He-he. That would be rather funny if it was not a serious question. 11% of British people surveyed by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) still believe a woman can’t get pregnant if she has sex standing up, according to a recent poll.

The DCSF commissioned the survey of 2,000 people aged 16-50 to highlight misconceptions around safe sex.

Almost 20% per cent thought having sex while a woman is on her period or if the man withdraws before ejaculation means a woman can’t get pregnant.

The survey found that 26% of couples never discuss contraception and 31% never talk about sexual health - such as sexually-transmitted infections - with their partner.

62% of British people admitted to turning discussions on the topic of sex into a joke.

Dr.Pam Spurr, a sex and relationships expert, said: “In spite of our love of talking about sex and relationships, the survey suggests it’s our lack of knowledge that is causing confusion.

“I’m encouraged to see that we’ve overcome a long-held aversion to talking about sex, but we’ve still got some way to go before we swap jokes and banter for the open, honest and informed conversations about sexual health and relationships that most of us would like.”

Lisa Power, head of policy at the Terrence Higgins Trust, said: “We’re delighted that the Government has acknowledged the importance of both better education and peer influence in the way people make decisions about their sexual health.

“Ignorance is just as transmissible as chlamydia or HIV and we need to take firm steps to prevent all of those things from spreading.”

Sex standing up prevents pregnancy, say British

More than one in 10 British people do not realise that a woman can still get pregnant if she has sex standing up, according to a poll.

Nearly one in five - 19 per cent - are also unaware that a woman can get pregnant during her period, or if the man withdraws before ejaculation, according to the government-commissioned survey.
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Vampires aside, it’s really just a simple love story.

The reason teenage girls have fallen hard for the Twilight book and film series has to do with its portrayal of a traditional, romantic relationship, new research from the University of Missouri shows.

In the series, vampire Edward Cullen doesn’t want to harm or bite his teen love interest Bella Swan, which means they can’t have sex.

“With teens, we actually found that they appreciated the messages of abstinence,” said Melissa Click, an assistant professor of communication who surveyed 4,000 Twilight fans, aged 11 to 70.

Click and her co-authors’ research primarily addresses the reasons behind the teenage-madness for Twilight, a four-book series with two films so far.

The newest movie, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, opens Friday, and has already busted Cineplex Theatres’ records by selling $1.5 million in advance tickets across Canada. The first film, Twilight, grossed more than $190 million in North American revenues.

The Missouri research found that many teen girls — who make up the core of Twilight’s audience, along with a few moms — are drawn to the story about love beyond the physical.

“The media environment is saturated with teens in sexual relationships,” said Click, who plans to publish the findings next spring in a collaborative book Bitten by Twilight: Youth culture, media and the vampire franchise.

“(Twilight) does provide something different for girls. I’ve had girls say to me, ‘I’m going to wait for my Edward.’ And they think that’s really cool.”

Her colleague, Jennifer Stevens Aubrey, called the series a “backlash to the ‘hooking-up’ culture.”

Edward represents an anomaly in the minds of many teenage girls. He’s romantic, protective, and most important, cares deeply for who Bella is, and not just what she looks like.

And for 18-year-old Twilight fan France-Renee Miron, that’s a good thing.

“Most boys now around our age, all they want is to get you in bed. They don’t care about the romance part,” said Miron, who is from Green Valley, Ont.

“In the book and in the film, (Edward) doesn’t want to have sex. It’s really different.”

Miron’s friend, Valerie Lefebvre, 18, said she found solace in the book’s messages about abstinence.

“By reading the book we find out we’re not the only ones who could have a good relationship without being sexually active,” said Lefebvre.

Click said that many girls interviewed felt a sense of relief that Bella and Edward couldn’t yet have sex.

“They liked that it was the man putting the brakes on sexual activity. For them it probably highlighted the development of the relationship — the romantic relationship — between the two, instead of the sexual relationship,” said Click.

The study is comprised of online surveys and in-person focus groups. Researchers found 70 teens for the focus groups at a fan convention held in Dallas last summer. About one-third of those surveyed were teens.

