Editrix Abby  

The Single Male

Not Allowed! A humorous Look at the Dreaded "Unescorted Male"

Ah, the single male. Those two words sound like poetry to the single female. If he’s a doctor, it will thrill all the yentas. If he’s basically breathing, it’s nirvana for “women of a certain age.” A single male is the goal if you’re cruising the internet looking for dates, a husband, a one night stand. But when it comes to swing parties, “single male” suddenly sounds like a curse. Or worse.

Even the most mild- and well-mannered men have been known to become slobbering, blathering, bumbling idiots when they suddenly find themselves at a sex party. Faced with naked babes and spread legs, their will power and their composure evaporate. Their jaws hang open. Sweat springs from their brow. And their hands move involuntarily to their genitals, where they often remain all evening, stroking mindlessly like a monkey in a cage.

They hang in doorways and hover, inching closer and closer to the action until they’re practically part of the action, their wank-weary erections perilously close to, like, your ear or some other inappropriate body part. They become mumblers, unable to carry on a civil conversation, their eyes darting to the dude getting his dick sucked and no doubt wishing it was him instead. And who can blame him?

You give them the rules, explain the etiquette and admonish that anything other than exemplary behavior will be met with a boot in the ass—right out the door. They’ll nod and reassure and promise to maintain, but they lose it as soon as someone starts getting screwed.

Thus, almost every swing, play or sex event basically bans the evil “single male.” Cause no matter how vehemently you disabuse him of the notion, the single male still believes—if not in his heart, then definitely in his loins—that he’s gonna get lucky. He’s gonna hook up. He’s gonna find himself on the bottom of a pile of writhing naked bodies or between two hot young buxom blondes. He’s gonna wind up the unwitting participant in a wild daisy chain, having the best sex of his life. The only problem is that the chances of that actually happening are, well, just about zero.

It’s partly a question of numbers. Even if there are more single women than men, those women will be integrated into someone else’s sex scene far more easily. But mostly it’s a situation about behavior. The exact behavior I’m talkin’ about here. So thus, the dreaded “No single or unescorted males allowed.”

The ban sometimes results in the single male’s engaging the services of a professional. If you can only get in with a date and you don’t have a date, well, why not buy a date? Better yet, you’re buying a date that, by definition, is guaranteed to put out. Unfortunately, this not only goes against the spirit of the rule, it completely obliterates the reason for coming as a couple: hooking up with another swingin’ couple and possibly creating a relationship for future hook ups. Bob and Carol got it on with Ted and Alice. If it had been Bob and Carol and Ted and his hooker, things probably wouldn’t have been as successful.

So what’s a single guy to do? Well, you can always bring a blind date. Tell her you’re going to a cocktail party and act all shocked and surprised when—gasp!—people start shedding their clothes. Chances are you’ll never see her again, but ya never know! She might jump right into the action! Or it could be a scene straight out of “The Graduate.” If nothing else, you’ll know right away if she’s adventurous. Or you can bring a close female friend. Promise you’ll be her date for her high school reunion if she’ll just be your “in” for the swing party. But she’d have to be a pretty damn close friend. Unfortunately, more often than not, the unescorted male is either extremely socially awkward or out on the town without his wife. Who would never in a million years go to a swing party.

My advice is to wait it out and find yourself a woman who won’t mind experimenting with you. Now that there’s Craig’s List and hundreds of other hook-up services, there’s really no excuse. And if all you want to do is wank anyway, I say stay home!

[Written May 2005]