I grew up in the 80s- a far cry from my parent's days spent at Woodstock and serving in the Vietnam War. My
curiosity and fascination with all things from their generation leads me to want to discuss feminism as it relates to empowerment and sex. I have never considered myself a hardcore feminist- I'm all for standing up for yourself, equal opportunity and taking control over your life but a bra burning, man hating, overly aggressive female I am not. I am grateful for and appreciative of the sacrifices and struggles women have endured and overcome, I know their hardships and triumphs have paved the way for the women of mine and future generations.
That being said, I am quite content to play the role of housewife in a modern sense. I take care of the kids while Dave is at work, I plan the meals, I run the errands, I keep the house fairly clean and functioning. I am not Donna Reed or Martha Stuart. I don't claim to be organized or anally tidy and am in fact usually quite the opposite. As I write this, I sit in the pajamas I woke up in while dinner goes largely unplanned and uncooked at 6:30 pm and my husband bathes one of the kids, who just puked all over the living room.
(Let me wander astray for a quick minute and just say that this is one of the many awesome things about Dave- we divide and conquer and he is cool with that. I did the dirty clean up and laundry, he took the poor sick kiddo upstairs and got him into a nice warm tub. He doesn't care that I have no clue what to cook tonight, he's perfectly happy to grab a pizza once the little ones go to bed. Okay back on topic.)
So I used the term modern housewife. I said that because in our family, while the basic outline of our roles is "traditional" nothing is set in stone, I don't have a rigid agenda for running my household and Dave is always an integral part of contributing to family life. He knows that in addition to my wifely duties I need time to work on artistic endeavors, to be inspired and manage my jewelry business. I also need time to be lazy. (Hey, Dave gets to lounge in his pj's all weekend long, waking up whenever he feels like it and watching football to his heart's content. I also rarely ask him not to hang with the guys and I'll basic give it up whenever he asks for it. Give and take, remember that.)
Somewhere when I started this post I planned to get to the topic of sex. What is a normal healthy sex life, and do I have one? (And moreover, how do I plan to tie this in to speaking of feminism and sexual evolution?) I'm getting there, I promise. First, what defines normal? Is it sex every day, sex a couple of times a week or sex once a month? Is it mainstream missionary style, a little bit of oral sex on special occasions, is it at night, under the cover of darkness?
I met Dave in my early 20s and while he wasn't the sort of guy I typically fell for, there was something there that made me want to know more. We began a flirtatious dialogue at work, hanging out far past the end of our scheduled shifts and then finally making the leap to "getting together" at my place one Saturday night. The run down of our evening was this- lousy TV that was neither entertaining or distracting, a little pot smoking and a ton of nervous anticipation- when might he reach over and touch me or try to kiss me and then the moment- I remember my heart fluttering as I took a breath to speak, he touched my chin lightly with his finger and turned my face to his. He was so self assured as he leaned in and kissed me with the softest lips I'd ever felt. We fooled around on my horribly uncomfortable third hand couch for probably close to half an hour when I made a decision that a lot of people would consider totally stupid considering this was technically our first "date": I invited him into my bedroom.
It was dark, but not pitch black, and I could see the outline of his body standing in the middle of the room. I reached out and found his belt, unbuckled, unbuttoned and unzipped then proceeded to give this virtual stranger an unabashedly messy but soulful blow job. I couldn't believe how right it felt, how bizarre it was that this was totally out of my character and yet I never wanted to do anything more for anyone than I did in that moment. We followed up with a fab little roll in the sack- nothing outrageous but definitely memorable. Lots of licking, tasting and smelling (god, this man smells delicious!) our hands explored, our senses heightened, orgasms abounding. Definitely a wonderful night and the start of a truly interesting sexual journey with the man who would become my husband, my best friend, and my partner in life.
This new and unapologetic Lana was so freeing, I did it on my terms and everything felt right. And the weird thing is that I never once worried about what Dave would think of me, if he'd call me again, if I'd made a horrible mistake. I didn't feel the need to call him 5 minutes after he left, I didn't need to know where he was and what he was doing when I wasn't around. This turned out to be a life altering moment in my life. To feel fulfilled and happy and not in need of anyone but myself at a given moment. Therein lies the power for me. Is that feminism or whorish? Maybe a little bit of both?
Dave did call me, actually I think he called me the next afternoon. We made a plan to go out on an actual date. Dinner at Chili's and to the movies to see Boogie Nights (lol, the topic of sex seemed to be out on the table from moment one with us, huh?) I'm not squeamish, sex intrigues me and I'd never been with anyone who was so open to explore and share sexual "deviancies" with me before. (I'm not saying Boogie Nights was wildly inappropriate date material just that many might opt for something a bit less in your face at the start of a new relationship).
And so our relationship began and so it continues. The more we get to know each other, the more intimate we feel we can be. And on that note, after more than a decade of sex with the same man, I now find myself in a place where letting go of control and power in the bedroom gives me a new found sense of power over my sexual being. I admit to watching porn and loving it as well as to building an arsenal of sex toys- and these last six months or so, the more hardcore the better. Things that I found disgusting and even a little amusing are now arousing and exciting for me. I've learned some new terms, picked up some new skills and had many, many multiple orgasms.
Touching on feminism once more as I wrap up this gigantic entry, I would be remiss in my writing if I didn't nod to a
certain male oriented magazine and the outcries from feminists the world over when it released a very controversial cover. Outspoken feminists were
appalled by the magazine in general- Women are not meat! We are not objects! And here I sit, laughing at the clever way they turned those words into memorable cover art. So as I sit here pondering if I am a shitty feminist or a feminist at all, I have to tell you that, for me, there is something indescribably sexy about trusting someone so completely that you can hand the reigns over to them. Let them be the one to decide what the boundaries are. I have no problem being used for sexual pleasure by Dave; I know he'll call me in the morning. ;)