Despite an increasingly sexualized youth culture, the desire for romance among teenage girls has remained, said Mike Farrell, a partner at Toronto youth research firm Youthography.

“There are some fundamental things that haven’t changed that much. And one of those, especially with girls, is the focus on a search for meaningful love that is hopeful, passionate, real,” he said.

According to Youthography research, only a quarter of young teenage girls were interested in sex, while more than half said they thought about marriage and having children.

In a 2008 Canada-wide study, Youthography surveyed around 500 teen girls ages 14 to 18 about 50 different “values” affecting them, from current events to sex. They’ve been tracking values for research for the past nine years as part of Youthography’s quarterly study called, Ping.

But there can be a danger to Twilight’s traditional romance story too, say experts.

University of Victoria political science professor Janni Aragon said that the books, while she enjoys them, enforce “good old gender stereotypes,” such as Bella being clumsy and Edward acting condescending and all-knowing.

There’s also the message that Edward doesn’t trust himself around Bella.

“Woven within these pages is also that boys get to a certain point in which you can’t tell them ‘no,’ or they can’t control themselves. And I’m not sure an 11-, 12-, 13-year-old, maybe even a 15- to 18-year-old, understands that.”

Xania Khan, editor-in-chief of Toronto’s Vervegirl teen magazine, said that the hysteria surrounding Twilight may blind teens to real-world relationships.

“Some girls have a hard time distinguishing fact and fiction,” said Khan. “They might look for something that’s not real.”

That won’t be a problem for Miron and Lefebvre’s friend, Embrun, Ont.’s Marjolaine Bourdeau, also 18. While she said she’s a fan of the books, Bourdeau won’t be waiting on a perfect vampire boyfriend anytime soon.

“I know that’s not possible,” she said. “Girls who haven’t been in a real relationship. They don’t know what relationships are like.”

Why We’re Obsessed With Vampire Sex

You can’t escape them.

Fangs are everywhere these days, hoping you’ll also want a taste of the bloodthirsty fervor that has gripped the nation.

Between the best-selling books-turned-movies “Twilight Saga,” HBO’s wildly popular “True Blood,” and the CW’s “The Vampire Diaries,” vampires have become a serious pop culture obsession.
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10+1 ways to have spontaneous sex

Scheduling your sex life around PTA meetings and trips to the dry cleaner is better than no sex at all.

But nothing is better than spontaneous sex.

Truth be told, busy couples in long-term relationships often need to schedule “date nights” — setting aside blocks of time for lovemaking to ensure things don’t become stale.

But there’s nothing better than just doing it. No planning, no thinking …

There is something incredibly sexy about sex that’s straight from the source. Spontaneous sex has been hailed for not only grabbing a lover’s interest, but maintaining it. It spikes a relationship’s lust factor, making lovemaking more exciting. Plus, when needed, it can get lovers out of a slump.

And it caters to our carnal nature in its “must have now, no matter how taboo” factor.

Here are some ways to invite more spontaneity into your sex life:

1. Seek the “explorer” lover.

When testing the romantic chemistry of almost 30,000 singles, love researcher Helen Fisher found the science behind successful relationships is the balance of four brain chemicals. This balance influences one’s personality type, which affects compatibility. Explorer types, ruled by dopamine, are typically novelty seekers, into risk-taking and the spontaneous.

2. Recognize that spontaneous sex is the exception to the rule.

Yes, it can happen on occasion. But plenty of people are having sex who can’t act with abandon. Among those needing to think ahead are people dealing with a sexual disorder, those carrying a sexually transmitted infection, and those who are physically challenged.

Putting too much weight on spontaneity can make for unrealistic expectations in the sack or anywhere your sex spirit moves you. Ultimately, it can impact one’s ability to recognize and enjoy gratifying sex. Don’t let spontaneity rule your sexual rewards quotient.

3. Approach intimacy as an adventure.

Think about ways you can get frisky out in public (shopping) or doing the mundane (watching TV). Then jump on the first opportunity you have to make privacy passionate. Adding new elements to your same old routine will get both of you in a mindset to tap feelings of arousal when they occur.

