AskTrish: Man Wants Serious Relationship Not Meaningless Sex
* This post is a follow-up to AskTrish: Man With Large Penis Worries About Causing Girlfriend Pain During Sex.*
Dear Trish,
My girlfriend, and I are now separated. I am failing at figuring women out. I have been trying to meet women. However, two women I know — by a friend we share in common — have been pretty blunt about wanting to sleep with me as a result of gossip. They just heard from a long-time ex when I dated her that I was well… you know. I would rather stay away. I don’t want this as I would rather see something more serious. I turn 29 in February. I don’t really enjoy meaningless sex unless it’s with someone I know and trust. I don’t trust someone who comes up and says something like that. So what are my options?
N.
Ohio, USA
Dear N.,
Women are complex. Most women aren’t easy to get to know because they’ve been taught to play games. But I think your instincts are spot on!
It’s heartening to me that a man as young as you would want a serious relationship and not just sex. However, if you’re looking to date women younger than yourself, you’re likely to find immature women who will treat you (and your penis) like a side show spectacle at the circus.
As for the gossip, you’ll probably get that wherever you go with your circle of friends, especially if you see your exes a lot. Here is where dating can be problematic for you. Younger women may be “sowing their wild oats” (that society takes for granted with young men), while women your age or slightly older might be looking for men to have kids with. And you’re stuck in the middle — wanting a meaningful relationship but not ready for kids.
Women in their early 20′s often play out their princess-daddy’s-girl bullshit in relationships with men. Men in their early 20′s treat relationships as status symbols and easy-access sex. Women in their late 20′s have begun to taste life on their own — out of college, in the work force, paying their way, usually putting career first. By the time women hit their 30′s, many women feel the desire to start a family. Men may not feel this until their mid- to late 30′s or even their 40′s. Between the games people play in relationships and the different goals people set for themselves, it’s a wonder two people ever find a happy, healthy relationship!
As for your comment, “I don’t enjoy meaningless sex unless it’s with someone I know and trust.” I think you should re-adjust your notion of “meaningless” sex. If you’re having sex with a friend for the sake of having sex (i.e., an enjoyable time with someone you know and trust), that is not “meaningless.” Sharing a beautiful sexual experience with another human being has value, even if you’re not “in love” with that person. “In love” is a chemical reaction in the brain due to the transference of pheromones and other body chemicals between two people. At some point in your life, you may have experienced that loss of “in love” once your brain is immune to the chemical stimuli of her body’s biology, and vice versa. The ennui of “in love” can fade quickly, and you’re left wondering, “What now?”
Loving and appreciating another human being does not have to come with a prison sentence and the “strings attached” that we’re used to. From my perspective, sharing a wonderful, orgasmic experience with another person adds value to my life and hopefully to the other person’s. I’ve done a lot of work on myself in the past couple of years, and I know what orgasm is supposed to be — it is a way to connect to the universal energy, to experience bliss in no other way we can in this meat-suit body.
As I look ahead to my divorce being finalized, I’ve been scoping out men I know and trust — to not hurt me, not have diseases, have had a vasectomy. As I told the man who will probably be my first post-divorce sexual experience, “I might say ‘I love you’ during sex. Don’t worry. I don’t want commitment. It just means I love you a a human being. Because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be having sex with you anyway… and I’ll probably cry… a lot… I do when the orgasms are really good.” I couldn’t share that with a man I didn’t trust, even though he and I are not “in love.”
N., I would say you have two options: Go through with the “meaningless” sex/relationships to satisfy your manly, physical needs, but you may feel as if your heart and soul are suffering with the purely physical encounters. The other option is to go celibate until the universe decides it is time for you to meet your dream woman. You can’t make the younger women more mature, nor can you make the right woman appear in your life before it is time for your paths to cross.
In fact, I highly recommend you go for Option 2. Spend time working on yourself so that you are the right person when the time is right for you to meet your right partner.
If you go for Option 1, find yourself a “cougar.” There must be a way to meet women in your area who are over the age of 38-ish, are done having kids, and have divorced their asshole husband (who’s probably currently having a mid-life crisis of his own). Most cougars want the orgasms they didn’t get in marriage and crave adventurous sex sans procreation.
By the way, if you’re hanging out in bars for women, that’s your first mistake. Stay out of the bars. 
And if your circle of friends keeps bringing this heartache, get a new circle of friends.
Since you’re looking for a relationship that improves you as a human being, look for similarly-minded women in places that also reflect they are looking to improve themselves as human beings. Attend a yoga class, join a hiking club, sit in on a reading at a local (erotic) bookshop.
