Liandra,

You're so right.  Making women blemishless removes their humanity.  They look like dolls...objects.  I say let's bring back imperfections, dimples, cellulite, and real flesh.

One of the hugest turn-ons for me.  Big clits and ample labia.  As a devoted life-long cunnilinguist, there is nothing finer.
My wife, on the other hand has no traces of inner labia, and a small clit, but that doesn't stop me from giving her the best oral I can, and she loves it.
I remember a one-nighter, years ago, with a woman who had a really big clit.  It was sheer joy for me to lick and suck it.
Keep on self-loving, and hopefully there is a partner for you that can truly adore and appreciate what you've got.
 
Tim in Idaho

Is it possible that we're just used to seeing women in sexualized poses in a greater variety of directions and positions? It's an interesting study, but I don't think it's remotely conclusive, nor detailed enough to actually draw the conclusions it seems to.

Hmm... I see some questions about the value of this study, and any "deep problems" it may point to.

1) Would *non-sexual* images of female bodies be just as recognizable? How about images of women deemed unnatractive by the viewer?  "Attractive" female body is pretty much a part of the scenery in our culture... Not so much the male one. It would be natural to be more familiar with them and therefore react quicker and more accurately. The fact that women in the study also recognized female bodies faster might be pointing to this as a simple explanation.

2) Did anyone try *nude* images? Male body can be pretty non-descript except for that one instantly recognizable part :-). Basically, the hourglass shape and/or that bikini triangle of a female body is a dead giveaway. Partially clothed male bodies can look like pretty much anything, from a sexy male to a female with little curves, to a child.

3) Is there a difference based on sexual orientation? This might help determine the role of sexual impulse itself in any objetification noted. (Don't know about you, but I know plenty of heterosexual women who fantasize about men to get off - at the time very much as simple objects for their pleasure, not as complex, breathing human beings...)

4) Even if it's true that this clearly points to objectification of *sexual images of women*, does this translate to objectification of actual, real, live women? "Devil made me do it" defenses aside, most people are pretty good at separating fantasy from reality.
I'm thinking that this study would be a great starting point to some more in-depth work; not the sign that the sky is falling on our porn-addled heads...

Jack Morin's equation stated:
Attraction + obstacles = excitement
Sounds kinda familiar.

I do think that monogamy works fine for some people. Certainly not everyone, but I personally don't think open relationships work any more than monagmous ones. It depends on the people involved and what is more important to them - variety or security. Everyone has to make their mind up about that themselves.  I think when you get two people together with wildly different sexual drives and styles, it doesn't work at all -- and that's when monogamy's limits are most obvious.  

I also think that the "romance novel" veiw of sex really trips a lot of women up. I think some women are so socialized to romanticize sex that the only time they get horny is in beginning of a relationship when all those romance hormones are raging. When things quieten down (and they inevitably will), their interest in sex goes out the window. And the guy the wonders what the hell happened and assumes it's a bait and switch. When really, I don't that's happening at all. She wasn't playing games, she really has lost interest. 

I also love to masturbate and do it almost every day. You are lucky to have a wife that is open minded. I have recently discovered that I love to watch videos of men masturbating although I consider myself mostly heterosexual.  Another big turn on for me is to watch cuckold films where the female partner forces the cuck to masturbate and perform oral sex on her partner.  By and large, I love to watch others masturbating while I am masturbating and hope that I will fulfill my fantasy of a male/female group masturbation session one of these days.

Institutionalization -- Who Wants to Live in an Institution Anyway?

This is what I have called the boredom factor resulting from having no variety in sexual partners.  I think it happens to most people.  It has with me.  That’s why I don’t think that lifetime monogamy is really very practical for most people.  It has clearly been a problem with my wife.  And she pretty much told me it is boredom with me without even realizing it.  We were having periodic discussions about why she didn’t ever want to have sex, and she didn’t know.  But then she watched a movie with Hugh Grant and told me that she was getting aroused when watching him in the movie.  Her purpose for telling me this was to assure me that she was still capable of arousal.  But what it told me that she can still be sexually aroused, but not with me.  She needs some variety, like we all do.

If you’re going to be in a monogamous relationship, then I think that it is somewhat of an obligation.  My wife has had no interest in sex for years.  But she did make the effort to have sex with me 2 or 3 times a year. Although she says it is not, I am sure that it is a sense o obligation. The rare times that we did have sex, she just laid there obviously uninterested.  And that is not a lot of pleasure for me.

This is certainly not just a problem for women.  I have tried to suggest to my wife different. For a few years, she would try some.  But she was generally not too interested in trying things different. No experimenting.  And as she became less and less interested in sex, we got into a 15-minute routine and she was done.  Same sequence every time.  Unless she has an interest in improving our sex life, she will not be open to such suggestions. 

And since she is not at all interested in sex, she is not open anymore to trying new things.  By contrast, my girlfriend and I have decided to keep trying new things.  We find that we are learning new things that give us great pleasure.  I don’t know what it will be like having had sex together for many years, like with my wife. But I hope that our openness and trying new things will keep it fresh and exciting.  Of course, with my girlfriend, there is the added excitement that results from the forbiddenness of what we are doing that I can’t have with my wife.

Sex being a part of to “to do” list is an indication of boredom.  It should be an escape from the pressures of everyday life, not another thing on the list.  But my wife has told me that it is just another chore to her.  And it was at the bottom of her list, and she rarely got that far down the list.

I have decided that no one should be obligated to have sex.  So for that reason, and because I had finally tired of almost 100% rejection, I have stopped asking my wife for sex.  I will freely admit that having a wonderful, loving, sexual girlfriend makes it possible for me to do that.  If my wife were my only possible sexual outlet, I would probably still be willing to put up with the 99% rejection.  And I may not be so easily able to see that she shouldn’t have to have sex if she doesn’t want to, because I should not be completely denied sex, when it is so important to me.  It’s a real dilemma when neither should be forcefully subjected to what they don’t want.  It’s actually easier for her to not have sex.

She just says no. It's difficult when you can’t have sex.  The truly unfair part of all of this is that she gets what she wants as part of the marriage.  But she does not feel as though it is appropriate for me to get sex elsewhere, and that I should just live with being denied sex.

When you post that video, please resend me my log in.  Just wow

• If a woman finds facials degrading, then it's degrading.
• If a woman finds facials OK, then it's OK.

The same argument applies to everything, masturbation, sex, pornography... etc etc

Absolutely love this! I'd been looking for some real, honest, lesbian artwork. Usually, I can't find anything but de Lempicka's... but here I found Betty Dodson... as a student of both art and sexuality studies, I'd love to make a living like she has here! What outstanding work! 

I am 24 years old and for several years thought that I was simply incapable of achieving orgasm. Around the age of twenty, I finally was able to achieve all of the physical effects of orgasm, and still can, but have never felt it in my head, if that makes sense. I feel the build up, I sometimes tease myself to draw out the pleasure longer, and eventually I feel my vaginal muscles contract and spasm over and over. But it doesn't feel any different or better than anything else. I enjoy masturbating and I enjoy sex, but I always feel like I am somehow missing a crucial part of the orgasm experience.