Dear Dan,
My wife is one of those women who need manual stimulation of her clit during sex to climax. Before meeting her, I had several long-term girlfriends, and not one needed to do this in order to climax. Before we got married, I explained that I wanted to explore and push the boundaries, and she promised me that would happen. But she has no fantasies, kinks, or fetishes, and she's not into any of the things I've proposed. Bringing this all together is that when we are having sex, she's so fixated on stimulating her clit, it's almost like we are in two different worlds. When she's working toward an orgasm, her eyes are shut and she's concentrating on the rubbing—whether she's doing it or I am—and I can't help but wonder if the work it takes to get her to orgasm is part of the reason she's not interested in exploring. I've talked to her several times about how I'm yearning to do more, but I haven't brought up my thoughts on how the way she comes may be affecting things. — Come As You Are
My thoughts, in no particular order...
1. Three out of four women need direct, focused, and sometimes intense stimulation of their clit in order to climax—sailing a dick up the vaginal canal isn't going to do it for most women—so either you lucked out and all of your previous girlfriends were 25 percenters or many/most/all of your previous girlfriends were faking it.
2. I've never met a man who wasn't fixated on stimulating his dick during sex and/or having his dick stimulated for him during sex.
3. If your wife is picking up on your negativity about the way her pussy works, that could negatively impact her enthusiasm for sex in general and sex with you in particular.
4. Your wife is fantasizing about something when she closes her eyes and starts rubbing her clit. You might be able to have more productive conversations about your sex life—and your desire for a more adventurous one—if you drew her out about what's going on in her head when she's getting off. Tell her how sexy she looks, tell her you would love to know what she's thinking about, tell her how hot her fantasy is if she opens up about it (and don't freak out if she's not fantasizing about you), carefully build on her fantasy with some dirty talk. Once she opens up about whatever it is that's unspooling in her head, you can suggest realizing her fantasies in real life—and a few of yours as well.
5. And... um... lastly... Your wife may need to block you out—she may need to clamp her eyes shut—in order to climax because... um... she may not be sexually attracted to you. That's harsh, I realize, and I hope that's not the case. But if marital sex for her is a joyless exercise—she gets you off then clamps her eyes shut and gets herself off—then this is a problem that can't be fixed, and spending the next five decades trying to fix it will be both futile and frustrating.
Dear Dan,
I'm a lesbian who has been pretty successful at online dating. Lately, however, I've had a few women contact me who turn out not to be cisgender. I've tried to remain open, but I have never been attracted to a trans woman. I don't rule out the possibility that it could happen. But one great thing about online dating is that you can express preferences before going on a date, and I'd rather not unknowingly walk into these potentially awkward and painful situations. Is there something I could put on my profile expressing my preference for cisgender women that is not offensive to trans people? It's important to me that I remain an ally. — Can I Say?
You can put "not into trans women" in your online dating profile, CIS, but you'll have to hand in your Trans Ally card. Gay men are likewise free to put "no fats, no femmes" or "white guys only—just expressing my preference" on their profiles, and too many do (and not all of them are white guys), but gay men who do that have to hand in their Not an Asshole cards. Occasionally having coffee with someone you're not into—and having to tiptoe through the awkwardness—isn't something you can avoid in online dating. You would have to do that even if only cis lesbians responded to your ads, as you're presumably not attracted to all cis lesbians. Having a coffee now and then with a trans woman you most likely won't find attractive—but you never know—is a small price to pay to make the online dating world a less shitty place for trans people. It's what an ally would do.