You never know where or when Miss Right will show up.
trish
* For phone consultations, email trish via the AW website. *
AskTrish: Man Ponders Women’s Perspective of an Open, Polyamorous Relationship
Dear Trish,
I’m a 50 year-old straight (but bi-curious) male. I have been with my female partner for 5 years now and have been living with her for 4 years. I am in school 300 miles away. The past few months, while I have been here, I have talked to her about exploring her own sexuality — not an open relationship as I am not wanting that, just giving her the freedom to explore whatever desires she finds. I believe there is great healing in sexual freedom which is truly empowering. So, tomorrow night she has a ‘movie night’ with a friend of ours who has made it very clear he wants to fuck her. He is a good friend and the safe factor is one that cannot be ignored. I actually encouraged him to move ahead with pursuing her at my birthday party on Friday night! Can a person be able to feel true happiness at the thought of his partner not only having sex with a friend, but encouraging it and enjoying her pleasure by offering her the liberty to do so as she desires? I know the idea is so very exciting to me, but I don’t hear talk about this stuff in many places. I know I will be so very happy when she tells me all about it tomorrow night, I guess I am just looking to hear a woman’s thought on having that level of freedom while in a committed relationship, albeit a long distance one. Do you have any thoughts on this? I guess the bottom line is how deep does ‘control’ run in the male psyche?! I feel so un-male by being so seemingly un-normal! Would you, as a woman, feel ‘liberated’ or some other something else? Would this kind of freedom (for lack of a better term) be received as a negative by women?
James
Ontario, Canada
Dear James,
A million thoughts are running through my head, many of which you may not like. So please accept my response with a grain of salt as it comes with a healthy dose of tough love. Since you’re in Canada, I’m too far away to give you the ass-kicking my Irish fire really wants to administer. Clearly, the misogyny of patriarchal culture is entrenched in the northern climes — which is sad since I’ve always heard Canadians were so nice.
I’ll address your male psyche first. You are not “un-manly” or “un-normal.” You are following your desires as a consenting adult. Neither a sexually repressed society nor antiquated, misogynist religion should be your barometer in pursuing adult relationships. However, these negative influences have shaped you as evidenced in your verbiage, which I purposely left whole so you could see your subconscious language patterns: “giving her the freedom,” “offering her the liberty,” “a woman’s thought on having that level of freedom,” “would you, as a woman, feel ‘liberated’”… What century are you living in?! And are you sure you don’t live in Arizona?
Whether this relationship you have with your woman is committed, casual, or even legally bound with a prison sentence marriage license, she is a free, autonomous human being and can “fuck” or “make love” with whomever she chooses, and she doesn’t need your permission or your “giving” her the liberty and freedom from psychological slavery to pursue the physical and emotional needs of her own body, heart, and mind. Capiche?
I’ll get off my soap box because I know your intention is not to sound like a misogynist jerk. Your language is indicative of living in an oppressive patriarchal culture while your heart and spirit desperately want validation and freedom from that very oppression.
Clearly, you and your woman have great communication, for which I applaud you! While you say you don’t want an open relationship, you, in fact, have one. It could even be polyamory if the other partner(s) have emotional feelings as well. These types of relationships are not talked about in society for the same reason homosexual and bisexual relationships are still taboo — they threaten the hetero-patriarchal dynamic that limits relationships to male/female and institutionalizes the hierarchy of a superior male with an inferior female’s body and mind being owned by the male.
For me, I have sworn I would never do another long distance relationship because they’re expensive, annoying, and sexually frustrating. However, I have always thought that sex “in the meantime” is okay because we all have needs. The body wants sex. The heart wants love. You make accommodations when you can’t be with the one you love via abstinence, cheating, or an open relationship where both people understand there is a physical need that is separate from the emotional need — if that is an understanding that is right for the both of you.
For instance, if I were in a relationship with a soldier, knowing he or she will be gone for months or even longer than a year, I would tell them to have sex when they can with someone “safe,” i.e., don’t bring home any diseases. The body has needs and wants. So I’m perfectly fine with them having sex with a fellow soldier or “safe” partner while on deployment. Do what you need to do to make it through the day to stay alive and come home.
Some species mate for life while most of the earth’s inhabitants only have flings or “open” relationships for each mating season. Humans may choose monogamy or polyamory as dictated by their personal needs or spiritual/religious beliefs.
Polyamorous relationships are not fully understood or accepted by most monogamous people. The non-poly people don’t understand how two people in a committed relationship can be with others outside the relationship and not get jealous. Getting jealous is just not something in the make-up of polyamorous folks. This hippie/free-love notion of open acceptance and loving everyone is a threat to our competition-driven imperialistic society that thrives on conflict and profits from war. Polyamory will never be accepted as a mainstream lifestyle in the West until the oppressive overlords figure out how to make money off of it.
Back in my early 20′s, the theatre orgies I participated in were a revelation in how committed couples can explore their sexuality with friends — with their partner participating, watching, or exploring with someone else — and no one ever got jealous. Ever. There was no reason to get jealous because the desires and explorations were out in the open, as opposed to “cheating” behind a partner’s back. Exploring our bodies sexually had nothing to do with the love for a committed partner…. But that’s bohemian artists for you!
