Men And “Bad Sex”

Today I would like to dispel a lousy rumor; one that persists despite the fact that it is not now, nor ever was true. I’m talking about, of course, the idea that to men there is no such thing as “bad sex.” This is absolutely false. We do recognize bad sex. But like lite beer and arena football, we will grudgingly embrace it if it’s the best of our readily available options. Because what is equally true is that most men feel that some sex, even that of inferior quality, is better than no sex at all.

Now I know that some of you are thinking, “Wait. Guys almost always have orgasms. How ‘bad’ could sex be if they’re erupting all over the place?” Good question. And frankly, it’s easy to understand your confusion, because, for you, orgasm is indicative of achieving a certain level of sexual excitement that doesn’t always happen. Not true for us. For the most part, we consider sex and ejaculation almost synonymous. One naturally follows the other. Like night following day, or summer following spring, or flatulence following a chili cook-off, men are used to orgasm being the dependable conclusion to any sexual interlude. And with rare exceptions this is the case…for us. Men rarely begin a sexual activity wondering if they will climax. We may worry about being unable to get or maintain an erection. We may fret over coming too soon. But we feel pretty confident that if we can get it up and get it in, getting it on will lead to getting us off. It’s that simple.

What this all means is that, for guys, our climax doesn’t indicate we had good sex, it just indicates we had…sex. And for most of us, that, in and of itself, is a positive thing. We still recognize different qualitative levels of sexual encounters, but we’re so thrilled to be having sex with someone other than ourselves that we rarely, if ever, bring up the issue, unless it’s to compliment you on your performance or the remarkably hospitable temperament of your vagina (though we probably won’t use those words).
So don’t expect to ever hear us complain or rate our sexual experience with you as less-than-stellar. We’re smart enough to know that a critique or constructive criticism is less likely to lead to better sex, and more likely to lead to the unmistakable thud of your thighs slamming shut – never to be reopened in our presence again. It is a sound that creates terror in our minds, emptiness in our hearts, and inconsolable sadness in parts below. So do guys ever really have “bad sex?” With others, perhaps, but never with you.

© 2009 David M. Matthews. All Rights Reserved.

A Question Of Infidelity

Question: Okay, you self proclaimed guru, might be more than you wanna know, but my husband of almost 10 years recently ended an affair with a coworker. We're working through that, but- I was truly blown away by something he said to me a couple of days ago and you just might be the right guy to ask about it. One of the main reasons he was attracted to her, he says, is that she was positive and confident while I didn't seem to "care about" myself. This being evidenced, in his opinion, by the fact that I didn't care if I "fixed up" when I went somewhere.... Hmmm, and I thought that meant I was OK with me, but I guess not. So it's been about 5 months since we've started this 'work on our marriage' bit. I start nursing school in August and he made the statement that I'm prolly gonna run off with a rich Dr. (insert dumbfounded expression here-I'm not running off with a POOR one!) Anyway, I am trying to give the appearance of being confident and feeling good about myself when I tell him that "I'm gonna be so cute in my scrubs, they're ALL gonna want me!" To which he replies,"Don't think that highly of yourself Dana." Please understand, I'm not vain. I was joking. JOKING! And the truth of the matter is, he said he WANTED me to be more confident, even as he was pulling the rug out from under me with the epitome of "You're not good enoughs" by having an affair.
So my question is this:Why is it great for your girlfriend to be confident and present herself as thinking she's wonderful, but not your wife? Especially when you say that what you wanted? Hope you can help me grasp the concept. Thanks SO much! ...Dana

Answer: First, you should know, Dana, that I while I don't condone your husband's infidelity, since you have agreed to move past it, I will not dwell on it. However, you should be aware that, different from women, men don't primarily have affairs because they are unhappy in their relationship with their significant others...they have them because the opportunity presents itself. While a man may be perfectly content in his relationship with his wife, the appeal of being physical with another woman is incredibly enticing. Why? Because men inherently crave variety in their sexual partners. The only thing they like better than sex...is sex with someone new. And no matter how wonderful you are in and out of bed, the one thing you cannot be is...someone new.

