TresSugar

Men May Like Cuddling and Kissing More Than Sex

Annie Scudder — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 11:30:09 PDT

Science can now explain your boyfriend's love of spooning. If a long-term relationship involves lots of kisses and cuddles, the man will be more satisfied, according to a new study. Researchers from The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction expected to find the opposite, that women needed physical signs of affection more than men. But their research discovered that women are more likely to stay in a relationship if they're sexually satisfied, while men cited hugs, kisses, and cuddles.

Looking at couples from all over the world in long-term relationships lasting one to 51 years, the study found several factors impact a relationship's success. Men who are healthy are more likely to report satisfaction with the relationship, and women become more satisfied later in the relationship. For women, happiness starts to decrease between year one and 15, picking up again at year 20 and 50 of the relationship, most likely after any child rearing.

As for cuddling and kissing, the researchers aren't sure if all men crave it or if men who stay in long-term relationships are the type of men predisposed to valuing such affection. In addition, women in lasting relationships may have increased sexual satisfaction over time because sexually unsatisfied women would end the relationship - therefore a study looking at long-term couples would only deal with sexually satisfied women. They plan to conduct more research to further explain.

Do these results surprise you as much as they surprised the researchers?

Toddlers & Tiaras Pageant Mom Supports "Diva" Son

Tara Sharp — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 11:00:54 PDT

Usually the pageant moms on Toddlers & Tiaras get a lot of flak for pushing their children into the beauty pageant lifestyle. But in the case of 7-year-old Brock, who describes himself as a "diva," his mom should be commended for her loving support of her son's involvement in pageants. Brock is passionate about dancing, saying he'd love to be on Broadway when he grows up, a refreshing change of pace from the girls who are dragged kicking and screaming onto the stage. In the video below, Brock's mom talks about how when Brock was only 2 years old he wanted to take tap dance lessons, and ever since then both she and her husband have encouraged him to be who he is, even when that means dressing up like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz and playing with dolls. Watch the sweet video below.

The Top 15 Movies With "Cougar" Characters

TresSugar — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 14:05:00 PDT

We're not huge fans of the word cougar - used, for the most part, to try to humiliate women who date younger men (their "prey," known as cubs). But for better or worse, it's in the lexicon, which means that the idea that older women can still be sexy - and sexual - is out there, too. The following group of films shows that the cougar's been around in popular culture for a while, that cougar/cub desire is a two-way street, and that these couplings can be good, bad, or downright scary.

Food, Sleep, and Sex: 3 Things Men Think About More Than Women?

Annie Scudder — Fri, 06 May 2011 11:30:00 PDT

Do men really have sex on the brain every seven seconds? That's the question psychologists from Ohio State set out to answer. They found that, in fact, it's just an urban legend. Men can go much longer than seven seconds before they think about sex. Men do, however, think about it almost twice as much as women.

Comparing college-age men to college-age women, the study found men think about sex 18 times a day on average, while women think about it 10 times. But the researchers found something else: men report thoughts of food and sleep at the same rate as thoughts of sex.

One possible explanation is that men are aware of their physical state. But there's another way to explain it, too. Men might be more comfortable reporting thoughts of sex, sleep, and food. And women who said they care a lot about other people's opinions of them were less likely to report thoughts about food or sex. Our thoughts might not be so different, just what we believe we're allowed to think about.

Kate Hudson Thinks She's Having a Baby Girl

Rebecca M Gruber — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 07:15:58 PDT

Kate Hudson is thinking pink! The expectant mama appeared on Today this morning to promote her new movie Something Borrowed (and reveal her engagement) telling Matt Lauer about her "scientific" way of determining her baby's gender. Using the popular pendulum method of dangling a ring (or weighted object) from a string above her belly, Kate thinks she's having a lil girl. She'll know for sure soon enough – Kate also told the host that she's in her third trimester. See her explain the pendulum method, and why she thinks she's carrying a mini-Goldie Hawn below.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Link Time - Who Should Be in Charge of Birth Control?

