Would You Let Your Teen Sleep With Their Boyfriend or Girlfriend in Your Home?

Kelly Rossiter Contributor
From http://parentables.howstuffworks.com/

Photo credit: Lambert/Getty Images

The summer my son was nineteen, he said quite casually, that he and his girlfriend would like to sleep together at the cottage, if that was okay with us. I think my husband was a bit surprised, maybe even shocked, but I said yes without any hesitation. When a friend of mine, whose son was also nineteen found out about it, she said she would never let her son sleep with his girlfriend in her house. I replied that Hugh was old enough to drive a car, to drink legally (in Canada), to leave home, and to die for his country, he should be allowed to have sex. She said "But he should have it in the back of a car, like everybody else!"

He was still a teenager, but as far as I was concerned, he was an adult and it was his own business. So what would my cut-off age be? I'm not really sure, but I remember the summer he left to be a camp counsellor at the age of 16 I suggested he take condoms with him. No need, he said, the camp keeps a big jar of them in the staff lounge. Of course, he was going to be out of my sight for two entire months, and it seemed prudent of me to raise the issue with him, rather than pretend he wouldn't have sex, but would I have let him sleep with a girlfriend then? Maybe not. At fourteen, absolutely not, but then he went to a boy's school, so opportunities with girls did not abound, and it was something I didn't actually have to face. Would I have thought differently about this issue if I were talking about my daughter, rather than my son?

There is a new book entitled Not Under My Roof: Parents, Teens and the Culture of Sex by Amy Schalet, who interviewed 130 Dutch and American parents as well as teenagers between the ages of fifteen and seventeen on their attitudes regarding teens and sex in the home. Dutch parents, as it turns out, are much more permissive than their American counterparts. Nine out of ten Dutch parents had allowed or would consider allowing teen sleepovers when the kids reached the age of sixteen or seventeen while nine out of ten American parents say they would not allow it. Researchers say that Dutch teenagers are less likely to have unwanted pregnancies and far more likely to use contraceptives than American teens. They also report fewer STDs in Dutch teenagers than American. Not only that, Dutch kids apparently are less deceptive with their parents, meaning if American kids are having sex, they are more likely to be lying about it to mom and dad.

Ultimately, of course, parents will do what they are most comfortable with, and that may mean never allowing their teenaged children sleep with girlfriends or boyfriends. It's an interesting topic, especially given how sexualized so much of North American culture has become on one hand, and how conservative it has become on the other.

How do you feel about this? Would you let your teenager have a sleepover?

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Pope Says Condoms Can Be Used In Some Cases

by The Associated Press

from http://www.npr.org/

Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Images

Pope Benedict XVI leads a consistory in St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Saturday. In a new book, Benedict says condom use is acceptable "in certain cases," notably by male prostitutes to reduce the risk of infection with HIV.

Pope Benedict XVI says in a new book that condoms can be justified for male prostitutes seeking to stop HIV, a stunning turnaround for a church that has long opposed condoms and a pontiff who has blamed them for making the AIDS crisis worse.

The pontiff made the comments in a book-length interview with a German journalist, Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times, which is being released Tuesday. The Vatican newspaper ran excerpts on Saturday.

Church teaching has opposed condoms because they're a form of artificial contraception although it has never released an explicit policy about condoms and HIV. The Vatican has been harshly criticized in light of the AIDS crisis.

Benedict said that for male prostitutes — for whom contraception isn't the central issue — condoms are not a moral solution. But he said they could be justified "in the intention of reducing the risk of infection.''

He called it "a first step in a movement toward a different way, a more human way of living sexuality.''

Benedict drew the wrath of the United Nations, European governments and AIDS activisits when he told reporters en route to Africa in 2009 that the AIDS problem on the continent couldn't be resolved by distributing condoms.

"On the contrary, it increases the problem,'' he said then.

