The Sexpert

Dr. Brian: No Stigmas Attached
Ah, women. For once couldn’t you just drop your prim and proper ways, throw us men onto the couch and take advantage of us? Rumor is that men are getting a little tired of always initiating sex with their wives. In fact, this isn’t just a rumor. Studies show that men initiate twice as many times as women.

You know, us men are all about equal opportunity, especially in the bedroom. Men understand that way back when, women were supposed to be subservient to their man.

Couples are often worried about what will happen to their sex life after they have a baby. Will it be difficult to make time? Will we still be physically attracted to each other, and how much time will we have to wait after delivery before we can be intimate again? What will a new little person in our house mean to our sex life, and how will we adjust to the needs of the baby while still making time for ourselves?

The sexual implications of having a baby are twofold. First, there are the physical considerations and second there are the psychological factors.

Everybody has fantasies they don’t share with others. They can be fantasies of striking it rich or fantasies of becoming so successful in your chosen career path that your colleagues fall into a hushed, respectful silence whenever you enter the room.

And then there are sex fantasies, which can be a grating source of tension in a marriage, and which are as often as deliberately hushed-up as opinions about in-laws or weight gain.

Okay I admit it, along with being a closeted Madonna girl (so shoot me for liking "bad" 1980s music) I’m an avid horoscope reader. While looking at my 2008 forecast, it seems the next sixteen years will fill my Virgo life with romance. Sweet! However, I then jealously found out the next sixteen years promise Gemini’s hot and steamy sex.

It got me thinking. Can the stars really predict what’s going on in your bedroom? Not only that, but could a couple use this knowledge to help a flagging sex life?

Okay I admit it, along with being a closeted Madonna girl (so shoot me for liking "bad" 1980s music) I’m an avid horoscope reader. While looking at my 2008 forecast, it seems the next sixteen years will fill my Virgo life with romance. Sweet! However, I then jealously found out the next sixteen years promise Gemini’s hot and steamy sex.

It got me thinking. Can the stars really predict what’s going on in your bedroom? Not only that, but could a couple use this knowledge to help a flagging sex life?

There are definitive psychological dangers to not getting enough sex. A healthy sex life confers a wealth of side benefits, such as cardiovascular exercise, a lower incidence of cold and flu, better sleep, longer life, reduced depression, and surprisingly, an improved sense of smell!

But is too much sex possible? Are there physical perils to making sex an every night ritual? Do people clamor for a miracle drug to dull the senses of an overzealous spouse in the bedroom?

Valentine’s Day. Besides being the second largest occasion to give greeting cards, it is a time when florists and restaurants are running themselves ragged.

So I got to thinking. Could Valentine’s Day be a metaphor for the average married couples sex life? That is, come Valentine’s Day there arrives a lovely card, maybe flowers, maybe a box of candies—if it is an extra special occasion, a pleasant meal. Like many couples, the celebration is nice and routine with no shocking surprises.