In case you missed it, the New York Times featured a doubly-lovely lovey-dovey photo spread called “In the Bedrooms” - an art book produced by creative & romantic partners James Frank Tribble and Tracey Mancenido. The book features New York couples in - guess where - their bedrooms canoodling and teasing out ‘awwwwwwwwws!’ from onlookers (like me, duh).
The story is awesome and available here.
* Sigh *
I know that this Richard Girling guy’s Times of London piece about the evolution of lust, sex and coupledom is really just about his new book.
I know that everybody wants to have lots and lots of sex. [Bragging about my goal to bang my husband 10, 000 times was one of my first Newlybed blog posts.]
I know that he’s only trying to push buttons when he makes overstatements about what women want from men and what men want from women.
I know his use of statistics is sorta clunky, definitely misleading and applied only to boost the flagging cred of his arguments in order to make the scientifically-sounding headline of “The Evolution of Sex and Marriage” not be a complete lie.
I know, after reading the whole thing more than once, that the assertion below his headline that “We can barely control our sexual appetites, but are hungry for happy, monogamous relationships” is just a big, fucking rouse.
But why does he need 2000 words to accomplish what even middling romcoms do in a single catchphrase?
W mag raised the bar pretty high with their retro fabulous take on coupledom with Brad and Angie a few years back. But lemme tell you, newlyweds of the moment Fergie and Josh easily soar over it in next month’s spread for Elle magazine.
X17, being a usurper of attention, has posted some of the best window-fogging pics on their site here.
Fetishizing life-long commitments used to mean Googling your way to a MILF site or picking up one of the weekly glossies, like US or Star, that valorized celebrity new moms. But years of bump watching and million dollar newlyborn debute have grown tiresome. And so, it’s time for a new rite of passage to be co-opted by the pop cultural machinery into an object of collective longing.
Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to introduce you to the NILF or Newlywed I’d Like to F[...].
NILFs are sexy, smart, savvy and whatever else MILFs were. Run down the checklist: Are they desirable, enviable and unachievably successful? Of course. Can they convey exotic eroticism while remaining wholesome, accessible and down-to-earth? Definitely. Do they have the power to become commanders of cultural trends? Advertisers are counting on it.
Perhaps because a radiant glow, beaming smile and come-hither stare are hallmarks of New Wife delights, it’s little wonder two camera-worthy former brides are helping to launch new make-up lines, right?
Fergie’s new ad spread for MAC is high on concept and fantasy:
(via The Guardian)
Sporting a classic-yet-derivative look is ScarJo in her D&G campaign:
( via Pop Media Examiner)
So, three questions need answering:
1.) Who did it better?
2.) Who will be better able to stave off whispering hoards of bump watchers?
3.) Who will be the next celeb NILF to claim the spotlight?
Salon has launched a new feel-good series running every other Monday. Titled simply “Americans Talk About Love” the first entry from Paul Pesce is a straightforward account of the early days his marriage.
At a lively but tired 83, Pesce provides a few glimpses into generational differences which feel more like gems of wisdom than old-man beard scratching: the (lack of) difficulty staying committed; the narrowing of options and sense of urgency provided in the post-war era; the exciting social mobility in the years that followed it.
But its his sideways ramble into the essence of his decades-long marriage that’s seems a jolting, bold-faced admission: “I mention it and she makes it happen.”
That a fulfilling relationship can be so succinctly and plainly described feels a bit jarring. It seems both one-sided and yet a curious act of omission: theirs was the time when an adoring wife was expected to set aside her dreams to fulfill those of her husband; today still it is enviable for a couple to forgo more furious passions for the promise of incremental increases to wealth.
After a decade of indulgence and distraction, and weighted by a worrying recession, it seems natural that the cultural pendulum again swings back towards more austere tastes.
We newlyweds are no longer encouraged to dream big and aspire. Instead, we are cautioned: Be frugal, be frisky and be friends.
That Brides Magazine - Conde Nast’s flagship wedding porn publication - is celebrating its 75th anniversary must be proof of its popularity.
On surface, it seems that the secret to its longevity can be explained by two factors. It was the first to patent and popularize the formula for the modern wedding: Bride in White + Groom in Tux + Vows + Guests = Party. And, over and over, it recalibrated itself to remain culturally relevant to changing expectations.
But the way a press release frames it, there may be another explanation.
Historically, the mag was more concerned on easing the transition from Single Girl to Married Girl, rather its present, singular focus on the selling of one magically perfect and princess-worthy day.
Says editor-in-chief Millie Martini Bratten: “If you were a bride in 1934 when the magazine launched, you were quite concerned with how to set up a home and how to cook a steak to his liking. In the late ’60s, you wanted guidance about wedding-night sex. Today’s bride likely already has lived on her own - and probably knows more than a little about the birds and bees - but she still wants some help in learning how to plan the perfect party.”