Time for a Cuddle Party?

They seem to be all the rage these days. One news story notes:

It’s a Cuddle Party, and it’s exactly what it sounds like. Adults getting together to cuddle. To sprawl on the floor and spoon in ratty sweats. To pile on one another like pound puppies. To satiate their “skin hunger.”

Another story explains:

Tsk, tsk if you thought Cuddle Parties were about sex. They’re painstakingly platonic. They’re all about making touch A-OK, promoting intimacy in a world increasingly lived online, alone together. They’re about “a structured, safe workshop on boundaries, communication, intimacy and affection.” . . .

A Cuddle Party may look like a pajama party for grown-ups. It’s fun but there are rules. The number one rule, pajamas stay on the whole time. This is a non-sexual event. There’s snuggling, nuzzling and even spooning. But not everyone’s ready for a group hug right away since you may not know everyone. So to get comfortable there are a few steps to start with.

The first step, whether you’re with a partner or by yourself, is to sit and chat in a welcome circle. You hear the rules which include asking permission and getting a verbal yes before you touch anybody. And if everyone agrees to all of the rules, the cuddling begins.

The concept was created (or at least, named) four years ago. They’ve been increasing in popularity ever since — now they’re happening in cities all over the country. They’ve even made it onto CSI.

And it really is a fascinating and poignant commentary on modern culture that adults feel the need to formally get together with strangers just to feel human touch.

What role does non-sexual touch and affection play in your own life? What has your experience or observation been about touch and intimacy among Mormons? I don’t think that Mormons touch much, as a general rule. Is that what you’ve seen, too? Do you ever feel touch-deprived, in the community? And how do you separate out non-sexual from sexual touch, in your own life?

And really, do we need to start holding ward cuddle parties?

Guest post: “Do it for England”

This is a guest post from a reader named Sartre

Mormons come from a conflicted subculture when it comes to sex. Young women, and to a lesser extent, young men, are counseled, with good reason, to abstain, but in a less than positive fashion, “no no no.” Yet pre-Manisfesto, Mormons enjoyed anything but a Victorian mindset toward sex. So we’re a paradox. We come from a culture of polygamists, yet now form the most modern day Victorians.

What does that mean? It might be we do a good job keeping marriage counselors busy with our messed up relationships, but that’s not the point. What’s the philosophy of sex according real life Mormons?

Do Mormon men get what it takes to romance our women? Are our women interested enough in that aspect of relationships to make it hot and wild? Or do our women prefer the Victorian attitude, “yes love making sucks, but do it for England, darling”?