(SF)

An evening with your remote is about to be revolutionized.

In just two to three years, you may be erupting into orgasm with the simple touch of a button.

A new gadget — the "Orgasmatron" — basically promises a near-instant orgasm by targeting your lower back.

But one question remains: Are we wiping out the joy of sex by bypassing the need for foreplay?

I first heard about the Orgasmatron in 1998 when I was a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania.

My cohort and I were fascinated by the impact such a “toy” could have on lovers. Although the idea of a near-automatic climactic response was as mind-blowing as the orgasmic experience itself, we had to wonder if such instant sexual gratification was for the better.

These questions lingered in my mind:

— Would human sexual relations necessarily be improved if stress over the inability to orgasm were so easily eliminated?

— Would sex be a better experience if you didn’t have to work for your satisfaction?

— Could the ability to orgasm effortlessly ultimately foil the relationship red flag a sexual disorder, like lack of "O", often signals?

When anesthesiologist Dr. Stuart Meloy was working on a device for treating chronic pain, I’m sure he wasn’t thinking that his spinal cord stimulator could one day treat orgasmic dysfunction. But soon after powering up an electrode that had been placed into the spine of a woman with chronic back pain, the patient began moaning and hyperventilating. She not only reported decreased pain, but an orgasm!

Meloy decided to conduct a study of 11 women, six of whom had never had an orgasm and five of whom had lost the ability to orgasm. Ten of the 11 were stimulated by the device’s electrodes, which were implanted into the bottom part of the women’s spinal cord (the 11th participant never used her device during the nine-day trial). Using a remote control, Meloy stimulated the device’s electrodes, which fire impulses to the brain in blocking pain signals.

The women who had had orgasm at previous points in their lives interpreted the signal as an orgasm. The women who had never had an orgasm found the sensations pleasurable, but not climactic.

But pleasure comes with a price tag — $12,000 to be exact.

In the years since Meloy’s discovery, the popular press has been eagerly awaiting the Orgasmatron.

Actually, let me take that back. The world has been waiting for an "orgasmatron" since 1973. That was the year Woody Allen’s movie “Sleeper” introduced us to an orgasm-inducing cylinder. Up to two people could enter this fictional device of the year 2173, only to be rocked by a rapid succession of orgasms.

The movie’s main character, Miles Monroe, played by Allen, discovers the orgasmatron by mistake while running from the police. In hiding in what looks like a closet, he’s easily captured, sporting a dazed look on his dopey, smiling face. It was, in fact, this movie that Meloy had in mind when he trademarked his own device.

Currently, FDA-approved for bladder problems and pain, Meloy’s device delivers direct, sacral nerve re-stimulation that can result in enhanced sensation, vaginal lubrication, and sexual sensations, including multiple orgasms.

Still, experts recommend that women may want to look into this option as a last resort for treating sexual dysfunction.

An Orgasmatron for men is also being investigated.

But I keep coming back to that one question: Are we ignoring how such a device will impact our relationships?

Foreplay may be considered a drag by some, but the fact remains that the erotic time preceding the “main event” helps us out in so many ways.

It promotes bonding. It heightens anticipation. It makes the entire sexual experience that of a performance and not just a grand finale.

Personally, I think sex – if we could even call it that anymore – with a gadget like the Orgasmatron would deflate my desire. Part of what makes sexual intimacy so wonderful is the speculation of what’s going to happen next. How is this going to feel? How will this be different? How are we going to come out of this experience feeling closer and better than ever?

Part of what makes lovemaking so much fun is seeing your partner’s body react – feeling your body come alive. A great deal of what makes climax so satisfying is the loving, erotic effort that had to go into it. Failure to go through the sexual response cycle to reach orgasm robs you of almost everything such intimacy has to offer.

Is that what we want? Thankfully, we’ve got a couple of years to think on that one.

__________________
Put me on wheels and I'll turn tricks.

Clever? Nah, I ran out of that years ago. But if you find this, let me know, k?
"The road goes ever on..." ~ Tolkien

In memory of my friend skip...
Go then, there are other worlds than these

11 participants? Let me run out and find a pen to write a check.

__________________

The practice of putting women on pedestals began to die out when it was discovered that they could give orders better from there.~ Betty Grable

If I wanted your opinion, I'd remove the duct tape and ask you for it.~ Me
<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>
One man's dream is another man's nightmare~~~~> §¤ Lilith ¤§
~>My Scribbles<~
==>Gone Shopping<== ~Just a Quickie~ *~A Celebration Vacation~* ~Surprises~ Sleeping With the Window Open
What Did You Do Today? Self Defense Class ~Short Sweet Snippets~ § Summer Spin § Story Challenge Submission Pajamas

An Orgasmatron for men? They already invented that... it's called the internet.

__________________
Put me on wheels and I'll turn tricks.

Clever? Nah, I ran out of that years ago. But if you find this, let me know, k?
"The road goes ever on..." ~ Tolkien

In memory of my friend skip...
Go then, there are other worlds than these

No Aqua, it's called a willing woman.

__________________
Calm, quiet, smooth, devastating

OF, right you are, but Aqua's suggestion is far more adaptable, and much easier to find.

Who needs a woman with the Fleshlight? lol

If you could have a woman without the nagging and complaining and the need for you to fix everything around the house..sign me up.. but I'll be dead and buried before a woman like that ever comes along:P

Be gentle on the comeback lil:P

__________________

Roses are Red, Pickles are Green,
I like Your legs, And whats In between.

Jay: I am the master of the C.L.I.T. Remember this fucking face. Whenever you see C.L.I.T., you'll see this fucking face. I make that shit work. It does whatever the fuck I tell it to. No one rules the C.L.I.T like me. Not this little fuck.
[Points to Silent Bob]
Jay: None of you little fucks out there. I AM THE C.L.I.T. COMMANDER! Remember that, commander of all C.L.I.T.s! When it comes down to business, this is what I do. I pinch it like this. OOH you little fuck. Then I rub my nose with it.

__________________

The practice of putting women on pedestals began to die out when it was discovered that they could give orders better from there.~ Betty Grable

If I wanted your opinion, I'd remove the duct tape and ask you for it.~ Me
<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>
One man's dream is another man's nightmare~~~~> §¤ Lilith ¤§
~>My Scribbles<~
==>Gone Shopping<== ~Just a Quickie~ *~A Celebration Vacation~* ~Surprises~ Sleeping With the Window Open
What Did You Do Today? Self Defense Class ~Short Sweet Snippets~ § Summer Spin § Story Challenge Submission Pajamas

I'm thinking a decrease in chronic back pain would probably give me something like an orgasm.

__________________
Plug me into somethin'

If the theory does not conform to the facts, then the facts must be discarded.

No good deed ever goes unpunished

Never argue with an idiot. He'll drag you down to his level, & beat you with experience.

Nothing could replace the right woman.


Especially the left one.

__________________
Though I am different from you,
We were born involved in one another.

For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.

Complete surrender should not just come at moments in which one faces overwhelming odds, but in the calm when it seems one is personally in complete control of one's life.