4. Carry condoms.

Notice the plural – as your sexual free will may beckon more than once in the same sex session. Sure, some complain that rubbers interrupt foreplay or ruin sex. But for a number of lovers, any sex whatsoever requires suiting up. Spontaneous or not, sex won’t happen unless you come prepared.

5. Evaluate your birth control.

Couples are into hassle-free sex, and this includes not thinking about contraception when a sexual opportunity presents itself. One of the best options out there in being safe, highly effective, and easily reversible is the intrauterine contraceptive. Following simple insertion at her doctor’s office, a woman hardly has to think twice about getting pregnant for the next five to seven years.

6. Reconsider what constitutes “sex” for you.

Being sexually spontaneous doesn’t have to be all about intercourse. It can involve other sex acts, like kissing, caresses, erotic talk and oral delights. Expanding your definitions of what spontaneous sex entails allows you to have more of it and amplifies the experience.
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Sometimes you feel like you need a translator to figure out what your lover is saying when it comes to sex, right?

It either sounds too simple to be true, or it’s the farthest thing from your imagination. Don’t call Rosetta Stone, we can help you right here. Read on.

When she screams: Don’t stop! Don’t stop! Don’t! Stop!
What she means: Please continue doing exactly what you are doing without changing the tempo or pressure. This is not the time to get creative in an attempt to take things to the next level or show off. You are at the next level, all she wants is for you to keep doing exactly what you are doing, and I do mean exactly, for just a little while longer. So use all your will power to ignore the cramp in your calf, the stitch in your side, or your parched palette, and whether it’s clockwise, counterclockwise, side-to-side or up and down, don’t stop!

When he states: I think the kids are asleep by now… I locked the door.
What he means: Let’s get busy.

When she asks: Are you more of a derriere man or breast man?
What she means: Sure, you hear this as an honest question akin to whether you want salad or fries, but the truth is she is asking if you find her sexy. Although honesty is the best policy, when it comes to women and body/weight-related questions, you are treading on very thin ice, my friend. If her assets are not your faves, I would suggest you say, “both.” This is not being devious, this is being polite. (Consider yourself asking her what is more important to her, “length or girth?”).

When he asks: Why are you putting all those clothes on to come to bed?
What he means: Don’t bother, I am just going to take them all off.

When she says: Talk to me…
What she means: Thankfully, this is not the same “talk” of, “we need to talk,” or “we don’t talk anymore..,” or “you are all talk.”

This means either: 1. Say something sassy/romantic as part of foreplay (or just pretending you are Gomez kissing Morticia’s arm muttering in another language will do), or 2. Say something dirty to turn up the heat in the bedroom; this usually involves describing a “what I am going to do to you,” type scene you can detail. Luckily these can be completely improbable and lacking in any sense of reality…No joke, go hog wild. Get as raunchy as you want as long as you steer clear of scenarios that include her mother, her sister, the neighbor or her best friend.

When he suggests: How about a quickie?
What he means: I really just want to have sex, without all the bells and whistles. Can you cut me some slack? Really, just count to 10, I’ll be fast.

When she suggests: Let’s try something new/something we’ve never done.
What she means: There is a slight chance there is a question underneath this suggestion, one that is asking “are you bored with me/our sex life?” If this isn’t the case, it might unfortunately be the reverse, in which she is being tactful in saying that things may be getting a little monotonous for her. What not to do: Look exasperated. Now would be the best time to break out the fuzzy handcuffs, the improbable role play scenario, or just raid the kitchen for the can of whipped cream.

Got the gist of it? If all else fails, use humor. Lower your voice to a whisper and confer with him/her about logistics. You should never be faulted for trying to be a more accurate when it comes to lovin’.

Why do women moan during sex?

Moaning is a way of communicating or expressing excitement and pleasure. Some women and men moan as a signal to let their partner know that the sensation feels good. Others utter sounds and let their bodies move freely as they “lose control” and allow themselves to be part of the sexual and satisfying experience.

