Friday, December 11, 2015

When and Why Bad Sex Happens To Good Men by Kyle Phoenix

You're at Screwing Time (leaped right in, didn't I?) perhaps there's no love involved.  In fact let's make it our example that you're not in love, you're just two guys who like each other's rubber parts.  You've met online or in person and now you're at say, his house and the energy is there, the groove is there, the passion is present.

You have an erection; he has an erection.

You start kissing.  His tongue is everywhere.
No, everywhere and not in a good way.
He's licking your face.
Then he starts to finger you, through your pants.
No, wait that's not a finger, that's damn near his whole hand.
Not like in a passionate fisting, well lubed hand way, more like in a "Is he looking for his ATM card?" way.
He's doing too much.
He's trying too much.
You gently move his hand away before he ruins your pants and you hold his face a little, to try to slow him down.
He's fine so you let it go further.

You're naked.

He's really humping your leg.  Aggressively.
Now he's chewing on your nipples.
No, really chewing, like steak chewing.
He's back to the hand fucking again.
You're afraid to top him or bottom for him.
Oh God, he's diving towards your crotch with his mouth wide open!

You're stuck in a bad sex scenario where passion, pleasure and pain are not balanced, like a stereo.

Passion is the feeling, the erotic excitement you feel for someone.  You don't have to know them well to feel these feelings, it's chemical and historical.  Chemical in the sense that you are turned on by them.  It's historical in the sense that a whole bevy of impressions and feelings and images and past sexual encounters are all balled up and coming to the unconscious forefront.  Think of it like your underground pipeline into your sexuality.  Not all of it is conscious but it is fuel.

Pleasure is both historic and situational.  You have a history of things that turn you on, that you like, which is probably part of what got you to meeting this gentleman in the first place.  He's your "type".  He meets your preferences.  Some of that is hopefully fluidic.  By that I mean if you like slim guys (because of that crush on your slim dad or slim guy in high school), you haven't gotten obsessive about it and query guys on if they're exactly 155lbs..  You may be comfortable with a guy who is ten or twenty pounds heavier because you accept that there are other dynamics that fuel your interest and attractions now.

You've been dating this gentleman for awhile, the lights are low, the music is playing---the situation has a romantic, erotic air to it that is fueling a deeper eroticism for you.



Pain.  

Pain comes in many forms, including erotic pain.  Frustration, tension, intensity, doubt---are all forms of emotional pain.  Pinching, slapping, pulling---are all forms of physical pain.  Both sets done in controlled degrees can be wonderful to experience when you and a partner can agree to your needed degree.  It's when we don't have control on the degree that we enter the realm of bad sex.  But the constant crossing of that boundary, that degree is what makes it uncomfortable, painful in a negative way.

Okay, then, how to negotiate bad sex to better sex, especially if you really like him?  It helps if you can figure out who is the Alpha and who is the Beta.



            As you can see from the brief descriptions, an Alpha might frame sex in much more binary ways while a Beta might experience sex more associated to his emotional self and internal desires.  This is crucial to understanding why Tops, Bottoms and Versatiles sometimes have trouble negotiating  what will occur, what has occurred, what they want and why.  My book---Good Men for Men focuses more on the physical pleasuring aspects of sex thatshould lead to emotional satisfaction but it is important that you’re clearwhat context (fun, experimental, dating, long term relationship) you’re havingsex in.  Be clear with yourself.  Try to be clear to sexual partners.  And most importantly experiment; try newthings and positions because there are dozens of ways to enjoy yourself thatyou may have.


You are a man who enjoys having sex with men.  
You’re a Top or maybe you're a Bottom or maybe you're rocking being Versatile and that's wonderful.  
You've been sexual for awhile and you've started to find that there's a common thread through the men you're having relations with.  
The Bottoms seem emotionally crazy and the Tops seem detached from anything but the sexual act….and the Versatiles tend to be more balanced.  
Why is that?  
This is both normal and a condition related to your sexuality or more importantly, it’s a condition related to the genders/sexes involved in your sexuality.  
You want to become more successful as a lover, you want to have more pleasure for yourself and you also want to bring more pleasure to your partner.   First you need to understand some distinct definitions so that when communicating with your sexual partners you can be clear on what is teh act of sex, the physicality of their sex, the gender (emotional/social) feelings and perceptions they have/want and how they articulate they sexuality.

Definitions

Sex is one’s physicality.  One can be a male sex, female sex or even intersex.  One can decide that they internally don’t feel like the external manifestation of their body, and that would make them a transsexual.

Gender is how one is socialized by parents and society.  You were socially raised male or female.  That’s being engendered.  That engendering assists humans in acting masculine or feminine.  Our bodies sex isn’t always how we socially or personality act.