I mention all of this because it is likely that your husband straying has absolutely nothing to do with how he feels about you. It is far more a reflection on him, his desires and character. But what about his recent comments about you? How do those "fit in?" Very simply: It is those characteristics that she (the other woman) has that you don't that make her particularly attractive to him. Not that those traits are, by themselves appealing, but because they offer contrast to those he perceives you possess. In other words, it is this dissimilarity to you that make those differences especially appealing. So changing who you are (even if you wanted to), wouldn’t really accomplish anything.

But what about the fact that he said that you don't "fix up" when you go out? That actually may be related to another issue. And what is that issue? Quite often, as we get more and more comfortable in our relationships, we take less and less care with how we present ourselves to our spouse. It seems to be a natural progression and is equally common among men and women, with one significant difference. Men are primarily visually oriented. How you look is paramount to how much we are attracted to you. We're hard-wired to be stimulated by what we see. So if your "fixing up" makes you look more attractive to him, it is naturally something he desires you do as often as possible. And while this may not apply to you at all, if he perceives that in your 10 year together you have gradually "let yourself go," he may be harboring resentment that you no longer care enough about him to take care of yourself and make yourself desirable to him. And it doesn't matter if in that same decade he's gone from being a dreamboat to a gross, tub o' lard, he still associates your caring for your appearance as an indication of your love for him. Convoluted? Perhaps. But it's the way a man's mind often works.

Now, to a different, but related topic. Your husband's comments and actions indicate that he may, in fact, be feeling a little insecure about himself and his situation. Your entering nursing school may fuel within him some inner feelings of inadequacy. He may be feeling that rather than being a boon to your joint financial success, your newfound career will make you need him less. And it will put you into contact with upwardly-mobile, intelligent, attractive men who share a common interest with you. Your innocent joke may have inadvertently tossed gasoline on that fire, and his comment was his attempt to salve his singed ego by deflating yours. Also, nursing school is a big-time commitment. On some level he knows that for an extended period of time in the near future, you are going to be spending less time with him, making him less of a priority. It's only natural that would be the case, and intellectually he knows that. But emotionally, this may further add to his feelings of insecurity and abandonment. To offset this, I suggest that you reassure your husband that you're not interested in "talking shop" after a hard day's work in the medical trenches, so socializing with doctors is the last thing you'll be interested in doing. And while it's true that nursing school is going to require a time commitment on your part, your husband and your marriage are your priorities.

© 2008 David M. Matthews. All Rights Reserved.

A Man And His Member

Lately there has been a proliferation of bad news: A waning economy, drooping housing market, corporate insolvency, wars, violence, famine, natural disaster, and the cancelling of “Dirty Sexy Money.” Thus, rather than deal with anything too serious in this first column of the New Year, I decided to be a little more light-hearted. The following is the result - an ode to the bond between men and their “manhood.”

To say, “Penises are attached to men,” is to simply state a fact. But saying, “Men are attached to their penises,” is to proclaim an absolute truth.

As you may already know, nothing is so prized a possession to the average male as his own penis. And while straight men have little or no interest in the external plumbing of their brethren (other than as a supporting character in a porno), they can become downright sentimental when pondering their close relationship to their own equipment. To put it bluntly, most men consider their penis to be their best friend. Sure, we are hugely attracted to women. And yes, we enjoy the hell out of spending an evening of football, hot wings and frosty brews with our buds. And true, our slipper-fetching Fido is among our favorite companions. But our true BFF is that roll of flesh we keep sequestered in our shorts.

And why is “cherish” the word we use to describe our penis? Three reasons: Loyalty, reliability and shared common interests. As long as we can remember, our penis has been there for us. Before we even understood its function as “party central,” we appreciated it as the visible symbol of our masculinity, the release valve for our bursting bladders, and a dandy way to practice our cursive in the snow. Then when puberty hit, and all our hormones executed a blitzkrieg of our nether regions, our penises were there to rise to the occasion. Suddenly the whole world of sexuality opened up for us, and it was our trusty tumescent friends who led the way. In times of loneliness, frustration or insomnia, it was our penises that helped us relieve our pent-up tensions. Participation in sports was a fine source of stress relief, but sadly not always convenient or available. Our trusty wieners, however, were ever-ready for action, even late at night and in inclement weather.