Movies, television, and music present us with idealized sex scenes or lyrics of people moaning and panting at the height of passion. In reality, some people are vocal and may moan and groan, other folks may muffle any sounds with a pillow, and yet others may not make a single peep. Some express themselves by twitching or moving their bodies rhythmically as a response to sexual pleasure.
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Kids are a delight, but they can also be problematic when it comes to keeping the spark alive between you and your spouse.

In today’s child-centric society, it can be difficult to find couple time, especially when romance is in order.

Luckily, you can safeguard your relationship from this common problem by following these five simple steps:

1. Embrace separate beds
Unless you are Suzanne Somers, three is not company. This is especially true when you and your husband aren’t able to bond (wink, wink) due to the pitter-patter of little feet that head to your bedroom every night. It might be hard to turn away the kiddies, especially when they are so fun to cuddle with, but don’t forget that cuddling your partner is important, too! More importantly, your children need to learn how to sleep on their own and be independent. Help your children adjust to sleeping on their own by making it a treat - buy special sheets with their favorite cartoon characters, get them a nightlight, and remind them that big kids sleep in their own room. If they’ve been sleeping with you for a while, it’ll be a process to get them out of your bed and into their own, but if you are consistent and don’t give up, they’ll soon make the transition and you’ll get back those stolen moments in bed for you and your partner.

And by the way, put a lock on your bedroom door today! It’s totally OK for your kids to know Mommy and Daddy regularly take “private time” together. Don’t worry about not being there for them if they really need you. That’s what monitors and knocking are for!

2. Distinguish between vacations and family trips and take both
If you have ever had to travel with small children, you know that family trips are not a vacation for parents. While it is wonderful to see your child experience the beach or Disneyland for the first time, it does not give you the mental and physical break you need. So, go ahead and book that trip to Sea World - but remember to budget time and money for adult-only vacations in which you can get away with your spouse solo. Spending time away from your usual roles as parents will give you a chance to reconnect with your sensual side, free of PB&J requests and “Dora the Explorer” reruns!

3. Don’t be a superparent
Limit your children’s after-school activities to just one or two per season. If you run yourself ragged driving your children to every activity under the sun, you won’t have the time or energy for romance or sex. However, remember to take advantage of the time your children spend at after-school activities (or even better, weekend activities when you and your partner are both home) - an empty house means some privacy for you and your partner!

4. Set a united front
When your children try to get a “yes” out of Mommy after Daddy has already said “no,” problems can erupt in the bedroom and beyond. If one or both of you feels as though your opinion has been disregarded, it can be very hard to turn off that frustration and get in the mood. Indeed, you might even end up feeling your own spouse is the enemy! Bypass these discipline problems by agreeing to never go over each other’s head. The house rule should be “If Mommy says no, so does Daddy, and vice versa.” Deciding as a couple how you want to handle discipline ahead of time is also important, not only for presenting a united front to the kids, but for the sake of your connection as well.

5. Write it in stone
Date night is the highlight of many parents’ long weeks, but too often this night gets pushed aside due to little family disturbances. Set your date night in stone, even if little Jimmy really wants to have friends over, or if your baby-sitter threatens to raise her hourly rate. Couples absolutely must have alone time together in which they can talk, bond and be intimate, so date night should only be canceled as a last resort.

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Whether it’s low sex or no sex, two new books attempt to dispel the gender stereotype that women have all the “headaches.” The Sex-Starved Wife, by Michele Weiner Davis, and He’s Just Not Up for It Anymore, by Bob Berkowitz and Susan Yager-Berkowitz, quash the idea that men are always ready for sex. USA TODAYspoke with the authors about men who aren’t in the mood.

Q: Is there an average or normal amount of sexual activity among married couples, and how does it change with time?

Weiner Davis: It’s really very subjective. For some couples, if they had sex twice a week, they’d think they died and went to heaven. For others, it would put them in divorce court. Mutual interest needs to be taken into account.
Yager-Berkowitz: To me, what’s normal is if both partners are happy. From the first days of a relationship to maybe three years, the brain hormones of people tend to be far more sexual to reproduce or form an attachment for all kinds of cultural and psychological reasons. What’s normal in the first year of a relationship is very different in 10 years.

