We here at the Singles' Network understand that the conduct manuals from which we draw upon may seem a bit extreme and outdated, but we insist that these step-by-step instructions are just as prevalent today as they were then.  Courtship guides now come in the form of "dating tips," and conduct manuals have broadened into gender-specific fashion and health magazines such as Cosmopolitan and Maxim.

Perhaps Advice to a Daughter seems a bit extreme, but   we ask you to consider the women's magazine Glamour  from November 2000.  Glamour features a cover article    entitled, "10 ways to Turn Your Man on in 5 Minutes,"       which offers such male-pleasing advice as:

         

 

        "The Lesson:  Use your tush to your advantage.  Consider letting your 
        birthday-suited bum peek out from under your nightshirt when you
        waltz into the kitchen, where he's making coffee--then reach up to a high 
        cabinet"
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These "tush" instructions seem to originate the very conduct manuals that you may find so stale:

         "...the answer is, in short, that the institution of marriage is too sacred to 
        admit of a liberty of objection to it; that the supposition of your being the
        weaker sex, having without all doubt a good foundation, maketh it 
        reasonable to subject it to the masculine dominion..."
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Both suggest a degree of female submission to the whims and wants of the male.  Perhaps Advice to a Daughter phrased it more eloquently, but the message is equally clear in both pieces.  

The Modern Manuals, on the other hand, differ in their support for more female empowerment.  While our primary sources exhibit a great deal of proactive male instruction, the same instructions can be found in modern times that are equally applicable for both the sexes:

           "Touch is comforting and also stimulating. Flirt by touching yourself lightly in a                nonsexual, safe way.  Primp or preen yourself, smoothing your hair or stroking
            your own hand, neck, face, or leg.  Use an interesting trick based on the
           
psychological principle of modeling--touch yourself wherever you would like
   
         to focus attention or where you imagine the other person touching you.

            Once you've become comfortable with each other, you can straighten his tie
   
         or her necklace, or brush a speck off the shoulder of his jacket.  Advance to
            touching a body part: first covered parts, like the back or the shoulder, 
then
            hair and then exposed skins on "safe" areas like on the arm, hand, or
cheek.
            Back off if the person winces or withdraws."  (125)
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