Comments on Living Oprah: V is for...Mature Audiences Only

Oh LauraJean, I hear you about the boyfriend! I ma...

2008-11-06T07:57:00.000-06:00

Oh LauraJean, I hear you about the boyfriend! I made a card for my husband explaining the surrender date. He just nodded and smiled. That was a few days ago. So this morning I asked him, "When are we going to have our date?" He just said, "I don't know." AARGH! Silly man!

LauraJean:You would be surprised what women don't ...

2008-11-05T23:08:00.000-06:00

LauraJean:

You would be surprised what women don't know about their bodies.

I'm going to have to read more about this surrender date thing. I'm a bit like Wendi in the my boyfriend likes me to be in charge all the time. I've told him repeatedly that I'd like him to plan a date for us. Time to remind him again. I like the 10 Second kissing assignment tho. R is a good kisser!!!!

Ugh, I recently took a look down there and immedia...

2008-11-04T16:50:00.000-06:00

Ugh, I recently took a look down there and immediately regretted it. After two babies it looks like a war zone. Just an empty landscape littered with the debris of vaginal war. So sad.

And I'm glad I'm not you b/c I cannot do the 10 second kissing assigment unless I want to have sex every single day of my life which I don't, thank you very much because my husband can't kiss for more than one second without going ding dong bong.

I could not believe that a grown woman does not know where her clitoris is located. Wouldn't you just stumble across it while horse back riding, sitting near the jet in a jacuzzi, stradling anything, playing in the sprinklers as a kid? Something? Jeez. That was sad.

I liked this Oprah expert a lot though doesn't it just figure that the sex therapist guru is pretty hot. I'd be afraid my husband would start fantasizing about her...or that I would....

Enjoy your assignments. I'm sure your mirror inspection will go much better than mine.

Just a thought - the ads may have been to please t...

2008-11-04T16:19:00.000-06:00

Just a thought - the ads may have been to please the censors ... I don't know what the rules are, but I know they have them.

I thought the mature audience messages were oft re...

2008-11-04T14:13:00.000-06:00

I thought the mature audience messages were oft repeated, but wasn't really taken aback. I think it's perfectly fine for kids and parents to chat about sex, at the appropriate age. And hopefully those initial conversations are in a space that is comfortable for parents and kids.

I asked a friend for a second opinion - she has two sons, aged 10 and 8. She agreed, saying t.v. is going overboard with sex, making sensitive topics even harder for parents. Her example was the deluge of Cialis ads that aired during the MLB playoffs - her older son is starting to understand, and the ads were even making him uncomfortable. In her words "I should be able to let my kids watch baseball without having to police commercials. Kids are going to grow up soon enough without television speeding up the process."

I sent this to LO already, but was anyone else tak...

2008-11-04T12:53:00.000-06:00

I sent this to LO already, but was anyone else taken aback by the constant "mature audience" warnings when she has never warned anyone to keep their kids away during one of her shows about rape, genocide, homocide, etc...? I've seen and heard some pretty strong stuff on the show yet Oprah (or her crew) were worried that kids might hear about sex. Which is probably just a result of our cultures concern about keeping sex a secret while violence and violent images are commonplace. Geez, even the video game commercials these days scare me!

I was a big dummy. I don't tape the shows and they...

2008-11-04T12:23:00.000-06:00

I was a big dummy. I don't tape the shows and they only air while I'm at work. But I really, really wanted to tape this one. I LOVE Dr. Berman (Bergman? So much for my love).

I have a lot of issues - even now, having a hard time writing anything - regarding sex. Let's just say that my husband is a saint!

So I popped on over to the website and started reading about the show. Everything written about Deb was like reading about myself. I don't have kids, but often times I feel like my husband is just a big giant kid. I work full time, but there's this weird under current that it's my responsibility to be in charge of the household. Our family has nicknames: My husband's nickname is Bear. Our cats are called Monkey. Our bird's name is Charlie so we nicknamed him Tuna (Charlie Tuna...chicken of the sea). So I asked my husband what my animal nickname was. Two days later he finally answered me and said I wasn't an animal at all. I was the Zookeeper. While as flattering as that is - I'm the one that takes care of everyone - I AM the one that takes care of everyone and everything! Yeah, he cooks but I clean, do the laundry blah blah blah.

So sex is like just one more thing I have to take care of.

Anyway, I'm going to try this surrendering date thing. I'm also going to tell him about the kissing 10 seconds thing. Maybe, hopefully, it'll jump start the libido again.

Wow...okay...maybe I should post this anonymously?

I don't think the information was entirely new. H...

2008-11-04T12:02:00.000-06:00

I don't think the information was entirely new. However, the information was packaged in a new, helpful way.
I loved the idea of surrender, 10s kisses and reiteration of how much time it takes to achieve orgasm for men and women. It's empowering to have this type of data available.