Q: Describe what happens in a sex-starved relationship.
Weiner Davis: It’s when one spouse is desperately yearning for more touch, physical closeness, more sex, and the other spouse is thinking: “What is the big deal? Why are you so hassled?” When this major disconnect happens, intimacy at all levels tends to drop. It’s really about feeling wanted, feeling loved, feeling appreciated and feeling connected and, in this case, feeling feminine. Because of the hurt, they stop spending time together. They stop laughing at each other’s jokes. They stop making eye contact. The bond between them really dissipates, and it puts the marriage at risk for infidelity and divorce.

Q: Is avoidance of sexual intimacy primarily a problem of today’s baby boomers?
Berkowitz: It’s not an old person or a middle-aged person’s problem. We heard from young people who say the sex stopped at the honeymoon. A lot of guys are angry with their wives and say she’s critical and controlling. They reacted by shutting down sexually. About half the time in a non-sexual marriage, it’s the man who is not interested. Having sex is a habit, and not having sex is a habit, too. It becomes easier not to do it than to do it.

Q: What are your professional backgrounds?
Weiner Davis: I’m a licensed social worker and a marriage therapist specializing in work with couples since the early ’80s.
Berkowitz: I have a Ph.D. in clinical sexology from the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco. I mainly do research, studying the effect media has on sexual behavior.
Yager-Berkowitz: I have a bachelor’s degree in psychology. We do a column for ThirdAge.com, a website for baby boomers, and answer questions as marriage experts.

Q: You surveyed more than 4,000 men and women online who identified themselves as currently or in the past being in a sexless marriage (sex 10 times a year or less). What findings surprised you the most?
Berkowitz: It shocked me that 68% of men said the reason for their slumping sex drive is that “she’s not sexually adventurous enough.” That’s a lot of finger-pointing. So many used “not adventurous” as an excuse.
Yager-Berkowitz: A number of men in our survey said the wife had gained too much weight - 38% of men said she “gained a significant amount of weight.” Also, it surprised me that 30% of men admitted they had ED (erectile dysfunction). Even 15 years ago, I don’t think that would have happened. Now that there are some solutions and some hope, that’s allowed a conversation to open up.

Q: You and Redbook magazine surveyed 1,004 women online about their husbands’ low sexual desire; you say that low desire is often mistaken for erectile dysfunction. Why?
Weiner Davis: So many people in the general public think low sexual desire is synonymous with ED. He doesn’t want sex because he can’t have sex. There is some truth to that, in that ED can turn into a problem of low sexual desire, but it is vastly overrated as the only reason men turn off to sex. A man who has erectile dysfunction does not always have low sexual desire. In fact, he will only get low sexual desire if he can’t find some effective way or means to remedy the situation because then it becomes an ordeal rather than pleasure. But if a man learns how to manage and overcome it, he might have very high sexual desire.

Q: What should women do to broach the subject with their husbands?
Weiner Davis: What I’ve found in my practice is how quickly women go from being hurt to being angry. Anger is what men hear from their wives. The more hurt she is, the angrier she gets and the less sex he wants to have with her. It really helps to talk in terms of your own feelings and speak from a more vulnerable position - missing him, wanting to be closer to him, loving the relationship when you are closer physically. Compliment him anytime he approaches anything sexual, even though it’s not overtly sexual. Build him up instead of tearing him down.

Why Men Leave: Sex

Women and men often have dramatically different views of divorce, with men most likely to blame sex and money for a split, while women cite physical or verbal abuse, a new survey found.

In a new GfK Roper poll, 22 percent of men said sex was the reason their marriages fell apart, essentially a tie with the 23 percent that pointed to money. (The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percent.)

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We all know that regular sex is an important part of a healthy, happy relationship, but did you know that regular sex is also an important part of a healthy, happy body? Indeed, sex is more than just a pleasurable activity - it is a big part of who we are, both emotionally and physically.

