On page 172, just after Pointsmen has recieved oral sex from Maud, it says, "But no one saw them, then or ever, and in the winter ahead, here and there, her look will cross his and she'll begin to blush red as her knees, she'll come to his room off the loab once or twice perhaps, but somehow they're never to have this again, this sudden tropics in the held breath of war and English December, this moment of perfect peace." Typically oral sex is not seen as an act of emotional intimacy, but rather as an erotic sexual act. I think it's interesting that Pynchon has chosen this as the perfect moment of peace. In wartime people stop believing that they are going to be able to live the lives they had before the war. It's as if it's a rule, that oral sex is not allowed during war. There are too many things that are more important than it. But, for a moment, Pointsmen lets himself believe that it is more important than the war. He's letting himself indulge in a time of scarcity and that is peace to him because it's peace-time behavior.
I'm getting obessed with the male vibe in the book now...sorry everyone.
I think that moment of peace is another part of that masculine vibe. I mean, the oral sex, as you touched on, is simply sexual, not emotional (that would be my opinion...and earlier Roger gives Jessica oral sex and it's more emotional, I suppose). Moreover, the act is pleasure for the male (ok you can argue if you want....to understand my point, you have to view oral sex like I do...it's a flaw in the argument) and not for the female. It is the female servicing the male...and this is a time of peace. hm.....
Oh, and whenever women do have power...for example, Katje. It's through sexual acts, and it is creepy and unnatural and gross...and she's being put up to it by someone else anyway. Her act of power is not even her choice. Now, the males are powerless too...but they still struggle on alone more than the women, who are constantly tied to one man or another.
Males have traditionally been the dominant figure in sex. Rape for example is really a man (usually) controlling a woman (or another man) through sexual violence. When the roles are reversed, even if a man isn't screaming "rape, rape" is that still not empowerment? I think Katje's sexual power over men actual shows men to be these hapless beasts. I mean look at golddiggers. Call them disgusting, immoral whores, you still can't deny they now completely dominate a man and suck him dry for everything he's worth. Power is power.
I think men and women share power rather equally during this book, as masculine as GR might seem at first glance. I think the men make themselves vulnerable as they all, Brigadier, Pointsman, Slothrop, and Roger, have an incredible desire for a woman. If the men truly wanted just sex I'm sure they could seek it in other ways. I actually saw the Pointsman and Maude scene differently. I saw it as revered by Pointsman because generally he is ignored, reviled etc. by women. But all of a sudden, Maude pays attention to him (maybe because she had too much to drink), and that act was incredible to him. I don't think the oral sex part mattered as much as the fact that she was just there. She wasn't disgusted, aloof, she was present and willing. It was new for him, and he took it for what it was, and he cherished it.