Journalist Peter Seewald, who interviewed Benedict over the course of six days this summer, revisited those comments and asked Benedict if it wasn't "madness'' for the Vatican to forbid a high-risk population to use condoms.

"There may be a basis in the case of some individuals, as perhaps when a male prostitute uses a condom, where this can be a first step in the direction of a moralization, a first assumption of responsibility,'' Benedict said.

But he stressed that it wasn't the way to deal with the evil of HIV, noting the church's position that abstinence and marital fidelity is the only sure way.

Christian Weisner, of the pro-reform group We Are Church in the pope's native Germany, said it was "surprising, and if that's the case one can be happy about the pope's ability to learn.

In other comments, Benedict said:

"If a pope is no longer physically, psychologically or spiritually capable of doing his job, then he has the "right, and under some circumstances, also an obligation to resign.''

On Islam, in Europe, he declined to endorse such moves as France's banning the burqa or Switzerland's citizen referendum to forbid topping mosques with minarets.

"Christians are tolerant, and in that respect they also allow others to have their self-image,'' Benedict replied when asked if Christians should be "glad'' about such initiatives. "As for the burqa, I can see no reason for a general ban.''

He was surprised by the scale of clerical sex abuse in his native Germany and acknowledged that the Vatican could have better communicated its response. "One can always wonder whether the pope should not speak more often.''

A man of deep personal faith, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has alienated some Roman Catholics with his zeal in enforcing church orthodoxy.

He grew up in the conservative Alpine foothills of Bavaria and at 78, he is the 265th pope of the Catholic Church and the first Germanic pope since the 11th century.

Many in Germany blamed Ratzinger for decrees from Rome barring Catholic priests from counseling pregnant teens on their options and blocking German Catholics from sharing communion with their Lutheran brethren at a joint gathering in 2003.

He also clashed with prominent liberal and moderate theologians.

In his autobiography, Ratzinger said he sensed he was out of step with his fellow Germans as early as the 1960s, when he was a young assistant at the Second Vatican Council in Rome.

Ratzinger wrote that he was enrolled in the Nazi youth movement against his will when he was 14 in 1941. He deserted the German army in April 1945, re-entered the seminary and was ordained, along with his brother, in 1951. He then spent several years teaching theology. In 1977, he was appointed bishop of Munich and elevated to cardinal three months later by Pope Paul VI.

John Paul II named him leader of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1981, where he was responsible for enforcing Catholic orthodoxy and was one of the key men in the drive to shore up the faith of the world's Roman Catholics.

Ratzinger who speaks Italian, English as well as his native language German, has been called a subtle thinker with a deep understanding of Catholic tradition and a personal touch he's not often given credit for.

Policeman stages fake arrest of boy for having sex with his daughter

A police officer has been suspended for staging a fake arrest of a 15-year-old boy after discovering the teenager was having sex with his stepdaughter.

 

By Nick Allen, Los Angeles
from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

The motorcycle officer, who was in uniform and armed, went to the boy's home in San Jose, California where he handcuffed him and lectured him for more than five minutes.

He told the boy, who had been seeing the 14-year-old girl for some time, that he was going to face criminal charges of having sex with a minor.

The officer said: "It does not bode well for you. Do you know what that means? No? Not a good thing that the person you had sex with is a cop's daughter. The district attorney will probably file charges.

"A cop's daughter is not somebody you mess around with. You're stupid."
One of the boy's parents videoed the incident and complained to police.

The case sparked a national debate in the US about whether the officer had abused his position, or was simply acting as a concerned father.

Tony Boskovich, a lawyer for the boy's family, said: "Applying force, applying handcuffs, threatening the young man with things such as rape in prison, he acted like a cowboy. He lost it, he came in and he abused his authority."

However, the officer's lawyer Terry Bowman said the boy's parents had not objected at the time.
Mr Bowman said: "Everything was done in the spirit of reaching a troubled young man who is heading down the wrong path."

