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    Since releasing the terms "blowjob queen" and "fuck and
    run" into
    the rock lexicon in 1993, Liz Phair has been music's reigning queen
    of candor. There's no sexual paradigm she
    didn't apply any number of stun guns to,
    from embracing minivan-driving
    mommyhood to baring her mainstream ambitions with a terrific album
    of radio-ready pop late last year. (The most
    quoted song
    on the
    record is "H.W.C," a.k.a. "Hot White Come.") Taking time
    out from touring the album, Liz whips out her sexual-adventure kit and
    goes where no pop
    star
    has gone
    before: into
    the
    Hooksexup mailbag,
    to answer
    reader questions about love, loss and inadequate lubrication. Here's part
    one. We hope to have her back. — Michael Martin








    Hey Liz,

    I'm in my late 30s, female and basically
    gay. I'm cute
    (in a Mary Lou Retton-at-a-Pink-concert kind of way) and in my
    sexual prime, but I live in a small, semi-conservative college town. There
    are no gay bars, no "out" crowds. However, I contend that every
    woman is a few beers away from bisexuality. Is it appropriate to flirt
    with, cruise and try to pick up random
    girls
    if I find them
    attractive, regardless of their sexual orientation? — Exiled in Guyville




    Dear Exiled:

    promotion

    A couple of things pop into my mind here. First of all,
    if you're going to "turn" a hetero girl, it's basically like stealing
    somebody's boyfriend. You might be able to date
    that
    stolen person, but she's always going
    to grapple with that issue, and you won't be able to have a normal relationship.
    When you're dating someone who's gone same-sex for the first time, you have
    two issues at hand: a) do we like each other?, and b) is she comfortable
    with
    her identity?
    That's
    a big
    pain
    in the
    ass. It's hard enough to have a relationship, period.


    Seek
    out
    someone
    who self-identifies as bisexual or lesbian. You don't
    want to deal with
    all that shit. You don't want to sit through hours and hours of talking
    about how they feel about their identity. If you're
    in your late 30s, you just want to have great sex with someone
    who's a lot of fun and is ready to be supportive. In sum: screen.
    Don't
    just
    go
    after the women you find
    attractive. That's another important issue: when you're not having sex,
    everyone looks hot. But when you're actually trying those people
    out —
    like
    kissing
    them or
    smelling
    them
    or whatever
    — they're not. Half the people who look amazing are just shitty
    in bed. So
    seek out the sexually comfortable, and cut
    down
    the
    odds
    against
    you.




    Dear Liz,

    Whenever I meet a girl, I fall into one of two categories: "Just a
    Friend"
    or "Full-On Boyfriend." Usually, I'm into being a boyfriend, but having
    recently been released by my last girlfriend, I just want to meet some
    girls and
    fuck. However, I never seem to be able to convey that to women. They just
    don't
    see me that way. I've never had a sexual relationship that didn't turn
    serious, and I worry I'm missing out on the best sex of my
    life. How
    can
    I make girls stop thinking, "What a nice guy" and make them think, "I
    want him to bend me over this bar right now"? — Too Good
    to be Screwed



    Hey Screwed:

    Even if you succeed in making women want you to "bend them
    over the bar right now," if you do it well, they're gonna want to
    keep you as a boyfriend. Fact. Women want a guy
    who
    can
    make
    them feel
    that way, because so few do. I think
    Eddie
    Murphy said it best, “If you’re making them go [ten seconds
    of loud panting, followed by whooping
    ], they want you."



    You say you're a nice guy. Well, nice guys just don't have cheap sex
    with women. My best advice is to take a page out of the book of assholes.
    Assume that identity. Be a player. Go to a bar and just tell a hot girl
    everything
    she wants to hear: “You
    are soooo beautiful. I'm really looking for a girlfriend right now. I want
    to get very very serious
    .” Just fuckin' lay it on thick. Chances
    are she'll immediately say, “Yeah, this guy's
    full of shit,” but she'll probably sleep with you anyway. And
    when she calls you, just don't call her back.



