Age Flexibility


A friend recently called me to ask if it was inappropriate for her to date a senior citizen. She’s in her forties and he’s mid-sixties. They sat next to each other at a wedding and hit it off. He came to visit her at her gallery later that week and with formality and flourish asked her to dinner.

My friend was clearly gushing when she told me the story and having not heard her this excited in months I gave her my complete blessing. It was only afterwards that I learned my blessing was in total contradiction to the advice of another good friend of ours who had said an absolute no to this potential union -- the reason being that you might have to burry a senior and also that seniors are just not sexy underneath their clothes.

Let me just confess right now: I am very age flexible. (Assuming everyone is an adult, of course.)

Then again, when I dated someone ten years younger than me I found quite quickly that there was a certain “je ne sais quoi” that comes with age that he hadn’t quite acquired yet. No doubt it is certainly on its way, to be delivered in various measures over the course of a decade. On the other side, I have also been propositioned by a very attractive senior citizen, but was ultimately unable to get my head around, as I think I described it then, “saggy man ass” in my bed.

OK, let me just confess right now: I am very age flexible for my friends. But for myself, it might just be in theory.

image: freeimages.co.uk

Posted by Coco
Wednesday, September 26, 2007 2:43pm

Cheerleaders Behaving Badly


I never usually read anything related to sports, but this caught my eye this morning. Apparently, the NFL's VP of football operations has decided that cheerleaders are too visually distracting, and has sent out a memo saying that it's come to their attention that some of the teams' cheerleading squads have been warming up and doing some of their stretching in front of the locker room. His memo basically states that this is inappropriate and that "teams will be monitored from this point on as to how their cheerleaders behave." This was reported on the Patriots Football Weekly; if you go to about 7:48 on the clip, you can listen to the discussion.

This is coming from an institution that uses cheerleaders to promote anything and everything to do with football, and now they're using them as an excuse for unfocused players who aren't on top of their game. So it is once again implied that any displays of female sexuality are to be controlled and "monitored" by men, that women are like children that need to be disciplined. Pro-football was really what produced the "pro-cheerleader" with her skimpy costumes and dance routines in the first place, and now the people who have made so much money off of them are complaining that it's a distraction! Well, I can't wait to see how this is all going to go over. I only wish I could've included this in our recent special on cheerleading.

Posted by Emily
Monday, September 24, 2007 12:33pm

My Heart Belongs to Barry


When I was around eight years old I became positively obsessed with Barry Manilow.

I spent hours lying on the floor, pouring over my mother’s substantial record collection. Slipping into elaborate day dreams, I would find myself lip-synching his songs to an imaginary crowd of weepy, adoring women. Although I had yet to experience romantic passion - I would try hard to twist up my face with the passion I imagined he felt when he sang things like: “Let me know the wonder of all of you. Baby I want you, Now, now, now and hold on fast. Could this be the magic at last???!!”

And let’s not forget: “Oh, Mandy, You kissed me and stopped me from shaking, And I need you today. Oh, Mandy!”

His voice made such an impression on me that I didn’t only want to be with him – I wanted to be him. I’d like to say that my love for him today is now based in some type of humour or irony but that would be a lie.

Today the man reached a godlike status in my eyes. On the press circuit to promote his new album, he was scheduled to appear on “The View”. Interestingly, he requested that right-wing, anti-choice lunatic, Elisabeth Hassleback, not be part of the interview. They refused, so he has not only declined to be on the show – he also posted this message on his site:

Hey guys,
I wanted to let you know that I will no longer be on The View tomorrow as scheduled. I had made a request that I be interviewed by Joy, Barbara or Whoopi, but not Elisabeth Hasselback. Unfortunately, the show was not willing to accommodate this simple request so I bowed out.

It’s really too bad because I've always been a big supporter of the show, but I cannot compromise my beliefs. The good news is that I will be on a whole slew of other shows promoting the new album so I hope you can catch me on those.
Love,
Barry

I love you too, Barry...

. Posted by Berrygrl
Wednesday, September 20, 2007 2:48pm

"She doesn't feel right..."


I once lived with some boys who each had their own shelf in the bathroom lined with rows and rows of hair gel, aerosol hair sprays, shaving unguents, concealer, moisturizers, and five different kinds of cologne, leaving me barely any room for my lone toothbrush and tube of Sensodyne. None of this fazed me. I thought, well, it's only fair - thinking of my plastic drawers full of make-up and lotion stashed in my closet (hi, no room in the bathroom?). Women aren't the only ones affected by ads and told that they need to be "thrilling to look at, exciting to touch". But then I come across this article in the Daily Mail that convinces me (well, okay, so it wasn't really that hard) that women really do get the lion's share of societal pressure.

The piece profiles the beauty regimes of a bunch of girls who range from nine- to twelve-years old. Bethany, who is nine, "has £70 [approx. $140] worth of beauty treatments each week, including a spray tan, pedicure, manicure and eyebrow wax." It takes her two hours in the morning to get ready, because she has to wash her hair and iron it straight, in addition to completing her "cleansing, toning, and moisturising routine." She's nine!!! Her enabler mother is quoted as saying, ""If her nails need doing or the tan needs topping up, Bethany complains she doesn't feel right - a feeling lots of women can associate with." She's nine!!! It already bothers me when women my age subject themselves to such rigorous routines (especially when the "before" look is just as beautiful, if not more so), but for girls as young as that to be so incredibly aware of what society demands of women is just horrifying.

Also check out Broadsheet's post on Nair for pre-teens.

Posted by Emily
Monday, September 17, 2007 2:20pm

Jingle Jugs and Baby Wee Wee


Summer is over, and we're back to school (ahem, work). What better time to start thinking about your holiday shopping?

After reading Salon's Broadsheet yesterday, I was like, how come the people at Jingle Jugs haven't inundated us with press releases (or a sample to decorate our office walls with)? I mean, after all, we're Sextv, we love breasts, and we all enjoy a good jiggle. Especially to the tune of "Titties and Beer".

Also, check out this YouTube video I just discovered but everyone already knows about. I remember several dolls from my childhood that absolutely fascinated me. There was Baby Alive, which you could feed, and she would produce wet diapers. Then, the one that I coveted the most which I now can't remember the name of - a baby doll that felt like a "real" baby when you filled it up with warm water. But I don't remember either of those dolls being in possession of "anatomically correct" genitalia. Actually, I'm a little surprised that there hasn't been an uproar over Baby Wee Wee's baby wee wee, considering that people are STILL talking about Janet Jackson's ridiculously tame "nip slip" at the Superbowl three years ago.

Posted by Emily
Thursday, September 13, 2007 11:41am