Sexuality is what you do with your body.  A person can be homosexual, bisexual, heterosexual, pansexual or even omnisexual.  In Westernized cultures there has been a very narrow bandwidth for expression of sexuality for thousands of years.  All of these sexualities have existed but haven’t always been socially acceptable to express or medically possible to achieve.


A man, who is biologically born the male SEX may present as more GENDER fluid---perhaps in not being overly masculine, even a little feminine but that doesn't mean that his SEXUALITY isn't same gender loving in it's intentions and desires.  I often teach MSM in my workshops that big burly men, skinny, waifish men, chubby nerdy guys and suave cool dudes, may all want to bottom, to have a man directly and deeply penetrate them with his fingers, penis or objects but they may all want the same thing in different things, from a different energy perspective.

The big burly guy, in spite of being 350lbs, wants to be swept up and passionately but gently made love to----kind of like Scarlett O'Hara before he goes back to his job as a Corrections Officer.

The skinny waif wants a hardcore bondage scene of force-play that involves lots of nipple toture while he's being penetrated with everything in his drawers, your drawers and the kitchen sink.

The chubby nerdy guy wants slightly vanilla casual sex that is quick on penetration but lingers on oral sex because while he mentally likes the idea of being penetrated, he can't stand the discomfort and the sense of vulnerability with someone he's not in a long term relationship with.

The suave, cool dude wants to give directions and commands and feedback and is excessively verbal about busting out his "manpussy" because in his mind/world that's what a power bottom does.

All bottoms.  All day long.  But their intersection of Sex, Gender and Sexuality are variables that a good sexual partner, even just a casual hook up will have to listen astutely to.  But how do you get to this point.  You ASK.

What do you like?
Get as specific as possible BEFORE sex.
You need to know from the skinny waif to bring extra lube, wash your dildoes and lock the dog up in the other room so he doesn't think the screams are those from murder.
You might also, as the Top or Versatile (or if you're the Bottom, letting the other know) what you can and cannot accomplish.  Big burly needs to understand that your Gone with the Wind fantasy needs a third, Jenny Craig before you can fulfill his internal gender/sexuality fantasy.  He might see you as a tall, dark stranger but gravity and girth see him, your back, and your capabilities in a whole different fashion.

You may also need the space to express to all of the above gentleman what your sexuality looks and feels like for you.  Perhaps you don't want to be the dominate principle/person all the time or the dungeon master of the teacher or the thoroughly used Top (or Bottom.)  The crime of the context of Dominant and Submissive, Top and Bottom sort of puts men in a trap before they can express who they are and be heard for what they enjoy and don't, or even learn it.  If I say I'm a Top the skinny S&M guy may think I get off putting ever larger objects into him or the power bottom thinks I'll like being ordered around if he just breaks me in.  All this has to be negotiated.

When two men get together beyond simply the physicality there is also an emotional and spiritual component and it behooves men who want to have both good lovers and be good lovers to take a moment, and listen, try to intuit and ask where the other person is.  

Let's apply the Chinese concept of chi energy or even more in-depthly, yin and yang, and to the kinds of men you might encounter or might be yourself.  You’ve probably noticed that there are Alpha men (more masculine because of heavier testosterone production in their bodies) and then there are Beta males (due to heavier levels of estrogen production in their bodies).  Alphas being Yang, the masculine principle, mostly Tops, sometimes Versatile and Betas, being Yin, the feminine principle, more so Versatile or mainly Bottoms.  From researching thousands of homosexual men, 15% of homosexual men are Alphas and 85% of homosexual men are Betas.  This is the main reason why there seems to be an overabundance of Bottoms.  

Biologically speaking, there are more Betas, men with higher estrogen on the planet, period.  Scientists believe this comes from Nature's balancing of warriors for protection of the herd being Alphas but Betas being available to parent and not be threatened by their offspring and other males so immediately.  Betas don't have the need to dominate with their energy and sexuality as much as Alphas do.  However as an same gender loving man you might find that what you like to do, your energy, how you appear (from testosterone and estrogen) are vastly different than how men perceive you.  In this respect, men and women have it much easier in that their bodies and socialization suggests who will be the dominant principle (even though this can be different even with opposite sexes.)

Confusing I know.  But once you sit down, take the Alpha Beta test yourself and identify yourself you then become a mini-expert on identifying others and understanding why it works with some men and doesn't with others.  

Homosexual men desperately want to be testosterone laden manly men Alphas.  Desperately.  Biologically most aren’t.  In fact the same statistics roughly hold for heterosexual men as well.  This intense desire to be an Alpha male goes all the way back to social issues, masculinity obsession, manhood issues and inadequacies, Mommy and Daddy issues, and intimacy issues.  That’s a lot to explore and unpack and I’ll probably do so in future works.  This text though is for the rest of you who are mature enough to accept Nature and want to know how to be happy with who and what you are and like being.