It makes me sad that some women (and men) do not know where everything is or they are scared to look at themselves. This type of information is readily available in encyclopedias, human anatomy books and in many other places. I hope this show empowered many women to get to know themselves.

Hi LO! First, today, hafta bust your chops a litt...

2008-11-04T11:31:00.000-06:00

Hi LO! First, today, hafta bust your chops a little - in a very fun way. At a training session yesterday with our new Web developers, we chatted over lunch, first about yoga, and then I mentioned my fave instructor was also doing this project, etc etc, to which the women on the team gushed "You KNOW Living Oprah????!!!" and the one, lonely guy on the team looked around at us and sighed... UH OH! So you've got lots of "non blogging fans" out there too!

Got home last evening and loved this show. The first time I (accidentally) watched an Oprah sex show, my mother was in the room. Luckily, we had already consumed almost an entire bottle of wine before Dr Christine Northrup ecouraged women everwhere to "Talk to your clitoris! Tell her she's beautiful!" - the object being increased arousal. My. Poor. Mother. She's no prude, of course, but I think the initial shock was greatly softened by the Merlot. So I texted mom last night to ask if she'd done the "Vulva" homework and got a very funny "mom like" reply...

I too found the couples therapy fasciniating, along with the stats about people in sexless marriages/relationships. And I espeically appreciated the emphasis on hormone changes for peri-menopausal women - girls, when you get to the right age you can ask your doctor to run a hormone level test along with your other bloodwork, esp if you feel your body's response changing. And I loved loved loved how supportive the husband was; his loving approach contributed a lot, I thought, to her being able to finally open up about her fears, desires etc.

The surrender date... Wow - really interesting to watch us try to let go of control, OR, our natural role in a relationship. I loved her "Well, how are you going to get where you're going without me to navigate?"

In all, well done show, and they did a good job cautioning parents to keep the kids out of the room. In case anyone thought that was overkill, I once babysat for my step-bro's two kids, pretty young at the time. The kids were watching Animal Planet, and as I was buzzing around the kitchen making snacks, on the t.v. I overhear one of the 50 most amazing animal facts: "The male pig is capable of achieving a 15 minute orgasm..." I paused, nearly dropped the peanut butter knife, and quietly waited to hear if anyone would inquire... I was off the hook, the moment passed.

When I told my step-bro and his wife, she laughed and said "yeah, you think they didn't hear that comment... but what do you want to bet that a month from now, we'll have a dinner party, and Sarah will announce it to the entire table..." LMAO! So, good job on the parental warnings all through the show.

OK, I like vajayjay ... I think of it every night ...

2008-11-04T10:37:00.000-06:00

OK, I like vajayjay ... I think of it every night when I put on my "pajayjays" before bed. Of course, I was familiarized with the term on "Best Week Ever" when they showed Oprah in a zipline harness hollering about her VJJ.

My naturopath doc has a mirror she found when her furnace man was using it to look under the furnace. It has a long handle and a nice angle. She asked where he bought his and took special delight in telling him why she wanted to know.

laurajeanette, I was surprised too, until I though...

2008-11-04T09:42:00.000-06:00

laurajeanette, I was surprised too, until I thought about the education I got in high school sex ed. The clitoris was not mentioned, nor were orgasms. In fact, the only teacher who ever referred to either was my psychology teacher during our human sexuality unit. That was probably the only class in which a teacher could talk about such things without raising a controversy.

All I want to say is I was shocked to find out tha...

2008-11-04T08:48:00.000-06:00

All I want to say is I was shocked to find out that soooo many women did not know about their clitoris. How can you be an adult woman and not know? How? Or how could you be an adult male even and not know? Seriously, people, seriously. Did they read Cosmo during study hall? No wonder these women aren't having sex.

LO - you're hilarious, insightful, smart, and you ...

2008-11-04T07:02:00.000-06:00

LO - you're hilarious, insightful, smart, and you give us something to think about. to all those dinging you for being "critical" i give a raspberry -- you DO say a lot of positive things, and, let me tell them, I was ANTI-Oprah til I read LO, and, while I'm still not an O Fan, now I have some good ideas and cool, positive things to do. (ex: i now savor my food...not a bad thing.)

I'm probably not your only Msian visitor. I don't ...

2008-11-03T23:48:00.000-06:00

I'm probably not your only Msian visitor. I don't remember how I first heard about LO. I visited early in the year, then forgot about it until about several weeks ago. Thank God for archives.

Yes, I watch Oprah sometimes. But still maybe more than a dude should, haha. I get a kick seeing my mum's reaction when watching the makeover episodes. Shoes make her drool.

