It no longer attracts the attention it once did so the “trend setters” are moving on. Or, it could just be the sight of those 50+ year old women.

It was hailed as feminist progress. Women could go topless, “just like men” – even though that was never really so, as it was always more complicated for women, who had to decide first if they would do it at all, and then only “horizontally” (i.e. while sunbathing) or “vertically” (swimming and walking on the beach) too.

Still, going topless suited the era, coming, as it did, just a year before another feminist breakthrough, the legalisation of the Pill. Like contraception, toplessness (at both the beach and municipal pools) was seen as a way for women to assert and control their own sexuality.

So what happened? Why is it that you hardly see women going topless in France any more? Or if you do, they’re more likely to be in their 50+year-old veterans of feminist battles who are damned if they’re going to give up any of the rights they fought for.

BBC

Here are some articles I’ve written about a few of those tough relationship issues.

Benefits of dating older men

Men mature emotionally at a slower rate than women. Given that generality, what are the benefits of dating older men?

As a teen or twenty something, women will often want more of an emotional connection that men their own age can provide. Dating a man a few years older often connects women to men who have grown into their emotions and their ability to express themselves comfortably. An older man may understand you.

Red flags in a relationship

There can be many red flags in a relationship, some subtle and some not so much. Waking to find your significant other standing over you with a carving knife would be one of those not so subtle red flags.

There are others and they can be easily overlooked. Some you do not want to discover. Some you discover and misinterpret. And some just hit like a lightening bolt out of the blue

Why people cheat

“Honey, I have a confession.” That starts a conversation that never ends well.

Why do people cheat on those they profess to care about? The answer to that question can be found in the traditional Seven Deadly Sins.

Scientists have found that the pleasure women get from making love is directly linked to the size of their partner’s bank balance.

They found that the wealthier a man is, the more frequently his partner has orgasms.

“Women’s orgasm frequency increases with the income of their partner,” said Dr. Thomas Pollet, the Newcastle University psychologist behind the research.

He believes the phenomenon is an “evolutionary adaptation” that is hard-wired into women, driving them to select men on the basis of their perceived quality.

The study is certain to prove controversial, suggesting that women are inherently programmed to be gold-diggers.

However, it fits into a wider body of research known as evolutionary psychology which suggests that both men and women are genetically predisposed to ruthlessly exploit each other to achieve the best chances of survival for their genes.

The female orgasm is the focus of much research because it appears to have no reproductive purpose. Women can become pregnant whatever their pleasure levels.

Fox News

Based upon recent experience, there are a number of women out there who do not understand very important things about dating a man. I hope that I can open up this world of mystery for my female friends.

There are two rules that a woman must never forget when dating a man.

1. He wants to have sex with you.
2. If in doubt, refer to rule 1.

Yes, my friends of the female sex, it IS mostly about sex. It’s not complicated. It’s not deep and emotional. It’s sex.

Most men change over the years as they age. They learn the complex rituals demanded of them by women in order to obtain sex. They learn to be polite, pay for things like meals and movies, and shower more frequently.

These are some of the experience-based behavioral changes men learn in order to eventually have sex with women.

That said, YOU cannot change a man. He may learn based upon experience but he will never change his innate nature. He will always be selfish, lazy, drunken, abusive if that is the way he is when you meet him. Charles Manson will always be Charles Manson.

Between the ages of 18 and 25, men are immature. They want sex and beer, and more sex. Expecting maturity from a man at this age is willing yourself to fail. But, let’s face it. At this age, gals, you’re not exactly using all your brain cells either. You will do things for a man that will horrify you and make you ashamed for the rest of your life.

So, have fun and don’t do anything too stupid at this age. Don’t get yourself killed in a car of drunken idiots. Don’t pose for pictures that your father would blush at. And don’t sleep with Hugh Hefner.

Men begin to mature between 25 and 35. Your chances of finding a life mate, someone to marry, are increasing. By now, though, if he has bad habits, they are thoroughly ingrained. If he’s messy, cuts his toenails in front of you or thinks farts are funny, well, that’s gonna be him for the rest of his life. Live with it or move on.

Between 35 and 45, men are ripe for the picking. Most have been married once or had a long term relationship and they know the score. They have learned that no matter what they do, you decide if they can have sex. They’ve given up on all their fantasies and are ready to settle down, work hard, provide for a family and die younger than their wife.

Women at this age, on the other hand, are cougars. You are at your sexual peak. You know what you want and what you do not. Many of you have divorced one man and now have a list of desirable qualities in a man you could not have imagined at 18. If you are on the hunt, you will not lack for victims. Men find it difficult to say no to an invitation for sex.

A few words of warning for women about men between 25 and 45. If he has always lived at home, leave him there. If he has spent more time in prison than out since he turned 16, he’s not for you. If you discover that he collects the same thimbles that you do or he has more pairs of shoes than you do, walk away.

Watch how he acts with his own children to see into his soul. He may act with yours, but his ability to play with or how he disciplines his children will tell you volumes.

Men over 45 can be very set in their ways. You’re going through menopause, so he knows that sex is unlikely. So, you get to sit with him while he watches the game, or cook for him as long as it’s what he wants to eat. He’s reached a point in his maturation where you either take him as he is or leave him.