The officer has been placed on leave and prosecutors are considering criminal charges of false imprisonment.
The boy later told the San Jose Mercury News he had been "terrified" and the officer should be punished.
He said: "I think he should go to jail and feel how I felt. I thought he would be a good dad by just showing up and talking to my parents, rather than taking advantage of his position."

McDonald's Apologizes For Condoms In Happy Meals

From: http://www.crystalair.com/

PROVINCETOWN, Mass. (CAP) - McDonald's executives were left with egg (McMuffin) on their face this week, when over 5,000 Happy Meals were distributed with colored condoms instead of a plastic toy from the movie The Last Airbender.

The condoms were intended for the Provincetown, Mass. school system, which recently established a policy making them available for students of all ages; they were delivered to McDonald's distribution center in Barnstable, Mass. in error.

"They were so bright and colorful, they were mistaken for Happy Meal toys," explained McDonald's vice president of public relations Robin Anderson. "Unfortunately most of the workers there don't read English, and they thought 'Ribbed Latex' was a character from The Last Airbender."

"Who ever heard of The Last Airbender anyway?" added Jose Estevez, president of McDonald's Distribution Union 8801, in defense of his fellow workers.

The mistake led to an incident in a Brewster, Mass., McDonald's, where more than a dozen 8-year-olds attending a birthday party all opened their condoms at once, and immediately blew them into balloons and started batting them around the restaurant.

Shrieks of horror ensued from several other patrons, and one elderly woman fainted when a condom balloon landed in her Filet O' Fish.

"She'd apparently never seen one that size before," explained Brewster Police Chief Bradley Heffernan, who noted that there were some similar concerns when Congress instituted its "Cash For Condoms" program.

The McDonald's incident also caused problems in Provincetown, where the schools accidentally received the restaurant's shipments of Last Airbender toys, and several were released to students who went into their school's nurse's office seeking condoms.

"This was actually very successful among the younger grades, where students would much rather get a stuffed 'Momo' doll than a condom," admitted School Superintendent Beth Singer, who in recent weeks has had to defend the school district's policy of distributing condoms to any student who asks, and not notifying parents.

"But unfortunately there was an issue with Last Airbender Aang Water Cannons being distributed to high school students, resulting in several unwanted pregnancies," said Singer.

"Dude, I followed the directions and everything," said Provincetown High School sophomore 'Josh,' who convinced his girlfriend 'Jennifer' that everything would be okay if they assembled the Water Cannon correctly and used it according to the specifications on the accompanying instruction sheet. "It was fun, but no way did it keep her from getting knocked up."

Parents in Provincetown have been understandably upset at the mix-up, particularly coming off the controversy about the condom distribution.

"It was bad enough to hear my first grader could get a condom in school, but to hear they could be given that plastic McDonald's crap and the school wouldn't have to let me know, well, that's just unacceptable," said parent Sally Cooper. "At least a condom has some practical use to it."

Meanwhile, the producers of The Last Airbender have issued a formal thank you to the Post Office, McDonald's and the Provincetown School System for "doing something that might actually get somebody to notice our lame movie."

True Blood Star Reveals True Self -- Anna Paquin Says She's Bisexual

From: http://www.radaronline.com/

Zuma Press

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid16157557001/bctid75433647001

In a surprising move – that even took people close to her off guard - True Blood's sexy star Anna Paquin is publicly revealing she’s bisexual for the very first time, RadarOnline.com has learned exclusively.

As we were the first to report, Paquin -- who’s engaged to her handsome True Blood co-star Stephen Moyer -- quietly made the revelation during a top-secret taping earlier this year of a Public Service Announcement (PSA) on behalf of the True Colors Fund, an organization dedicated to fighting for equal rights for everyone –gay, straight, bisexual or transgendered.

PHOTOS: Other Celebs Who’ve Come Out As Gay Or Bisexual

The PSA was taped Saturday, January 30th, at the Standard Hotel in Los Angeles, and a source exclusively tells RadarOnline.com that Paquin, on-camera, identified herself as being bisexual, saying: “I’m Anna Paquin. I’m bisexual, and I give a damn.”