A recent Newsweek article found that regular sex has six amazing health benefits - it can increase a youthful appearance, it can promote the production of germ-fighting antibodies, it can strengthen a woman’s pelvic floor, it can burn calories, it can stabilize a woman’s menstrual cycle and it can offer natural pain relief in the form of orgasms.

While a healthy sex life can contribute to a healthy body, an unhealthy body can also contribute to an unhealthy sex life. If your sex life has been lackluster or sub-par lately, the reasons might be more obvious than you might think:

Poor nutrition: Fast food not only does a number on your waistline, it can also do a number on your sex life. This is particularly true as we age and reach menopause. During menopause, estrogen levels get out of whack, which causes insulin levels to increase and thyroid levels to go down. Thus, women end up eating more food and burning fewer calories, which causes weight to accumulate. Healthy food choices are imperative during this time, as is daily exercise. (Don’t forget to take advantage of Newsweek’s findings - sex is a cardiovascular exercise, so trade it in for the stationary bike and you can still burn up to 300 calories an hour!)

Stress: Expanded waistlines can also be due to another hormone: cortisol. Otherwise known as the stress hormone, cortisol can lead to all kinds of health problems, including excess abdominal fat. Cortisol is also a known libido-killer, so it is no wonder that sex is the last thing on your mind after a bad day at work. Exercise and meditation can decrease cortisol to a healthy level, which can improve your blood pressure and your love life. Another good way to decrease stress is to keep a “gratitude journal” - researchers have found that people who express gratitude and appreciation daily feel less stressed out than people who do not.

Lack of sleep: Insomnia is often a vicious cycle, beginning with a caffeine overdrive in the morning, and ending with exhaustion in the evening. Most Americans would agree that they barely have the energy for sex at the end of the day! Improve your sleeping habits - and consequently, your sex habits - by cutting back on caffeine throughout the day. Substitute your giant cup of a coffee with a small cup of tea, and snack on foods like almonds throughout the day - they give you a natural burst of energy without the sugar dip that comes from a candy bar.

Last but not least, get the television out of your bedroom! A recent study found that the blue lights emitted from TV can disrupt sleeping patterns and restfulness throughout the entire night. And, finally, if you really just don’t have the energy for sex in the evening, make an effort to rise a little early in the morning in order to have time for sex before work.

Good health and good sex go hand-in-hand. And, since most of us are making resolutions to be healthier in 2008, it is good to know that regular intercourse is a big part of being in tip-top shape. Finally, a resolution that will be fun to keep!

Major Health Benefits of Sex

Many people simply enjoy a healthy sex life because sex is pleasurable. Now there’s another reason to stay under the sheets; there are substantial health benefits of sex. Enjoying a rigorous romp can do wonders for everyone both physically and psychologically. Now, men everywhere can tell their ladies that sex is not only for fun, but, since there are health benefits of sex, their lives may depend on it.

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I will resist suggesting I am starting off the New Year with a bang when I reveal that a new and very important and/or disturbing (depending on whether you have laced your cornflakes with a David Copperfield mushroom or two) thesis has now been published as a book.

The title might interest many of you: “Love and Sex with Robots- The Evolution of Human-Robot Relationships” by David Levy.

And the thesis itself finds a rather neat climax at the very end of the book: “Great sex on tap for everyone, 24/7. What’s not to like?” Well, the tap part, for example. Doesn’t that rather downgrade the, um, romance part?

You will not, perhaps, be surprised that Mr. Levy is a former chess grand master who, having become bored with the board, became fascinated with the bordello. Or at least what happens within it.

Before I further quote Mr Levy, I want to underline that his is a serious work. He defended this thesis in October of last year at the University of Maastricht.

Alright then, are you ready for this? Mr. Levy believes that Massachusetts will be the first state to legalize human/robot marriages.

” Massachusetts is more liberal than most other jurisdictions in the U.S. and it has been at the forefront of same-sex marriage,” declares Mr. Levy. “There’s also a lot of high-tech research there at places like MIT.”

I’m not sure I have this quite right, but is he suggesting that those who are more liberal about gay marriage will be equally liberal about man in flagrante machina?

