I'd forgotten about this thread. I posted it after having a laugh with a girlfriend about the merits of vibrators compared with sex with real men. We're both menopausal and in our fifties, and have had more than one long (failed) relationship, which may explain things.
Sorry if I offended anyone here by posting a light-hearted thread. In retrospect, yes, I should have posted it on another board.
Having said that, some of the posts here are brilliant and have given me a good laugh.
I've never been married, have had a lot of boyfriends and sexual partners, but only a few were able to reach the parts that others couldn't, to steal a phrase from Heineken (not that I had sex with them all at the same time, mind 
. Maybe I missed out 
.)
There were others, whom I adored, and thought I was in love with, but who didn't, ahem, achieve the desired effect, but I didn't care. I was young and in lust! Some of them were technically very good, but it just didn't happen for me. But there is no doubt that there were some pretty tedious times with others, too. I'm sure they were just as bored.
One of my two big loves (you know, the ones you pine for for years...) told me he thought the reason I didn't was because I had a "mental blockage", which was his excuse for jumping on me and being a selfish bastard... but I loved him and enjoyed the physical closeness, if nothing else.
The guy I'm with, who I've been with on and off for a long time, is like Renarde's bloke - he's so good that if he were to sell his services, he'd be rich. And he's good looking. But these days, a long way down the line, we are more like friends. I have friends older than me who are still really sexual, but me and my co-menopausal pal are rather puzzled by our loss of libido. Hence the light-hearted vibrators conversation.
Of course men, too, are at liberty to compare us with sex dolls. Apparently there are a good number getting rather excited about the prospect of sex robots. Good luck to them. Am I offended? Nope . . Each to their own!
My mate and I are just at a different stage of our lives. We feel (now), that men are not the be all and end all, and, you know, that is pretty liberating.