As I’m sure some of you are well aware, our affection is so great, that many of us even endow our endowment with a nickname. These monikers can run the gamut from whimsical (“Mr. Happy”) to blatantly boastful (“Sasquatch”). And so concerned are we about our units’ continued good health, that we faithfully endeavor to make certain our “little soldiers” get regular exercise. That’s just how considerate we guys are.

Now you may be asking yourself, “What about his testicles? He hasn’t even touched on them. What are they…chopped liver (I shudder at the very image)?” Well, the truth is, as much as we love and respect this secondary erogenous zone and sperm manufacturing facility, our balls are the “Achilles heel” of our genital compound. They are our weakest link; our most vulnerable spot. Truthfully, we are barely even cognizant of their existence until they are the unfortunate victim of a blunt force trauma. Then, however, their presence drowns out our awareness of virtually all the rest of our anatomy. So, while we wouldn’t want to part with them, the periodic pain associated with our family jewels prevents us from rhapsodizing about them as we do their neighbor to the north.

So you see, our fondness for our own penises cannot be overstated, and our allegiance to them should not be underestimated. And why would you be interested in any of this (optimistically hoping, of course, that you are - and haven’t been “put off” by my dissertation on “a dude and his dingus”)? Because despite our dogged devotion to our penises, there is an anatomical accoutrement over which you have exclusive dominion that we are even more obsessed with. I am referring to, of course… vaginas. We’re absolutely nutty about them. And luckily, so are our little pals. In fact, this popular destination is the top-rated gated community in which ten-out-of-ten penises prefer to reside. Be it ever so warm and cozy, there’s no place like home.

© 2009 David M. Matthews. Al Rights Reserved.

3 Things Men Hate

While every man is an individual and has unique and sometimes peculiar things that may irritate him or press his buttons, there are certain “pet peeves” that seem to be universal to all those outfitted with a penile appendage. In my efforts to inform you about the fundamental operation of the male mind, I would be remiss were I not to address the important topic of “What Men Hate.” The following are three things that my brethren generally find repugnant.

1) UNFAVORABLE COMPARISONS. We absolutely detest being unfavorably compared to your father, your brother, your brother-in-law, our father or male siblings, your ex, the guy who took your virginity, or any other man who’s seen you naked. Why? Because the clear implication is that, in your opinion, we are somehow deficient in some way, and that makes us feel bad about ourselves and not too good about you. If, on the other hand, the comparison is favorable, and we are lauded for our superiority over some other schlub, then feel free to compare away.

2) “HELPFUL" SUGGESTIONS ON HOW WE MIGHT IMPROVE OURSELVES. Despite what opinion you may hold, most men are fairly happy with who they are. And though you may look in the mirror and see only your flaws, we see our reflections and are generally content with what we behold. So your attempts to “make us over” leave us baffled and annoyed. And this behavior also begs the question why you hooked up with us in the first place, if you were so unhappy with who we were. And if you’re feeling that we’re being overly sensitive in handling your constructive criticism, think how you would react to helpful suggestions on how you might upgrade your body or improve your sense of style. The bottom line is this: Find a man who satisfies whatever criteria you may have, but don’t expect to help him “be all he can be.” If you’re looking for a “fixer-upper,” invest in real estate.

3) THE PHRASE,"YOU SHOULD KNOW WHY I'M UPSET." We don’t. And we shouldn’t, since we can’t read your mind, and for the most part are oblivious to any hidden meaning or subtext in your communication. If you’re angry with us and we don’t know why, it does not mean we don’t care about you or your feelings, or are too self-absorbed to pay attention to what is going on with you. The fact is, we’d love to know what has caused you to become unhappy with us, so that we can at least consider making amends. And your unwillingness to illuminate us is both frustrating and counter-productive. Remember, men are generally not particularly intuitive, and we need to be told things in a very direct manner – subtlety is completely lost on us. So next time your significant other inquires about the icy treatment you’re giving him, help facilitate the thaw and tell him point-blank what’s on your mind. At least then there’s the possibility that you’ll be able to satisfactorily resolve things and get back to what’s really important in the relationship…makeup sex.

