Lady & Lube

[donnaimmaculata]

Because my f-list knows the answers to Important Questions:

a) What is the female equivalent of a "Lord Mayor"? Is she a "lady" or a "mayoress" or neither or both?

b) In your opinion: when did lube become an every-day product that can be bought in your friendly neighbourhood drugstore? I read "Life on Mars" slash occasionally, and whenever I encounter the casual mention of lube in the nightstand drawer, it strikes me as somewhat off. Wouldn't vaseline be more likely? I've honestly no idea - I can be dead wrong here. I just remember that when I was in my teens in the 1990s, it was "vaseline" that was associated with anal sex, because "lube" wasn't around all that much and could be only purchased in the rather more, ah, specialised shops. (When I was 17, I read about the use of Crisco as the product for anal fisting in a gay mag, and my then best friend and I bought some in a sex shop and used it to bake a cherry cake. We thought it was hilarious. But that's just by the bye.)

Comments

[penknife.livejournal.com]

I really think you're right about the lube -- although I can't find any reference to cite on this, I don't think water-based lube was widely available in the 1970s. And Vaseline was widely used for anal sex in the era before its tendency to break down latex condoms became such an issue.

[donnaimmaculata.livejournal.com]

I didn't even think about the condoms, but that was the turning point, wasn't it? Before AIDS awareness, people probably didn't use condoms for anal sex all that much.

Thanks for your input. I'm not really looking for any citations or cast-iron confirmation, but am merely curious whether anyone shares my impression.