Brother:
I have a rather peculiar problem. When my girlfriend was younger, she had a rather bad dream concerning her breasts. The gist of the dream was that her breasts were kissed, sucked, etc., by a man who she thought loved her, but who, in reality, wanted only her body.
For some reason, this dream made a rather strong impression on her. And so, to this day, she gets no pleasure from the stimulation of her breasts. We have tried to alter this fact, but no amount of oral stimulation, manual stimulation or talk of erogenous zones seem to produce any tangible results. We both are aware of this “block” and would like to do something about it. Help!
ANSWER: Time, experience and confidence in another person will often alleviate or eliminate a “block” such as you describe.
But if your girlfriend feels truly handicapped, she might benefit by consulting with a therapist.
The Department of Mental Health of your local health department should be able to make such a referral.
Dear Dr. Schoenfeld:
People in French literary salons used to engage in a kind of parlor game called “automatic writing”. They would sit in a circle and the first person would write a noun or phrase to serve as the subject of a sentence. The next person would write a predicate for the sentence, cover that and pass it on, etc.
The result, of course, was mostly nonsense but one I still remember from my college course in 20th Century French Lit. was, “L’amour physique est la moitie du plaisir.”
The very nice French epigrammatic structure suffers somewhat in translation, “Physical love is but half the pleasure.”
Dear Dr. Schoenfeld:
I was upset by your column in which you said that gefilte fish is poisonous.
How can this be so, since, to cook the stuff, it should take several hours. And, as anyone knows (or should know), ten minutes cooking—or sterilization in boiling water, is supposed to kill any bacteria present in the liquid.
If, like you say, gefiltefish is dangerous, why then have not the entire Jewish population died off—I among them?
ANSWER: Lest I be struck down by lightening, let me say that gefilte fish is not ordinarily poisonous. But 9% of Great Lakes white fish (used for most gefilte fish in the U.S.) contain bacteria which can cause botulism, a deadly form of food poisoning.
Three cases of botulism food poisoning traced to inadequately cooked gefilte fish were reported in the October 13, 1969 Journal of the A.M.A. Apparently, the late Chicago matron who prepared the meal didn’t bring the fish to a boil.
Am I off the hook now, Mom, Aunt Ada, Aunt Ethel, Aunt Pearl, Aunt Sadie and Aunt Syd?
Dear Dr. Schoenfeld:
Since some chicks rely upon those vaginal foams, jellies, etc., when are the manufacturers of-these products going to start producing them in flavors? Chocolate’s my favorite.
ANSWER: Multi-flavored vaginal douches are such a profitable venture they were recently reported in TIME’s advertising section. Maybe contraceptive foam and jelly manufacturers will also respond to changing American tastes.
Dear Dr. Schoenfeld:
Whenever I displease my husband, he gives me an enema of hot soapy water to ‘discipline’ me!! Since this didn’t happen too often, I suffered with it—however, he has been giving them to me more often (about once every 4-5-6 weeks) and I’ve been wondering if he can cause me any harm. He used to use about a pint of water, but now he uses more. (He says about a pint and a half). Also, he agrees to abide by your decision—says if it’s harmful to me, he will stop and go back to using the hairbrush.
ANSWER: Infrequent enemas, as you describe them, are not medically harmful unless the water really is “hot”.
Many people receive erotic stimulation through enemas and I wonder if this is really a punishment for you.
But then it’s your own bag.
DEAR DR. HIP POCRATES is a collection of letters and answers now available in paperback. 95 cents.
Dr. Schoenfeld welcomes your questions. Write to him c/o PO Box 680, Tiburon, California 94920.