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Letters
Saturday, April 26, 2008 12:00 AM

Lust in translation

A new study says "faulty male introspection" is to blame for misread sexual signals.

The letters thread is now closed.

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Saturday, April 26, 2008 10:54 AM

would y'all stop please?

Dude, what happened to "always behave like a gentleman"?

It's not really your place to critique AKA Smith's desirability as a sex object. Back off with the personal attacks, it's ugly and off-topic.

Saturday, April 26, 2008 10:58 AM

DurianJoe

RE: Saturday, April 26, 2008 10:22 AM

Congratulations for having figured out the 'challenge' element to the Female Equation.

How many times did you get burned before you figured it out?

Saturday, April 26, 2008 11:03 AM

Allie_

Back off with the personal attacks, it's ugly and off-topic.

A misunderstanding on your part, I'm afraid. I attacked no one here.

I respond to each according to their merits and according to my own lights. I'm just being honest. If you can't handle that, it's your problem, not mine.

Saturday, April 26, 2008 11:44 AM

@ walter_map

I bet you were easy for him even before you were married, and especially after.

No. I married at 19 after dating my future husband for a year and a half. I was a virgin.

I don't have any idea if all my men friends wanted me, except for one. He is an ex.

Any moderately attractive woman can get laid any time she likes, which is not true for most men, even attractive men. It puts men at a crucial disadvantage. When you understand that - and can sympathize with it - you will understand half of what you need to know about men. Most women who understand it exploit it.

Yes, I am aware that it is easier for women to get laid. Getting laid is not the overriding goal of most women. Yes, I do sometimes sympathize with men whom I know whose sex lives are not going as they would choose, but not enough to assume that women should give up their desires to have their own sex lives go as they choose.

I have an extremely beautiful 25 year old daughter. It is not lost on me that beauty and femininity is power, but possessing these is not necessarily empowering for women. Some of the saddest women I have known have been beautiful. They usually suffer the envy of women and the contempt of men. For men rarely love that which has power over them. A beautiful woman under thirty rarely realizes the full extent of what she possesses, and a beautiful woman who turns thirty only has about ten years of taking advantage of her beauty. Objects should be beautiful. It never hurts them to look at them. People should be allowed to be human. Personal beauty is nothing but a trap to its possessor.

You would also like Robert Louis Stevenson and despise Tennyson, and prefer Mozart to Brahms. Tell me if I'm wrong.

I haven't enjoyed Stevenson since I was 12. Tennyson is fine. Robert Browning is better. I prefer Brahms to Mozart, but Vivaldi to either of them.

In the War Between the Sexes the men are getting slaughtered - and you want me to supply you with ordnance? Hmmm. This is hardly the proper venue. Ask me out and we can talk about it.

Your problem is that you see the war but not the people. No, I would not want to go out with you. Saying "Ask me out" is a pick-up artist trick. Not clever. It is also an indication that you are dismissing our conversation at the level of intellect. The fact that you don't want to advise women indicates that you see them as the enemy.

Blake, huh? You're still a little girl inside, aren't you?

No one really knows how old they are inside. It is a question that requires an introspection that is not possible.

Saturday, April 26, 2008 11:46 AM

Allie_

It's not really your place to critique AKA Smith's desirability as a sex object.

No? I'm a man, and that's what men do. Women wouldn't have it any other way - at least for a man the woman finds desirable.

Conversely, that's what women do with men. Except you, perhaps. I detect some female hypocrisy here, in addition to a lack of understanding.

I do believe you owe me an apology. Not that I'm likely to get one, because, after all, you're a woman and I'm a man, and that would upset the female perspective of intergender relationship politics.

Your attitude isn't a problem for me. I expect to be misunderstood by those with an agenda or an ax to grind. But I can move on. Can you?

Saturday, April 26, 2008 11:49 AM

It's okay, Allie.

I happen to agree with you, walter, and Joe that no one should be easy to get. We should all value ourselves. I do not feel attacked. I am somewhat amused.

Saturday, April 26, 2008 11:53 AM

?????

Weird article. No one has ever said "no" to me. Just lucky, I guess.

Saturday, April 26, 2008 11:57 AM

@ shilohcool

Actually, you share part of your name with my dog. No one ever says no to him either. :D Maybe it is a lucky name.

Saturday, April 26, 2008 12:05 PM

Gender politics

Doesn't anybody remember Mystery? He taught us to "blast through last minute resistance" by "freezing out" a female who tries to get the upper hand in a sexual situation by upping the value of her consent so the male will agree to contractual emotions (i.e. "Does this mean we're going out?" "Uh, yeah.") For a more in depth explanation, see here:

http://stuffwhitedbagslike.wordpress.com/2008/04/14/negs/

Saturday, April 26, 2008 12:11 PM

@ Chunque

Exactly. And that works with some women.

Saturday, April 26, 2008 12:14 PM

AKA Smith

Saying "Ask me out" is a pick-up artist trick. Not clever. It is also an indication that you are dismissing our conversation at the level of intellect.

Translation: "I can dish it out, but I can't take it."

The fact that you don't want to advise women indicates that you see them as the enemy.

Nonsense. I adore women. But under the circumstances I have no reason to trust them with my heart to my detriment.

In point of fact, any advice I could render to women with regard to men would be deeply resented. This is why Dr. Phil tells women what they want to hear, rather than the truth. People in general, and women in particular, do not want 'truth'. They want sweet little lies, the more softer and more saccharine the better.

Nothing is so destructive to a relationship than blunt honesty. Every woman wants to be told that she is strong, that her husband is handsome, and that her children are above average, truth be damned. Tell me it's not true.

No one really knows how old they are inside. It is a question that requires an introspection that is not possible.

A rather telling evasion, I'd say. And not true, in any case.

My rudeness here is intended to make a point: women can play these games with men, but woe to the man who plays them with women, or even has the self-respect to stand up to a woman who has decided to be disdainful. Point taken? Can you be honest, or did you miss the point?

Nice sparring with you. You count the score your way, I'll count it my way.

PS:

I could hear DurianJoe say "Yes, dear" from four states away a while back. This is usually the safest course, particularly among married men, but I am happily unmarried and I have no fear of women, and generally prefer a little danger.

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