[Air] Sex in Japan

I like the reaction from the women:

"It was disgusting. They haven't a clue what women want."

lol

Marriage Hunting Bra

I'm not sure what to make of this. Obviously it's making a lot of people point and laugh at Japan for creating something so ridiculous, but it's also important to note that this is not a product being sold to the public. It was created for an event.

I'd like to believe that this was an attempt to make a statement about the overly marriage-centric culture in Japan that seems to permeate the notion that if you're a woman and you're not married by age 30 then something is wrong with you—like, you have a career—but I have my doubts.

Basically, there's a countdown that the wearer can set for when she would like to be married by, and a slot to insert an engagement ring. Once the ring is inserted, it plays the traditional "here comes the bride" wedding song. There are also two pockets containing a pen and a seal in order to be able to complete the marriage registration ASAP—I guess in case she's running low on time. Though I'm not sure what happens if the timer reaches zero before the wearer finds a husband.

And those two big detachable hearts are. . . pot holders?

Back from the "Lovezone" (edited--now 50% more sober)

The relationships, or marriages, that people find themselves locked into for years and sometimes decades, can be really depressing. Although I can't predict the course of my own relationship, I'd like to believe that I've taken the right steps in avoiding a sexless future with a woman in whom I have only a fading interest.

This is a part of our culture that needs some attention. Because we mostly get two images crammed through our eye-sockets from cradle to grave: two people fall in-love, get married, and then the implied happily ever after; the second is a glimpse at a miserably apathetic couple in a dull routine of a marriage.

Both scenarios are equally ludicrous and, worse still, damaging because they promote a passive attitude towards marriage. They give the impression that the only thing you need to do is find a partner and the rest will play itself out. Because marriage is such a natural thing it couldn't possibly require any more effort than talking away the occasional problems. Oh, and misery? That's just a natural part of that union.

The truth is that marriage along with monogamous relationships in general require plenty of effort, flexibility, and a degree of balanced compromise on the part of both partners to an extent that our culture has failed to acknowledge. And without those things, they do not work. And people should not tolerate these kinds of relationships.

We all know that misery is part of life. But if your relationship is causing you to be miserable, changes need to happen. Monogamy is not going to work for everyone, all the time; Missionary-position sex is not going to work for everyone, all the time; Living under the same roof as husband and wife is not always the ideal situation for all married couples. And by adhering to the established relationship conventions, we may be setting ourselves up for problems down the line.

More thought and discussion needs to be put into the arrangements of a partnership. And in order for that to happen, we need the permission from our culture to make these adjustments and still feel like we're living a normal life.