http://www

THE LAST TABOO REVISITED.

One of my most controversial and frequently visited web pages, perhaps understandably, is that about me still being a virgin, now that I am in my forties THE LAST TABOO (actually, the article was written when I was in my late thirties).

Responses to it have varied from utter disbelief and incredulity to genuine interest and understanding.

From those who don’t even want to comprehend, I have just received e-mails telling me I must be gay, which A/. Makes me worry about how they respond and react to real homosexuals and B/. Tells me that they haven’t read my companion article, AMI GAY?

Most people just take my lack of sexual experience in their stride, as a curiosity and go on to read my other work. Some find it odd that I can successfully write so many erotica without having experienced a lot of it first hand. Some people just plain don’t believe me. One recent e-mail pointed out that the events on the ship, The SS Uganda, with a girl threatening to leap overboard if I didn’t declare my love for her must have been cribbed from the film Titanic, but my article was written some years before the film even came out.

Sometimes, girls who read the article tell me that they appreciate my work and that they would happily satisfy the gaps in my life-experience if not for already being spoken for.

The oddest reactions are from people who know me but who haven’t paid close attention to my website and seen my virginity article. When they eventually do find it, they feel as if they have discovered a great secret about me. The fact that my life story is spelt out on the World Wide Internet Information Superhighway should really tell people that there is no secret. If anything, it is my casual honesty about my sexuality that shocks and amazes people. Breaking taboos can shock people.

In 2005, a feature film, The 40 Year Old Virgin was released. I thought, Oh, am I in for some hassle now, but surprisingly few people picked up on the similarities between my experiences and those in the film, which I loved and my review of it is up at http://www.arthurchappell.clara.net/filmreviewthe40yearoldvirgin.htm

OTHER MIDDLE AGED VIRGINS

I was surprised to discover that I am not alone in my experience or lack of it. Middle-aged male virginity is surprisingly prevalent. American psychologists and psychiatrists have discovered that many seemingly healthily minded males (and in some cases handsome males) are still single and virginal. Prostitutes also testify that many middle aged men come to them for late life sexual release and lessons in the practical side of having intercourse. I have found a few websites on the subject. http://www.arthurchappell.clara.net/filmreviewthe40yearoldvirgin.htm

http://www.datelinehollywood.com/archives/2005/08/15/real-40-year-old-virgins-say-40-year-old-virgin-movie-make-them-uncomfortable/
http://archive.salon.com/sex/feature/2003/10/08/virgin/index_np.html

The release of The 40 Year Old Virgin led some US Virgins to threaten legal action, thinking that they would be subjected to ridicule and intolerance, but such fears strike me as groundless. I have generally found more good-humoured positive reaction and respect than hostility and pseudo-homophobia in responses to my article on the subject.