You're going to have to embrace your sexuality on another level, a level that includes, looking clearly at your own sexuality and what is both psychological and biological.  By embracing both.  By recognizing that your sexuality, even if it's not heterosexual, is natural, through biology, you're then able to embrace and explore it.  Bad sex stems from a lack of communication with other men as well as yourself.  Answer that and you'll never have bad sex again.

Once we embrace our Sexuality, personally, spiritually, biologically, we're then able to discuss, answer and question with others about what we feel in a Gender concept of ourselves and in a Sex framework of what we want to do with our bodies.  The beauty of same gender loving sex is the amount of variety available.

Good sex(ing) happens when I ask you what you like and YOU KNOW.
And you ask me and I KNOW.

Bad sex happens when I ask you and your answers are only the mechanics of sex ("Stick it in!"  "I like to suck da dick."  "Body contact." ) rather than the diversity that we saw above in the examples.

Take your time.  Talk to men,  Get a little library of relationship and illustrative texts and videos on sexuality together.  Not just porno.  Sex and sexuality shown through the lens of acceptability, interest in a partner's satisfaction and honesty about what each likes.  I guarantee you that from the workshops I've taught sex lives improve 1000%!











Enjoy!!!
Thank you for reading.
Email: kylephoenixshow1@gmail.com
Website: http://kylephoenix.com/
Blog: http://kylephoenixshow.blogspot.com/2012
Thanks and enjoy!


You can Like Us on Facebook or Follow Us on Twitter!


Don't forget to watch The Kyle Phoenix Show on


Channel 56 (Time Warner), 83 (RCN), 34 (Verizon)


simulcast on MNN.org and http://kylephoenix.com/.






All books by Kyle Phoenix are available through Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.


Sign up for the mailing list on my website (I’ll never share your information with a 3rd party) and you’ll receive the E newsletter and alerts about new products, books, and Special Reports.





Copyright © The Omni Group, Inc , 2015

Kyle Phoenix, 2015




Manhattan, New York


















Thursday, December 10, 2015

4 Reasons Why So Many MSM Men Are Single by Kyle Phoenix



I date a lot.  A lot more than I'm often conscious of because I routinely ask men and women, and occasionally a group out to dinner, to shows, to the movies.  I was just talking to a co-worker about how you have to pin me down when I throw out that invite because if you sleep on it, I'll probably go to see the movie (I saw Chiraq last night) or to the show (Alvin Ailey---Cry sends me!!!!!!)

MSM often talk about no available guys or they lament sitting around waiting for this or that or wouldn't it be wonderful or I'm waiting on....blah blah blah.

Here's the secret: ASK MEN (Or Women---whatever splits your banana) OUT.  If you're single and you don't want to be, it's a number's game.  You must ask them out---with a few dollars in your pocket and a smile.  Prep, look good, smile, and maybe Google the TV show "Blind Date" and get some date ideas.

I just bought three new sweaters, half a dozen white dress shirts and two pairs of dress shoes and I've got two pairs of black slacks at the atelier.  I am officially ready for some holiday dating!

Alvin Ailey is here, dancing away up the block, and I'm trying to figure out how to go to not one, not two but three of the shows because if you become really tuned into AA, you know it's a delightful game of wanting to see all of the performance.  (Loved Takademe and I had a Judith Jamison poster from her performance in Cry fifteen years ago---I'm looking forward to Odetta---I missed it one year, late, and they don't let you back in until intermission; Revelations is always just that, revelatory!)  Three dates!  Boom shockalocka boom!

But back to why there's this desert....perhaps in your social calendar.

Reason One I'm Single: fear

Men are so fucking scared.
Scared you want them.
Scared you don't want them.
Scared they'll spend twenty dollars on you.
Scared you won't spend twenty dollars on them.
Scared you love them.
Scared you won't love them.
Scared you'e smarter.
Scared they sound dumb.
Scared, scared, scared.
The fear is so exhausting that you want the date to be over because he's just spewed so much terror ON THE FIRST DATE that you're not even sure your own life is worth living any longer.

Tip: Best friend.  Therapist.  Not your date.  Please don't tell your date your fears.

You can meet lots of great guys.  date them.  Sex them up and down, all over town if you just relax, calm down, ask men out regularly, come up off your Netflix and shopping therapy budget and pay like normal (not just hetero but un-fearful men) for a date.  Relax, it's just a few hundred dollars a year---cheaper than sitting at home lamenting your pain on Facebook and staring at sexy-sexy male pics and porno that aren't real.

Reason Two I'm Single: madness
Diseases.
Prep is here!
Condoms are here!
HIV is not over.
AIDS is not over.
Hepatitis is rampant.
Chlamydia flies around.
Gonorrhea actually is as fluent as Spanish in my neighborhood according to the CDC.

