Facebook Leads To Increase In STDs in Britain 270
ectotherm writes "According to Professor Peter Kelly, a director of Public Health in Great Britain: 'There has been a four-fold increase in the number of syphilis cases detected, with more young women being affected.' Why the increase? People meeting up for casual sex through Facebook. According to the article, 'Social networking sites are making it easier for people to meet up for casual sex. There is a rise in syphilis because people are having more sexual partners than 20 years ago and often do not use condoms.'"
Re:Um... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Um... (Score:5, Interesting)
I personally wouldn't, but plenty of people would. Like I said, it isn't my place to judge someone's sexual appetites...but I'll judge the hell out of someone recklessly screwing around.
syphilis cycles (Score:3, Interesting)
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn6935-syphilis-cycles-not-driven-by-risky-sex.html [newscientist.com]
Re:Wrong places (Score:3, Interesting)
If you're really curious about this answer, there are some interesting books that discuss the reasons for interpersonal ambiguity (aka 'dishonesty') and how that gives people (of both sexes) both more negotiation room and better options for negotiation. A few really worthwhile books:
Promiscuity: an evolutionary history of sperm competition [amazon.com] by Tim Birkhead, talks very little about humans but discusses (in great detail) how and why out-of-relationship and non-relationship sexual contact can benefit different reproductive strategies.
The Moral Animal: Evolutionary Psychology and Everyday Life [amazon.com] by Robert Wright, which talks about how often our behavior seems to contradict our professed beliefs but how very well it matches evolutionarily successful mating strategies, and
The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature [amazon.com] by Steven Pinker, especially the second-to-last chapter which specifically addresses how ambiguity can be modelled in game theory to show huge advantages to people who use it skilfully.
In short, what people say they want isn't always what they want, but they often don't know that. They're unconsciously using successful strategies they don't actually understand, because we seem to instinctively know what works and what doesn't. In this specific case, there are many animals with mating strategies similar to humans, where females who aren't a male's primary partner benefit heavily from providing sexual access to, and receiving resources (money, food...) from, the males in question.
Prof. Wild Claim (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Wrong places (Score:3, Interesting)
Many women have to be in denial that they actually want sex or are headed towards it.
They prefer an atmosphere of "whoops--- how the heck are we having sex??"
On the flip side, many men also want women who act that way since a man hunting sex predator makes their jumbly bits shrink.
Ironically, many men really only want orgasms- not sex. So they finish in 6-10 minutes. Meanwhile, women can easily have sex for 2 to 3 hours. So you have the people who are saying "no" actually able to enjoy it much longer than the people who are saying "yes" all the time. Women can have and enjoy 10 to 13 hours a week of sex as long as they are having orgasms.
Mean while, many guys really want to play sports, compete in games, go hunting or fishing and do guy things more after the orgasm.
Read up on tantric sex. Learn how to have sex longer before orgasm-- trust me- it can be like a continuous orgasm, floating along the edge.