Women need to be hugged, but nobody has made a profession of it ...

[planetc]

It has struck me that many posters, and opinionators for the culture at large, are arguing the questions of whether prostitution is a victimless crime, and whether men have needs, and generally evading the question of whether Eliot Spitzer broke the law. He did. Some are wondering whether prostitution should be a crime. It is a crime. It is also legendarily the "oldest profession in the world." And a crime. For the moment, let's leave aside the question of why prostitution is a crime, and consider women's need to be hugged.

You remember, I trust, the survey done a few years ago that discovered that a significant majority of married woman would rather be hugged than enjoy connubial bliss. This cultural earthquake was almost entirely ignored by the MSM and everyone else. But we don't have to ignore it. Would you stop and think for just one moment: All Women Want Is To Be Hugged!! (That's not all they want, of course, but a lot of them would be THRILLED with a hug.) Including me. May I just point out that there is no danger of STDs from hugging, no AIDS transmission, no danger of pregnancy, no need to rent a hotel room or borrow other accommodation. It's, like, just about the simplest thing in the world. Women want it. No one's making any money from it.


Why, I ask you, has no one set up a profession whose business it is to hug women? Has anyone even considered the possibility that women might PAY for one? Maybe not as much as $4K per hug, but maybe they'd pay a decent hour's wage for one. For many women, this would range between $6.50 and $18.00, but what the heck! You are a man, and you've lost your job in the aerospace industry, and your 500 resumes are in the mail, and you have a few hours on your hands. Have you never wondered whether you could distribute a few hugs for a few bucks? WHERE is your sense of entrepreneurship? Your courage? Your daring?

So to return briefly to the question of why prostitution is a crime, clearly, it's because men have a deep psychological need to make sure they make a percentage of any profitable activity that's been discovered. But this does not explain why a profession whose practice is so essential to male life on this planet is also always a crime, except in a few enlightened places like Amsterdam and Nevada.

So I recommend two initiatives for all red blooded, patriotic men: 1) try to get prostitution legalized, so women can be protected from pimps and other low-lifes, get protection from the police (rather than arrested by them), and keep more of their income, and pay their fair share of taxes for police protection. And 2) Think about starting your own "Buck-a-Hug" business. The lower the rates, the more attractive it will be to the hug-hungry classes, and you could easily hug 60 women per hour. Let us know how you do!

[Orrex]

1. ...

:hug:

[Truth2Tell]

2. Here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4

[Zookeeper]

13. Wonderful! Thanks for posting!

:hug:

[planetc]

14. Thanks, Truth

That was delightful. As soon as he opened his arms and held the sign in one hand, they started to flock in.

Personally, I think there's a tactic here somewhere. If not a strategy.

[Voice for Peace]

19. Really wonderful, thanks!

[crispini]

21. Hey, that's Melbourne!

Nice vid. :D

[Oeditpus Rex]

29. Aw, man

That got me all misty. :)

[ensho]

3. :)

nt

[supernova]

4. 10.0 for creativity

:applause:

It's true. We do need hugs and platonic touch in general, handholding too.


I'd pay for an hour's worth of cuddles. :D

Men need sex the same way we need hugs, so therefore a very human need is so easily exploited by the unscrupulous among us.

I would suppose that $$ for hugs hasn't been exploited the same way for us because we just haven't been in the position of demanding it before, in an "I can pay for anything I want" sense.

[marions ghost]

23. huh?

"men need sex the same way we need hugs"...

From what I've seen, men need "just hugs" sometimes, and women need sex along with (or after) hugs often enough. This dichotomy is a false one IMO.

More cuddling and you never know what might happen...:)

[EFerrari]

5. I like the idea, planetc. And you know what,

nonsexual affection like hugging is something a lot of people need - including people / men who hire pros.

[planetc]

15. You know what, sfex?

I suspect that the men who use pros, and the women too, may need a few hugs and some sympathy, and some attention, just as much as they need the pros' services. We need all kinds of contact, not just skin on skin.

[EFerrari]

17. Yep. Maybe an adjunct of your hugging start up could be a pet petting busyness.

We could let people pet cats for a few minutes. Take their blood pressure before and after. Brush off the cat hair for a few cents xtra. :)

[HereSince1628]

6. Ever hear of the word gigolo?

They are available. It just takes money

[supernova]

7. Gigolos are paid for sex

or the illusion of a relationship though.

She's just talking about a really "Hug Stand," something much more low level.

[HereSince1628]

11. I'm sure gigolos see it as being paid for intimate hugging.

[Dora]

8. My massage therapist costs $50 per hour, outcall.

People will pay for different kinds of touching.

[Withywindle]

9. But hugs from strangers are creepy!

Sex, now, that can just be a fun animal thing. Doesn't have to be meaningful to be worth doing, sometimes.

But hugs? That's INTIMATE. Ew.

[Demeter]

10. You Know, A Boughten Hug Isn't Much Good to a Woman

Because it is the underlying meaning of a hug:

affection,
caring,
intimacy,
a relationship of sufficiently long standing and depth to have produced an agreement to lower the barrier a woman raises to protect herself from violence and emotional abuse,


that would be totally missing. Talk about empty calories--this would be empty gestures!

