BijouBlog

I remember when you had to run print ones in newspapers and magazines, and there was this elaborate procedure involving ad numbers and passwords for calling in to see if you got any messages. If you wanted a picture, you were prepared to pay for it, handsomely.

And close to the personal sections there were so many of those 1-800 numbers like “The Leather Line” advertised where you could get a person, I guess, if you didn't want to wait for a response. That was as close to immediate gratification you could get in those days without leaving the house to try and find a hook up at a bar.

A co-worker of mine handed me a list he found on the Internet. I don't know how reliable the source is, and issues of what turns people on tend to be vague. In fact, it seems like every hour there's a list that pops up somewhere, ten body parts women find attractive in men, or what a gay guy finds hot on another guy, etcetera, etcetera. 

A long, long time ago, in 1960, right before the sexual revolution, two psychoanalysists, Eberhard and Phyllis Kronhausen, published a book called Sex Histories of American College Men. The book was praised not so much for any groundbreaking insights into male sexuality (the famous Kinsey had done that previously), but because it wasn’t pornography in a time when certain muscle magazines with mildly or vaguely homoerotic content were considered obscene.

Part of the joy of talking about sex is how we use euphemisms and idioms and other creative ways to communicate one of those “not in front of the children” actions. 
 

Everyone's favorite Jewish grandmother, the late, great Ann Landers, addressed practically every type of sexuality and gender issue in her column ranging from masturbation to makeup for the older woman. Yes, and she even discussed hairy chests in response to some letters on the subject. The Ann Landers Encyclopedia offers a couple of interesting responses to what many argue is a fallacy: that a hairy chest means you are a more sexually active guy and perform better in the bedroom. (Kind of like the big dick fallacy, perhaps?). A reader wrote in claiming that a hairy chest means more female hormones (no source) and that the hairy-chested male would produce more girl babies. Dr. Frinkel, a medical authority on the subject from Northwestern University, responds that this is another fallacy. Got it? A hairy chest does not mean you are necessarily a more manly man!