ROMANTIC NOTIONS
XOXO
A team of medical experts in Virginia contends you’re more likely to catch the common cold virus by shaking hands than by kissing.
Romantic Canadian porcupines kiss one another on the lips.
Matrimonial pollsters contend that a man who kisses his wife good-bye when he leaves for work every morning averages a higher income than a man who doesn’t. Husbands who exercise the rituals of affection tend to be more painstaking, more stable, more methodical, and, thus, higher earners, it’s believed. It has also been documented that men who kiss their wives before leaving home in the morning live five years longer than those who do not.
In medieval Italy, kisses weren’t taken—or given—lightly; if a man and a woman were seen embracing in public, they could be forced to marry.
The longest kiss listed in the Guinness Book of World Records lasted an incredible 417 hours.
The German language contains 30 words that refer to the act of kissing. There is even a word, Nachkuss, for all the kisses that haven’t yet been named.
The average woman uses up approximately her height in lipstick every five years.
SEXUAL REFERENCES
In ancient Babylon, all women were required to serve as prostitutes in the temple before getting married. Some unattractive women sometimes had to serve three or four years before finally being chosen.
On the island of Trobriand, a lover customarily bites off his lady friend’s eyelashes. But he would never take her out to dinner, unless they were married. To share a meal with her would disgrace her.
In Cali, Colombia, the first time a woman has sex with her husband, her mother must also be present.
Empress Hu of the Northern Qi dynasty engaged in “immoral play” with her eunuchs and had an affair with one of her husband’s officials. As empress dowager, she had an affair with a Buddhist monk and opened a brothel with her daughter-in-law, reportedly remarking, “Being a prostitute is more pleasurable than being an empress.”
Until recently, among some tribes in New Guinea it was the custom for a young fighting man to give his girlfriend a finger cut from the hand of his opponent. She wore the finger on a string around her neck. Some elderly natives there still have missing fingers.
Recent research indicates that about 9,000 romantic couples take out marriage licenses each year, then fail to use them.
In 1869, Dr. George Taylor invented the world’s first vibrator, called the manipulator. It was powered by steam and was intended as a cure for just about any medical problem a woman had.
The least expensive prostitutes in the world are the Pe trapole people, who live on the border of Bangladesh. They charge as little as 10 rupees, which is the equivalent of 92 cents.
There are 2.5 million new gonorrhea cases a year among Americans.
UNLAWFUL BEHAVIORThe United States has more laws governing sexual behavior than every country in Europe combined.
An excerpt from Kentucky state legislation: “No female shall appear in a bathing suit on any highway within this state unless she be escorted by at least two officers or unless she be armed with a club.”
In Oxford, Ohio, it’s illegal for a woman to strip off her clothes in front of a man’s picture.
In Maryland, it is illegal to sell condoms from vending machines, with one exception—prophylactics may be dispensed from a vending machine only “in places where alcoholic beverages are sold for consumption on the premises.”
In Mississippi, S&M is against the law, specifically: “The depiction or description of flagellation or torture by or upon a person who is nude or in undergarments or in a bizarre or revealing costume for the purpose of sexual gratification.”
In North Carolina, it is illegal to have sex with a drunken fish.
In the state of Utah, sex with an animal—unless performed for profit—is not considered sodomy and therefore is legal.
GENDER BENDERS
Women can talk longer with less effort than men, as the vocal cords of women are shorter than those of men and so release less air through them to carry the sound.
The perception that women talk three times as much as men is false. Both genders speak about sixteen thousand words a day. However, the topics of conversation do differ; researchers report that men talk about technology, sports, and money, while women talk about relationships.
Men can read smaller print than women.
Studies by Dr. Karl F. Robinson of Northwestern University reportedly prove that men change their minds two or three times more often than women.
Among transsexuals who choose sex-change operations, females who elect to become males are reportedly happier and better adjusted after the procedures than males who elect to become female.
LIKE A VIRGIN
There are more 20-year-old virgins now than there were in the late 1950s.
In ancient Greece, young aristocratic women were deflowered by having their hymens pierced by a stone penis before marrying.
In the Aztec culture, avocados were considered so sexually powerful that virgins were restricted from having contact with them.
A parthenologist is someone who specializes in the study of virgins and virginity.
O, BABY!
Both women and men are most likely to have their first orgasm alone.
According to Playboy, black women are 50 percent more likely than white women to have an orgasm when they have sex.