The above is merely the tip of the iceberg, and offers only a preliminary look at the things men despise. It does, however, offer a little insight into what behaviors to avoid in order to encourage a harmonious relationship. Conversely, the information could also be used to effectively annoy the hell out of your guy when you feel he deserves it. But that would just be manipulative and mean. And guys really hate that.

© 2008 David M. Matthews. All Rights Reserved.

Men on the Rebound

When I use the words “men” and “rebound” in the same sentence, male minds might quickly conjure up thoughts of their favorite NBA teams. Women, however, understand that I am addressing the phenomenon of rushing into a new relationship after the dissolution of an old one. And while men aren’t the only ones guilty of this relationship ricochet, they are, by far, the most-likely to engage in this particular type of reactionary behavior.

So what causes men to so quickly move from a break-up with you to the arms of another woman? Understandably, you might think it has to do with him not being particularly invested in his relationship with you. You could easily believe the rapidity of his action indicates he isn’t at all broken up about your break-up; that he had no deep feelings for you and he cavalierly is humming to himself, “Another One Bites The Dust.” Those assumptions would be perfectly reasonable. They would, however, be completely wrong. You see, when men actually emotionally invest in a relationship, their feelings (whether they show it or not) run as deeply as your own. So when their relationship crumbles before them, it causes a huge emotional void. But unlike you, men don’t have the social support network to buoy them up in their time of pain and sadness. They can’t cry to their friends, seeks solace from their mothers, or drown their feelings in a bucket of “Chunky Monkey.” If they thought that kind behavior would be acceptable, they might engage in it. But men are all too aware that stoicism, soldiering on, and “walking it off” are fundamental guidelines in the male handbook, and breaching these would cause them to be a target of ridicule, pity and serious lampooning from their male “comrades-in-arms.”

So what’s a guy to do? He’s hurting, but he can’t tell anyone. And grieving and wallowing in private are likely to only lead to consuming mass quantities of Jim Beam, to dull his pain. Thus, he realizes, with such limited options available, he must speedily move to contain his about-to-erupt emotions by filling the vacuum created by the demise of his previous relationship. And how does he do this? By seeking out someone else to focus his attention on, both emotional and sexual. And the sooner, the better, for it is this new woman who heals his wounds by allowing him to step back into the comfortable, acceptable space of being the tough, unruffled, man that he is supposed to be. She facilitates his return to a state of being where he can once again feel masculine and in control of himself and his emotions. Order is restored and all is right with the world again.

Thus, it can be stated that the speed in which a man moves from a bitter break-up to a new amorous attachment is directly proportional to the pain he’s feeling: The deeper the hurt the quicker the hook-up. So if you see your ex in the arms of another within days of your break-up, don’t write him off as a horny, uncaring, slime-bucket. Instead, recognize that he was deeply hurt by the end of your relationship and is doing the best he can to mend his broken heart. Then, with that understanding in place, it is perfectly reasonable to go home and cut his head out of all the photos of him you own, and incinerate them in your barbecue. Hey, he deals with his pain one way, you deal with yours another. Who’s to judge?

(C)2008 David M. Matthews. All Rights Reserved.

Online Dating Dilemma

Question: This gentleman expressed interest in me via email and we began emailing to get to know each other. 3 weeks into the emails – we decided to meet. The night before our “date” – his Dad had a heart attack…needless to say the date was cancelled. We continued emailing for a couple more weeks and talking about meeting but he was different and then he just said he couldn’t do this anymore. He said it wasn’t anything I did…did he just run away…was it dealing with family issues? I just don’t know and it really shook my confidence because we had gotten very close thru our emails. Thoughts? ...Robin

Answer: From what you have told me, I see two possible reasons for your gentleman friend to have acted the way he did: 1) His whole world was thrown into an uproar because of his father’s heart attack, which caused him to re-evaluate his life, loves, career and direction. Unable to come to terms with the sudden emotional upheaval in his life, he decided to withdraw from interpersonal interaction until he could “put the pieces back together” and make sense of his current situation and his future; or 2) He enjoyed your online relationship/flirtation, but was either afraid of or uninterested in taking it to “the next level.”

