Thursday, September 29, 2005

Doggone it...

Dogging...that's what I'm talking about. Apparently, it's all the rage in Europe. And yet, I have never heard of it. Me, the girl who prides herself on being in touch wiht all the latest oddities. I feel so behind.

And for those of you who feel just as much out of the loop, here's a quick little lesson in that wonderful fad of Dogging:

Giving new meaning to the term "flash mob," the British have invented a new sex craze called "dogging" that mixes sex, exhibitionism, mobs and the Internet.

Dogging combines technology with swinging, cruising and voyeurism. To wit: Crowds big and small watch exhibitionist couples who've met on the Net have sex in cars, and sometimes join in.

"Dogging is the broad term used to cover all the sexual outdoor activities that go on," says the dogging FAQ at Melanies UK Swingers, a popular dogging site. "This can be anything from putting on a show from your car, to a gangbang on a picnic table."

Dogging appears to be popular and widespread, attracting heterosexual couples and single men and women of all ages, income brackets and backgrounds. Not surprisingly, however, dogging meets tend to attract more men than women.

Dogging is most often practiced in cars at rural parks, lover's lanes and superstore parking lots. The term dogging has a number of suggested origins, but it probably refers to the "walking the dog" excuse proffered to spouses for an evening's absence.

Dogging sessions are usually organized through the dozens of dogging sites and message boards that have sprung up in the last couple of years. Photos are exchanged and meetings arranged by e-mail or mobile phone text message.

At the meet, cell phones and text messages are used to confirm meeting places and, crucially, identities. Cameras and videophones are increasingly used to record what goes on.

"Technology is vital and is the main driver (of the dogging phenomenon)," said Richard Byrne, a lecturer at Harper Adams University College in the United Kingdom who produced a survey (PDF) last year that found dogging to be a widespread and growing problem in Britain's country parks.

Dogging is so prevalent, 60 percent of U.K. country parks are affected by it, Byrne's report estimated.

In addition, cases of sexually transmitted diseases in some districts rose markedly last year, prompting health authorities to post safe-sex warnings on dogging sites, according to the BBC. One dogging group on Yahoo has 22,000 members.

Although dogging has been growing in popularity for the last couple of years, it only reached the mainstream earlier this month when soccer player Stan Collymore, one of Britain's most famous athletes, admitted to attending numerous dogging meets. Naturally, Collymore's confession sparked a storm of tabloid controversy.

Dogging is becoming so popular, or so notorious, that a trio of music professionals this month released a single celebrating dogging -- and an accompanying sexy video.

"Sex in public feels so right. Honk your horn. It's a dogger's delight," go the lyrics to "Dogging," a new single produced by URockers, a "collective of sexual anarchists born of the Internet," according to the group's site.

Members of the group claim to have met at a dogging meet. The trio are all music professionals, including a nationally known DJ and a high-profile producer who's worked with Kylie Minogue and Robert Plant.

Read more on the story here.

dena at 6:47 AM

12comments

12 Comments

at 7:24 AM soapbox.SUPERSTAR said...: Okay, I saw the picture and had happy thoughts, then you went the total opposite direction!

You are good!
at 7:38 AM Mise en Place said...: WTF!! I'm NOT oppossed to sex in public but the "Dogging" thing is OC!

To fuuny though really. I was thinks when I saw the picture, "Aw, look a dog walker in NYC" Boy was I wrong!! LOL!!! :):)
at 8:25 AM Mise en Place said...: Oops! I forgot to tell you, Michele sent me.

Apparently I don't know how the play the game.

Have a "Dog" gone good one!!
at 10:01 AM The Mistress of the Dark said...: ACK!

No sex in public for me. No one really wants to see that. Unless of course they are warped and twisted.

Have a great one!
at 12:15 PM Karen said...: Man, I am SO sheltered. I too was thinking about dog-walkers instead of, well, the other.....
at 12:17 PM Karen said...: ...oh and Michele sent me....
at 12:44 PM Anonymous said...: oh, I haven't heard about this and I am in Europe. But that's okay, I can live without it!
at 7:30 PM Thumper said...: Um. Ick.
But the doggies in the picture are cute!

Here via Michele's this time :)
at 10:29 PM Anonymous said...: well, you won't catch me doggin it!
at 10:22 AM carmilevy said...: We must live in the most boring city on the planet. The only dogging here is the old couples whose canines sit in the grass while they engage in the ages-old pastime of lawn bowling.

Yawn.

Back from Michele's this a.m. I laughed all the way through this entry, and will definitely keep my eyes open in future.
at 11:57 AM HRH Courtney, Queen of Everything said...: SOOO not my cup of tea. Sex is not a spectator sport.
Michele sent me, though I think I've come by before.
at 9:03 PM yellojkt said...: I think someone is pulling our leg here. Brits are fairly famous for coming up with hoaxes and seeing how far the media will follow without any real fact checking. Color me skeptical.

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Joyously roaming through life. Meeting its topographical challenges, and facing each with a sarcastic wit, and an impetuous need to face even more bumps, dips, pits and peaks. How the hell else did I end up with a 22 year old, a 20 year old and a 4 year old?