Redefining Sex So It’s Easier And Better for Both of You

On Tuesday, I said your wife’s needs are valid, even though they’re different.  What about her sexual needs?

Even if a woman is all about sex, it’s not as high on her list as is the case for most men. Usually, sex doesn’t make a woman feel loved. Rather, she wants sex because she feels loved. Beyond that, if you have the higher drive, she may rarely get to full desire. Perhaps she says yes out of love, or obligation, when she’s not feeling it. Or she says no initially, and then says yes as soon as she is close to wanting it.

This is very different from your reality. Can you imagine what it must be like for her? Can you see how it would affect her sexually? Something else, what if she feels she’s supposed to orgasm every time she has sex? What if you expect this of her and have made it clear it’s not good sex if you’re the only one who comes?

Wife reaching between husband's legs under the sheets.

The real problem is most of us have a small, skewed view of what constitutes sex. If we had a broader view, sex would be easier and better for both spouses.

Sex should be an activity done by a couple that includes contact of a sexual nature. It could last a minute, or an hour, or anywhere in-between. It should include as many orgasms as each spouse wants, with zero being a valid number. And each spouse should be free to decide at any point during sex if they do or don’t want an orgasm on that occasion.

If this was how your wife saw sex, and she knew you saw it the same way, it would be easier for her to say yes to sex. It would also be easier for her to initiate sex; even if she was just doing it for you.

Is how you define sex limiting or hurting your sex life?

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Navigating Sexual Boundaries with Love and Patience

At the start of this year, I suggested that you Honour Your Wife by Letting Go of Sexual Preferences. I said if there were a couple of things you wanted that she keeps rejecting, you should stop asking for those. I proposed your wife is more important than those sex acts.

Then someone asked, “What if she has a lot of things she doesn’t like?”

02-22-2025.jpg

I’m assuming this is about a wife who’s willing to have sex, but only does a very few things. So the issue is boredom, not refusal.

It’s tempting to say there are men who would give anything to have regular boring sex, but I realise that doesn’t make anyone feel better.

The problem is pushing such a woman for more will turn her off. She’s doing what works for her. Other things are a problem either because they don’t arouse her, turn her off, or in her mind they’re unacceptable.

My suggestion is to become very skilled at what she’s okay with. And thank her regularly for being there for you sexually. Give her time to feel secure in what you now do. Then suggest something just across the current line. Don’t ask, just say it might be interesting to _____ sometime. 

This is the best path to doing more. There’s no guarantee, but if you can be loving and patient, odds are it will eventually move the needle.

NEW FEED: As I gear up to move to Doing Marriage Well, I’ve set up a Bluesky account that will run the blog posts and a few marriage positive “tweets” a day. @doingmarriagewell.bsky.social

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Evolving Intimacy: Embracing Change in Your Marriage Bed

The other day, I talked about the need to let go and move on, and what we can miss when we fail to do that. Today I want to apply that to sex.

No, I am not suggesting you need to let go of sex! Far from it.

An elderly couple in bed enjoying sex.

We generally hold on to what works. And we often keep holding on to it even when it’s not working. And we tend to be especially bad about this when it comes to sex.

If you struggled to find a way of having sex that worked for both you and your wife, it’s understandable to feel you need to guard that. But our minds and our bodies change, and what was great then may not be great now. What was okay then may be not okay now.

I’ve been having sex with the same woman for forty years. It’s still great, and far better than when we started. But it’s not the same. It’s changed over the years many times in big and small ways. Some changes were finding something better, others were finding something that worked because what we’d been doing wasn’t working very well. And those changes are why we both still want and enjoy sex.

If you want to enjoy sex for the rest of your lives, you have to be willing to let go and move on.

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FF: Decoding Her Desire: Stop Shooting Blind

Have you ever tried the “ask for sex every night” approach, figuring the more often you ask, the more often she will say yes? Or, maybe you have no idea why she says yes or no, so you figure you should ask all the time so you don’t miss an occasion when she might say yes. Basically fire blindly and hoping you hit the target occasionally!

Mostly missing the target.

I’ve been there, I’ve done that, and I found it didn’t work so well. If you think about it, why would it? If your wife, or your child, or anyone else, did the same to you over something, don’t you think you would come to resent it? Might you feel so nagged you would start to say no just out of annoyance? What’s more, if they asked when you were clearly busy, or over worked, or just so tired you couldn’t stand it, how would you feel about them for being so inconsiderate?

Why would your daily requests for sex be received any differently?

Yes, I know you’re not getting enough, and asking less when you want more seems counter-productive. However, if you think about what I said above, you should see why better targeting your asking could result in more sex and less aggravation for both of you.

The key here is to figure out when/why she says no. It may seem completely random, but it is not. The problem is there are a number of factors involved, so it is a difficult formula to decipher.

  • Time of month is huge if she is not pregnant, past menopause, or on hormonal contraceptives. She should be most receptive (if not chasing you) around ovulation, which is 14 days before her next period. The week before that, she is likely to be more receptive than at other times. After she ovulates, she is less receptive. Just before and during menstruation varies from women to woman.
  • Tiredness, from lack of sleep, is probably the next biggest factor.
  • Stress from a long day, and ongoing stress, are also big factors.
  • How well she has connected with you the last 24 to 36 hours is important. Remember, her love language determines how she feels loved and connected.

