Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2009 > November > 03
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Why Women Have Sex, Part 3
For more of “Why Women Have Sex,” scroll down to previous posts, or link to Part 1 and Part 2.
In their own words
‘I was told that if a man could dance he could perform in bed. I did not believe this and wanted to see if it was true. … We ended up having sex and yes he was as good in bed as he was on the dance floor. … He literally danced while having sex. It was wonderful.’ — heterosexual woman, age 29
‘I had sex with someone who had a great sense of humor because every time I was with him, I had a great time. I have never had so much fun with anyone else as I had with him.’ — heterosexual woman, age 27
‘The reason I had sex with my ex-husband? I was young, I was 16 years old, and I wanted him to stay with me. I thought by having sex it would ensure a committed relationship. It didn’t, but at the time you could not have made me see that. I equated sex (with) love. And the more we made love, I thought, the more he must love me. I was a fool.’ — heterosexual woman, age 41
‘My husband cheated with my best friend, so I had an affair with her husband for three months. I did not feel guilty at all.’ — heterosexual woman, age 44
‘Sometimes, it was easier to just give in and do it when he wanted rather than put up with listening to him whine and complain about how horny he was.’ — heterosexual woman, age 29
‘After I broke up with the first person that I had sex with, I wondered if sex with different people was dramatically different, so I had sex with another boy I knew and … yeah, it was definitely different.’ — predominately heterosexual woman, age 18
‘I have had sex with my boyfriend to make my sexual skills better for the both of us. I see it as each time I have sex I’m also choosing to do it to heighten my skills so we can both have an even better experience than the last.’ — heterosexual woman, age 20
‘You know the situation with your spouse where you really want to please them sexually because you want to have your own way on something. Little things like choosing (where to eat) dinner.’ — heterosexual woman, age 25
‘(Sex) is a stress reliever, and let’s face it, most of the time men don’t care why, they’re just happy to help along.’ — predominately heterosexual woman, age 22
‘I can’t really describe this experience … but pure joy and connection with another person I feel is becoming closer to the cycles of life and the underlying, palpable energy of the world … in essence, God.’ heterosexual woman, age 21
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Education
Why Women Have Sex, Part 2
For Part 1 of “Why Women Have Sex,” scroll down to the previous post, or go here.
“(It’s) the most fascinating and illuminating look at female sexuality since Alfred Kinsey’s ‘Sexual Behavior in the Human Female,’ ” says Mary Roach, author of “Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex.”
The Meston-Buss book is informed by evolutionary psychology (Buss’ expertise) about mate selection and psychophysiology (Meston’s specialty) on the female body’s response to sex.
“In the past, most people believed that whatever worked for men worked for women,” Meston says of her research. When male sexual enhancement drugs came on the market, for instance, pharmaceutical companies poured money into her research, hoping to find the first “pink Viagra.” With new measurement techniques, they discovered women’s bodies didn’t operate in the same way. (Mere genital blood flow did not trigger a sexual response in women’s brains.)
“What we’ve learned about the basic physiology of women’s sex in the past 10 years has exceeded what was learned in the previous 30, ever since Masters and Johnson,” she says.
What makes this book a potential best-seller are the words of the women themselves. The study respondents are remarkably candid.
“They could be entertaining, funny and heart-wrenching” says Meston, who spent months and months sorting through the colloquial responses. “Some say it succinctly, eloquently.”
Meston hopes the female readers who might not have reflected on why they have sex will be open to the variety of experiences recorded in the book.
“Some turn out well, some badly,” Meston says of sexual choices. “For these reasons, I feel good. For these reasons, I feel bad. Maybe we can make fewer negative choices.”
More to come …
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Education
Why Women Have Sex, Part 1
“It’s complicated.”
No, that’s not how Cindy Meston lists her relationship status on her Facebook page.
“We both knew it was a question that had not been asked in the research literature,” Meston said. “People wondered, ‘What do you mean? Of course, it’s because we want to feel good.’ But we found it’s much more complicated than that.”
In fact, in two related surveys, women reported a full range of human responses, citing spirituality, conquest, sympathy, revenge, boredom, loneliness, curiosity, practice, attraction, esteem, reproduction, variety, evaluation, friendship, attention, submission, power, romance, pleasure, punishment, stress, adventure, barter, commitment, duty, infatuation, competition, guilt, coercion, jealousy and stimulation, among other motivations.
“We categorized them into 237 reasons,” said Meston, co-author with Buss of the book “Why Women Have Sex,” which has landed the psychology professors on “Dr. Phil” and “The Rachael Ray Show.”
“Most of what was known before was how to turn on a woman — physical cues, emotional cues, romantic cues, holding hands and so forth. Also the confidence and status of the man. This study told us so much more,” she says.
More to come …
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment Categories: Education
Austin Celebrity Roundup
It’s been a while. Sorry. We’ll catch up on Austin celebrities in installments.
Sherry Jameson of Annies Cafe and Bar on Congress Avenue hung out with Woody Harrelson at the Austin Film Festival wrap party at the Belmont. Jameson’s family got to know Texan Harrelson while he worked on movies in Smithville. Pictured: Janice Hurst (Sherry’s sister); Brenda Mitchell (Sherry’s sister), Woody Harrelson, Joanne Flynn and Sherry Jameson.
Multiple Hollywood sources say that Austin director Robert Rodriguez has walked away from a proposed movie of the futuristic TV cartoon, “The Jetsons.” Apparently, so did actor Jim Carrey, who was jawed as George Jetson.
What need reporters, when celebrities like Lance Armstrong tweet it all, including the take from his recent Sotheby’s charity bike auction: “1.3 mil raised for @livestrong!!! So incredibly humbling. From (artist) Damien Hirst’s masterpiece Tour de France ‘finale’ Trek Madone covered in real butterflies, to the KAWS ‘Chompers’ cycle that I broke my collarbone on in the Vuelta Castilla y Leon, every ride is a treasured piece of personal history that I’m proud to offer up to benefit LIVESTRONG.”
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: All-Stars