    You can't have the spoils of an asshole
    without
    being an asshole. If you want the spoils of an asshole, I think it's
    your right. You sound like the kind of guy who's going to grow up and be
    solidly
    married
    and maybe Christian. So get to know what it's like to be an asshole. But
    you're gonna have to really be that asshole. And that asshole
    is always running
    away from the
    telephone, and he's always bumping into
    the girl he slept with last week while he's got a new girl on
    his arm. That's the price you're going
    to have to pay!



    Dear Liz:

    I'm a twenty-five-year-old woman, and my boyfriend of more than
    a year is a spoiled baby when it comes to oral sex. I pleasure him orally
    every
    day,
    but he
    refuses
    to
    return
    the
    favor.
    Every single time I ask him to do it, he simply says ‘someday' and …


    Sorry, I have to cut you off. This is a deal-breaker. Run run run. I will
    not help you; I will not treat you. You must break up with him. This relationship
    cannot be saved.





    Dear Liz:

    Whenever my girlfriend and I have sex and I bring her to
    the point of no return, she always stops me right before she has an
    orgasm. We have been together for over a year and she has never orgasmed
    for me. I can understand that I can't expect it every time but to actually
    stop someone when you're about to have one is beyond me. How can I get
    her to loosen up and let me let her get off? — Guy Interrupted



    Dear Guy:

    I know exactly how to do this. And I almost hate to say it, but you have
    to take control. There's an erotic thing
    you
    can
    do where
    you're
    whispering
    in her
    ear, but you're commanding
    her in a soft voice while you're touching her gently. You're
    not scaring her, you're not forcing her. Your
    body's on top of her, and you're not allowing her to squirm away.
    This is probably going to arouse her, because it sounds like she has an
    inability to allow herself to let go. She needs permission; she needs
    someone to demand that
    she
    come. So you've got to do this in this insistent, whispery way, in her
    ear. Create this erotic story. Tell her where you're going and what you're
    doing and that you're just going to keep doing it, it doesn't matter
    how long it takes, and she's gonna be a good girl, and da da
    da, just for you.


    This is where the feminists come in,
    shrieking, ‘What
    are you saying?' There's a real fine line here. Listen, if she has real
    issues — if she's ever been abused
    in any way — of course you need to find that out. She could have
    had some real trauma in her life that's inhibiting her. But if she's just
    one of
    those girls
    who
    grew up thinking she wasn't
    supposed to feel this way, or that her hootchie was gross or
    something like that, you need to be gently — let
    me restate this — gently insistent.
    Keep
    whispering in her ear and work it out ‘til she can't stop.





    Dear
    Liz:



    I'm a young woman who has always had very conservative boyfriends.
    Do you have any advice for spicing up my current relationship with my
    new man? What do you think is the best way to approach threesomes?
    Orgies?
    — Aspiring Groupie



    Dear Groupie,

    I've always been a one-on-one kind of person. Orgies and threesomes don't
    appeal to me, and sometimes I suspect they appeal to other people because
    intimacy is a problem for some of the parties involved. Now, I've watched Real
    Sex
    — I
    can see there are people who really like to be with a lot of other people,
    and that's great for them. I can't speak on that, because that's not me.


    Whenever
    I've wanted to "spice up my life," it's usually because
    I'm having trouble being vulnerable with someone, and I'm trying to
    distract myself
    with, like, circus antics. And it's never as gratifying as a truly intimate
    experience with
    another person. Because I don't know your boyfriend, I don't know how
    to get him to be better in bed or more exciting, but I think some emotional
    connection, some intimacy, is missing. Usually I don't get really hot
    for somebody until I've gotten to know them. It's unavoidable that
    intimacy leads to innovation.
    One
    more thing:
    I
    didn't hear you say you loved him. If he's not
    doing it for you, get a different boyfriend. Find someone you can
    love, and the sex will be better.
     







    Liz
    Phair's latest single, "Extraordinary," is at radio now. Click here
    to buy the album. Click here for Liz's official website.




    Send your questions to .













    ©2004 hooksexup.com, Inc.


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    Commentarium (34 Comments)

    Feb 26 04 - 7:25am
    jb

    She's good! Keep her!

