"Why do men fall asleep after sex?" is the title of the new book by the same guys who let us in on -- "Why Do Men Have Nipples?" [Hint - it has to do with all of us being female embryos for the first six weeks of life.]

So why do men fall asleep after sex? Well let's just say first off that this is a ridiculous generalization - sex takes energy and we are all a little exhausted after all that sucky sucky. But let's just think about it on its face. It turns out it is not only men who fall asleep after sex, it tends to be anyone - male and female - who have an orgasm during sex. AHA!

A chemical cocktail of hormones and glandular secretions, including oxytocin, known as the "cuddling hormone," is released after orgasm. Of course, both men and women release the same post-climax hormones, so why is the after-sex snooze more of a male trait? It's not silly sillies! It's a human trait. The problem is that women don't always have orgasms during sex, and hence, don't always release the sleep-inducing hormones. Ridic.

Well surprise, surprise - the results of a new international study on sexual well-being were released today reinforcing that indeed sexual well-being for both men and women is critical in our overall happiness. University of Chicago researchers surveyed more than 27,000 middle-aged and elderly people worldwide about their sex lives and found out that sex is a good thing. The old saying make love, not war is damn right prescient these days.

Unfortunately for those of you living in the East (of the world that is), the West has got you on overall sexual satisfaction. This finding has something to do with the more male centered the culture the less female satisfaction. So apparently gender equality is good for both men and women in the sack.

Other findings include:

• Asian countries all reported low levels of sexual satisfaction and moderate to low levels of satisfaction with their relationships and the importance of sex.

• Israeli women placed the highest value on the importance of sex -- the lowest score came from women in Taiwan. Among men, Brazil scored the highest and Thailand the lowest.

• Overall, people in Austria are most satisfied with their sex lives, and Japanese are least satisfied.

The New York Times reported today that the FDA may in fact be on track to finally approve emergency contraction over the counter after delaying the decision for 3+ years. Under the new compromise EC would be available to women over the age of 18. It would be keep behind the counter, but available without a prescription - one would need a valid ID to prove their age. Oh man, come on now...but I digress.

The unfortunate news here is that it seems the FDA head is playing politics once again with women's health, scheduling this announcement a day before his Senate confirmation hearing. Senator Clinton says she is skeptical that this is just a delay tactic and after the confirmation hearings the FDA will not fulfill its illedged promise...we shall wait and see. It's not like we haven't been waiting all along.

In the meantime, cookies, why don't you do as we told you ages ago and ask your Gyno to give you a prescription for EC just in case the FDA fucks us again.

A bill which harkens back to the dear ol’ 90s when anti-choicers tried to do everything in their power to politicize a woman’s right to abortion and that would make it a crime to take a pregnant girl across state lines for an abortion without her parents' knowledge passed the Senate Tuesday, but vast differences with the House version stood between the measure and President Bush's desk.

The 65-34 vote gave the Senate's approval to the bill, which would make taking a pregnant girl to another state for the purposes of evading parental notification laws punishable by fines and up to a year in jail.

Salon Broadsheet has an excellent dissection of the newly passed “Child Custody Protection Act.”

"The Senate showed a frightening lack of compassion for American teens and a disturbing willingness to play politics with their health and safety today," said Planned Parenthood Federation of America vice president of public policy Stephenie Foster in a hot-off-the-presses release. "Forbidding young people from turning to trusted family members when they are in crisis does not prevent unintended pregnancy and the need for abortion. [Emphasis added by enraged Broadsheet writer.] Parents need support to keep their kids healthy and safe -- not laws that criminalize family members for helping teens get access to good medical care."

Read it here - The"Child Custody Protection Act" protects whom, exactly?

According to an article in today’s New York Times Style section (no irony in that whatsoever) - The Taming of the Slur - the word slut is now more popular than ever among teen girls and even some adults!

“Today, ‘slut,’ even ‘ho’ — girls use it in a fun way, a positive way,” said Atoosa Rubenstein, the editor in chief of Seventeen magazine, adding that a phrase such as “you little slut” has become a way for girlfriends to bust each other’s chops."

But The Times could not let it rest there. Oh no, they had to go do that thing again - the thing they like to do - name a questionable trend, one that they coin, highlight it and then of course break a part in 1000 words.

There's more...

The New York Times Declares in Academia: Women Are Leaving Men in the Dust

So it looks like women are the new power players...so much for that evil male patriarchy that supposedly rules women's lives for the worse.

The cultural evidence keeps piling up proving that women are progressing more than ever. Maybe now we can all agree that when it comes to our sexual lives, women are in a place in history, culture and time that allows us to explore the boundaries of our sexuality, our sexual identities. We are dealing with a generation who for better are now allowed (like any human being in the history of humanity has done) to explore sexual boundaries.

And if that doesn't make the boys jealous, we are also pushing the boundaries of our sex lives in a way that men have not been allowed to do.

Maybe next decade boyz...

Doctors in Australia think it's time for a rethink on the clitoris...it's about time!

For anyone who has read A Piece of Cake: Recipes for Female Sexual Pleasure you know that all women have a pleasure system and that the clitoris is a much larger structure than the "little man in the canoe." Now however, it looks like the medical community is finally getting on board with what those of us in the sexuality field have known for quite sometime:

"There's nothing quite like the shape of a clitoris," said the Australian urologist, Dr Helen O'Connell. "The glans are dense with nerve endings and receptors - all the vibration and sensation is there." The bulk of it is shaped like a pyramid, she said. Its base forms the external genitalia or vulva; its triangular "walls" are wrapped around the urine-carrying tube known as the urethra and the vagina. When aroused, the whole structure becomes engorged.

They even provide a nifty diagram to go along with the explanation just in case you missed the point:

Nice, score for the ladies - now over to you boys...

A new study suggests the brain is quickly turned on and "tuned in" when women view erotic images.

So basically what women have been telling us all along is now “proven” by science - yes when presented with erotic material we get turned on just as quick and just as strongly as the boys. Who knew? We did. Come on “science” tell us something we don’t know.

Past research has suggested that men are more visual creatures than women and get more aroused by erotic images than women. However, one of the researchers in the new study out of the Washington University School of Medicine says the fact that the women's brains in this study exhibited such a quick response to erotic pictures suggests that, perhaps for evolutionary reasons, our brains are programmed to preferentially respond to erotic material.

"Usually men subjectively rate erotic material much higher than women," one of the author of the study says. "So based on those data we would expect lower responses in women, but that was not the case. Women have responses as strong as those seen in men."

Alright, let's hear it for the ladies! Now go rent some good quality porn and see for yourself.

Washington School of Medicine Study