PHOTOS: Anna Paquin Shows Off Her Engagement Ring

"Give A Damn” is the theme of the campaign which will feature several celebs speaking out for equality. It officially launches on-line at wegiveadamn.org at 9 a.m. EST on Thursday, April 1st, but RadarOnline.com has an exclusive first look at two of the PSA's being released. Others celebs who were at the taping when Paquin made her surprising announcement included comedienne Margaret Cho and singers Mya and Jason Mraz.

VIDEO: Give A Damn PSA #2

Our source tells us that people close to Paquin, who were at the shoot, did not know she was going to make the statement, and it was a surprise to them.

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Other celebrities taking part in the campaign include Elton John, Whoopi Goldberg, Cynthia Nixon, Sharon and Kelly Osbourne, Judith Light, Kim Kardashian, Clay Aiken, and Wanda Sykes –all proclaiming they “Give A Damn” about equality as they too publicly declare their sexuality, be it straight, gay or bisexual.

PHOTOS: Kim and Kourtney Sun in Miami

The True Colors Fund is the non-profit arm of the True Colors Tour. Co-founded by Cyndi Lauper, the organization, according to it’s website, is dedicated “to inspire and engage everyone, particularly the straight community, to become active participants in the advancement of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) equality and ensure a strong and vibrant LGBT community.”

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Paquin, 27, plays telepathic Sookie Stackhouse on HBO’s vampire drama True Blood. This is not the first time Paquin will have surprised Hollywood. In 1994, at the tender age of eleven, the New Zealand native stunned Tinseltown when she won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as the precocious child in The Piano. Her co-star, Holly Hunter, won Best Actress for her role in the film.

Paquin and Moyer announced their engagement in August of 2009. No wedding date has yet been made public.

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7 things in your apartment that will scare a woman away

by Jenni Maier

More from Jenni Maier

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The second a woman walks into your apartment after a date (or drunken bar make-out), you can usually assume you’ll at least be getting to second base. However, just because she’s taking off her shoes and slurring all her words doesn’t mean that anything is for sure happening. If you have any of the following items in your apartment, it’s a safe bet she’ll walk right back out that door.

1 Broken furniture

You’re an adult now and your apartment should reflect that. There’s a problem if you’re still using your college couch with duct-tape patches as a realistic seating option. Throw out the bean-bag chair, take down the ceiling tapestry, and recycle the empty beer can collection you’ve been storing pyramid-style over the fridge.

2 Exotic pets

It’s the rare woman that will walk into an apartment and swoon over your naked mole rat. And no one wants to hook-up while a 12-foot boa constrictor munches on mice in his cage. Now is the time to decide if you want to raise an alligator in your bathtub or you want to see a girl naked before you die.

3 Locked doors

Movies have made it clear that there is never anything good behind a locked door. The options run the gamut from ailing grandmother to dead hookers to a collection of toe-nail clippings. Try and keep her from imagining the worst by refraining from tackling her and yelling “I told you never to ever go near that door!”

4 Dorm room posters

Posters that were cliche in college are now just embarrassing. Whether it’s the John Belushi college poster or the Bob Marley smoking weed poster, it’s absolutely unacceptable. Tear them down and replace them with a still life of fruit and a classic framed Playboy spread.

5 Moldy food

If the general rule in your fridge is to keep food a year beyond the expiration date, there’s a problem. Unless your fridge is stocked with blue cheese, there’s no reason to keep moldy and rotten food. And if your fridge is stocked to the brim with blue cheese, you’re probably more in need of the article “7 reasons you’re morbidly obese.”

6 Stains

Excessive drink stains, rust stains, and blood stains all tend to be a major turn-off when you’re trying to create a romantic atmosphere. Either rip out the carpeting before you bring ladies home or insist on only using candles. The candle light gives you the added advantage of looking far more handsome than you will ever look under fluorescent lights.