And yet if you look on places like Adam 4 Adam, Safe Sex is out the fucking window.  Now, now, now, wait, wait before I go on a barebacking tirade let me just do a little mental Algebra to break down why I'm cautious with my jellybeans.

Saw A handsome young bloke by the name of Victor posts his twenty something lustful thoughts of co-spanky spank spank yearnings and you know---he looks good and you look good and everything is potentially good.  And he says he's a student and he's working in say retail or maybe an office---you can kind of suss out, he's on his way to 40k a year.  And then Victor says he's down with the love grind and safe sex isn't a worry because he's HIV negative AND he's on Prep.

Where this student loaned out mother fucker getting $10,000 a year in cash for Prep?  Just to fuck?  Is he fucking for cash to have cash to pay to fuck?
And what about the rest of the Alien-esque infections that circulate through the crotch of humans and a few primates?
When did it become cool to risk not yourself but your fellow human for a skeet?
I mean we as Americans (or Black folk about White folk) are always railing about how people in other countries treat their people and yet were willing to fuck each other to infected death.  What the fuck is that?

If you want a man, care about men.  That's safe sex in the 21st century.  Get past your semen tossing fantasies, your deep desire to have some "flood" you and instead look at STIs as the same precautions that men and women take around pregnancy.



Reason Three I'm Single: individuation

I'm not you.
I don't want to be you.
I don't want to like the same things as you.
I don't want you to like all the things I do.
i'm not interested in the same things you are.
I'm cool with you not being interested in the same things I am.

MSM foolishly look for themselves in other men.  Instead they should focus on values and morals.
Does your target rape children?
Does he take advantage of old, blind people?
Does he like to torture puppies?
Does he care about people's feelings and their lives?

That's what's important.

Instead you tell someone you didn't lose your gonads to Ice Age movie and they're not sure if you're worthy of love and affection.

Or perhaps that you don't own more than a few Adele songs on your IPod or no Beyonce and there's a terrified scream about how you must support the Nazi party and couldn't possibly like something different than they do.

I revel in your differences.  I look forward to learning and coming to appreciate something new that I may've never tasted or experienced before.  I also look forward to you having some place, something, some other interest and hobby than my own.


He is Not You.  I have that book on the way but in the meantime Good Men for Men.  Stop looking for a twin to assuage your narcissistic childish/puerile need for mommy-daddy love acceptance.  Instead be happy with the fact that a good man will be different form you.  Heterosexual men are in so many more relationships because they accept that women are different than them and don't expect for the two to always enjoy or revel in the same things.  Simple when you see it from that angle, huh?

Reason Four I'm Single: discretion

Ok, seriously...no really...let's again use Victor as an example.  We go out on a date to dinner, maybe to a show or a movie.

Now if we sit next to each other----who are all of these people with their smartphones and beady eyes spying on you and I, and outing you?

Say, we decide to get horizontal and you invite me over to your house and tell me to be conscious and discrete, my mental thought is always: What the hell do you think I'm going to do walking from the subway to your house?  Up the driveway?  Like whip out a dildo and start blowing it and scream that I'm going to fuck him, him, him in apartment 7?

My ire is extreme, yes, but dialed down a notch---who are you being discrete from?  
And more importantly, why would I date a paranoid person?
No one's watching you.
You're not that interesting.
Most of them already know about you or.....wait for this, wait for it----they don't give a damn about you and your minuscule life.  In fact they probably haven't even noticed your life.  
Statistically people are thinking about themselves 96% of the time.

 There are so many wonderful, smart, good men out there in the world.
You're wasting your time with the above drama.  It's why you're alone and lonely.
Change.
You won't live forever.

Oh, by the by, I'm personally a little happy if you stay trapped in silliness....more grateful men for me. :)






Enjoy!!!
Thank you for reading.
Email: kylephoenixshow1@gmail.com
Website: http://kylephoenix.com/
Blog: 
http://kylephoenixshow.blogspot.com/2012
Thanks and enjoy!
You can Like Us on Facebook or Follow Us on Twitter!
Don't forget to watch The Kyle Phoenix Show on
Channel 56(Time Warner), 83 (RCN), 34 (Verizon)
Fridays at 11pm simulcast on MNN.org and http://kylephoenix.com/.

All books by Kyle Phoenix are available through Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.
Sign up for the mailing list on my website (I’ll never share your information with a 3rd party) and you’ll receive the E newsletter and alerts about new products, books, and Special Reports.