Of course, both are reasonable explanations – two perfectly plausible motivations that precipitated his actions. That said, if I were a betting man (which, by the way, I am), I’d be going “all-in” on reason number 2. Why? Because I find it a bit too coincidental that his father’s heart attack occurred the night before you two were supposed to meet. Sure, it may have happened, but I believe the timing is a bit suspect. It seems far more likely that he came up with a very strong excuse to cancel your date, and then realizing that re-scheduling was an inevitability, decided to make himself scarce before he had to once again deal with actually meeting you in person.

But why would he act that way, when online he seemed so interesting and interested? Well, there are several possibilities. Perhaps he is not what he represented himself to be. Online, he could be handsome, tall, and athletic – the perfect male specimen. In person, he might be three hundred pounds, missing a few teeth, and reeking of body order and Old Spice. Online, he could be witty, insightful, and articulate. In the flesh, he could be painfully awkward, unable to string together a cogent sentence, let alone participate in meaningful conversation. Other possibilities abound. He may be significantly older or younger than he let on. He may be married or otherwise involved, and online romance is fine (in his mind, anyway), but actually meeting you is “crossing the line.” He may be having these kind of communications with many different women and is completely fulfilled by his email adventures. He may be in prison. Or he may not even be a man. The bottom line is this: Online relationships allow the participants to be whoever they want to be. In person, you are who you are. I believe that, for whatever reason, he just didn’t want you to see who he really was. Of course the irony of it all is that had he been honest with you from the start, perhaps you would have been just as attracted to the man as he actually was, warts and all. Unfortunately, you and he will never know.

On a positive note (I always try to find one – cockeyed optimist that I am), this truly appears to be a case of “it’s not you, it’s me.” It doesn’t seem like you said or did anything wrong. Thus, there is absolutely no reason to beat yourself up or lose one iota of self-confidence. He ran away – not from you, but from the truth. And that’s not your fault; it’s his…and his loss, as well.

© 2008 David M. Matthews. All Rights Reserved.

Men And Oral Sex

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Men And Breasts

Let’s talk about breasts. Most guys love to, so why should I be any different? Like it or not, this anatomical accoutrement receives more than its fair share of attention from the male of the species. And while someone with a doctorate might be able to explain the underlying psychological motivation, the simple truth is that men love boobs.

“Duh,” you say, “Every woman knows of men’s almost obsessive surveillance of this particular part of the female topography. Tell me something I don’t know.” Okay, I will. Regardless of what you believe, men don’t just love big breasts. We love ‘em all: Large, small, medium, extra-large, firm, floppy, perky and pendulous. All boobs are welcome. And regardless of their size, the more we see of them the happier we are. Hence, we are ecstatic about the current padded, pushed-up, on-display style bras which go out of their way to showcase whatever you’ve got.

Now this is not to say that a man won’t be wowed by a particularly prominent set of boobs. To be truthful, most will - because larger objects tend to more easily catch our attention. Nonetheless, we are still almost fanatical in our affections for more modest endowments. And if we spy even the slightest hint of nipple, regardless of the fullness of flesh of the surrounding neighborhood, we’re happy as clams. It’s not unlike many women’s fascination with diamonds. Big ones catch your attention and may cause a chorus of “oohs” and “ahhs,” but a smaller-caratted cut of equal brilliance will still illicit its fair share of complements – since you have an enthusiastic appreciation of diamonds in general. But the similarity ends there, because even though your love of diamonds is only equaled by your disdain for cubic zirconia and other “fakes,” we feel no similar animosity toward breasts that aren’t 100 percent original equipment. Spruce ‘em up, plump ‘em out, enhance or condense ‘em, we’ll love those puppies as if they were just the way nature made ‘em. What can I say, when it comes to breasts, we’re very accommodating.