    Feb 26 04 - 11:44am
    kl

    she's boring! Dump her!

    Feb 27 04 - 1:07am
    RM

    Wow -- some really good advice -- good find, Hooksexup!

    Feb 27 04 - 1:49am
    AMV

    Hey Ms. Phair! I'm going to be at your show in Vancouver next week... if you ask the crowd who's read your column on Hooksexup, I'll be the blond guy waving and cheering. What a combination of my two favourite things: Liz Phair and Hooksexup. Rock out!

    Feb 26 04 - 2:12pm
    MCH

    I'm an advice column junkie. I mean I read A LOT of advice columns across the spectrum and Liz Phair is the best sex advice columnist (with apologies to the recently departed Em and Lo) I've read in a long time. She should have a regular column somewhere if she gets bored being a rock star.

    Feb 26 04 - 2:21pm
    stj

    I thought her advice to Too Good To Be Screwed Was Awful. As somebody who has been sexually assualted by an asshole who was telling me what he thought I wanted to hear I didn't appreciate it. There are, believe it or not, some women out there who are not looking for a serious relationship, just sex, and I think that she should have encouraged him to seek those women out instead of telling him to be a lying dirtbag.

    Feb 26 04 - 2:48pm
    MJ

    Liz, you rock! Thanks for bringing the same full-on realness and candor you have in your lyrics to your sex advice!

    Feb 26 04 - 4:15pm
    jf

    Yay! I knew it, she's perfect for this. More, more, more!

    Feb 26 04 - 5:15pm
    edz

    Liz is great. Musically and intellectually. Her honesty always made me think of the M16 of Scarface "Say Hello to My Little Friend". pada...pada...pada...pada...pada...

    Althought I still love "Sex Advice From Cowboys!"

    Feb 26 04 - 6:24pm
    yah

    Intelligent! Well written! Such a refreshing change! can you hire her permanently??

    Feb 26 04 - 8:36pm
    sr

    This great woman is just sharing in the upfront- artist- way. Why call it "sex advice"?? "Personal Advice From LF" has a much better ring. Where ever we are as a culture we must be past the era of the sex advice column. Everything blends together, everything merges. Em and Lo were cute, but that shit now would make you want to stick a finger down your throat! Far better an oppurtunity to have Liz just...share. My guess is that she pecked out your feature laughing and thinking---in a light-hearted way---what twigged out assholes you all are! Go Liz! I love that your records are sometimes so fearsome...and then you can also be gentle. Thanks.

    Feb 26 04 - 9:33pm
    SJM

    Say Liz, if the music thing doesn't work out, maybe you should consider writing your own column. Pretty adroit for a newcomer.

    Feb 26 04 - 10:51pm
    sb

    keep her keep her keep her. she's honest and broadens the scope which is rare and refreshing for this sort of thing. it never really is just about sex, is it?

    Feb 27 04 - 12:25am
    wde

    i should say that it is only those who are uptight that complain about getting raw/dirty/role-playingly-dominant in bed. yeah, some feminists do, but other feminists are feminists because they like to get raw as hell in the sack. autonomy and pleasure go hand in hand. check out the sex/erotic whatever issue of the utne reader with the pink cover--there's a good article about how americans are repressed about roughing it up during some ugly bumping.

    Feb 27 04 - 2:13am
    KK

    So good! I was so worried when Em & Lo took off for their book fair that I would never find funny, honest sex advice outside of Dan Savage. He's great, but sometimes the ladies say it best. Keep her!

    Feb 27 04 - 3:57am
    sb

    Damn you give good advice.

    Feb 27 04 - 9:08pm
    DS

    Great Column. She's good!

    Feb 28 04 - 11:42pm
    rd

    Some acute observation and advice here...Great move!

    Mar 01 04 - 1:17am
    efs

    she is very pretty

    Mar 01 04 - 1:51am
    JAB

    What is wrong with you people?? This is the absolute WORST advice I have ever read. I think Em and Lo would tell Liz Phair that her advice is awful and stereotypical nonsense. I should have expected to this from Liz Phair. She's made these type of comments in interviews for years.

