More Fun with Trend Journalism
One of my flaws as a blogger is a reluctance to swing at the really easy pitches.
CNN ran a story earlier this week that was crying out for me to make fun of it, but I just can't think of anything all that clever to say. The gist: Some married couples don't have a lot of sex ( Read more... )
CNN ran a story earlier this week that was crying out for me to make fun of it, but I just can't think of anything all that clever to say. The gist: Some married couples don't have a lot of sex ( Read more... )
1. "One reason, he says, is America's obsession with marriage."
You don't say.
They go on to say that the emphasis on marriage over sexual happiness leads some people to choose partners with whom they can not be happy. Perhaps someone should tell this to those in the U.S. Government who a) want to teach young people to be abstinent before marriage and b)believe that shoring up the institution of marriage is one of the government's roles.
If we really believe that marriage is the foundation of a healthy society then perhaps we should be teaching adolescents how to pick partners that get them off.
Or perhaps we should acknowledge that the current conception of marriage as both long-term economic unit and sole legitimate source of sexual happiness is broken.
2. "People have the assumption that you can have long-term, monogamous, hot sex," he says. "It's never been done (on a large scale) in the history of the world."
Where do I start? This could begin a critique of monogamy. But of course, CNN won't go there.
Are the authors really suggesting that working toward long-term sexual satisfaction is fruitless? If so, why go on to offer advice to their readers on addressing the issue?
I am struck that they offer the above quote, from someone named "Klein" who clearly believes that long-term relationships inevitably become asexual, in direct juxtaposition to the advice from the Berman person who wants to offer advice on fixing your marriage bed woes. They do this without making clear that they're describing two fundamentally different views of how long-term romantic partnerships function.
Klein thinks that its normal to become asexual and that happiness is still possible in that context. Berman thinks that lack of sex inevitably leads to a lack of empathy which damages the very fabric of the partnership.
A discussion of these two competing ideas of marriage would have been interesting. But instead, CNN gives Klein's predictions of inevitable sexlessness right next to Berman's assessment that a sexless relationship is doomed. And then they give you the plug for the "Berman Center in Chicago" where Berman makes her living off of couples scared about their sex lives.
I can't help but feel that this is intentional. By creating a sense of despair and then offering a buyable solution, the authors are driving demand for Berman's product.
As for me, I'd like to get laid now.
Reply
Yeah, that *really* pissed me off. No, I've never been in a relationship for more than two years, but really... I simply cannot *imagine* that I'd desperately need to break up with someone because we'd stop fucking. I don't partner with people who have any interest in stopping fucking, and given tha6 I tend to want sex even more often when someone I care about does and it makes me feel good... yeah, doesn't parse.
I mean, I know there's supposedly this less drive thing that happens, and maybe it would, but I can't imagine it would ever drop to zero. I just don't partner that way, and I'm more eager when I'm partnered, tyvm.
Reply
Leave a comment