Copyright © The Omni Group, Inc , 2015
Kyle Phoenix, 2015
Manhattan, New York



































Monday, November 30, 2015

I Am Really A Woman...Sort of. Or I Was...Probably by Kyle Phoenix

You know what really pisses me the fuck off?
The excessive, constant, puerile, incessant, rabid professing of MSM (or bi, gay, omni, sgl, straight---pick a stick to skew on) who go on and on and on and on about how masculine they are.  How absolutely completely and thoroughly they are the epitome of masculinity.
God, they're annoying and irritating.
Actually they're closer to boring.
Don't get me wrong, there are men (and some women...like Rosie O'Donnell (I'm still tripping on the act that the world reacted when she came out...was that really a secret?  Terry McMillan.  I'd say more on Terry's....masculine strength energy but I'm afraid one day she might...you know...kick my ass. Go all Furiosa on me like I was trying to stop the breast milk tanker or something. Digression....)
MSM have fallen into this rabbit hole, like K hole but not as interesting as to how you go there, about I'm a man.  Which reminds me of the little boy in my FAVORITE movie (okay, one of my Top Three Films---if I told you several of the others on the Top ten list, you'd get nervous about me.  terry McMillan nervous.) Gloria, starring Gena Rowlands.  She's basically a washed up mob moll living in a Bronx building who is charged with protecting a smart aleck Puerto Rican kid as the mob tries to kill him.  She doesn't like him.  i can relate, I'm a teacher.  I love children.  Children, under 12 once ran me out of a classroom after I tried to teach them math for 4 hours.  There's a reason why I teach adults...  But I do love children.  Some kids.  Not everybody kids.  Not gangs of kids all the time.  Sometimes, not all the times.
But I relate to Gloria in the movie who tries to fob off the kid, push him away and then when the wolves come for him, when the mob guys explain that they're going to take him and do away with him because of what he might of seen, kill him....SHE GOES THE FUCK OFF ON THEM (in silk Ungaro!!)

I have known since I was a child that I would die for a child, for children.  If there was a truck barreling down the road, a kid in the street---no hesitation, I would gladly, almost gleefully honor my self, my creator, knock the kid out of the way and take death.
I would also kill for children.

Not for some bullshit patriotic, jerk off jingoistic patriarchal fantasy of hegemony oppression and domination---I eschew CNN, war talk, Iraq bullshit, war films (I never go to war films---ok, one Tears of The Sun---Bruce Willis---because of my double crush on him and Monica Belluci---and the fact that as contrived and heartstring pulling as the film is, he won't leave the Africans behind---kids, women, etc..  I saw it three times in the theater, cried each time.)

I spew the above because it's a feminine growl, roar within me.  Now I'm over 6 feet tall, I've sounded like James Earl Jones since the third grade (freaking out teachers, allowing me to be truant and call up schools and pretend to be my stepfather and get the lead of Santa Claus once as a 10 year old), I've exercised, jogged, run marathons, lifted weights, done Ashtanga yoga---hurt my knees, went and got a Pepsi and plan out Haagen Daz because pffft, come on---I'm gonna eat the whole pint in a sitting---all of this had lead to my playing between 200 and 250lbs for about 20 years (there was a brief stint in undergrad when I got moving/exercising, like a lot,m and got down to 170lbs.  People thought I was dying.  But ironically I also had dreds down to my ass (I'd like to formally throw out that I was the first to weave in a colored---like Kool Aid red or white dred---red for passion, for being a phoenix, white for sageness, for wisdom learned---yeah, I've been....interesting over the years.)  I'm a big, manly, Alpha by testosterone balance (yeah I actually know that---look up the Alpha Beta test on here), deep voiced, honestly, hung (no, I've never measured; when asked I tell people I focused instead on becoming a man rather than measuring appendages that my atelier doesn't have to make regular clothing adjustments for), I've only been mugged once in Brooklyn at 16 because I ignored my instincts and walked into the Chinese restaurant that a gang was sitting in....  I've been in a few fists fights, one in the past few years when someone got lippy with me in my house, my house!---I will fuck you up if you come for me, but all of that masculine energy stuff?

It's high end feminine energy.

Now let me clarify.  I don't like shopping with women for stuff (though I have a good fashion eye I like to think); I don't like frilly, weak, girly-girl stuff or women for that matter; I detest misogyny.

Remember Madge Sinclair?

That kind of Queenly feminine energy?
That's what I feel inside.
I feel it from the perspective, the heaviness of a Queen, a ruler, sovereign.
I have always elected since I was child that I am sovereign unto myself.
I will never meet the Queen of England...because like Ava Gardner, I'll  never kneel before another bitch.

It gets scarier.

My mother nicknamed me a Grade A Cunt when i was about 16 because in arguments, attitude and demeanor---champagne tastes (Emporio Armani!) I was really a bit much.  I probably said something scathing.