So what does all this mean? Simply put - regardless of what you have on your chest, men will be craning their necks to get a peek, or dare we dream – a grope. Such is the allure of your boobs. They are the mountains, hills or speed bumps at which we worship, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. So don’t spend a lot of time being concerned about what you have or haven’t got in the boob department. As far as we’re concerned, as long as they’re less-hairy than what we have, they’re sure to appeal to our simple tastes. And it is a bad pun, but nonetheless heartfelt, that on behalf of men everywhere, I say, “thanks for the mammaries.”


© 2008 David M. Matthews. All Rights Reserved.

Men's Dirty Little Secrets - Part 2

As promised, here is the second installment in my exposé on men’s dirty little secrets.

As I’m sure many of you know, men are visual beings. We are motivated to action and stimulated most by our sense of sight. As such, when we see something provocative it can have a profound effect on us. And by profound effect, I mean, we get an erection. It’s automatic, we think very little about it and are fairly accustomed to it, as we have regularly had to deal with this “affliction” since we were but mere lads. And all of this is pretty common knowledge to the world at large. What is less well-known, is the dirty little secret that in addition to being turned- on by unclothed women in our presence, in photos or on film, we are also aroused by the sight of naked cartoon characters. Yes, you heard me right. Jessica Rabbit doing a slow striptease will bring our blood to a boil. Hard to believe, I know, but any image, real or animated, of a fetching female form scantily clad or bare-ass naked stimulates our, uh…imagination. Of course, this revelation, though startling it may be, hardly impacts your everyday life. But it is kind of interesting, don’t you think?

But on to more serious topics – like what really gets to a guy? “Nothing,” you scowl, “Men are insensitive slobs with barely a feeling among the lot of them.” Hogwash. Men often feel very deeply, but they have just been socialized to keep their feelings to themselves at all costs or be exposed as something less than manly. And we hate that. But unfortunately for even the most stoic among us, sometimes our emotions still make a bold, unexpected dash for the surface, despite our best efforts. And thus we come to our next dirty little secret: We may have been unmoved by “Titanic,” the plight of Elian Gonzalez, or the clubbing of baby seals, but most men get misty-eyed watching “Field Of Dreams.” It’s not because of Kevin Costner or baseball – the only feelings “Bull Durham” evoked in us was lustful anticipation that Susan Sarandon would treat us to a peek at her peaks. No, this movie tugs at our heartstrings for another reason. It could be because it deals with fathers and sons and unmet expectations, redemption and forgiveness. Or maybe it’s because it takes us back to a simpler time when nothing was more satisfying than a game of catch with Dad. Or perhaps we just get all sappy at the idea of turning our backyard into a revenue-producing sports venue. Whatever the reason, the one thing you can be sure of, is that we’ll blame our tears on eye-strain, cat dander or even global warming and we’ll die before admitting that this film is our “Steel Magnolias.”

Even as I write these words, I know you may find this next revelation most distasteful of all. Nonetheless, I am bound by my desire to reveal even the most disconcerting truths about the men in your life. So here goes: One of our dirtiest, dirty little secrets is that if your mother is attractive, chances are your man has fantasized at least once about having sex with her. I can almost hear a collective “Eewww” escape your disgusted lips. But alas, it’s true. Despite what you’re comfortable believing, your mother is a woman, and as such qualifies for the same treatment we give all other women. I mean, come on, she’s not our mother. She’s yours. And maybe she even looks like a hot, older version of you. And you know how much we like having sex with you! So it only stands to reason…In any case, unseemly as it may be for us to fantasize about the woman whose womb you once called home, be comforted by the fact that we are not likely to act on our prurient flights of fancy. But if you invite your mother to come visit you and your significant other for any length of time, you might want to suggest she dress modestly and bring a long, terrycloth bathrobe. No use tempting fate.

So there it is, still more revelations from the seamy underbelly of the male mind. I hope our little journey allowed you to gain some insight without grossing you out too much (a little grossing out builds character). Perhaps at some future time, I can be convinced to revisit this subject and ‘spill the beans’ some more. I mean, there’s so much more to reveal. Maybe I should write a book about how men think. Hmmm….

