The inspiration crew at WordPress asked ‘Have you ever wondered what it would be like to trade places with a member of the opposite sex for a day?’

I haven’t wondered what a whole day would be like but I have wondered what sex as a man is like. I’m curious to know what a male orgasm feels like. How different is it to mine? And what does it feel like to enter a woman? Is an erection better or just different to my feelings of lust as a woman?

Crude questions? Perhaps, but I’m willing to bet that most of us have thought them – or similar ones.

Outside sex, though, I wonder what would be so different? It would be interesting to feel the difference in physical strength. I go to a climbing wall every week and I’m not a great climber, largely because I don’t work on my strength in between sessions. To experience the upper body strength that most of the guys at the wall have would be amazing!

Physicality apart, surely the experience would come down to what type of man or which particular man? Men are as diverse as women, so there could be no generic ‘oh, so this is what it feels like’ aspect to trading places.

If I could choose who I’d be, I’d be George Clooney and find out if he really IS sexy in real life. Or maybe not because when I switched back, I might have to live with the disappointment of finding out he’s not. If I picked my nose as George Clooney, I’d live with that memory for the rest of my life.

Instead perhaps I’ll opt to be Noah Stewart for the day, spending my time singing with a rich, deep boom that is impossible to imagine as a high alto.

I could inhabit the body, mind and life of a man I detest, to try and understand what makes him take the decisions he does. If I were Syrian President, Bashar Al-Assad, I could understand his black heart. And I could call a true cease fire, step down and allow my country to move towards democracy.

Right now, I’d like to be David Bowie for a day. Then I’d know if and when he’s going on tour. After such a long break, would I be nervous? Excited? Thrilled that at 66 I still have a beautiful voice and a vein of creativity as deep as it was when I first started out? Best of all, I’d be able to sing ‘Where are we now?’ with the right voice, not my voice.

The choices are endless and it is fun to imagine them. It would be wonderful if we were able to get under the skin of another person for a day, to see life through their eyes. Imagine the empathy we would have for each other as a result.

By Carole Scott

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