The most female orgasms per hour on record is a staggering 134. The most male orgasms per hour is just 16.
Marilyn Monroe, the most celebrated sex icon of the twentieth century, confessed to a friend that, despite her three husbands and a parade of lovers, she had never had an orgasm.
DARING DUDS
Beau Brummell started the craze for ultratight men’s trousers in the early nineteenth century. Because they were so tight, the penis needed to be held to one side so as not to create an unsightly bulge. To accomplish this, some men had their penis pierced to allow it to be held by a hook on the inside of the trousers; this piercing was called a “dressing ring” because tailors would ask if a gentleman “dressed” to the left or the right and tailor the trousers accordingly. Tailors to this day will ask men if they dress to the left or right.
Approximately 3 million women in the United States sport tattoos. More than 8 million women in the country have some form of permanent makeup.
The first nipple rings, called bosom rings, appeared in Victorian Europe in the 1890s. They became fashionable among women, who often wore them joined together by a small gold chain.
According to a market research firm, the most popular American bra size is currently 36C, up from 1991 when it was 34B.
The earliest breast implants were done in the 1940s by Japanese prostitutes hoping to entice American GIs. They injected their breasts with liquid silicon.
X-PERT INTERESTS
The most successful X-rated movie of all time is Deep Throat. It cost less than $50,000 to make and has earned more than $100 million to date.
Porn star Annie Sprinkle claims to have had sex with 3,000 men.
For every “normal” web page, there are five porn pages.
A GAY OLD TIME
According to a 1996 study, homophobic men show a higher arousal rate when shown gay porn than men with ambivalent attitudes toward homosexuals do.
Male bats have the highest rate of homosexuality of any mammal.
Flamingos and other birds display homosexual behavior, sometimes forming committed same-sex relationships that can involve sex, traveling, living together, and raising young together.
J. Edgar Hoover, Oscar Wilde, Chief Crazy Horse, Pope Paul II, Pope Julius III, Leonard Bernstein, Alexander the Great, Sigmund Freud, Lawrence of Arabia, Plato, Peter Tchaikovsky, and Florence Nightingale were all rumored to be gay or bisexual.
PENILE SYSTEM
The average male member in all its glory is six inches long and five inches in circumference. The smallest erect penis on record was one centimeter long.
The male fetus is capable of attaining an erection during the last trimester.
A man’s penis not only shrinks during cold weather but also from nonsexual excitement such as when his favorite football team scores a touchdown.
Semen contains small amounts of more than 30 elements, including fructose, ascorbic acid, cholesterol, creatine, citric acid, lactic acid, nitrogen, vitamin B12, and various salts and enzymes.
Impotence is grounds for divorce in 24 U.S. states.
The left testicle usually hangs lower than the right for right-handed men. The opposite is true for lefties.
The first sperm banks opened in 1964, in Tokyo and Iowa City.
Swans are the only birds with penises.
WOMANLY FIGURESWomen who went to college are more likely to enjoy both the giving and receiving of oral sex than high school dropouts are.
According to statistics, Australian women are most likely to have sex on the first date.
Women are most likely to want to have sex when they are ovulating.
The female bedbug has no sexual opening. To get around this dilemma, the male uses his curved penis to drill a vagina into the female.
Seventy percent of women would rather have chocolate than sex, according to a poll taken in a 1995 popular women’s magazine.
TITILLATING TRADITIONS
A “buckle bunny” is a woman who goes to rodeos with the express intent of having sex with a rodeo cowboy.
Oculolinctus is a fetish whereby people are sexually aroused by licking a partner’s eyeball.
Exhibitionists are most likely to be married men.
Around the world, people are having sex an average of 103 times a year. In terms of consistency, the French get it on an average of 137 times a year. The Greeks come a close second at 133 times, and the Hungarians third at 131 times per year. The United States manages an average of only 111 times a year. In Hong Kong and Singapore, they manage only 79 times, and Japan comes in last, managing just 46 times a year.
According to CNN, a study performed by Anthony Bo gaert, a psychologist and human sexuality expert in Ontario, revealed that about 1 in 100 people are completely asexual, having no interest in sex at all.
A medical study conducted in Pennsylvania showed that people who have sex once or twice a week slightly boost their immune systems.
Twenty-five percent of sexually active people engage in anal sex.
Jews and atheists tend to have more sexual partners than Catholics or Protestants.