Glob-a-log

Ah well, I’m sure some men will be much relieved to read the next news story – and even if the following bit of research won’t become a ‘truth, universally acknowledged’, it might still do wonders for certain parts of the Czech tourist industry:

Foreplay may be overrated according to a survey based on 2,300 women, which found that it has little or no significance when it comes to the likelihood of having an orgasm. The duration of intercourse – 16.2 minutes on average – is the clincher, according to the research. The findings suggest that sex therapists, who emphasise the value of foreplay, may have that been getting it wrong.

In the study, reported in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, the academics quizzed a representative sample of 2,360 Czech women of all ages about details of their sex lives, including orgasmic consistency with a partner along with estimated duration of foreplay and intercourse.

Results show that for the women in the study, the average duration of foreplay was 15.4 minutes, and intercourse, 16.2 minutes. The researchers point out that 16.2 minutes is considerably longer than reported in American studies, where intercourse was found to last on average seven minutes. They added: “It could be that this reflects, a greater appreciation of intercourse and sensuality by Europeans than by Americans.”

So, even these orgasm researchers enjoy a bit of America bashing, as part of their afterplay.

Anyway, I can’t help thinking that yet another widely published research in this matter won’t help many couples finding that particular bit of sexual nirvana. If too many cooks spoil the broth, the idea of all these white-coats with their graphs and stopwatches looking over our collected & naked shoulders can’t be much of a real help here.

Of course, I realize that all these scientists need to eat (and pay their mortgages) too and that their creature comforts depend on their making the lives of the rest of us as guilt-ridden and complicated as possible – and I don’t begrudge them these dubious spoils, but it would be nice if they didn’t change their bloody minds so often, and so much.

Yes to foreplay, no to foreplay: These sex industry types are even worse than those child-raising experts. Which, of course, is a useful simile. Anyone out there who still can get flustered by whatever these experts say, should stop worrying and reflect on the wisdom of that old child-raising guru, doctor Spock, who advised mothers who had problems with breast-feeding to relax, telling them it might be a good idea to smoke and/or have a beer while breast-feeding their babies.

“Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose”, as the old saying goes, which, very definitely, includes the ever-lasting and ever-changing idiocies of our so-called experts.

Mind you, I’m not trying to be contrary for contrary’s sake here. If 2,360 Czech women would be willing to repeat the whole experiment with me, I wouldn’t mind to be proven wrong about my suspicions, of course.

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This entry was posted on Monday, November 10th, 2008 at 22:03 and is filed under Columns, Satire, Science, Sex. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.