TresSugar

Women Buy the Underpants in the Relationships

TresSugar — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:00:00 -0800

When it comes to a man's underwear, not only do women have a strong preference, they also have a lot of influence. New research shows that men purchase their own underwear for only 17 years of their entire lives. During the other years, it's either their mothers or significant others who do the buying.

If men have no one to do their shopping, they usually wait to buy new skivvies until they're starting a new relationship. So it might help to hint to your new guy whether you prefer boxers, briefs, or boxer briefs (in fact 54 percent of TrèsSugar readers prefer boxer briefs). And if you're looking for a place to meet an available man, you might want to hang out around an underwear department - according to the research you can predict whether a man is looking for a partner by the number of underpants he buys. (I may take their advice - if those guys look like David Beckham!)

Have you ever bought underwear for your man?

Front Page: HPV Vaccine Reminds Girls of Sexual Risks

TresSugar — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:00:43 -0700

A new study shows that the HPV vaccine reminds girls of risks associated with sex, such as contracting STDs, instead of giving them a license to be promiscuous as some people feared. - Salon
Wal-Mart is now selling affordable coffins. - BBC News
A Dutch court has told 14-year-old Laura Dekker that she is too inexperienced to sail around the world by herself, and she will be placed under the guardianship of child protection authorities until next year. - New York Times
A sixth person has been arrested for the gang rape of the 15-year-old California girl outside her homecoming dance. - CNN
Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates and Cambridge Police Sergeant James Crowley sat down for another beer this week, this time without President Obama. - Huffington Post

Cheers? 1 in 20 Women Never Have Had Sex Sober

TresSugar — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 07:00:00 -0700

About 64 percent of TrèsSugar readers say they worry about how they look during sex. Apparently similar concerns are driving women to drink before they hop in the sack.

A new UK survey reveals that one in 20 women never have had sex while they were sober due to insecurities about their bodies.

Some other stats (which range from obvious to eye-opening):

75 percent of the women said it's easier to go wild after a couple of drinks.
40 percent of the women said they were always tipsy when they slept with someone for the first time.
Almost 50 percent said they enjoy sex better after a few drinks.
14 percent of women in relationships said they cannot sleep with their partner unless they've had a couple drinks.

Do you think alcohol and sex go hand in hand?

Food Really Is the Way to a Person's Heart

TresSugar — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 01:00:00 -0700

A new book, Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human, argues that hot food, and not sex, is the reason human beings originally paired up in domestic relationships.

According to author and Harvard anthropologist Richard Wrangham, early marriages were really a trade off for hot food (prepared by the women) and protection (provided by the men). Evidence from primitive societies, including the fact that society tolerated women sleeping around but ostracized them if they ever cooked for men besides their husbands, is used to support the conclusion.

It seems that a domestic convention that is considered backward today actually made us move forward evolutionarily. Let's hope modern men won't use this finding as a reason to expect women to do all the cooking!

When Partners Get Sick, Women Less Likely to Split

TresSugar — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 06:00:00 -0700

Cementing the stereotypical image of woman as caretaker, a new study shows that a man is seven times more likely than a woman to leave his spouse if she becomes seriously ill.

The study, which included 500 couples coping with illnesses such as cancer or multiple sclerosis (MS), found that of marriages in which the wife was ill, 21 percent ended in divorce while only 3 percent of marriages in which the man was ill ended in divorce. The researchers hypothesized that perhaps men are less able to take on the burdens of maintaining the family and caring for a sick spouse.

Why do you think (at least in this study) that women are less likely to leave their ill partner?

News Flash: Women Have a Hard Time Keeping Secrets

TresSugar — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:00:00 -0700

A new British study finds that about four in 10 women cannot keep a secret no matter how confidential the subject. What really surprised the researchers was the speed with which the confidantes spilled the beans: in less than 48 hours!

The study, which was commissioned by the UK Director of Wines of Chile (?!), involved 3,000 women between the ages of 18 and 65. The most common recipients of their secrets? Boyfriends, husbands, best friends, and their mothers.