There are plenty of other factors, well beyond what I can list here. Start thinking about it; make notes about the 24 hours before when she says yes, and likewise when she says no. Record as much as possible and you should start to find patterns. Does she always say no on laundry day, or after taking the kids to some specific event? Is she likely to say yes when she gets some quiet time in the evening, or the day after a date with you? Keep playing detective, and you should find the clues needed to learn when asking is a waste of time (and a good way to aggravate her) and when your odds are better. I realise not asking doesn’t help you directly, but if it makes her feel less exhausted about sex, that’s good for both of you.

[This post first appeared Nov 24, 2012.]

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Enhancing Sexual Intimacy: A Pastor Talks “Sex Tools”

Recently, my dear wife said to me, “Thank you for thinking about lube and vibrators.”

I recall that when I first suggested a “sex toy” she was hesitant. And that’s putting it kindly. I get it, we were taught that good people don’t use such things. We also got the message that using them would somehow hurt your sex life.

What made it an even harder sell was we technically didn’t need it. We were having mutually satisfying sex without a vibrator. It sometimes took more effort and time than either of us would like, but we managed.

Shocked young wife looking at a vibrator.

In time, I talked her into trying a small egg vibrator. And it made sex better for both of us. We found it was a tool, and we all know the right tools make anything easier.

In the intervening decades, we have recommended various sex tools to a number of folks. The suggestion is usually based on a specific need or struggle. Most have tried what we suggest, and most of those report it was somewhere between helpful and revolutionary.

A few specific tools and how they can help:

  • Egg vibrator: A versatile tool that can be used by you on her, her on you, or between your bodies during face to face intercourse. The between your bodies trick allows some women who normally can’t do so to orgasm from intercourse. You can grab one with a corded controller for less than $10. If you like it, I strongly recommend a quality tool with a remote control.
  • If you get hard, but not as hard as you would like, or have difficulty staying hard, a penis ring can make a huge difference.
  • If your length is a problem for her, the Ohnut Bumper is a must have.
  • If she’s not feeling as much as she would like, or is feeling less due to menopause, an enhancement cream can help.
  • If she struggles with doing manual or oral sex on you, a stroker can make it easier for her, and more enjoyable for you.
  • Sex furniture can make sex more comfortable, or help you work around physical limitations.

If your wife is likely to be nervous about these things, don’t just buy one and spring it on her. Talk about the specific issue and a tool that could help. Or, if you just want to explore and try to make sex better, ask her to check out Married Dance with you. It’s a safe, no porn, Christian site. Unless she says “We need one of those” I’d suggest you make the first trip exploratory and don’t expect to buy anything. 

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Her Pleasure: The Importance of Foreplay and Position

Foreplay matters. It matters a great deal. If you want her to enjoy sex, good foreplay is a must.

A well done study found that manual and oral foreplay increased the odds a woman would orgasm. Oral was a bit better, but either will do it. It was found that good foreplay was especially important for low desire women, with oral foreplay more than doubled the chance of them having an orgasm.

Wife enjoying oral foreplay

Beyond foreplay, position matters. When the woman is on top, or the couple used multiple positions during a session of intercourse, two-thirds of women orgasmed. When the man was on top, that dropped to less than half. That’s a significant difference.

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Different Sexual Realities: Understanding Her Side

Yesterday I told the women on The XY Code that if women understood what sex means to their husband, and how not having it often enough effects him, she would say no far less often. I said if she was not up to full sex, she would be quick to offer something else, and would initiate on occasion. And if she had junk from her past, that was getting in the way of sex, she would be motivated to deal with that. 

I believe this is what any decent, loving woman would do if she had a clue about her husband’s sexual reality. Perhaps some gals avoid understanding his reality to avoid what that would require of them. But still.

Couple sitting in bed, husband comforting his wife.

I also told the ladies what a decent, loving husband would do if he understood her sexual reality. He would make changes in when and how he asks. He would change what he asks for, what he expects, and what happens when sex does occur. And if he was looking at porn, he’d be motivated to deal with that. And I fully believe all that is true.

If you still look at porn, either you don’t get it, or you don’t care about your wife. If you seek sex when she’s dead tired, either you don’t get it, or you don’t love her. And so on.

For the most part, I think guys don’t get it. I realise many are blinded by their unending horniness, but if they understood her reality, I think most would be able to move past even that. Perhaps some guys avoid understanding her reality to avoid what that would require of them. But still.

All of this is to say her sexual reality is far different from your sexual reality. But her reality is just as real and valid, and it affects her just as much as your reality affects you. Much of what you judge as selfish or unloving is neither. If you can accept that as truth, it will be the start of change. 

If you really want to go all in, ask her to explain what she thinks and feels about sex, and why she thinks and feels those things. Don’t judge her or argue, just hear her heart. Then pray about what you should change because of her reality.

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Honouring Your Wife by Letting Go of Sexual Preferences

Yesterday on The XY Code, I suggested the ladies pick one sex thing they don’t like and tell their husband they won’t be doing that thing in 2025

Such a post should be not necessary, but I know it is. And that means I also need to address the other side of this with you guys.

A woman unhappy about her husband begging for a certain sex act.

Do you keep hoping for some sex act your wife doesn’t want? It could be anal or oral, her on top, or leaving the lights on. If you know she doesn’t want to do it, and you keep asking, hinting, or complaining it’s not happening, what does that communicate to her?

It tells her that your sexual desires are more important to you than she is. You can say that’s not what it means, but I assure you that’s what she feels. And she feels that way regardless of why she doesn’t want to do whatever. If she thinks it’s wrong, and you don’t, she feels less important than that sex act. If she finds it gross or a turn-off, you still wanting it means you value your pleasure over hers.

The only loving choice it to decide you won’t ever do that thing. Decide your wife is more important than that sex act, and then let your actions show that is the case.

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