I remember looking in a full length mirror in my bedroom when I was 15, completely naked and thinking.  Oh, this time I'm male.  Okay, I can work with that.  At several tarot card readers they told me that this is my first time being male, all my previous lives I've been female.  My godmother of 20 years agrees and in fact added that I struggle (?) with weight because I relate to my body subconsciously as a woman would, not as a man would.  Lean is not in my future.,...unless you know...I'm dying.  And then, I'm gonna go hard on Popeyes and cake and ice cream and steak and lobster and Alfredo and bbq ribs, chicken, beef----oh, God I'm salivating.




 I tend to intimidate people.  I accept this now.  I didn't before, I think that's where I got the Disease to Please flu from.  I used to be so careful with people.  I even used to modulate the volume of my voice so I wouldn't frighten small children, women, men, dogs, adults, cars.

I'm not interested in you know voguing and I only have done "drag" once in college for a Halloween masquerade ball at Swarthmore.  I looked like a lighter Viola Davis.  For me the thrill was wondering around Philly for a month picking out just the right outfit and shoes.  Once I dressed up, after two hours I was bored with it, as only someone who'd done it for hundreds of years previously could be.

Sexually?  You know you smutty thinkers were wondering if I'd go all proclamation of the art of big boy bottoming and wanting my walls knocked out and having my drum beat.  Ummm, no, not my position of preference.  But I like to think my spiritual feminine self awareness has made me a better lover---no complaints, cash, gifts, 4 year college education, apartments---offered, so I must be doing something or someone, man or woman, right, right?  Me and Madonna and boytoys---we're right there.  I'm that kind of feminine energy...until you know maybe a King shows up...but they haven't.  actually the Kings who do show up tend be straight and wish I were a woman.  Good friends but no romance there.  So I content myself with good sexy men who I hope will be good, protective parents to my children---I fully expect to always make more money than them.  Supposedly there are two contextualizations you can fall into as a parent psychically---the one who wants to be home with the kids or the one who envisions themselves supporting the household.  Guess which one I see myself as?  I always see myself as holding children as I step down the stairway of an airplane...okay, a private plan.  Sunglasses.  Yeah, I'm that kind of bitch.





However I believe it's just energetic switch hitting, there are masculine things about myself that I like---the height.  Short people are funny.  Being paid more.  Being able to walk unmolested by comment or hands on streets, night or day (except you know, in the deep South or by certain police stations...though my brief stint in jail?  I was safe.  And well regarded by the male prisoners and guards.  I ran that bitch and was only challenged by another big Black man who said he was calling me out to stop fucking with them so much---that's a whole other tale...)

I love my Pashmina scarves.  I have like 100.  I like men's shoes and boots that have a good, solid heel on them though.  I rarely wear sneakers or flats, I have trouble walking without a heel.  Go figure.  And no, I have no transsexual yearnings or desire.  I've had several trans friends, even wrote the book (tranny by Kyle Phoenix on Amazon---shameless plug) so I know that trope inside out.  No desire there to cut, fold, tuck, invert or insert artificial anything, ever.  Though, Seinfeld-yes, there's nothing wrong with that, in my opinion.

I stop and look in store windows wistfully and think if I were a woman I'd rock the hell out of that.  But curiously I have no desire to you know buy the outfit and stumble through the Village like Jeffrey Tambor in Transparent or anything.  Never have.  That long ago Halloween was my last foray.  Though I have a killer gender bender costume in mind from a Gustav Klimt painting.

Ok, the point of my digital rant was to encourage you to embrace your spirit.  Feminine or masculine, it's expression and not try to hide or downplay the feminine.  The feminine energy within me has allowed me to nurse my grandmother as she died, counsel friends through pain and death, change my ailing mother's diapers and wash her body with such care and affection that she complimented me that I really knew how to care for a female body because she no longer could.  I've cradled children and comforted them and run out onto the street once when teenagers were bullying a preteen girl and her brother with a ferocity and furiosa that it seemed like they were my children.  I've sat on the train with a drunken young lady in the corner of my eye, as marauding men surrounded her, and I growled at them, I let them know that there was a lionness seated a few feet nearby, not a accomplice, who would rend them, tear them to protect her, a stranger.  I've been gentle with dumb men.  I've been loving with men who have never felt loved.  I've leaned into a young woman's face and told her to get the fuck up, to not snivel and cower and cry, to not embarrass us, the feminine, because she was more than her pain.  I suppose I teach with the feminine, with a loving, stern, patience and deliberation to fulfill my life's mission: To free my people.

I don't think feminine is better or worse than masculine, male or female, I think that whole war of the sexes argument, discussion is trivial bullshit too.  I think we have work to do on Earth and I don't have time to measure cocks to clits.

Embrace yourself.
I do.
I am sovereign unto myself.



Smile, Kyle

Reincarnation???