Mr. Levy does border on the nonchalant when he declares that intercoursal robots will be mere upgrades of blowup dolls: “It’s just a matter of adding some electronics to add some vibration. That’s fairly primitive in terms of robotics. The technology is already there.”

I am not sure I could possibly turn to my paramour and suggest to her that she is fairly primitive in terms of robotics. But I would very much appreciate it if readers could all try popping this question when they get home tonight. It will be fascinating to see whether there are any men or women who would find this description flattering.

I find myself resisting the urge to imagine what Mr. Levy’s sex life might have resembled up to this point (he says he’s happily married and that he would try having sex with a robot and wouldn’t mind if his wife tried it too), so I turn to the words of Henrik Christensen, the founder of the European Robotics Research Network.

In 2006, Mr. Christensen declared somewhat modestly that people will be having sex with robots within five years. Please mark your calendar. In 2011, Gisele Bundchen, Tom Cruise, Kathy Bates, whichever of these might be your chosen partner, will be yours. With the appropriate added vibration and image licensing rights.

Some of you might be wondering: Cui Bono? Well, Mr. Levy and his fellow techno-electrodollogists have given this subject great thought: “If you ask me if every human will want to marry a robot, my answer is probably not. But will there be a subset of people? There are people ready right now to marry sex toys.”

One assumes from Mr. Levy’s other proclamations that he has a suspicion that many of these sex toy nuptialists are at MIT.

This perhaps might be the reason why, in the highly prescient ABC series, “Boston Legal,” Jerry Espensen, a lawyer known as “Hands” (please don’t ask, watch the show) has a blowup doll with which he has a very meaningful relationship. Indeed, when he tried having a relationship with a human, he found himself dumped for an iPhone.

However, I think anyone out there, in Boston or elsewhere, who knows someone, or indeed, has the notion themselves, of marrying a sex toy, should write me and help unblur those lines for those of us who are less enlightened.

In essence, Levy argues that robots will be most welcomed by those who have trouble making relationships with humans: “…those who are extremely shy, or have psychological problems or are just plain ugly or have unpleasant personalities.”

Hold on, I know many people who would not be considered attractive with extremely unpleasant personalities who seem to do very well with their target sex. And I am thinking neither of Mickey Rourke nor Jack Welch nor Cherie Blair when I say this.

Levy is human enough to accept that electrodolls might well cause some friction in those old-fashioned human/human marriages. However, he declares: “Maybe some other relationships could welcome a robot. Instead of a woman saying ‘not tonight, darling, I have a headache,’ you could get ‘I have a headache, darling. Why not use your robot?’”

Leaving aside the gross sexism inherent in his presumption, it seems to me that Levy has his philosophical knickers very much twisted. But to him, a man who has immersed himself in chess and artificial intelligence, having sex with a robot is nothing other than a further evolutional step that began with interracial marriages.

Perhaps I have a romantic notion about relationships, but I find it very difficult to grasp that a robot could ever take the place of those that I love. Maybe I’m the naive one, standing in the way of progress like someone using their hotel phone at the CES conference.

So please let me underline Mr. Levy’s scientific credentials. In the 1990s he led a team that won the 1997 Loebner Prize, something akin to a world championship of artificially intelligent conversational software. And today he runs a company that makes electronic brain games. Hand-held, naturally.

Sex with robots by 2050

An artificial intelligence expert claims we will be having sex with robots by 2050.

David Levy says by then robots will be nearly indistinguishable from real people.

In his book, Sex With Robots: The Evolution of Human-Robot relationships, he writes: ‘Great sex on tap for everyone, 24/7. What’s not to like?’

According to Levy, the people who are most likely to benefit from these sexbots are those so ugly or isolated that they have trouble finding human romance.

He said: “They’re lonely, they’re miserable. I think society will be a much better place when they have an alternative that satisfies them without doing any harm to other people.”

“If there was a robot of the sort I describe in the book, I would certainly want to experience using it for sex and I wouldn’t regard it as anything untoward. “I would do it out of curiosity. Not that I have a need for a new sex partner, I’m happily married.”