Women begin the dating game with an advantage, the ability to control when sex happens. Young women do not realize that which is why most men look back on their youth with great fondness. As men grow older, wiser and more mature, they become easier to live with, easier to love. Then, as they travel through middle age into old age, they become set in their ways, stodgy and habitual.

You can date a man at any age. The two rules of dating a man always apply. He will never be a mirror of you and you will never change him. He will learn and mature, and you may find a prize there. Don’t stop looking, but always look before stopping.

Well, you’re not alone. According to an article on the McClatchy News site, the days between Christmas and New Years are the peak time for sex in the United States.

The Christmas-New Year’s period produces a year-high spike in sexual activity and conceptions in the United States, according to biorhythm researchers and makers of sex-related products.

They attribute the increase to holiday leisure and New Year’s resolutions to have children. New Year’s irresolution fueled by alcohol and partying is another contributing factor.

“Right before New Year’s Eve is our highest sales peak,” said David Johnson, group product manager for Trojan brand condoms, the leading U.S. seller.

So, have Merry for Christmas and don’t forget the ho – ho – ho.

The Australians have done a study of college students and sex. It found that male science nerds were least likely to have sex. And, female art students were most likely to have sex.

As anyone who had ever attened university could have told you without having to spend the money on a study.

Oh, wait. They got to interview the female art students.

Nevermind.

Read the story at the Telegraph.

When her husband’s 40th birthday approached, Charla Muller wanted just the right gift.

It had to be fabulous, over the top, something so special “that my husband would never have to pause and say, ‘What did Charla give me for my 40th birthday?’”

Let us declare now that Muller, a Charlotte, N.C., wife, mother and public relations professional, succeeded on all counts. Her gift? Sex, every day, for a year.

Soon, the world will learn of Charla’s gift. Her book, 365 Nights: A Memoir of Intimacy, co-written with Betsy Thorpe, (Amazon pre-order $11.20, List $14.00) hits bookstores in July.

In it, Muller tackles issues familiar to almost anyone in a marriage or long-term relationship: How does intimacy flourish in real, busy lives? How do you deal when one partner — usually the man — wants a lot more sex than the other?

Charla (pronounced sharla) and Brad Muller are, in many ways, a typical couple. They have a nice house, two kids, a strong marriage.

Like many couples, they’d found sex had taken a back seat to the crush of daily obligations — work, parenting, running a house. Or, as Charla says in the book, “Intimacy had ended up like that box of Girl Scout cookies in the back of the freezer, hidden behind the frozen pizzas.”

But she loved her husband a lot, she says, so she set out to rediscover intimacy.

Democrat & Chronicle

In an effort to force the writers to end their strike, I give you my list:

1. Audrey Marie Anderson: The Unit. The kind of wife a lot of soldiers wish they had. Strong and sexy and tender and caring and hard as nails.
2. Gabrielle Anwar: Burn Notice. Don’t know if this show will return for a second season
3. Tracie Thoms: Cold Case. New to the show, Thoms adds a street smart look, and a wry humor, as well as a terrific counter balance to pale blonde Kathryn Morris. We need more of this actress.
4. Alicia Minshew: All My Children. Playing the part that Sarah Michelle Gellar originated as Kendall Hart. Slender, willowy, style personified. Just the look that Erica Kane’s daughter ought to have.
5. Lea Thompson: Jane Doe: Eye of the Beholder. Thompson is great as a soccer mom, ex-spy. She looks fantastic in casual clothes and eveningware. She should have won Celebrity Duets.
6. Holly Hunter: Saving Grace. We’ve seen a lot of Holly on this show. She’s slender, but, wow! Her personality lights up the television. She’s three years younger than I am, but in much better shape.
7. Emily Procter: CSI: Miami. Gun pr0n. A strong woman who loves to shoot. I doubt real CSI’s dress like she does but I don’t care.
8. Jennifer Love Hewitt: Ghost Whisperer. Yes, she has two lovely attributes. There’s more to her, however. That head tilt. Those deep, soulful eyes.
9. Amanda Tapping: Stargate: Atlantis. Tapping has lit up Sci Fi as Samantha Carter in both the Stargate series. No need to trash dress. And, her comedy backgound provides a delightful surprise on occasion.
10. Summer Glau: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. quirky, kick-ass, drop dead beautiful. All those words describe Summer Glau.

Don’t make these women cry. Go back to work!

Tila Tequila – what can I say? I watched the show a few times. The guys were dorks, jocks but dorks. Some of the lesbians were very attractive, you know, the good gay.

Still, why would anyone watch this gal on a regular basis? Her brain makes interstellar space look crowded.

Fox Business

Broken hearted and back with a vengeance to find true love one last time, Tila Tequila returns as MTV greenlights a second season of the breakout hit, “A Shot At Love With Tila Tequila.” The network is scheduled to air 10 new episodes beginning this spring. MTV is rounding up a new group of suitors, both straight guys and lesbians, to vie for Tila’s love and attention. Liz Gateley, Senior Vice President of Series Development for MTV, also announced today an overall production services agreement with 495 Productions and Sally Ann Salsano.