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

7 Things You Need to Know About Narcissists, From A Psychologist’s Perspective


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DR. KELLY NEFF on 13 September, 2014 at 00:13


Narcissists are everywhere, and they can be incredibly draining and challenging to deal with. Here are 7 things you need to know about narcissists, written from my perspective as a social psychologist and also inspired by my personal experiences with narcissists in my daily life. 
1. A SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF THE US POPULATION ARE NARCISSISTS 


An estimated 6.2% of the US population suffers from narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), meaning they meet five or more of the following criteria according to the DSM-V: (as you read these, think about people you may know who might fit with the diagnosis) 


-Has a grandiose sense of self-importance, exaggerating their abilities and achievements

-Has persistent fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love

-Believes that he or she is “special” and unique and should only associate with people of the same status

-Has a constant need for attention, affirmation and praise

-Has a strong sense of entitlement and an expectation of special treatment

-Is exploitative of others, taking advantage of them for personal gain

-Lacks empathy for others

-Is often envious of others or believes others are envious of them

-Regularly shows arrogant or haughty behaviors and attitudes 


Many more people do not meet all of the criteria for NPD, but may still exhibit narcissistic personality traits from time to time. For this reason it is difficult to know for sure how many narcissists might be out there! 
2. PSYCHOLOGISTS ARE UNSURE ABOUT THE CAUSES OF NARCISSISM 


Is narcissism an inherited genetic trait? Or is it something conditioned by parents and teachers during childhood? Is it associated with other mental illnesses? While the causes of narcissism are unknown, psychologists tend to favor abiopsychosocial model of causation that integrates biology and genetics with social environment and psychological adjustment. In other words, environment and society does play an important role in the development of narcissistic personality traits. 
3. NARCISSISM IS ON THE RISE, ACCORDING TO NEW RESEARCH 


Recent research in psychology shows that narcissism has been on the rise during the last 30 years, especially among young people. One study even showed that 9.4% of 20- to 29-year-olds exhibit extreme narcissism, compared with only 3.2% of those older than 65. Perhaps this is not a surprise in light of how our culture has shifted to emphasize social media as central to our identities, sense of self and self-esteem. Indeed, there is a direct positive correlation between social media usage and narcissism, meaning that the more narcissistic you are, theheavier your social media usage. Even the word ‘selfie’ and what it stands for has a rather narcissistic implication, don’t you think? Sadly, as narcissism has risen with the advent of Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, too has there been a steep decline in altruism and empathy. 
4. NARCISSISTS CAN EASILY SLIP BY UNDETECTED 


Unlike people with other personality disorders or behavioral problems, narcissists can easily slip by undetected because they don’t appear to be ‘sick’ or ‘mentally ill’- They just seem to have an over-inflated sense of self-importance, a relentless need for attention and a lack of empathy. When you first meet them or get to know them, they might seem fun, energetic, outgoing and just a little egotistical, but this may or may not raise red flags. After all, it’s good to have high self-esteem right? Often they can lure you into their inflated self-importance and grandiose schemes and before you realize it, you’ve become involved with someone whose presence may be toxic to your well-being. 
5. NARCISSISM IS DIFFICULT TO TREAT: 


Perhaps one of the most troubling things about narcissistic personality disorder is that it can be very difficult to treat with therapy because the clients are often in denial or completely unwilling to accept that they have a disorder. If someone truly believes that he or she is special, more talented and superior, imagine how challenging it might be for a therapist to convince him or her otherwise. 


It is for this reason that people with narcissistic personality disorder rarely seek treatment, and usually only agree to therapy at the urging or friends or family members, or to treat other issues (such as anxiety or depression) that result from the disorder. And sadly many therapists also have to release their narcissistic patients when they reach an impasse and the patient believes they are fine and refuses to see the problem. 
6. THERE ARE WAYS TO TELL IF SOMEONE IS A NARCISSIST



If you suspect that someone in your life might be a narcissist, there are things that you can do in addition to comparing their behaviors to the diagnostic criteria listed above. I recommend the following: 
Ask Them Questions (Narcissists Like to Talk but not to Listen) 


I learned from my partner intuitive sound healer Jimmy Ohm that the single best way to a spot narcissist is to ASK THEM QUESTIONS! Due to their inflated ego, they can’t help but share with you their exaggerated sense of achievement and accomplishments, their beliefs of how special and wonderful they are, and how everyone is so jealous of them. Even more so, narcissists like to talk, but they are usually not very good listeners. Often they glaze over when others are talking, only waiting for their turn to speak. 
Examine Their Social Media Presence 


Given the positive correlation between social media use and narcissism, if you suspect someone might be a narcissist, one of the easiest things you can do is examine their social media presence. Are they always posting status updates and commenting on everything? Do they frequently talk about themselves, their plans and their achievements online? While heavy social media use alone is not a definite indicator of narcissism, it, if this person is always on social media and also meets some of the narcissism criteria then they might be one of them. 
Do They Involve You in Grandiose Schemes? 