TresSugar — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 14:50:11 PDT

The men vs. women birth control debate - College Candy
10 celebrity exes who've stayed friends - The Frisky
How to get a second number for giving to guys you don't know - Glamour
Top stylists share their ideas for Kate Middleton's bridal hair - BellaSugar
This commemorative royal wedding "ring" doesn't go on your finger . . . - Em & Lo
Myths about single people - Huffington Post
Three ways men annoy women - Betty Confidential
Big-picture alternatives to buying an engagement ring - SavvySugar
One man's junk is a penis museum's prized specimen - The Hairpin

Source: Flickr User starbooze

Scientist Says Political Correctness Is Obstructing Gender Research

Colleen Barrett — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 02:00:32 PST

Pink for girls and blue for boys may be the most successful marketing campaign ever and princess culture may not be great for girls, but one scientist wishes political correctness and parenthood never met.

Donald Pfaff, a neurobiologist and author of Man and Woman: An Inside Story, is frustrated with how findings are portrayed, particularly when they're about gender. When it comes to nature vs. nurture, he says, science knows a lot more than you think.

His grievance is that sexual politics distort research findings, particularly when findings confirm a gender stereotype and attribute it to biology. He's not the Tea Party of gender studies or anything - he says sex is not 100 percent determined at birth - but he does think the public is more willing to accept physical differences between boys and girls than behavioral. So what does he want us to know? Find out below.

Celebrating 100 Years of Int'l Women's Day: Now Crack That Glass Ceiling!

Emily Co — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 03:05:34 PST

Today marks the 100th year we're celebrating the International Women's Day, a holiday that celebrates the power of women all over the world. We've come a long way in gender equality, and yet there is still a steep corporate ladder for us to climb. Although there are strong women role models for us to look up to, there are still too few around - only 3 percent of the Forbes 500 companies in the US have female CEOs. It's time to push ahead and take our well-deserved place in boardroom seats, in C-level positions, the top echelons of the government, and more. Here's why women deserve the same opportunities as men.

We're the talent. Fact: women either outnumber or are quickly catching up to men in higher education institutions. The Labor Department said last month that one in four women go to college before they're 23, which compares to the one in seven men. Women will benefit companies with their unique skill sets which will have been honed and developed by higher education experiences.

We outperform. Because we have to jump through more hoops and put in more effort to see success in a male-dominated world, we tend to be better performers than our male counterparts. A Stanford and University of Chicago research collaboration recently found that the female congress representatives outperform their male peers because it's harder for them to get elected to the position. Our outperformance is probably what earns female CEOs a higher pay.

For more reasons on why women deserve the top positions, read on.

Color, Gender, and the Truth About Pink and Girls

Colleen Barrett — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 12:50:26 PST

"How do I know the color blue I see is the color blue you see?" The question was first posed to me by a nun in fifth grade, and I thought my religious education had suddenly taken a deep turn (it didn't). I've since learned the question is sort of a mockery of entry-level profundity. It's so pervasive, though, that Mad Men named episode 10 in season three "The Color Blue." When the question is posed to Don, he settles the debate with a statistic: "I know there is a blue that at least 45 percent of the population sees as the same."

He's onto something, because men and women actually do see colors the same; they just describe them differently. Author Randall Munroe was inspired by the comic (below left) mocking how many names women will have for a color that men simply call red, blue, or green. It rang so true that he put the hypothesis to the test, and the results (on the right) are less hyperbolic but no different than the cartoon.

Jezebel published a post today asking how pink became a girl's color. Except beyond gender roles, social constructs, and advertising, it does not really answer the why or when. I did a little digging and found the exact point in history when girls went pink and boys went blue. Find out below.

Who's the More Forgiving Sex?

Colleen Barrett — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 17:00:26 PST

OK, it's no surprise. Women are the more forgiving sex, but first let's look at what forgiveness means.

A study done by a Spanish university says both parties need to cooperate for true forgiveness to be achieved. The perpetrator must show true remorse, and the offended must not bear a grudge. Because men are more likely to hold grudges, they have a harder time forgiving regardless of the amount of remorse shown.

Meanwhile, women are said to excel at forgiveness, because they're natural empathizers, which may be true but is not the whole story. For centuries, women have been asked to look the other way, not talk about what they've seen - basically forgive and forget.