Page:The art of kissing (IA artofkissing987wood).djvu/27

 based largely upon his mother. As the man grows older, in proportion as his head remains hollow he desires a younger and younger girl. This is partly because he finds an experienced woman superior to himself: and the average "lordly" male, in all sadness I must confess, prefers an inferior woman to one the man's equal or superior. The choice of age for youth has another meaning as well: the older person, consciously or not, wants to restore his own lost youth in the kisses and caresses of a younger person. This, from the standpoint of the older person, is admirable. Some dark men prefer blonde girls, some prefer girls of their own coloring; and in every case generalities cannot be stated with certainty. If you want to kiss a girl or woman, set about doing it, or, at least, finding out if it will be well received.

The immediate object of kissing, mutual pleasure, as distinguished from the ultimate object, the love embrace, requires that both man and girl be willing. There is no pleasure, except in a man slightly perverted, in kissing a girl entirely against her will. So the man's first task is to find out whether the girl wishes, or is ready, for him to kiss her. How can he find out? The one safe rule is, not by asking directly. The girl rightly assumes that the man who asks for a kiss lacks the experience that will make the act worthwhile to her. The indirect methods vary enormously. It's all right to talk about kissing, and get the girl to agree that a kiss isn't any harm, when people really like each other. She will see through