7 A huge mess

If you’re the kinda guy that considers your floor the trashcan and your trashcan a toilet, than you might have problems getting girls to stay at your place. While some girls may look at the roach infestation as an indoor sneak peak at nature, others will run out looking for the largest container of hand sanitizer. If the thought of cleaning up the mess gives you hives, do yourself a favor, and at least flush the toilet.

G-Point Mouse Combines Web Browsing and Slightly Twisted Sex Ed

by Joel Hruska
from: http://hothardware.com/

There's no doubt about it—we live in a world of strange mice. In just the last 12 months we've seen a bizarre array of pointing devices including several 15-button+ mice (both for work and play), hemispherical mice, and Apple's Magic Mouse. Even among such storied company, however, the conceptual G-Point mouse stands out, turns heads, and even conjures up the proverbial "hey now!" Whatever else these other, lesser mice might offer, only the G-Point (designed by Andy Kurovets) delivers both a superior experience and a penetrating lesson on female anatomy. Thanks to Mr. Kurovets, the clueless of the world have an unprecedented opportunity to experience in plastic something they'll never touch in person, at least perhaps not without a valid Visa account.

No, your eyes have not deceived you. This is a mouse designed to look exactly like the naughty bits of the fairer sex. Once more, a top-down view reveals the reason behind the "G-Point" moniker.

Pressing "the spot" automatically navigates the user to a preselected favorite destination or runs a certain application. Note that this is, at the moment, a conceptual product and there aren't any shipping—yet. We'd also point out that while the point "spot" is in the general vicinity of where it anatomically should be, it's also not completely aligned with the lesser understood "come hither" gesture required for the real thing.

We at Hot Hardware would also like to note—without commenting on the intelligence of actually buying one of these—that the conceptual implementation leaves considerable room for future fine-tuning. In keeping with that observation, we suggest that the G-Point 2.0 should reconfigure the location and sensitivity of its "secret" button each time a different user manipulates the mouse. As for the button's preferential navigation feature; we suggest that while gliding one's finger along the sacred highway should, in most cases, produce the desired effect, the mouse should occasionally use the opportunity to steal the TV remote, immediately put the computer to sleep, or play an alarm klaxon at maximum volume, preferably with strobe lights.

5 Animals That Can Do Amazing Things ... With Their Penises

By Steven Stauffer

Some say that nothing speaks to the loving hand of a creative designer better than nature's cornucopia of intricate and elaborate penises, uniform only in their beauty.

Giggle if you want, but sex keeps the animal kingdom going and to meet this task, some creatures have evolved penises that are a cape and a mask away from fighting crime.

#5.

The Elephant's Prehensile Fifth Leg

Look, you didn't need us to tell you that elephants probably have gigantic genitals. Though... if you didn't previously realize just how big, well, look at the picture. That's not a malformed leg back there he's standing on. That's totally his undoctored-by-Photoshop dong.

But to really grasp its magnificence, you need to see it in action. That's when you realize that they can, and do, use it for anything. Hell, wouldn't you?

Imagine this attached to your crotch.

Say an elephant is off balance, maybe the ground is uneven where's he picking out some fruit to eat, or something. No problem, they just lean on their dick. No, we're not just making a cheap joke here--read it from an expert.

Or, perhaps the dreaded tste fly is bothering our poor pachyderm pal in places his trunk just can't reach. He'll just swat them with his massive and impressively dexterous penis. An itch in one of those hard to reach places? Penis.

Penis.

Enjoy this video that we... think is NSFW (it's elephant penis, maybe it depends on where you work?)

Uh, yeah, it kind of turns horrifying toward the end, with his dick twirling around like a tentacle, trying to find the sweet spot on his elephant lover. Elephants are so big they find it tricky to line up their genitals and thrust rhythmically so what'll happen is the Babar will mount Celeste and just stand there while his super-penis feels around.

