Net Compulsives

state-run

Sweden is famous for breaking sexual taboos, so barely an eyebrow was raised when state-run pharmacies began to sell over-the-counter sex toys this summer, alongside the more conventional headache pills and hot water bottles. Now the shops are being hauled before the Equal Opportunies Ombudsman, the government referee on sexual discrimination, after two men complained that the erotic toys – the bestselling are vibrators and vagina balls – discriminate against males. The pharmacy chain, Apoteket, had a “misguided and untrue view of sexuality whereby a woman with a dildo is seen as liberated, strong and independent, while a man with a blow-up plastic vagina is viewed as disgusting and perverted”, said one of the petitioners. Apoteket has made a spirited defence. Eva Fernvall, its head of retailing, said it was simply a matter of maintaining standards. “As I understand it, there are no products of good quality on the market for men,” she said. “Should there be such products specifically for men, then there is nothing stopping us from selling them.” The men were exercising their rights under a 2005 amendment to the Equal Opportunities Act, which was supposed to right the balance in a society in which women were seen as winning more and more ground. It is unlikely that the pharmacy chain will end up in court, but men are resorting increasingly to the law to fight for their rights across a wide spectrum of issues. Hairdressers and taxis are no longer allowed to offer preferential rates to women. Young Swedish men were upset at the sight of even younger women wafting past club doormen while they were turned away as minors. “Bars tend to use women to attract more male customers and thus lower the age restrictions,” said Magnus Jakobsson, of the ombudsman’s office. Now the entry age has to be the same for men and women. Dating services also have to charge the same for males and females. Male prison guards last week protested against what they saw as a discriminatory regulation: that at least one male officer had to be present in the exercise yard while convicts had their fresh-air break. The rule meant that women staff had more generous holiday schedules than men, said the complaint. Lesbians too are feeling the brunt of the new be-fair-to-men laws. A current court case pits a lesbian couple against the Uppsala health authority. After three unsuccessful attempts to get pregnant by insemination, a lesbian then demanded that her female partner should be inseminated. The heath authority refused – on the ground that a heterosexual couple would not have the additional opportunities. Males, after all, cannot become pregnant. The couple are demanding £20,000 compensation. At the upper ranks of government there is almost complete equality between men and women. One exception is the foreign service, where there is still a disproportionately high number of male ambassadors and senior diplomats. This is under review. Swedish companies in particular are vulnerable to complaints from women who feel underpaid. The telecommunications group Ericsson – with 17,000 employees in Sweden, 25 per cent of them women – has had to raise the salaries of 115 women by up to £400 a month. The equality ombudsman found that they had lower salaries than men with the same job requirements and levels of responsibility.

state-run pharmacies began to sell over-the-counter sex toys this summer

Sweden is famous for breaking sexual taboos, so barely an eyebrow was raised when state-run pharmacies began to sell over-the-counter sex to...

satisfying

A satisfying sex lifeispossible as you age into your 70s and 80s, new research suggests. Many older Americans are apparently taking advantage of that fact, because 68 percent of men between 57 and 85 reported having sex last year, as did 42 percent of women, according to the study's lead author, Edward Laumann, the George Herbert Mead Distinguished Service Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago. And, Laumann added, more older women might have wanted to have sex, but there just aren't as many available older men for them to partner with. "Healthy people can have reasonably satisfying sexual health for most of their lives," said Laumann. "There are challenges that arise, but it's not aging, per se, that's the issue. A decline in sexuality may be the canary in the mineshaft. Sexual problems may manifest before diabetes and high blood pressure." The study findings were published in the current issue ofThe Journal of Sexual Medicine. "It's definitely whether you're elderly or "wellderly" that makes a difference," said Dr. Virginia Sadock, director of the program of human sexuality at New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City. "Illness and medications make a difference in sex lives." Other factors that can get in the way of a satisfying sex life later in life include having had a sexually transmitted disease, and having physical problems, mental health issues or relationship difficulties, the study found. The study included information from 1,550 women and 1,455 men between the ages of 57 and 85. All participated in the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project. Some highlights of the study include: Having had a sexually transmitted disease (STD) in the past nearly quadrupled a woman's odds of having sexual pain, and it tripled the odds a woman would have lubrication problems. In men, a history of STD was associated with five times the risk of finding sex unpleasant. In both older men and women, a common factor in sexual dysfunction and a decreased interest in sex was urinary tract syndrome. Both older men and older women reported that mental health issues affected their interest in sex. For men, relationship troubles also contributed to a lack of interest in sex and the inability to achieve orgasm. Drinking alcohol daily improved a women interest in and pleasure from sex. Alcohol didn't have that effect on men.Hispanic women were twice as likely to report pain during intercourse.Black men were twice as likely to say they weren't interested in sex and were more likely to report climaxing early. "Sexual health is a harbinger of physical and mental health, and it plays an important role in the quality of life," Laumann said. "Older people don't just drop out of the picture. In general, if you're healthy, you can be sexually active." Sadock added: "Don't assume that because you're older, your sex life has to be gone. If you're healthy and connected to someone, and you've had a pretty good sex life when you're younger, then you can have a pretty good sex life in old age."

satisfying sex lifeispossible as you age into your 70s and 80s, new research suggests

A satisfying sex lifeispossible as you age into your 70s and 80s, new research suggests. Many older Americans are apparently taking advantag...