Here at Sex and the 405, we have heard many rumors about the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) since we started reporting on their war on pornography, chief among them that they opposed research into an AIDS/HIV vaccine. Not content to become part of the gossip mill, we decided to dive into the allegations. … Continue Reading
When confronted with reminders of their mortality, people have been shown to play up their cultural views, belittle opposing views, and reinforce their self-esteem. In studying these effects, the question of how thoughts of death affected the libido came up.
An initial study in Israel involving 40 men and 36 women found that thinking about death led the men to say that they’d be more likely to hookup with a stranger at a bar than the control group, which had thought about a visit to the dentist. This, curiously, was not the case for the women in the experiment. … Continue Reading
Right whales, massive sea giants once hunted almost to the point of extinction in the days of the whaling industry — who would have guessed these rotund, leisurely mammals entertained such scandalous sex lives? Not only is the right whale exhibitionist, swimming to the surface of the water to mate, but apparently, they’re quite fond of group sex as well!
In Observations of a Female North Atlantic Right Whale (Eubalaena glacialis) in Simultaneous Copulation with Two Males: Supporting Evidence for Sperm Competition in Aquatic Mammals, 2005, Mate, et al., describe the instance of a threesome that unfolded before researchers. … Continue Reading
The questions of whether couples should wait before having sex, and how long, and if it even matters, are robust perennials for news organizations, eager for traffic. Every year, a good handful of studies come out to feed the slow news days, and blogs trip over themselves to regurgitate the information, delighted to tap into fears or hit the jackpot of all things web: a slut- or virgin-shaming comment war to send those pageviews through the roof.
We’re no better. But instead of being snarky about the fact of course a Brigham Young University study found that having sex within the first month of dating led to the worst relationships, we’re going to focus on a compelling aspect of the discussion. … Continue Reading
The Carnal Carnival is a site run by a group of wild science writers who want to bring knowledge to us unwashed masses. This month, they’re surveying studies on orgasm. Ready to take a look at male and female genitals during coitus, as delivered by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)? … Continue Reading
No matter what we do, it always seems to come back to semen.
We’re blaming this one on Jesse Bering over at Scientific American, who recently decided to examine the evolutionary merits of premature ejaculation.
Ejaculation, biologically speaking, has one function: to shoot semen into the female body, in the hopes that one of the sperm survives the hostile reception long enough to penetrate an egg. “Given these basic biological facts, and assuming that ejaculation is not so premature that it occurs prior to intromission and sperm cells find themselves awkwardly outside of a woman’s reproductive tract flopping about like fish out of water,” Bering reflects, “what, exactly, is so “premature” about premature ejaculation?” … Continue Reading
Remember high school? Yeah, Neither do we. But researchers recently released a reminder entitled “Terms of Endearment” — a paper studying the Darwinian mating habits of the high school student.
Based on data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (or, “Add Health”) — a huge compilation of data from surveys administered between 1994 and 1995 to students between seventh and twelfth grade, and periodically thereafter — researchers Arcidiacono, McElroy, and Beauchamp zeroed in on data relating to sex and relationships. Specifically, they wanted to know the likelihood and factors surrounding the partnering up of students.
They found that freshman girls and senior guys have the highest chances of partnering up, whereas the pickier senior girls and lowly freshman boys had the least. They also confirmed that teen boys are sex-crazed and teen girls place a higher emphasis on the relationship aspect of romance. … Continue Reading
The Institute for Public Opinion, one of France’s most reputable market research firms, inadvertently busted a myth recently when it found that more than three-quarters of French couples lead impoverished sex lives.
Common excuses from both genders to skip sex? Headaches, exhaustion, and the children.
The BBC loved the report — most likely still sore from the Global Sexual Satisfaction Survey that showed the Brits aren’t doing too well in that department, either. … Continue Reading
The BBC says it takes about half a second. US News says it takes a fifth of a second.
They’re talking about the same study, which makes us weary considering scientifically, there is a significant difference between half a second and a fifth of a second, but we’ll let a science writer dispense the spankings on their blog and get to the meat of the study.
Essentially, according to Syracuse University professor Stephanie Ortigue, who led this study, falling in love is quite like using cocaine. (Uh, no. Though it certainly explains the rambling…) … Continue Reading
“We’ve assumed for so long that for both men and women, [sexual] problems were always depressing,” says Kyle Stephenson, a University of Texas at Austin doctoral candidate in psychology. Stephenson recently published a paper on the topic of sexual dissatisfaction, and believes that their survey data proves that sexual dissatisfaction may not necessarily engender great distress. For women, stress seems to come from a variety of factors.
Leonard Derogatis, director of the Center for Sexual Medicine at Sheppard Pratt Health System, believes the reason dysfunction and distress don’t match in women with problems is that the average woman’s sexual desire is “more contextual” than that of a man’s, meaning: it depends on a lot of other aspects of her relationship. … Continue Reading
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