How would you feel if you had to pay your mother for a hug? Pretty unloved, I bet. And there are emotionally abused kids who might find that was the only way to get a hug...but it isn't right or effective.

So as a business plan goes, much better to let some economically savvy woman make an honest man of you, build a marriage, family, community and all the economic underpinnings of it, and be faithful and supportive of the marriage and the two people in it.

It may not have much variety (if you have no imagination or sex drive) and it may not have much illusion (no whore acting out your fantasies), but married men are much more likely to have a roof over their heads and food on the table.


Unless or until they really fuck it up by betrayal.

[EFerrari]

20. That may be largely true, but imho, there's an automatic response

that happens when we're stroked -- much like a cat arches its back.

That thing that happens when the brain part of the nervous system is only minimally engaged?

Have you ever had someone pat you on the back or put their hand on your shoulder before you knew who that was? There's something there about how a nervous system responds that's automatic.

[Demeter]

43. Startle Reflex and Fight or Flight Adrenalin Response?

Not terribly soothing, if you know what I mean.

[EFerrari]

44. There's something that works the other way, too.

I've never learned a name for it. :)

[annabanana]

12. This deserves a "rec"

The reason no one has done this yet is that most men (happily not all) have never, not even with constant loving hints and the latest scientific research, truly believed that Women really really love hugs.

It's true guys, ask any woman, anywhere.

[planetc]

18. anna...

What an incredibly insightful person you are! :-)

[EFerrari]

22. I don't think it's just women. If you run it down (maybe?)

men aren't allowed to touch other men very often and have been taught that touching women carries some sexualized deal. American men have been hemmed in, imho. :shrug:

We're pretty nuts about touching in general here. My latino uncles -- most of them came here as adults or late teens - hug each other all the time. They have no problem hugging their friends and in general touch people much more often than any man I've ever met who was born and raised here. That's anecdotal, I know, but it's really striking to me.

[Oeditpus Rex]

28. Funny thing about that 'sexualized deal' bit

Sometimes when I think about hugging my female friends, there's some "Ooooo, yeaahhh" in there. But when I actually do it, that's not there. It's just, "I'm really glad you're my friend."

I think, too, that I hug as many of my male friends as female. And most of 'em aren't back-pounders, either.

[EFerrari]

31. Doug used to say that in order to bond, men had to get really drunk,

punch the other guy in the arm and say, "I fucking love you, man". I think he was mostly right. :)

[Oeditpus Rex]

32. I hate guys like that (n/t)

[EFerrari]

33. Do you? They seem mostly trapped to me.

And, they hurt, too! lol

[Oeditpus Rex]

34. Okay, amended:

I hate the way they act. I don't hate them, but I do feel sorry for them, and quite put off by them.



Kinda like how I love baseball but hate sports-talk radio, I guess. :)

[EFerrari]

35. Gotcha.

:)

[planetc]

39. I congratulate you, and ...

your female friends, and your male friends. I think you've all got the hang of it.

[katty]

16. good one and everyone needs to be hugged :)

except bush/cheney - too late for them

[Maraya1969]

24. I like the idea of hiring someone to hug me until I go to sleep at night.

And maybe just stay there so I could feel safe. I used to HATE that my x would want to have sex when I just wanted to cuddle.

Maybe that is why I have heard, (no proof though) that male gigolos mostly make their money by listening, pampering and cuddling their female clients.

[IronLionZion]

26. Maraya, just tell him

I'm fortunate to have a GF who is as horny as I am. But sometimes one of us just wants to cuddle and sleep so she or I will just say so and it's OK. No problems if you communicate. If he makes it a problem then HE is the problem.

[Maraya1969]

25. I like the idea of hiring someone to hug me until I go to sleep at night.

And maybe just stay there so I could feel safe. I used to HATE that my x would want to have sex when I just wanted to cuddle.

Maybe that is why I have heard, (no proof though) that male gigolos mostly make their money by listening, pampering and cuddling their female clients.

[IronLionZion]

27. I have seen personal ads for "casual encounters" offering only cuddling.

And there are cuddle parties advertised in some places that are only for cuddling and hugging but no sex.

And this stuff is not quite as gender-specific as you might think. I am a man and I definitely have to be hugged often. It's a non-negotiable requirement.

[mondo joe]

30. If there were a market for paid hugging I think the business would exist.

:hi:

[arthritisR_US]

36. women have access to male escorts if they want or can afford n/t

[smoogatz]

37. Oprah.

She's basically a big televised group hug. And she's doing quite well, I'm told.

[samsingh]

38. very good idea

[pitohui]

40. may i point out that "women" is a broad category

this "women" is not into random hugs even from people i know, too many people these days think a hug is how you say hello, sorry, i am a wasp, a hug from a stranger is pretty distasteful idea to me altho if you want to pay someone to hug you, feel free -- and i'll feel free to think you're pathetic (not that there's anything wrong with that)

seriously tho -- supposedly women who need to be touched are advised to hire massage therapists, i don't think the massage therapists (the ones who are legit not the ones providing a "happy ending") are getting real rich tho, not around here they aren't

[Chovexani]

41. You can keep the hugs

I'd like sex, please. :P

[Annces]

42. Funny

Except hugs lead to much more. There were hug sessions in the 70s and I think they were teetering on getting really too intimate.