I think there may be something to this last bit of information. I recently told a friend a secret, and she said, "I won't even tell my husband," which made me pause. I wonder if women tell themselves that those people don't count, whereas telling a co-worker, for example, would count. Do you have a hard time keeping secrets? If you're curious about some of the research's other fascinating (if not surprising) findings on women and secrets, read more.

Women hear an average of three items of gossip a week.
Three in 10 women have "the urge" to reveal secrets.
Two-thirds of women felt guilty after revealing a secret.
More than four in 10 women think it's OK to tell a friend's secret with someone who doesn't know them.
83 percent of women consider themselves 100 percent trustworthy.

One in Three Teen Girls in UK Reports Abuse by Boyfriends

TresSugar — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:25:56 -0700

Results from an in-depth study paint a depressing picture of widespread sexual abuse across the UK. One-third of teen-girl participants reported suffering unwanted sexual acts while in relationships, and a quarter of them said they had been physically assaulted by their boyfriends.

Nine out of 10 of the 13- to 17-year-old girls surveyed said they had been in an intimate relationship. The research revealed that a girl in a relationship had a higher risk of abuse from a partner if she had previously been physically abused by an adult family member or if she had an older boyfriend. In fact, three-fourths of the young girls with a significantly older boyfriend said they were victims of abuse.

The girls reported that they put up with the abuse, which ranged from slapping, punching, and biting to forced kissing, sexual touching, or rape, because they felt scared, guilty, or fearful that they would lose their boyfriend.

Let's hope this knowledge will help parents, teachers, and others who work with young people find ways to protect them from abuse and stop the cycle of domestic violence.

70% of Americans Think a Bride Should Take Husband's Name

TresSugar — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 07:00:00 -0700

Worrying that "the mailman would get confused" or that "society wouldn’t function as well if women did not change their names," 70 percent of Americans say that new brides should take their husband's last name. Even more shocking, the study presented yesterday at the American Sociological Association’s annual meeting found that 50 percent of respondents thought it should be made a legal requirement for women to change their names to their husbands'!

The reasons given ranged from religious beliefs to social convenience - some people actually suggested that the post office might be confused if there were people living at the same address with two different names. Really? What about everyone living with roommates?! Some respondents also seemed to have forgotten the inconveniences a woman must face if she wants to change her name after she gets married. I guess those inconveniences don't count.

It seems obvious to me that the law should never mandate that a married woman ditch her maiden name. Then again, perhaps there's nothing very liberating about keeping your "own" last name anyway, since the name belonged to a man in the first place. Let's all just make up new names and see how the post office handles that.

OMG! 1 in 10 Teens Posts Nude Pics Online

TresSugar — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 04:00:27 -0700

A study has uncovered a ~~shocking~~ predictable reality: teenagers do stupid things! The new survey results out yesterday from Common Sense Media reveal that one in 10 teens has posted a nude or seminude photo of themselves or someone else online. And thanks to technology, these teens will be stuck with their mistakes well past their carefree youth.

Just like a crazy tattoo you get when you're young, the images teens post online can stay with them forever. "Deleting" a photo will never get rid of the embarrassing pic completely, so when these kids get older, they'll never know what a curious future employer or college admissions officer will come across.

I guess these oversharing teens just have to hope that the people deciding their futures also have embarrassing photos of themselves floating around on the Internet. And judging by this survey, it won't be long until many do . . . we just have to wait for today's teens to grow up and become the employers and admissions officers!

Study Suggests That We Think Clearer on Sunny Days

TresSugar — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 09:00:18 -0700

If you have a big decision to make, you might want to hurry up and make it before the sunny Summer's over.

New research reveals that not only are people more moody on cloudy days, but they actually have cloudier brains too! During a study on strokes, researchers coincidentally discovered a positive correlation between cognitive impairment and gloomy weather. While the study focused on people already prone to depression, experts say the findings can likely be extended to others. So you're probably better off making big decisions on days when the sky is clear and so is your mind.

Does the weather ever impact the way you think?

Source: Flickr User xlordashx