Elephant sex is a lot like snaking a clogged drain.

The male doesn't have to shake his hips or anything, just hold on tight and await the glory while his motorized member explores the space.

By the way, some of you reading this have already said, "What about dolphins? Their prehensile penises are universally considered the greatest achievement as a species." Well, there have always been rumors about that but there appear to be no scholarly sources backing this claim up.

"For the last time! I don't know if dolphins have 'rockin' junk. Next question."

Still, for your enjoyment here's a video of a dolphin trying to pick up a toy ball with his boner. Or he may just be trying to hump it, hard to say.

But if you think either of them have the most talented penises in the animal kingdom, well...

#4.

The Argonaut's Detachable Penis

How many times has this happened to you: You're busily going about your day, say, delivering pizzas, when some beautiful female customer demands you have sex with her via lots of fairly obvious innuendo.

"Did somebody order a large sausage?"

What do you do? You've not finished your important errands, but this poor girl needs your seed! Right now! You don't want to leave her hanging, do you? Well if you're an argonaut (a.k.a. a paper nautilus), there is no conflict at all. You simply detach your dick. It will go take care of its business while you take care of yours.

The argonaut's penis has its own tail, allowing it to swim to the female if the dude is so busy he can't even be bothered to go over and say hi.

In fact when the penis was first noticed by science it was thought to be as a parasitic worm. It was years before it was discovered that the flailing member was actually a brainless, sperm-filled guided missile.

"Hey, a pretty girl. Quick, fire your dick at her!"

Oh, to be a fly on the wall in that laboratory when they first made the discovery ("PENIS! IT'S A PENIS! DON'T TOUCH IT!"). Though it also casts new light on the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League, who we've now decided have the best mascot in sports.

Though we have some suggestions for a more imaginative logo.

#3.

The Flatworm's Penis Sword

We made a big deal out of the many uses of an elephant penis earlier, but there's no question it has limits. For instance, we can't find any evidence of an elephant killing a dude with it (obviously if such a YouTube video existed, it would be the most-viewed clip in Internet history).

Thus the elephant finds its penis ranked well below that of the flatworm. If you're a flatworm, all you need to get through a day of sex, hunting and fighting is your amazing penis. What human can say that? OK, other than him.

We mean Sean Connery, not James Bond

Tucked away in the last place you'd think to look (his mouth) the flatworm keeps an amazing dagger-penis so hard and sharp it is used for hunting and self-defense. Again: The flatworm has a penis inside his mouth, which is so rock solid that he uses it kill things. What would be better than that?

Having two of them. Which he does (both in his mouth, naturally). Here is a video of two flatworms having a duel with their boners.

If you were asking yourself whether or not that was the "fighting" or "mating" part, it was both.

We have termed the act "battle-fuck."

The cockfights (GET IT?!) are what keep the species going. Since flatworms are hermaphrodites, when two of them happen to meet they'll get erections, open their mouths and start stabbing until someone is either pregnant or dead. It's strangely mesmerizing. Seriously, we could watch these videos all day.

#2.

Barnacles Are Freakishly Well-Endowed

When asked what they want to be reincarnated as, almost nobody says "barnacle." That's because they don't know enough about barnacles.

As a barnacle you don't have to work a day in your life, you get to travel around the world for free (assuming you're smart enough to live on the hull of a ship or a whale and not some lame-assed rock) and you have largest proportional penis in the known universe. They employ said penis frequently in massive barnacle orgies.

Barnacles are the Bruce Campbell's of the sea.

The thing is, barnacles can't move (every day's a Sunday!) so you can see how that would normally stand in the way of an active sex life. Their solution is to all lump themselves together in colonies. But who would want to be stuck mating with the barnacle that just happened to set down roots next to them?

To solve this problem, evolution and/or the Lord God Almighty teamed up to bless these already lucky little bastards with a really big penis. Like really big.

Can you spot the barnacle in this picture?

