Janice EdmanThose Brits. You have to love them for their dry wit, wet weather and issues with dentistry. But lately, a new reason has emerged to love the Brits, certainly at least for their inventiveness. Dogging, a sexual trend that has emerged in the UK over the past five years or so, is starting to catch the attention of many Americans across the pond. Dogging is simply a broad term for driving alone or with a paramour to a predetermined location late at night to meet other randy individuals for sexual antics. Those antics can run the gamut from watching couples have sex in their cars, having group sex in larger cars (um, ouch?) or whatever wild fiasco the mood calls for. Why the term “dogging”? Apparently the origins stem from the age-old “Just walking the dog” excuse for ditching the wife and banging whoever you meet in the bushes. Again. Those Brits.
Dogging (or shall we call them meetings?) are usually arranged online and anyone who is game is welcome. Chat rooms have popped up all over to determine good areas, and apparently 60 percent of England’s parks have been used as dogging sites. And you thought only homicidal maniacs like to hang out in parks at night.
In an article on the subject from wired.com, Leander Kahney writes, “Dogging appears to be popular and widespread, attracting heterosexual couples and single men and women of all ages, income brackets and backgrounds.” A well known football player (that’s soccer, to you Yanks) recently made headlines when he admitted to participating in dogging sometimes multiple times in a week. The surprsing aspect of the story? No one seemed all that surprised.
Naturally, as in most sexual escapades, men tend to be drawn to dogging more than women. Probably because most women, aside from the .001 percent of the population that lists “porn star” under occupation, don’t enjoy having an audience for sex. But, as it turns out, enough do in England to keep the trend popular. The lyrics of a song by Urockers (don’t worry, I haven’t heard of them either) has been hitting British airwaves with lyrics, including "Sex in public feels so right. Honk your horn. It's a dogger's delight," as quoted in the article.
It seems to be the voyeuristic element that is so appealing. Having a quickie in the car before calling it a night isn’t exactly eyebrow raising anywhere, and dogging seems to be taking that act to a higher level. After all, when you pull off to the side of the road and gotta have it, of course there’s the risk that someone could see. Dogging amplifies that, because not only can someone see, but they’re probably recording it and posting it on the Internet the next day.
Most likely a result of the rise in dogging popularity, STD rates amongst the population have risen, and the parks people sure have their panties in a twist (hey, maybe they should join in). So could dogging in the United States be far off? Geographically speaking, the fun might be a little trickier to pull off here, as our population is much larger and much, much more spread out. But then again, Americans certainly don’t seem any more chaste than the Brits (that burgeoning population is excellent proof), so maybe it’s only a matter of time before your neighborhood park becomes a hotbed of hot activity. Be on the lookout.