The better the university, the better the sex?

Better grades, better university, better facilities, better variety of people … but better sex?

 

In a video released by The Huffington Post on Feb. 18, two student journalists and sex columnists, one from Cornell University and the other from Brown University, debated why they believe students at high-caliber universities have better sex than those who don’t attend such universities.

 

Of course, there is no actual scientific evidence or study to prove or disprove this statement, but Purdue’s sexual health education coordinator, Chico Jensen, found it to be a discussion-worthy topic. He has taught and given keynote speeches at many universities, including Indiana University, Purdue and Ball State, and experience tells Jensen that what we don’t know might be made up for by what we do.

 

“I’m not saying (better universities mean better sex); I can’t know that,” says Jensen. “But would it surprise me if we did a survey study and it was? Absolutely not.”

 

Part of this opinion is based on a sociological theory he has read about, called the “Matthew effect.” Based on the biblical verse Matthew 25:29, it is the sociological truism that says “the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer,” or that similarities attract.

 

“I think there is a possibility that being at an institution that is more educated across the board might affect how well-educated the students are,” says Jensen. “And, honestly, there might be a lot of people who disagree with this, but because of what I do for a living, I would say knowledge about sex is absolutely going to improve your sex life and your relationships.”

 

Furthermore, Jensen said better universities could also have better sexual education and sexual health resources which could in turn have a positive effect on students’ sex lives.

 

Maxwell Foreman, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana University, isn’t completely convinced of the preceding point, though. IU is the home of the nationally renowned Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction; however, he says many of his peers “haven’t even heard of the Kinsey” but have good sex lives anyway, signaling to him that facilities have nothing to do with sex quality on a college campus.

 

“Well, I’m only one person, but it isn’t like students are (short on dating opportunities) here. Regardless of if you are part of the Greek scene, the bar scene, or even in the dorms, if you are looking to get laid and willing to put in some effort, class should be more difficult,” said Foreman, interjecting some humor.

 

According to Jensen, though, the quality of the university is only part of what determines a college student’s sexual satisfaction. Other factors, such as the size of the university, a variety of demographics and whether or not a university is residential or non-residential all matter when it comes to students finding and having the kind of sex that makes them happiest.

 

Alex Overway, a senior in the College of Engineering at Purdue, said he definitely could see how these factors could shape students’ experiences.

 

“I feel like the average sex life at Purdue is probably representative of most large colleges just because there’s such a diverse group of people that are all bound to have varying degrees of sexual interest and experiences,” said Overway. “Smaller schools might have more people with similar backgrounds, which could limit both variety of opinions and opportunities for exploration.”

 

And exploration is what Jensen says makes college sex what it is; it’s good, it’s exciting and it’s fun because, for many students, it’s their first time to experiment and explore without any parental influence.

 

“It’s why I love (teaching) this particular demographic,” he said. “The overwhelming majority – and I’m talking about (those inside) the bell curve – of college-aged students that are specifically at a residential university in the United States … are Americans who are on their own for the first time (and figuring out who they want to be).”

 

Good sex, Foreman agreed, is a highly variable thing based on this experience.

 

“I’ve visited friends at small schools like IUPUI and (Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne) where the atmosphere wasn’t the same, but that doesn’t mean people weren’t (having sex),” says Foreman. “I have friends at Wabash College (an all-male school) that have zero complaints in that department, so it just seems to be a university-by-university thing, with the size or guy-to-girl ratio not seeming to be that big of a factor.

 

“I’d really bank on everyone just being horny college kids, and no one should have any sort of problem with it,” laughed Foreman.

Categories: college, indiana university, nbsp, sex life, sex lives, sexual health, students, university, university purdue

Why Are Rich People Having Better Sex?

Money, it seems, can’t buy you love but it might be able to buy you great sex – recent research suggests that socioeconomic factors correlate directly with a higher level of sexual satisfaction. This amazing result comes from research by the Spanish National Sexual Health Survey, from the Barcelona Public Health Agency who surveyed 9850 participants to determine the results. After analysing the data they found that sex actually better when you have money. People of lower socioeconomic status claim to be less sexually satisfied, particularly women who seem to be more influenced by these factors. The study looked at the level of education and where the participants grew up to reveal potentially critical differences. Over 92 per cent of women with a university education, for example, said that they were satisfied with their sex life, whereas only 81 per cent of women with less than a primary education agreed. This gap widens when it comes to contraception, where 62 per cent of women with less than a primary education used contraception within the past year, but this jumps to 81 per cent for women who had attended university.