The season one finale delivered an impressive 5.9 P12-34 rating to become the highest rated series telecast on MTV since August 2005. With over 6 million total viewers on average, the finale was MTV’s most watched series telecast among total viewers (P2+) since November 2002. The series became MTV’s highest rated new series among P12-34 in 2007 and ranked #1 in its time period (Tue 10PM-11PM) among P12-34 across all of cable.

“Thanks to the creative talent and vision of Sally Ann Salsano, ‘A Shot At Love With Tila Tequila’ was one of our big breakout hits for 2007,” said Tony Disanto, EVP of Series Development & Programming for MTV. “We are now officially expanding our relationship with Sally Ann and her team at 495 Productions and look forward to her next slate of projects including, another “Shot At Love,” “That’s Amore,” and more great, compelling TV for our viewers. We’re thrilled to be in business with her.”

The answer is to be found in Lapland, it seems.

Or was that Lapdanceland?

Telegraph

Now Dr Samuli Helle, University of Turku, has found the answer with the help of a study of the nomadic Sami, the “reindeer people” of Finland.

Finnish parish records from the 17th to 19th century on three Sami populations, who depended on reindeer herding, fishing and hunting for their livelihood, make it possible for researchers to disentangle the effects of medical progress on the number and life span of Sami men who married only once.

What they found was that the men maximized their “evolutionary fitness” – ability to pass on their genes to future generations – by marrying women who were 14.6 years younger, and vice versa.

“Those men had the highest number of offspring surviving to adulthood,” said Dr Helle, who did his study with Drs Virpi Lummaa of the University of Sheffield and Jukka Jokela of the ETH in Zurich.

“Young Sami women were the most fertile and had the highest reproductive value, whereas older Sami men had acquired enough skills needed for successful hunting, fishing and reindeer herding and, most importantly, wealth to be good providers for the progeny and thus desirable mates,” they conclude.

Yeah, that’s the answer. [/sarcasm]

Two posts by Rachel Lucas [old friend who just returned to posting] and Cassy Fiano at Wizbang on the subject of young women today.

They both qualify as young women, so they have the chickenhawk advantage. I’m an older man, barred from most looking or touching, so all I have are opinions. And I agree with Rachel and Cassy.

My lovely neices were raised in a stable, Catholic household, with a great mix of both freedom and responsibility. The eldest has a tattoo. Gulp!

The young women that I see while working, or on the street during working hours, need the mentoring of an older career woman. The Superman motif thong that I saw on a secretary last year, through no fault of my own, was not right. It just wasn’t. Butt cracks aren’t just for plumbers any more, sadly.

I really can’t think of a thing that being free to drink to excess and screw anyone I want ever did for me. I am not a better person for it, richer, further ahead in my career or happier. Indeed, I look at my twenties with profound regret, having wasted a decade not caring about anything or anyone.

Feminism means that young women have the right to be just as shallow, witless, and pointless as young men. That’s a damn shame.

So, this “innocent” fifteen year old thinks she has this old dude, well, orally satisfying her. She’s shocked to find out, after the dude is taken to jail, that he was a she. Ugly old man she could handle. Old old woman, no way.

WRCB

What a story from the Hamilton County, Tennessee courts building; a man charged with molesting a teen, is actually a woman!

In court today, Prosecutors revealed that 42 year old Alexander Cross is actually a woman. Her given name is Elaine Cross, she legally changed it to Alexander. How did prosecutors find out Cross was a woman? After she had been in the Hamilton County jail for 10 days in January, someone noticed she was actually a female while she was taking a shower. She was immediately moved to female isolation.

According to news reports, Cross was charged with performing oral sex on a 15 year old victim. And prosecutors said today, that the victim fell in love with Cross, thinking she was a he. The young girl was reportedly stunned to find out Cross was a woman.

Judge Rebecca Stern approved a plea agreement today. One charge was dismissed, and Cross pleaded guilty to felony statutory rape. She received a two year prison sentence, all of it suspended, and will be put on unsupervised probation for six years. She also has to register as a sex offender. Judge Stern also said she must change her driver’s license so that it lists her as a female, not a male.

AP vis SFgate

Arab lesbians quietly defied Islamist protesters and a social taboo to gather at a rare public event Wednesday in a northern Israeli city.

Many of the attendees said they were sad that the only place safe enough to hold a conference for gay Arab women was in a Jewish area of Haifa, which has a mixed Arab-Jewish population. Israel’s Jewish majority is generally tolerant of homosexuality

“This conference is being held, somehow, in exile, even though it’s our country,” said Yussef Abu Warda, a playwright.

Driven deep underground for the most part, only 10 to 20 Arab lesbians attended the conference, organizers said. Most blended in with Israeli lesbians and heterosexual Arab female supporters without making their presence known.

“We’d like all women to come out of the closet — that’s our role. We work for them,” said Samira, 31, a conference organizer who came with her Jewish Israeli girlfriend. Samira agreed to be identified only by her first name for fear of reprisals.

After reading the article, you may be reassured about your mother’s sex life. It’s not about that.

Democrat & Chronicle article