Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Annals of Bad Sex Advice

You might have guessed it, but I do not make a habit of reading Cosmo or Men’s Health. I have my limits.

Happily, I just found out that I was right to ignore both of them. Confirmation of my good judgment appeared in Ben Reininga’s column on Nerve. Link here.

Obviously, I consider Nerve to be superior to both Cosmo and Men’s Health. In truth, I do not read Nerve very often. Otherwise I would have known about Reininga’s column earlier and would have shared it sooner.

Anyway, Reininga has a great and high concept. He reads through the sex advice columns in Cosmo and Men’s Health, among other magazines, and saves the rest of us the trouble. Then he tells us what we have missed, and this provokes instant and profound feelings of gratitude.

In his column Reininga extracts the most ridiculous pieces of advice and highlights them. If the term “redeeming social value“ means something, his column embodies that meaning.

As you know, I am all for shaming, but only when it is used judiciously against targets that really need it. The sex advice columns in these magazines certainly qualify. So much so that I am not going to repeat their ridiculous advice, for fear of compromising this blog’s high standards.

If you open the link to Reininga’s column you will witness the sorry spectacle of mass market magazines preying on the sexual insecurities of the young.

Those of us who can no longer pretend to be young like to assume that young people today are more sexually sophisticated than we were at their age. And yet, if today's youth are lapping up the advice offered by Cosmo and Men’s Health, our hopes have clearly been misplaced.

5 comments:

Chuck Pelto said...

TO: Dr. Schneiderman, et al.
RE: Did I Mention....

....THIS before?

If so, this seems like an appropriate place to mention it again.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[Oxymoron: Safe Sex.]

Chuck Pelto said...

TO: All
RE: God Help Me....

Those of us who can no longer pretend to be young like to assume that young people today are more sexually sophisticated.... -- Stuart Schneiderman

....I can attest to THAT.

On the other hand, because 'family court' did not allow me to substantially contribute to my daughters' lives during their adolescent years, I'm now faced with the responsibility of TRYING to help them make any 'sense' out of what THEY are going through.

Ever feel totally 'ineffectual' while trying to make sense out of what teens and 20-30-somethings attempt to make sense out of the mess their lives have become?

Frankly....based on 27 years in the infantry....I'd rather face a Soviet Guards Tank Division in the Fulda Gap. At least THERE I had SOME preparation.

Regards,

Chuck
[You know you were a good parent if your grand-children turned out alright.]

P.S. Being a 'non-participant' by court order doesn't seem to mitigate the sense of 'failure'.....

Something to do with God and responsibility, I suspect.....

Stuart Schneiderman said...

I agree with you; I don't envy today's young people in their efforts to navigate the dating and mating scene.

Half of the time they do not understand what game is being played, and do not know the rules. It's hellish.

muebles almeria said...

I completely agree with the post.

Anonymous said...

“According to new research, the smell of toast is a serious mood booster.” According to some other research, the taste of bread is delicious.

Is this for real? Want to try it. LOL

Steve Martin
The best sexual advice