Bad-Blood/Good-Sex Delusion
Crazy in Bed
We really didn’t like each other, but our sex was good; that’s why we stayed together so long . Does this dysfunctional comment sound familiar, perhaps describing one of your relationships? Is it possible to resent your girlfriend or wife outside of bed, yet enjoy her in bed? Many succumb to this “bad-blood/good-sex†delusion, but, given the general misunderstanding of good sex, that doesn’t surprise me.
There’s an old axiom about women: “crazy in the head, crazy in the bed.†It’s true; believe me. But, crazy and good are not synonymous. Good sex requires that both partners have healthy attitudes about themselves (which is rare) and that they mutually share emotional connection, vulnerability, trust, respect, and lust—inside and outside the bedroom (which is rarer). Most foreplay occurs in regular conversations, with playful teasing, between two people who truly adore and enjoy each other. So, if you struggle to gaze at or talk to her at breakfast, your sex isn’t good—her screaming and sweating notwithstanding.
Emotional Insulation
We live in a detached, desensitized world, as evidenced by the plethora of voicemails, text messages, IMs, and e-mails dominating our lives. The art of, like, intelligent conversation has, like, you know, vanished. Moreover, we have become a hostile society, where, without shame or remorse, people—even kids in elementary school—post embarrassing photos and libelous comments about each other on the Internet.
It is no wonder, then, that people navigate and survive their relationships using this mantra: Avoid intimate connection at all costs . To wit: How often have you received an e-mail from—or sent an e-mail to—a paramour addressed to “hey†… or addressed to nobody? To include the recipient’s name in the greeting is the sender’s way of communicating warmth and intimacy. Not to include it is to communicate coldness and avoidance, and to insult the receiver. Yet, most people ignore this common courtesy—a sign of our detached, desensitized times.
Wearing layers of emotional insulation prevents people from knowing or feeling the difference between a true sexual connection and what occurs between two hissing, screaming cats outside the bedroom window. And, this ignorance is the greatest reason people callously treat each other like discardable newspapers. It also gives them the power not to feel anything—to shut down, withdraw, cheat, and split. How convenient and tidy.
Women, we were socialized to believe, are nurturing, emotive, hugging, kissing, cuddling, attentive angels, while men are uncaring, cold, closed, distant, unaffectionate troglodytes. This is a HUGE lie. Gender doesn’t determine one’s generous nature; upbringing and attitude do. When I meet a nurturing, emotive woman, I know she is an exception—not the norm.
Most women, especially American women, are raised to be selfish takers . The paucity of women in bars buying drinks for men proves my point exactly, as does the female-centric emphasis of Valentine’s Day. It is impossible to have good sex with a taker. But, so many men feel “lucky†to have sex that they’re blind to, or don’t care about, this critical rule of life.
The NoNonsense Bottom Line
Watch a batter approach homeplate at the next baseball game. He’ll execute an autopilot ritual of settling in before facing the pitcher: big swings with the bat, digging into a comfortable foot position, spitting, and maybe grabbing his crotch. In fact, he performs this repeatable, predictable ritual regardless of venue, time of day, or opponent.
More likely than not, you are the same way in relationships: Without thinking, you execute a repeatable, predictable mating ritual, regardless of venue, time of day, or “opponent.†Such patterned behavior will draw you towards mates with similar flaws—especially selfishness—and then lead you to endure those familiar grooves, ruts, frustrations, resentments, and dynamics. What you may not realize is that your autopilot behavior will prevent you from establishing a solid emotional connection with any paramour. Bad blood, yes; good sex, no.
To engage in the self-delusion that loud sex with a lousy partner is tantamount to good sex merely prolongs your agony—and is a compound error. If your relationship contains bad blood, end the delusion and get a transfusion . Only with a good partner will you experience good sex.
About the Author
Marc H. Rudov is a globally recognized radio/TV personality and author of 80+ articles and the books Under the Clitoral Hood: How to Crank Her Engine Without Cash, Booze, or Jumper Cables (ISBN 9780974501727), and The Man’s No-Nonsense Guide to Women: How to Succeed in Romance on Planet Earth (ISBN 0974501719). Mr. Rudov hosts The Marc Rudov Show , a radio talkshow for men, and is a regular guest on Fox News Channel’s Your World with Neil Cavuto and The O’Reilly Factor .
Rudov’s books, articles, blog, and podcasts are available at TheNoNonsenseMan.com .
Copyright © 2008 by Marc H. Rudov. All rights reserved.
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Stumble It!
April 3rd, 2008 at 9:38 pm
“Women, we were socialized to believe, are nurturing, emotive, hugging, kissing, cuddling, attentive angels….”
Try as I may, I do not know one single woman who fits this description.
“Most women, especially American women, are raised to be selfish takers.”
I know many who fit this one.
I’ve settled in to spend the rest of my life single. Given the divorce rate of first and subsequent marriages and the way men get screwed both in marriage and divorce, why risk it?
I believe the state of relationships today is bad because MEN have failed to take their rightful place as mother nature intended for them to do. This doesn’t mean beating your wife but it does mean taking responsibility for your family and your families future…the problem today is that men have coward to their wives and play no role in managing the family.
April 4th, 2008 at 10:58 am
The whole concept is nutty to me. You’d just have to be in a pretty unhealthy wierd relationship to do this. Maybe for casual pick-up sex in a bar… but not a real relationship.
April 5th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
hay rudov……you are now on the shit list of ingram, weihl and kendall, 3 heavy hitting chicks on fox. you must be doing something right. keep on doing what you do. i listened to your radio show today and immediately bookmarked and then sent it to my home screen.