penis as a sleeve, but instead is slipped inside the vagina, acting as a sleeve to catch bodily fluids and semen that can otherwise mingle with eachother, causing a great environment for infection of partners if one has a sexually transmitted disease.  The second version of the female birth control option has been unveiled, and researchers are hoping that it will be better received, especially in areas that are drowning in an AIDS epidemic like several African areas.

The second version of the female condom has been better received, with users saying it’s a bit easier to use, and that the squeaky noise has been cut down.  It is made of a different substance now that not only cut down on the annoying squeaking noise the first one produced so richly, but also can be mass produced at about half the cost of the original since the material is cheaper.  However, they aren’t expecting this to go over any better in some ways since the male condom is still a fraction of the price of the female condom, and there is still a great perceived stigma to using a female condom, with most people viewing it as a messy pain in the butt.

African men typically do not like to wear condoms, and they are hoping that African women will take to this new female condom to protect themselves against STD’s, most specifically AIDs, since it is so common and deadly over there.

Anesthetic Sprays for Premature Ejaculation

And you thought that those foul smelling, weird tasting anesthetic sprays were just for sore teeth and gums, and helping topically with different body aches and pains?  Think again!  These sprays have been morphed into a different product for your penis, to prevent you from feeling too much sensations and prematurely ejaculating when having sexual intercourse with your partner and risking their disappointment!  A lot of men report that periodically, even if they don’t suffer from this problem regularly, they will have issues with premature ejaculation from time to time.

Every guy has had at least one run in with this embarrassing and seemingly always untimely occurrence.  Premature ejaculation is what happens when you only get a few pumps in before you orgasm, or peak sexually.  It of course does not always mean that you “come” because men can ejaculate without actually orgasming, but you are done, finito, finished for sex for at least a few minutes if not more because your penis loses it’s rigidity and goes flacid again, unable to continue with the lovemaking process since it requires a hard (erect) penis to continue.

Isn’t nature cruel sometimes?  Anyways, there are these funky new anesthetic-based sprays that are being tested as weapons against premature ejaculation in men so that they can continue to have sex without letting go, for a longer period of time.  It tends to give men more confidence.  What the anesthetic spray does is it takes away some of the feeling – it numbs the penis so that you don’t get as much sensation and therefore you won’t “pop” quite as quickly.  Quite a simple concept, but some guys may like to try it.

There are a lot of different things men can do to try to increase their sexual endurance, they can take products like Enhance 9, which is a male libido booster and sexual enhancement supplement so that men can hold in their longer and have larger and more fulfilling erections, or they can try something topical.  There are also breathing methods and relaxation methods, as well as mental tricks that some guys use to stave off their ejaculation to provide a more fulfilling sexual experience for both them and their partner.

Big and Tall Guy? Your Ticker May Suffer…

There is a condition, and it’s one that I actually think I have a bit of, it’s just never been diagnosed in me yet, called atrial fibrulation.  You know by hearing the word “atrial” that it has something to do with the atrium of the heart.  Ah, the Slim Goodbody days and the days of sitting in biology and human anatomy classes in high school are coming back now, aren’t they? I feel like singing the leg bone’s connected to the thigh bone, da da da suddenly.

I kid of course, but the condition I speak of has to do with when the heart beats in a rapid, uncontrolled and uncoordinated rhythm for a period of time, due to electrical pulse changes.  You see, your heart is controlled by electirc pulses basically, and this is what causes it to beat in it’s proper rhythm, pumping blood out to every part of your body, and keeping you alive basically.

Exercise can of course help protect the heart and it’s rhythm, as well as protect against heart issues like this since it conditions the heart to pump blood without trying so hard. However, there are times when this can be an inherited condition, and nothing other than dieting and exercise and healthy living and perhaps medication can be done about it.  The discovery was just made that atrial fibrulation in men is connected to whether the men were obese or heavier in their twenties and perhaps lost weight since then.  It seems to be much more prevalent in men who did carry extra weight when they were younger.

Why?  Well, the increased likelihood isn’t just limited to men who were larger in size in their youth, but alos men who gained weight later in life, so it seems to suggest it may be more limited to men who have had weight fluctuations rather than maintained a healthy, steady weight their whole life.   Atrial fibrulation is not in itself a dangeorus condition usually, however it can certainly lead to heart problems eventually, especially since a heart that does not beat consistently and with even beats (such as a heart that is always under a lot of stress), is never a good thing over time, and should be addressed.

What’s particularly interesting about this correlation between atrial fibrulation and big and tall men is that they don’t necessarily have to be considered overweight, they can just be tall and well muscled, and they are more at risk for this heart ailment.