Should Men Play Hard To Get?

kissWho are women most likely to find attractive right at the beginning of a relationship?

  1. men who strongly like them
  2. men who may like them
  3. men who show disinterest in them

On the one hand, plenty of psychological research says we tend to like people about as much as they like us. But what if we don’t know whether someone likes us or not? How does uncertainty affect things?

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Men Mustn’t Pay For Pregnancies They Cause

2009-10-08-IMG_14331No fair! Men shouldn’t have to pay for women’s maternity care!

Oddly, that’s a recent GOP argument against the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, which says insurance companies can’t charge women more than men.

It’s left extremist men complaining, “No babies will ever pop out between my legs, so why should I have to pay for someone else’s pregnancy?”

After all, men have nothing to do with getting women pregnant. Right?

Next, they’ll be whining that babies should have to pay for their own care!

Yet babies don’t ask to be born.  Read the rest of this entry

Couples Trade Outfits, and Attitudes

couples-switch-outfits-switcheroo-project-hana-pesut-71__880Switch gender and watch normal become weird.

Hana Pesut photographed couples in their regular clothing, and again after switching outfits.

In the switch, women’s outfits become drab. Yet their posture straightens and strengthens. Some seem more in charge as they place their arms around their partner’s bodies.  Read the rest of this entry

Hookup Sex Less Pleasurable

1292393586_95218200Men are more likely to climax in committed relationships. And women are twice as likely to reach orgasm in serious relationships, compared with hookup sex.

Maybe that’s because partners are more likely to know what the other likes, through both communication and practice. They’re also less likely to have performance anxiety. And, they are less likely to be drunk. That always helps. Meanwhile, love can add a rich vein of emotional connectedness.

So it’s not so surprising that 70% of women and 73% of men in college say they want relationships over hookup sex.

The whole phenomenon doubles down when it comes to women, though. An NYU study found only 40% of women climaxing during their last sexual hookup, while 80% of men did.

It may all be due to nurture more than nature. Read the rest of this entry

Football Bullies Act Like Chickens

440px-Day_old_chick_black_backgroundWhat do football bullies and chickens have in common?

Ellen Chase bought some chickens, both for the eggs and the entertainment value. They quickly formed a pecking order, leaving the bird at the bottom madder than a wet hen. Eventually, that chicken realized that a blind hen was even more defenseless than her. “Fearful and isolated from her short lifetime of harassment,” Chase says,

It didn’t take her long to realize that here was someone more defenseless than herself, and all her pent-up anger came out in merciless attacks, random and unprovoked.

Miami Dolphins bully Richie Incognito is a lot like that chicken:  Read the rest of this entry

I Wallowed In Self-Pity, Yet I Was A Bombshell

bombBy Alexandra Greene

From a young age I understood that as a woman my breasts should be full, my waist should be tiny, and I should dress to impress men. As a child I would stand naked in front of the mirror, picturing my body as that of a billboard model, cupping an imaginary chest and making bedroom eyes. So I was confused and disappointed with 40-inch hips and a cup size well below DD. The disparity between my imagined and actual bodies created a conflict: how could I enjoy my own body if it couldn’t land a man?

Lacking a fully developed brain, I set off to find alternative ways to be valued.  Read the rest of this entry

Should Women Play Hard To Get?

The-truth-about-playing-hard-to-getA best-selling book from a few years back advised women to follow “The Rules” (the book’s title) to catch a man.

The rules are all about playing hard to get. A sampling:

  • Don’t talk to a man first and don’t ask him to dance
  • Don’t call him and rarely return his calls
  • Always end the date first
  • Don’t see him more than once or twice a week
  • Don’t open up too fast

Guys in my classes have mixed feelings about this advice. A few seem to like the chase but most feel manipulated or say they would think the woman wasn’t interested.

dating blogger asked some of her male friends to share their thoughts. One felt that playing hard to get is great:  Read the rest of this entry

We Are All “Carrie”

carrie2013“Carrie” endures because she embodies the vulnerability we all share. We are all Carrie, says the film’s director, Kimberly Peirce:

We all want love and acceptance, we all face extraordinary obstacles, we all have some part of our lives where we are a misfit trying to fit in. That’s why we can all identify.

I’d thought “Carrie” was a horror flick. Who knew it was a coming of age film?

“Carrie” revolves around the search for personal power, self-esteem and status — and reveals how horribly wrong it can all go.

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Men Need Clothing. Women Need To Be Sexy.

Our society constantly shouts that women are sexy, men are utilitarian. And a lot of guys complain on my blog that they are none too happy about this. They want to be sexy too!! And lots of women complain that they are seen as being all about sexy and little else.

Here’s yet another example of that “women-are-sexy-men-not-so-much” holler, which I found on Sociological Images, courtesy of American Apparel. The pics are presented just as they were on their website a few weeks ago: Read the rest of this entry

Dear Daughter, Have Lots of Great Sex

tumblr_lhpj4ofBpn1qbhh33o1_500[1]Maybe you’ve seen this “rule for dating my daughter”:

I’m sure you’ve been told that in today’s world, sex without utilizing some kind of ‘barrier method’ can kill you. Let me elaborate: when it comes to sex, I am the barrier, and I will kill you.”

That guideline, along with nine others, went viral a while back.

Sounds par for the course, as they say. That’s part of the problem.

In other times and places dads may literally kill someone when their kids have sex – usually their own daughters. In these honor killings honor lies in hateful murder, not in loving (or at least fun-loving) sex.

On the other hand how does this sentiment strike you?

Dear daughter, I hope you have some awesome sex.

Read the rest of this entry