We get Oprah over the satellite channel Hallmark. No sure if they're the latest, but I think they're fairly recent because I can understand a lot of what you're referring to.

I think, and I could be wrong, over here she's more famous with the English-speakers. The rest would probably know her as one of the world's richest businesswoman or as a media figure.

Please say hi to Jim for me.

I think any woman who has been given a guided tour...

2008-11-03T23:05:00.000-06:00

I think any woman who has been given a guided tour by her gyno should get a pass on the mirror thing. "There, at 9 o'clock...that's a cyst, nothing to worry about..." On the other hand, a cheap speculum and a flashlight made for an entertaining evening for my beloved when we were newlyweds...the things we do for love!

gohu, too cool! i've never heard from anyone from ...

2008-11-03T22:54:00.000-06:00

gohu, too cool! i've never heard from anyone from Malaysia. if you have a moment to write, i'd love to know how the heck you heard of this site! and do you watch oprah? so, i asked jim if living with me is a laugh-a-minute-joy-ride. he looked a me a bit blankly. clearly, he was overwhelmed with joy, he was SPEECHLESS. so, yes - you're right - he thinks i'm hilarious. thanks so much for writing! xoLO

Hi, LO! Greetings all the way from sunny Malaysia....

2008-11-03T22:48:00.000-06:00

Hi, LO! Greetings all the way from sunny Malaysia.

The sexy, leadership pants stuff: one of the funniest thing I've ever heard! I imagine you have Jim laughing himself off the sofa everyday.

OMG anon, that's sit-com-perfect timing. love it. ...

2008-11-03T22:26:00.000-06:00

OMG anon, that's sit-com-perfect timing. love it. i think in the sit-com, your elderly neighbor (who i just made up) would do a big spit take and her golden retriever would cover his ears with his paws.

xoLO

Our local broadcaster cut the audio feed when Dr. ...

2008-11-03T22:09:00.000-06:00

Our local broadcaster cut the audio feed when Dr. Berman first showed her diagram with labeled body parts. I kept cranking up the volume to no avail. Someone at the station flipped the audio switch back on when my volume control was at its loudest, so my neighbors heard, "...AND THAT'S YOUR VULVA!" before I could lower the sound to a normal level. If you knew my neighbors it would be particularly humorous.

And I agree with you - vajayjay has got to go.

Great blog, by the way!

iamsusie, that is so funny. i wouldn't be so thril...

2008-11-03T22:04:00.000-06:00

iamsusie, that is so funny. i wouldn't be so thrilled if i were your brother, either!

mtv, haha! i can't believe anyone heard that!

anon, this is a critical project - of oprah, of myself, of the media, of the way we women get sucked into following icons and get drawn away from trusting our guts. so, in all honestly, i'm not going to stop being critical of anyone. myself included. i think questioning and asking "WHY?" is one of the most powerful tools we have and when we stop using that right, we become complacent and become numbed by the status quo. you'll also notice, i have really positive things to say about oprah too. i'm sure there are folks who probably think i say too many nice things. i'm never going to make everyone happy, so the best i can do is say what i feel and share the platform so you can add your own thoughts as well.

thanks y'all!
xoLO

Are you going to continue to be sp hypercritical o...

2008-11-03T21:56:00.000-06:00

Are you going to continue to be sp hypercritical of Oprah? I agree with the anonymous commenter. You got your book deal...

LO!commercial break here on the "left" coast and i...

2008-11-03T18:43:00.000-06:00

LO!

commercial break here on the "left" coast and i had to log on & see how happy you'd be re: the genitalia lesson. i thought i heard a 'hurrah' earlier today! must have been you...lol

I was taught to say "penis" "vagina" "urinate" and...

2008-11-03T18:23:00.000-06:00

I was taught to say "penis" "vagina" "urinate" and "BM" for bowel movement. My brother didn't really like BM because those are his initials.

EB - oy! la-la?! imagine the kids' embarrassment w...

2008-11-03T17:38:00.000-06:00

EB - oy! la-la?! imagine the kids' embarrassment when they have to sing Deck The Halls in the school xmas pageant this year?! omg - when i was a girl, i was taught to call everything my "area" - as in, did you wash your area when you took your bath tonight? i adore my mom, as most of you have read, but she might have missed the mark on that one. sorry mom!
xoLO

LO, love this post. "vajayjay" has always made me ...

2008-11-03T17:33:00.000-06:00

LO, love this post. "vajayjay" has always made me feel slightly ill-at-ease. I'm glad someone stood up for the correct name! On a side note: Two friends with kids recently told me how they were having a hard time curbing their small kids' language: the kids heard a friend saying "vagina," and the kids picked up on it, but the parents were aghast -- and wanted their kids to say "la-la," not "vagina." Yikes!