© 2008 David M. Matthews. All Rights Reserved.

Men's Dirty Little Secrets

Although, as I have stated in the past, men are fairly simple creatures, there is still a side of us we try to keep to ourselves. And while it may seem we are hiding something in an effort to increase our mystique, we are, in fact, simply concealing a number of dirty little secrets that we don’t particularly want you to know. However, since you are nice enough to have taken the time to read this column, I will divulge a few of these heretofore hidden truths, so that you might have a better understanding of what’s really going on inside a man’s head (an area you may have erroneously thought was a barren wasteland).

First and foremost, you should know, that every man sees you naked (which is, not so coincidentally, the title of my most recent book). And when I say every man, I mean just that. Your brother, your dentist, your uncle, your clergyman, your father, your son, and your eighty-five-year old grandfather have all pictured you in the buff at one time or another. And whether you find it gross, disgusting, inappropriate, or downright despicable, it is still the way we’re hardwired, and like it or not, it’s not going to change. On the plus side, since we don’t actually know what you look like under your clothing, our image of you is almost always quite flattering. We men are an optimistic bunch, and therefore endow you with the best possible, most flawless features we can reasonably imagine you might possess. So regardless of what you really look like, in our mind, your body is as smokin’ hot as your relative frame allows.

Dirty secret number two is: Men don’t need romance. Ever. That is not to say we don’t do romantic things on occasion. Many of us do, with varying degrees of frequency. But for the most part, we do those things completely for you. It helps us get you in an amorous mood. And we’re all for that. But men don’t need anything, including romance, to get us in the mood for love. We’re almost perpetually “ready for action,” (and when we’re not, there’s Viagra). Soft music, low lighting, scented candles, and chocolate-dipped strawberries do little to enhance our passion. We’re kind of no-frills when it comes to getting down and getting funky. Just say you want to jump our bones, and that’s about as much romance as it takes to get us to shuck our clothes and get down to business.

I am sure that many of you have found yourself at some point in your past, asking your boyfriend where your relationship was going. And it seemed like a fair question, given that you had perhaps been dating for quite awhile. But you may have noticed that your guy seemed particularly uncomfortable when you posed this question to him. And the reason for this is dirty secret number three: When it comes to their personal relationships, men under the age of twenty-nine generally have absolutely no goals. They know they like spending time with you, enjoy having sex with you, and would like to continue doing both, but that’s as far as it goes. They have no idea “where this is going,” and more importantly, don’t particularly care. It’s not until they reach their late twenties and have what some sociologists have referred to as “the dawning,” that men think much past tomorrow when it comes to the trajectory of their intimate relationships. Apparently it just takes men longer to mature, than it does women. Big surprise there, huh?

And then there’s the matter of condoms. And while it’s no secret that a large percentage of males consider them a somewhat necessary pain-in-the-ass, it might surprise you to know that most men have no idea how to properly use one. Oh sure, they know where it goes – but that’s about the extent of their knowledge. They are blissfully unaware that just “rolling on a raincoat” only marginally reduces the possibility of pregnancy and the spread of venereal disease. Knowing exactly how and when a condom should be put on and taken off is key to their effectiveness, and most guys are clueless to this (to be fair, in this instance, guys are not trying to hide their lack of knowledge from you - they simply don't know what they don't know). And while I won’t go into specifics about the actual protocol for this contraceptive device (I’ll save that for an upcoming column), suffice it to say, condom usage is not particularly intuitive. So, since guys have generally not read anything on “the proper care and feeding of your condom” (if such a tome exists), and men are loathe to swap helpful hints on prophylactic etiquette, ignorance and thus accidental impregnation and disease dissemination proliferate. But ask a guy how to play the latest XBox 360 game and he’ll be able to give you explicitly accurate instructions. Go figure.

So there you have it - a sampling of hideous, hidden truths about the male of the species. Are there more? Absolutely. And I’ll be happy to share them with you…in my next column (It may not be much, but that’s as close to a cliffhanger as you’re going to get from me).

© 2008 David M. Matthews. All Rights Reserved.