Suzanne Portnoy

A new podcast has just gone up. You can listen to it here.This week, fellow author and teetotaller Tania Glyde and I talk about the reality of having sex sober. Have you ever thought about the times you’ve had sex and the number of times you’ve been completely straight when you do?

As a woman who has had her share of hard drinking boyfriends, I have many fond memories of drunken nights when I was pinned over the kitchen table or the table tennis table or the sofa or the kitchen worktop, getting royally fucked. One boyfriend had the quite enviable ability to remain hard after 10 martinis. Equally, I’ve been with some AA/NA types with whom I was completely sober all the time. I can’t say that I prefer one over the other although I can live without the hangover that inevitably follows a boozy night out.

Talking about drinking and sex seems to make a lot of men I know nervous. I recall asking a 50 year old lover if he ever had sober sex as we never seemed to.  His reply, ‘Probably about ten times in my life.’ He didn’t think that was abnormal and I didn’t want to suggest that perhaps he might have a drink problem.

These days I can count on one hand the number of units I have a month. I’ve never been a great drinker and the older I get, the less I enjoy it. My contemporaries all seem to be heading the same way. It’s no bad thing.