    Let's see. First there is the line "Well, nice guys just don't have cheap sex with women". I am SO sick of the attitude that if you don't practice exclusive monogamy that you are a BAD person. This is a lot of intolerant Judeo-Christian nonsense! People are different! There is no one size fits all formula. Some people prefer a comitted monogamous relationship, and other people do NOT. As long as you are honest and respectful to people you should practice the sexuality of your choosing. And you can STILL be a nice person!

    Then should pulls out the stereotype that she suspects that people who are into threesomes and orgies probably have "intimacy issues". Not to mention the awful and borderline offensive advice (even though she qualifies it) of having the woman's boyfriend bascially hold her down and keep going to get her off (despite her protests)! Geesh! Though I think she is a decent songwriter I have always thought her personality left a lot to be desired. And this just proves it!

    Feb 29 04 - 9:45pm
    ew

    If I may: First off, Liz is fantastic! Hard to imagine an artist of such quality on Hooksexup (not a dis mind you--your site's second-rated-ness is endearing and why I keep coming back). Okay now for point #2. The person below who tore into Liz with such fervor is way off base. Obviously this is some clueless boho chick with a big time agenda (Hooksexup intern perhaps?). Who else would use: "geesh"? That's the telltale sign right there, and its fuckin' annoying. Peace:)

    Mar 01 04 - 1:38pm
    mfo

    Does anyone really care what Liz Phair thinks? (Certainly nobody cares what she sings about -- not lately, anyway.) I mean, the charm of Sex Advice from Cowboys notwithstanding, anyone who think an indie rock has-been can really truly give them insight about their lives, sexual or otherwise, is a sad case. Maybe it would have worked if Liz had just the tiniest bit of ironic distance from the whole thing, rather than treating it as if she were Abigail van Buren of the sex chats. Or maybe it would have worked if Hooksexup used her, oh I don't know, six years ago when she was still cool.

    Mar 01 04 - 11:37am
    yr

    Now here's a girl that doesn't pretend to be someone she's not, nor offer tongue-and-cheek advice because she's trying to humor the audience. She rocks, not to mention her impressivley wise advice. Please return!!!

    Mar 02 04 - 2:46pm
    xo

    It's sort of interesting to find out about a pop star's personal beliefs. But as far as this being actual advice, it's immature, stereotypical, old-fashioned, and just plain bad. Be an asshole? Orgies are for losers? Feminists don't like BDSM? Come on, that's so retro. I love Liz as a musician and lyricist, but as an advice giver, she's unfunny and un-nuanced.

    Mar 03 04 - 2:18am
    tc

    I found Liz's column insightful and empathetic

    Mar 03 04 - 9:44am
    sjj

    everyone is so sensitive. for jab - i think uh what she meant by 'cheap' was dishonest like bullshitting charm to get what you want. like 'lying' to get laid. the opposite of what you were on about a second later. and anyway since when is honesty an antidote for suffering? you might be able control your own stuff but how do you know what kind of attachments are forming in another person on the smallest body levels, forget the rational mind that might be like, 'oh yes this is cheap and fine' there is a lot going down deep in your skin and i don't think it's as easy as 'as long as you're honest and respectful' anyways people should do what they want, it's not my business and it's not her business but this is an advice column and she said what SHE thought, not what anyone else thought, so what is wrong?
    i dont' like her music or anything but people can't cry about what any and every girl thinks.

    Mar 05 04 - 1:21am
    ELM

    Hey, the lady's got nous. I like her.

    Mar 05 04 - 12:21am
    mkl

    Excellent, absolute genius. She hit a Hooksexup ; ) Liz rocks!

    Mar 06 04 - 8:45pm
    M.O.

    Very good. Keep them coming.

    Mar 07 04 - 5:26pm
    tw

    that was great reading, Liz has such an upfront approach to stuff that we're all wondering about

    Nov 20 11 - 12:04pm
    Lateisha

    Finlaly! This is just what I was looking for.

    Nov 21 11 - 2:59pm
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    Nov 24 11 - 2:37pm
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