Narcissists have this way of convincing us that they know better and that they are the most capable person for any task. If someone repeatedly involves you grandiose schemes that never pan out, or is always talking about plans but ever actually following through, he or she could well be a narcissist. 
Are They Manipulative? 


Narcissists are skilled at the art of manipulation and getting what they want out of people. I think this ties back their lack of empathy and belief in their specialness and superiority. Often, this manipulation feels like ‘mind games’ where someone tells you what you want to hear but then does the opposite, or when someone leads you on to believe something about them or a situation that turns out to be false. 
7. THE BEST WAY TO DEAL WITH NARCISSISTS IS TO LOVE THEM FROM AFAR 


Often, the people close to us like friends, bosses, work clients or even family members can be narcissists, and it can be challenging to coexist in this space with them. If you identify someone in your life as a narcissist, the single best thing you can do is to love them from afar. Loving them from afar does not mean that you completely shut them out of your life (although this is an effective strategy for some, especially those in extreme situations), but rather, that you withdraw some of your energy and instead of actively engaging, you hold space for them in hopes that someday, they will change. To me, loving them from afar means that you recognize you are powerless to change this person, and that spending time with them can be toxic to your well-being. Limiting your interactions and time spent, not playing into their grandiose schemes and not allowing yourself to be manipulated are all perfectly acceptable strategies. 


In the case of people you see regularly, like work colleagues, bosses, clients and close family, sometimes loving them from afar is a less viable option because you find yourself in constant contact with them. In this case, I recommend the following steps for co-existing: 
Practice Forgiveness and Compassion 


It can be incredibly difficult to find compassion for someone who has no respect for other people and believes themselves to be superior to others. Even if they lack it, you can always find compassion because this person is clearly suffering terribly, whether he or she is consciously connected to the pain. Forgiving someone’s narcissism does not mean your are accepting or justifying their behavior, it just means that you no longer want to hold onto it or allow it to affect you. Remember, the way they act says nothing about you and everything about who they are. Do your best to forgive and not take their narcissism personally! 
Let go of the Attachment to the Outcome 


Being a compassionate, nurturing person, I often see people suffering and I want to help them heal. I know I am not alone here. Unfortunately, when it comes to narcissists, we must learn to let go of the outcome. Narcissists usually do not think that they are in need of any help, believing instead in their own inflated perfection and superiority. Their behaviors, actions, words, and thoughts have nothing to do with you and therefore, being attached to the outcome or trying to change them in any way does not serve you and will only lead to more pain for you. 
Accept that You Gave this Energy Permission to Enter Your Space, and Learn from it 


This is a difficult one, but it is true that our outside reality is a reflection of our inner space. So if you find yourself surrounded by narcissists, it is important to explore why you are in this situation and learn how to grow from it. Maybe you have underlying narcissistic traits that you are not aware of? Maybe you lack self-esteem and believe you are only worthy of narcissists in your life? Maybe you have been unwise in your decisions and the people you chose to make energetic agreements with? Maybe you didn’t realize how narcissistic these people were until it was too late? While their narcissism is definitely not your fault, allowing their energy into your space is your responsibility. By learning what brought you here and making changes, you can break out of this cycle. 
You Deserve Better 


Remember, if you are not a narcissist, then you deserve better than to be surrounded by narcissists! It is OK to assert this feeling and cut energetic ties to people who do not match your frequency. In many cases, this is a necessary form of survival. Many of us have been in positions of low self-esteem or believed that we did not deserve truly loving, caring people in our lives. If you have done this, give yourself permission to remove this agreement on the grounds that you DO deserve to be around compassionate, connected, loving, good people. Trust that you will meet them when you clear the space for them to move into your life. 


Art Credit: Echo and Narcissus, John Williams Waterhouse, 1903, Oil on Canvas 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR 


Dr. Kelly Neff is a social psychologist, author and educator who has helped thousands of people learn about healthy relationships, love and sexuality. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from Georgetown and M.A. and Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Claremont Graduate University. A professor of psychology since 2007, she has become an innovator in the field of online teaching with her book,Teaching Psychology Online and her YouTube lectures. Her articles on love, sex, spirituality and wellbeing have been featured by wellness websites like MindBodyGreen, The Mind Unleashed and more. Dr. Neff also gives workshops, lectures and integrative healing services that combine psychological techniques, empowerment training, Reiki, and other alternative therapies. When she isn’t writing, teaching or doing healing work from her home in Boulder, CO, Dr. Neff travels the globe researching transformational festivals for her upcoming book for the Festival Research Project. You can find her daily doses of inspiration and positivity on Facebook and Twitter. Light and Love!