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I’ve been a big fan of Cosmopolitan since I started taking them out of my older sister’s room and letting their kinky sex advice take my imagination places it had no business going as a teen (but I was just reading, not participating in any X-rated activity if you were wondering). But once I got older and really wanted to get the low down on getting down, I found that some of the magazine’s sex advice was a little random. And when I would try their tips, I would often get sent off while attempting to arouse my partner and search for the male G-spot (ME: “Does that feel good?” DUDE: Uh…not really, I can’t feel anything actually.”). All in all, I still love the magazine (especially for their more serious stories) and don’t mind reading the sex advice, but now I just skim over and take them all with a grain of salt (hey, you have to do that with some of our love advice pieces too)…especially after reading these nine very non-arousing forms of 4play and fun in the sack.

*NOTE: Because of censorship stuff with WordPress, certain sexual words and references had to be changed.

Image: VanityFair.com

Everyone is reading Fifty Shades of Grey… and this is good for more than just a little spicy time in the boudoir, if you know what I mean.

It appears that sales of the book series have given a welcome boost to bookseller Barnes & Noble. The company reported a sales increase for the first quarter, with revenue going up 2.5 percent to $1.45 billion, although the company still reported $41 million in losses. B&N was also aided by the liquidation of one of its competitors, Borders and  strong company sales of the Nook device. B&N just recently announced that they were knocking $20 off the price of the e-reader and they’re expanding that business to Britain.

“During the first quarter, we continued to see improvement in both our rapidly growing Nook business, which saw digital content sales increase 46 percent during the quarter, and at our bookstores, which continue to benefit from market consolidation and strong sales of the Fifty Shades series,” company CEO William Lynch said in an earnings statement.

And it’s not just Barnes & Noble that’s getting a boost. The company behind Trojan vibrators attributes healthy sales to the book’s popularity. Shoe brand Stuart Weitzman has named a new boot the “Fifty-Fifty” after the book series. And makeup line Bobbi Brown has a new line of colors inspired by the books. And these are just a few of the things that are coming to stores or will be there in the near future.

As they say, sex sells.

Source: YourTango.com

From YourTango.com 

This becomes a vicious cycle, completely emotionally exhausting. Over time, it looks like love addiction. Unable to bond in a healthy way, this couple bonds in an addictive way; I can’t live with you and I can’t live without you.

The draw to this kind of guy is powerful for women who are trying to heal their own childhood wounds. Deep down, she wants to bring him out of the darkness of his wounded soul, draw him into the light and heal him. By so doing, she proves something to herself — that she is special and worthy of the attention, love and desires of this compelling man. There’s just one tiny problem: it doesn’t work.

Contrary to fantasy fiction, you cannot heal the wounded guy with love. He needs several swift emotional kicks in the butt. He needs loads of “tough love,” not the “sweet, I-adore-you” kind of love you want to give him. His healing cannot come from you being his Mommy, the one he didn’t have before.

He needs to hit rock bottom and experience a dramatic loss before he can begin to heal. The pain of doing what he’s always done has to be greater than the pain of change. Because his wounds have compelled him to do so much damage, he needs to experience remorse. There are other steps, but they are best taken in a therapeutic setting, not in the course of a relationship. Big clue: most of them never do heal because they don’t allow themselves to be vulnerable enough to be hurt enough to have to change.

Read the rest of the article at YourTango.com. 

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