…so does an attractive salesperson

Shoppers are more likely to buy something and would pay more for an item if it is sold by an attractive salesperson, particularly of the opposite sex, according to a Canadian study.

Even if a shirt had been used and had not been washed, some consumers were willing to pay more for it if they knew the person who had worn it was attractive.

"If a shirt had been touched by someone who is highly attractive and of the opposite gender, the shoppers evaluated the products higher and they’re willing to drop more money on it," said Jennifer Argo, a professor at the University of Alberta School of Business.

Argo, Darren Dahl of the University of British Columbia and Andrea Morales of Arizona State University studied the reactions of 300 shoppers who were assisted by an attractive model and an average looking salesperson trying to sell a shirt said to be the last in the store.

The researchers found that both male and female shoppers who saw the attractive model leave the changing room with the shirt were willing to try it on next.

"If the shopper was of average attractiveness, the participant evaluated the shirt negatively. But if it was the opposite gender and they were highly attractive, the participants were willing to pay more," Argo explained in a statement.

"The results show that it’s worth having highly attractive people work there. Or if you can’t, at least have the staff dress well and be well-groomed and maximize their potential."

In the second part of the study which will be published in the Journal of Consumer Research, the researchers questioned only male shoppers who were assisted by female models and salespeople. The men tried on a shirt which the salesperson said she had worn the shift before.

Afterward the men were asked how much they liked the shirt, if they would buy it and how much they would pay for it.

"The dirty shirt won for the men when the salesperson was highly attractive," Argo said.

"It’s like they were trying to get her essence."

Yes, sex sells!

NIGEL Cawthorne, author of more than 80 books, is probably best known for his Sex Lives series, comprising, so far, a dozen books that catalogue the sexual habits of the world’s rich and powerful, famous and shameless.

The 56-year-old British author was in Singapore at the beginning of the month to speak at the Singapore Writers Festival. He was supposed to head a panel discussion on the, erm, ins and outs of writing sex scenes but, unfortunately, this event did not go ahead as planned.

Cawthorne spoke, instead, on being a hired gun. Many of his books are commissioned and he says he never turns down an assignment if the money is good. Also, even when he comes up with his own idea for a book, he will only continue writing it once a publisher makes a commitment to it.

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Teenagers who have had formal sex education are far more likely to put off having sex, contradicting earlier studies on the effectiveness of such programs, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

They found teenage boys who had sex education in school were 71 percent less likely to have intercourse before age 15, and teen girls who had sex education were 59 percent less likely to have sex before age 15.

Sex education also increased the likelihood that teen boys would use contraceptives the first time they had sex, according to the study by researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which was published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

"Sex education seems to be working," Trisha Mueller, an epidemiologist with the CDC who led the study, said in a statement. "It seems to be especially effective for populations that are usually at high risk."

Mueller’s team looked at a 2002 national survey of 2,019 teens aged 15 to 19.

They found teen boys who had sex education in school were nearly three times more likely to use birth control the first time they had intercourse. But sex education appeared to have no effect on whether teen girls used birth control, the researchers found.

Black teenage girls who had sex education in school were 91 percent less likely to have sex before age 15.

The researchers did not evaluate the content of sex education programs, including whether students were taught about contraception or about abstinence only.

Earlier studies, which relied on data from the 1970s through the 1990s, suggested sex education did little to persuade teens to delay sex.

The researchers said they think the difference may be that sex education in the United States is now more widespread and is being taught at earlier ages.

"Unlike many previous studies, our results suggest that sex education before first sex protects youth from engaging in sexual intercourse at an early age," they wrote.

Sex Education Works, Study Shows
Teens Who Have Formal Sex Education Delay Sexual Activity, Researchers Find

Sex education is effective, increasing the chances that teens will delay having sexual intercourse at least until they reach age 15, according to a new study.

"We were encouraged that sex education is working," says Trisha Mueller, MPH, an epidemiologist at the CDC in Atlanta who led the study. "Sex education should continue to be implemented."

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