I have friends who have been in polyamorous relationships — a man and his female partner with another woman whose male partner was a prude. His jealousy of her need for the poly relationship put a damper on all four of them. So, James, embrace your open relationship, and revel in the level of communication you and your partner have because what you have is rare and wonderful!
You also have a voyeuristic side to you, and I’m sure you not only want to hear about the sex your partner is having with her friend/fling, but you probably wouldn’t mind sitting in the corner and watching, yes? If you’re turned on by watching your partner flirt, there’s no harm in that as long as both of you have that clear understanding. Problems arise when one partner wants things for the relationship that the other partner does not.
I would be interested to hear why, at the age of 50, you’re bi-curious and have never taken the plunge! Following your desires instead of living vicariously through your woman’s experiences with men might open a whole new world of sexual possibilities for your relationship. Being with two guys is as much a fantasy for a lot of women as being with two women is a dream for a lot of men.
You are normal. You are masculine. You and your partner are doing just fine, in my opinion. Keep up the wonderful communication between the two of you. Do let me know how ‘movie night’ went! Also, leave a comment if you have any more questions — and to tell me you forgive my tough love.
trish
* Read more AskTrish: AskTrish Posts *
* AskTrish a question: AskTrish *
DailyOJ 11-17-11: More Sensations & Prostate Anatomy Info
November 17, 2011
(*In response to a question about the need to urinate during sex,more info requested on female ejaculation, and to explain what I meant by “She-spot.” *)
On the subject of urination and female ejaculation — Female ejaculate is not urine (but urine is sterile anyway); it’s the same plasma fluid like from the guys prostate — minus the little swimmers, of course.
And, yes, I call that super sensitive area on the anterior wall of my vagina my She-spot, or the female prostate. The “G” of “G-spot” stands for “Grafenberg,” a male doctor. I refuse to name that very sacred part of me after a man — no offense to any males who read this. I mean, would you want the scientific community to call your penis “Mildred?” My She-Spot and I rest our case.
Having intimate knowledge of my vagina, I have gone back to hands-only solo sex because I really want to enjoy the changes that happen inside — especially the vice-grip action that occurs by the clitoral cuff near orgasm. THAT’S AWESOME! 
I had been using a vibe just to have an orgasm and enjoy the after effects of being relaxed and to get sleepy at nighttime. This last year of my life has been a monsoon of stress, and I felt like I had died inside — from years of a miserable marriage when I didn’t want to be sexual in any way, shape, or form. Since reclaiming my life, I am reclaiming my sexuality.
Hands in and on my girly bits have rekindled the fires inside. I truly love the way the prostate’s spongy tissues change inside. The She-Spot might not even be noticeable when you first stimulate the anterior wall, but it grows to a little pebble (always makes me think of the story, “The Princess and the Pea”). She can get bigger, to the size of a walnut in some women (just as that part of the male prostate grows when stimulated), and the spongy area gets more ridgy. Some women have described the feeling like corrugated cardboard, but I prefer to think of it like corduroy, or a small moist yet hard maze — a labyrinth of pleasure just wanting and waiting to be stimulated.
You can feel how aroused a woman is by noting these changes, especially if she is too timid to talk, or if she’s at the point where speaking is kinda not possible from all the great feelings swirling inside. And I do believe that that urination feeling is what keeps a lot women from opening up to orgasms. All the plumbing is connected, so feelings will crossover — like the accidental good feelings in the anal area which really freak some women out.
Just remind her that her body is hers, and you only want to help her discover all the great potential her body has for orgasms — for HER. Let her know you understand the human body makes weird sounds and releases all sorts of fluids, and it’s natural, and that you don’t care… (I’m assuming you don’t. )…
And BTW… I’m trying really hard NOT to do anything today. I’m sticking to sensual touching, which I’m finding very, very pleasant, especially the breasts’ area and the outer labia… just wish it weren’t my day off from sex… GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! (haha)
P.S. On the subject of female ejaculation…
It seems that, for females, any noticeable fluid release during and/or after orgasm can be classified as ejaculate. In which case, I definitely qualify. This is probably what leads some women to think they get “too wet” during/after sex. And I myself have been told that I get “too wet,” and the guy feels it’s too slick in there, i.e., not enough friction — to which, I say, “Oh, well, too bad.” So it’s not just the gushing geyser of female power fluids that counts as having female ejaculated! But I’m still looking forward to the day when I can change my middle name to “Ol’ Faithful.”
Aroused and journaling,
trish
For more of my personal orgasm journey, read Trish’s Daily O.J.
Visit the AW site: Aroused Woman
OpEd: FUCKING CHEROKEE MEN (AND OTHER PEOPLE OF COLOR)
OpEd: THE FACE OF ORGASM: IS YOUR WOMAN FAKING ORGASMS OR NOT?
DailyOJ: ALLOWING AND RECEIVING
