Afarensis is a 3.5-2.8 million year old hominin from the Kada Hadar member of the Hadar formation in the Middle Awash, Ethiopia. He is approximately 41 inches tall, weighs approximately 60 pounds and has a cranial capacity of a whopping 410 cc (approximately). Afarensis is currently considered to be transitional between apes and humans and displays some traits of both. Since he spends a lot of time on the couch watching monster movies, some observers question whether he is an obligate biped (although no one has observed him climbing a tree). He also has a blog called 
It all started when PZ wrote a post on The Effects of Porn on Male Fertility. Not to be outdone, Tara wrote a post explaining how Bikinis Make Macho Men Stupid and one upped PZ by posting pictures (well, one really, but you should see it anyway). So here is my contribution to the rampant naughtiness that seems to be breaking out on ScienceBlogs...
According to an article on Science Daily gender equality improves the sex lives of people over 40. The study involved 27,500 people between the ages of 40-80 and included equal numbers of males and females:
T
he study found that people reported the greatest sexual satisfaction in four countries, led by Austria, and followed by the United States, Spain and Canada. At the low end of satisfaction were Japan and Taiwan. Countries such as Turkey, Egypt and Algeria were in the middle.
*Snip*
In relationships based on equality, couples tend to develop sexual habits that are more in keeping with both partners' interests, said lead author, Edward Laumann, the George Herbert Meade Distinguished Service Professor in Sociology at the University of Chicago. "Male-centered cultures where sexual behavior is more oriented toward procreation tend to discount the importance of sexual pleasure for women," he said.The study, which was intended to draw out people's subjective evaluation of the role of sex in their relationships with partners, included questions about how physically or emotionally satisfying their relationships are and how important sex is to them.
They also were asked about their overall happiness; physical and mental health circumstances, including sexual dysfunction; their attitudes toward sex; and their attitudes toward various social and demographic factors, including age, education, income and religious affiliation.
H'mm, lots of folks using Viagra in the US - wonder if there is also a connection between dominating women and ED??
Here are some of the results:
* Across all of the countries studied, there are large gender differences in sexual well-being. On average, men reported at least 10 percentage points to their sexual health and well-being above the percentages that women reported.
* In Western nations, two-thirds of men and women reported their sexual relationships were satisfying, and 80 percent said they were satisfied with their ability to have sex. About half of the men and one third of the women said sex was extremely or very important in their lives.
* In Middle Eastern nations, 50 percent of men and 38 percent of women found their sex lives satisfying. About 70 percent said they were satisfied with their ability to have sex. Sixty percent of men and 37 percent of women said sex is an important part of their overall lives.
* In East Asian countries, only about one quarter of men and women reported physical and emotional pleasure with sex, while two thirds of the men and half of the women reported satisfaction with their ability to have sex. Among men, 28 percent said sex was important to them, while only 12 percent of the women did.
I guess the moral is: Stop dominating your women!
You can find an article based on the survey here
Comments
PZ's post was interesting, Tara's post had a nice photo, but this post is good news! Woo hoo! Speaking as a man who finds equality to be a turn-on, this is a fine post to start my day!
Posted by: pough | April 19, 2006 5:47 PM
Yup! Made my day too...
Posted by: afarensis, FCD | April 19, 2006 10:02 PM
I do not understand how your correlation works. Yes, we have semi-equal nations like the US and the UK with great sex lives and gender equality, but the Middle Eastern nations report at least double the satisfaction of the Far Eastern nations, despite the fact that women's roles in many nations there (i.e., Iran, Iraq, Afganhistan, and the Kingdom of Saud) are either as bad, or worse, than China and it's neighboring countries, compared to those of their male counterparts. Gender equality is awesome, but somewhat irrelevent to sexual satisfaction, it would seem.
You should have included a photo!
Posted by: Roberto | April 19, 2006 10:04 PM
I haven't finished the paper yet so I can't answer your question...I would recommend that you check the paper out (linked to above).
Posted by: afarensis, FCD | April 19, 2006 11:36 PM
I always have serious doubts about the conclusions drawn from these kinds of studies. While these kinds of studies may allow you to identify trends, identifying the reasons for those trends is much more speculative. There could be any number of factors, or even combinations of several factors, that cause the trends identified. Similar trends in two different cultures could be caused by different factors in each culture. Just as an off the cuff example, the average man or woman in the US may equate good sex as having sex with an equal partner where both are in it for the fun. In the middle east the average man may equate good sex with having a partner that provides what he wants when he wants it while not having to worry about reciprocating, and the average women may equate good sex as being successfull at pleasuring her male partner. In East Asian cultures perhaps it is considered deviant to place too much importance on sex. These examples are not meant to be taken seriously. Just pointing out that identifying trends in a pile of statistics is one thing, figuring out the causes of those trends is a much harder problem with huge room for error. All this study means to me is exactly what the statistics are, and that if several other similar statistical studies show similar trends, that those trends may actually be real.
Posted by: Darrell | April 20, 2006 12:43 PM