Contraception may not be initially related to sexual enjoyment levels, but for many women, the use of contraception can lead to a less stressful experience with sex, because it reduces the risk of pregnancy and STDs. In fact, authors of the study noted that women of a higher socioeconomic standing tended to use contraception more frequently could also indicate a greater awareness of their needs in the bedroom, and a great ability to develop their sexuality with control. This is an interesting factor and one which is often overlooked in terms of sexual satisfaction – the ability to control your own needs and desires, rather than relying on other people to fulfil your sexual needs.

 

With regards to sex in your own life, isn’t it more enjoyable when you aren’t worried about an unwanted pregnancy or the health risks you could be putting yourself under? Removing these concerns from your sexual experience immediately makes it more enjoyable, something practically everyone can attest to. But there are other factors to remember too, not just our stress levels when we enter the bedroom. For example, the rates of sexual abuse were greatly different, with 4 per cent of women with a university education reporting sexual abuse, compared to 13 per cent of women with less than a primary education. It’s no shock that what may have happened previously can also impact what’s happening currently. And stress greatly differs the figures too. It’s no surprise that alleviating the worry of finances and debts lowers your stress levels overall, making the enjoyment of sex far easier.

 

People who are stressed tend to produce higher amounts of the hormone cortisol and when this is produced in large amounts, it can lower one’s libido. So it seems that those sensationalist headlines which claim that the rich have better sex lives in addition to better lives overall could actually be right, but in a different way. What this study shows us is that socioeconomic privilege can extend into more aspects of a person’s life than we first thought, and it’s those changes which actually influence our sex lives rather than being rich itself. but great sex should be a luxury we all enjoy, and aspects like stress, worry and contraception are all things which can be alleviated with a little planning and lifestyle changes, not just through how much money you have in the bank.

Categories: Education, primary education, Relationships, Sex, sex lives, sexual, Sexual Abuse, sexual satisfaction, Stress Levels, university education, wealth, Women

Is Your Diabetes Wreaking Havoc on Your Sex Life?

Diabetes is more of a health concern than ever, as new research suggests that the condition could take its toll on your sexual wellbeing. According to the study, which was funded by the US government, middle-aged and older women with diabetes are less satisfied with their sex lives than are women without the blood sugar disease. The same is said of diabetic men, as it has long been established that diabetes makes blokes more prone to sexual wellness problems such as erectile dysfunction. However, it was less well-known how the disease affected the sex lives of women – until now.

 

Lead researcher Dr. Alison Huang of the University of California, San Francisco, commented, ‘It’s an area that is very understudied, particularly in older women.’ Therefore, Huang led a team of researchers to analyse a survey of nearly 2,300 California women aged 40 to 80 years. The findings, which are published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynaecology, revealed that more than a third of women who are on insulin treatment answered “moderately” or “very” when asked how dissatisfied they were with their sex lives. The same was answered by a quarter of diabetic women who weren’t on insulin, but less than one in five non-diabetic women answered likewise.

 

Huang explained, ‘It’s not that diabetic women are not interested in sexual activity. The diabetic women in the study had more sexual problems, but they were just as interested in sexual activities and had a similar level of sexual activity as women without diabetes.’ Sexually active women who took insulin were more likely to complain of problems with lubrication and orgasm compared to non-diabetic women, while those with complications related to the condition – such as heart and kidney disease – were the least likely to have sex at least once a month.

 

According to Huang, following a diabetic diet and getting regular exercise will help you to reduce your problems between the sheets. ‘I think these results do suggest that if you are a diabetic woman, preventing complications may help prevent development of sexual problems,’ she said. However, the team did find one perplexing result; women with elevated blood sugar levels were less likely to report low sexual satisfaction. Nonetheless, Huang noted, ‘I don’t think it’s likely that very poorly controlled blood sugar leads to better sexual function in women.’

Categories: Blood Sugar, Diabetes, diabetic, diabetic women, dissatisfying sex, older women, sex lives, sexual, sexual activity, sexual problems, Women

Sex After Spine Surgery: Is It Possible?

