When friends of mine are in a relationship they see long-term potential with, they often come to me, their sex and relationship researcher friend, and ask questions about “how do you know?” or “how long is long enough before we take the plunge?” This question also often comes up from students during lectures on intimate… Read More

As a sex researcher, I’m constantly trying to keep up with the latest methods that other researchers are using to collect and analyze their data. This includes innovative ways to recruit participants, different ways of thinking about data collection, and unique approaches to statistical analysis. Considering sexual behaviors in the context with which they occur… Read More

Dr. Sara McClelland, an Assistant Professor in the psychology department at University of Michigan, recently published an article in Sexuality Research & Social Policy titled “Who is the “Self” in Self Reports of Sexual Satisfaction? Research and Policy Implications” that addresses the clinical, research, and policy implications of relying on sexual satisfaction as a measure of well-being. Sexual… Read More

Recent research has confirmed what has been a prominent theme in media messages about women’s sexual desire for a long time. Women’s sexual desire decreases as relationship length increases. However, men do not experience the same decrease in sexual desire as relationship duration lengthens. University of Guelph researchers (and close colleagues of mine), Sarah Murray and Dr…. Read More

The search for the G-spot, and the controversy around its existence, has been going on for a while now in the scientific community and beyond. You may have heard about a new study that claims to have located the physiological existence of the G-spot. It is getting quite a bit of hype in the media, which is no surprise,… Read More

I was sitting beside a couple of sociologists in the local coffee shop the other day, and when they learned what I study, they immediately told me about a new study published in the American Sociological Review. This is one of the great things about being surrounded by scholars in different disciplines. It would have taken… Read More

Facebook has become such an interesting phenomenon in our culture. With more than 955 million active Facebook users, it is an incredibly integral part of our social relationships, romantic and otherwise. People are often judged or questioned if they aren’t on Facebook, as if not having a Facebook account makes them some sort of leper. People are friends on… Read More

When I teach human sexuality to university students, my students tend to know fairly quickly how I feel about Cosmopolitan Magazine’s sex and relationship tips. I tend to make it clear that I don’t like the magazine and its seemingly constant focus on “pleasing your man” and “changing your body”. I find myself frequently left wondering why… Read More

I find in a lot of the topics I research, there is often a focus on “differences”…differences in gender, age, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, etc.  One of the things that I have taken away from research I’ve conducted is that there are frequently more differences within groups than there are between groups. A recent study conducted by Kathy Burrows,… Read More

A growing trend in the cosmetic surgery arena these days is female genital cosmetic procedures. These procedures include options for “revirgination”, “g-spot amplification”, or “designer vaginoplasty” and they are all meant to “rejuvenate” women’s genitals. Who knew genitals needed rejuvenation? An interview with Dr. Cheryl Iglesia, Director of Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery at MedStar… Read More