Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Sex, Lies and Duct Tape

This rant has been rated PG-13 for adult themes. You kidlets, move on. Nothing to see here. Just an old lady ranting about the decadence of society.

So, kidlets are still in bed (envy) and Sister/friend-of-the-chronic-pain probably is still in migraine-induced hibernation because of the icky weather. And I'm mad about sex. No, this has nothing to do with the blond hunk I live with, actually. I went to Ivillage.com this morning to see what I could cook up for WFDW via Krisco to wow all you bloggettes, out there. And what did I find? Sex. Sex-sex-sex-sex!

Now, I'm not a prude. I like sex. Really, I do. I don't even mind a good conversation with friends or the blond hunk on the topic. I've even been known to shoot the breeze with my Muum about it. But women's magazines...what the heck!?! Here are the headlines: No Sex After Baby: Can a Marriage Survive?, Masturbation Hesitation and Trend Alert-Open Marriages. Does Agreed-Upon Cheating Keep Couples Happier? Hint: No, it doesn't. On Redbook's front page is: How Can I Enjoy Sex With the Lights On?

So it's not just about sex, is it? It's about making women so insecure that they must buy more magazines, take more quizzes, get more therapy, buy more products with names like Abdominizer, Gravitizer, Flatterizer...I mean, these surveys on How Often Married Couples Have Sex: Are you Normal? Am I NORMAL??? Are you joking me? Of course not! But why should I care? As long as the man and I are happy with our "frequency"...why does it matter what the neighbors are doing? Or how often!! I don't! The whole point of a monogamous relationship is finding what works for YOU (plural)! You and your spouse! Not the whole rest of the world!

My friend told me she's dropping a longstanding-subscription to Vogue because of their terrible setup of the new HBO series: Big Love. If you haven't heard about it, you probably don't get HBO or live in Utah. It's about a polygamist family living in the SLC suburbs, and it's horribly skewed. What else can you say? She also is sick of looking at pictures of what she looked like 10 years ago--skinny and perfectly made up. Three kids later, she's one of the most attractive women I know, but ... a model no longer. Why do we do this to ourselves?

The thing is, I find it offensive as a former journalist--this shameless selling of insecurity. Emotional muckraking, if you will. They're making women more needy, more unsure of themselves, and in the very area where you're supposed to feel safe, loved, etc. Not worrying whether the lights are on, or what the latest "trends" are, or if you're NORMAL! Geez! It's just creating a society where they can sell things like Herbal Viagra for Women! and whatnot. I mean, what are we doing here? Sex is important in relationships, but this...this is way past providing useful and interesting information. This is pandering. Give me a break.

/rant off

Posted by Sarah Jean :: 7:52 AM :: 6 Comments:

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