You might thank of having spinal surgery as a very serious procedure – especially as it is mainly done to people later in life. Indeed, there are certain spinal deformities that come with age that require surgery on them. It doesn’t seem like a great combination, does it? The advancing age along with the clear spinal problems that has necessitated surgery. So it would be easy to believe that after the surgery is completed, there would be no chance of a normal sex life resuming. However, now it seems that these preconceived notions might be wrong, and there may be a happy ending waiting for spinal surgery patients and their sex lives after all.

 

The good news comes in the form of a new study. In this study a team of surgeons from the University of Virginia Health Center in Charlottesville looked into the sexual function of 62 patients who were 50 years and older and who had received extensive spinal surgery to deal with age-related problems – and the results might be surprising. It seems that the team found out that it is indeed highly possible for older people to achieve satisfactory sexual function and enjoy their sex lives despite having this surgery. This is good news, as surgery is often thought of as a drastic procedure that could have lasting damage on your ability to live your life the way you did before the surgery.

 

In the study, the surgery was described as using spinal instrumentation. This instrumentation would be considered a device or a serious of complex devices such as screws, hooks, rods, wires, cables, plates or spinal cage, which is attached to vertebrae of spine to help to deal with or correct some sort of deformity and instability of the spine. These types of instruments and surgery are used in patients who suffer with spinal disorders caused by advanced age, but could also be used for those who suffer from congenital defects, illness, or trauma.

 

It was suggested by the study that it is well known that weakness or deformity of the spine is a fairly common sign of aging and can be seen in many older people. The authors were even able to cite another study that reported that the likelihood of spinal deformity in the elderly might be as high as 68 per cent. This is a truly huge number when you consider that the number of elderly people is always increasing thanks to healthier lifestyles and a better understanding of how to treat our bodies right. Nevertheless, this spinal deformity often appears to be purely a natural symptom of age that we can do nothing about.

 

Indeed, it could be argued that as the baby-boomer section of the population naturally moves toward the status of being ‘elderly’, more and more surgeries will likely need to be performed to correct spinal deformity and improve their quality of life as they inexorably get older. And it is certainly true that sexual function is a very important aspect of health-related quality of life. However, it always appears to have been largely overlooked as an important factor in older adults with spinal instrumentation. The surgeons who are authors of this paper made it their goal to examine whether and how spinal instrumentation affects these patients’ sexual function and contributes in that way to their quality of life.

 

Overall, it is clear that the patients who require spinal surgery can lead a normal and healthy sex life after they have had spinal instrumentation inserted inside them. This is naturally very good news for their quality of life.

Categories: Sex, sex lives, sexual function, spinal deformity, spinal instrumentation, spinal surgery, spine, surgery

Age and Sexuality: Understand Your Sex Life as You Get Older

There is a common myth that as people get older they stop wanting to have sex, or stop being able to have enjoyable sex. Whilst it is true that you have to safeguard your sexual health as you get older, in truth there are plenty of older people who enjoy fulfilling sex lives.

 

In order to make sure that you preserve your sexuality as you get older, you need to first look at prioritising your wellness and wellbeing. For women, this is often a mental or emotional thing, where they see their aging bodies in a certain way and feel that age has somehow ‘broken’ their bodies. The media is also extremely guilty of playing a strong role in this, by only portraying certain kinds of women (young, firm and perky!) as being sexually attractive.

 

The menopause and other changes that occur in the midlife period can have some difficult effects on sexuality, but they no longer need to be considered as a barrier to future healthy sex lives. It has become a bit of folklore in a way, and many women fear that after the menopause they will no longer want to have sex with their partners, or will not enjoy sex. In truth, with the modern options (both hormonal and non-hormonal) that are available to help counteract the effects of the menopause, sex after the menopause can be just as good as before.

 

Sexuality is important for human wellness, and adults should be encouraged, as they grow older, to continue to engage in sexual behaviour as they get older. This can either mean continuing to actively seek out sexual contact with your partner, or to enjoy sexual behaviour that doesn’t involve actual intercourse (such as intimacy with a partner, or with yourself). The more sex or sexual response that you have, the more that you will find that you want it. Sexuality and arousal work best when they are regularly stimulated.

Categories: Age, older, Sex, sex lives, sexual, sexual behaviour, sexuality