???The spotlight has paused upon the female orgasm. Sex has left behind the idea of one-sided satisfaction, and women are taking advantage of this revolution.
???Last month, the New York Times published "Pleasure Principle," an article about a coed commune in San Francisco whose sole purpose was to achieve the female orgasm. During group sessions, men and women sit amongst each other and the men assist the women in orgasmic meditation, or as they call it "OMing".
???Nicole Daedone, the creator of the One Taste Urban Retreat Center, has fashioned a world where love and romance are eliminated, leaving an expressway to female satisfaction.
???The article left me with more questions than answers. Have we become so oversexed that the new afterschool hobby is group masturbation? And what about the men?
???People should feel comfortable enough with their own bodies to achieve sexual freedom, but the idea of a life focused entirely on happy endings sounds a little like a bad porno or a scam for the millions of women who go through life deprived of the almighty climax.
???I can't be the only person left in the world who believes in stable relationships, dating and keeping things in the bedroom. Am I a prude to think that sex is still personal, or at least not a form of public "meditation"?
???Finding "the one" can be a tough task, but limiting oneself to cultish living and pre-planned foreplay seems even less spicy than a good old-fashioned vibrator.
???The dating pool has not gotten smaller. There are still plenty of fish in the sea, and there is no need to turn to a matchmaker who prides herself on making members sleep in bunk beds and succumb to controlled consummation.
???Do the men in this group understand that they are only being used as workhorses? I ask, because this whole thing seems to me like an attempt at female domination: after creating a blue-ball epidemic, the men will fall to their knees and beg for mercy.
???Poor guys.
???All I can imagine is men being lured in by the promise of daily contact with the female anatomy. And, like most men, they put their brain on the back burner for this decision, ignoring the fine print, which reads something like: "You will be doing all the manual labor and will get nothing in return."
???Or maybe our world has become so sex-hungry that the normal dating game doesn't fulfill our needs anymore. Maybe we need an underground sex lair to go "OM" in and feel truly satisfied, at least for the females. Sorry, guys.
???If chivalry is not dead, this certainly ought to do it: no more doors being held open, helpful strong arms to carry heavy bags and move furniture, or someone to kill spiders. Nope, all that has been transformed into service groups that emphasize female pleasure instead of the shared experience of two people who care for each other.??
Women have been fighting for equality for decades, and it seems that finally we are receiving respect, equal pay, and roles of leadership, but the fight was for equal rights, not female supremacy.
This group does instill female empowerment and I am sure all intentions are, for the most part, genuine - but come on.
???If you want meditation, take a yoga class.
???If you need sex, put yourself out there and find someone.
???I can imagine moving away and having my mother call and ask about my dating life - and explaining to her that she need not worry about my single status any longer, because I have joined a group where I am paired with a random stranger who helps me climax in a room surrounded by creepers doing the exact same thing! This is the day she has been waiting for.
???I don't think that Romeo and Juliet, Fred and Wilma, or Adam and Eve had this in mind when they first did the dirty deed, but as with the seasons, sex changes with each generation, adding new toys, new tricks and new standards.
???It's a whole new ball game - and the women seem to be scoring all the runs this inning.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