Like eight times the length of their body. That's like if you had a 50-foot penis. Scientists say that an equivalent human could, in a threesome, stand on opposite sides of the house from one partner while the other used your looped member like a double-dutch jump rope.

To make the whole barnacle sex scene just a little freakier, they are all hermaphrodites. So if they wanted to they could just mate with themselves, but this is considered to be "for pussies" in barnacle culture.

No, they prefer to mate with anyone and everyone around them using their gigantic junk. If you're thinking that this involves a barnacle reaching out with his lengthy dong and just slapping it around the colony blindly until it lands in a vagina, well, that's pretty much it.

And, of course, if somehow nobody else within their (impressive) dong radius is in the mood, they can always have sex with themselves. And you wanted to be reincarnated as a bald eagle? They don't even have penises.

Is it too late to get this printed on all of the money?

#1.

Ducks Have Swiss Army Dongs

Ducks are a pretty amazingly boring species until you consider their fantastic genitals. We're talking about junk whose claims to fame includes spikes, corkscrews, booby trapped vaginas and, as far as size goes, well, they can hold their own.

Yeah.

Though that last one raises a question: ducks aren't like barnacles, they don't need a huge spool of penis to reach their mates. They can walk or swim right up to them. Scientists are just as puzzled by this excess you are, and right now their best guess goes by the batshit-insane title of The Penis Lasso Theory.

Ducks, sadly, are assholes who really really like to rape. It's estimated that at least one third of all duck sex is forced, so it's important for ducks to have a way of catching their victims. Hence a cock so long that some scientists honestly believe they wield it like a bull whip.

Indiana Jones in the process of apprehending and raping a fleeing Shia LaBeouf.

The rapey nature of duck mating has led to a bizarre sort of duck genital arms race, with females building greater and more complex vaginal defenses over time. Thus, some duck species' have vaginas that corkscrew in the opposite direction of the males' corkscrew penises, and even have up to eight false pathways to make the intrusive penis take a wrong turn.

Of course, the mere fact that ducks still exist as a species is testament to the increasing ingenuity and dedication of the males' genitals. No one can say for sure how long it will be before ducks abandon flying and take to swinging through the trees like the well-endowed characters in some disturbing furry fan-art, but absolutely everyone agrees that it's only a matter of time. And every sports team in the world will fight to switch their mascot.

Sex life: 15 surprising factoids about sex in different cultures (plus a video!)

Sex is no doubt one of the hot button issues for modern married couples with children. Most parents will fess up to struggling to find time to rekindle romance while juggling work, wiping sticky faces and driving carpool and recent studies confirm that this is sadly the status quo.

But much of the data addresses sex in the U.S. and the U.S. alone, and we thought it might be fun to see how our western attitudes and practices (between consenting adults and in our sex ed for kids) fit into a larger, more international picture of the sexual habits and teachings across cultures.

Here, 15 surprising factoids about sex:

1) Wife Swap: The Australian Aborigines temporarily exchange wives as a gesture of friendship and goodwill at the ceremonies where puberty rites are held for their kids. The wives often initiate this, enjoying the change of ''scenery'' as well.

2) Bisexuality is more the rule, not the exception: Homosexual relationships are an accepted practice among the men and boys of the Siwans of Africa. The few who do not participate are considered peculiar.

3) It's ok to watch: Lesu children are premitted to watch adults, other than their parents, copulate.

4) No Virgins under 10!: The Ila people of Africa encourage their children to fully develop their sexual capabilities, permitting them any form of sexual expression they wish to partake in. It is claimed there are no virgins older than age 10 in this society!

5) Knowlege is power: Upon reaching puberty, boys of Mangaia (one of the Cook Islands) are given sexual instruction - including many details of positioning, and delaying their own satisfaction so that their parter women may experience multiple orgasms.

6) Why wait for marriage? In a survey in 1949 of 849 societys, 75 percent were found to permit premarital intercourse. Of course, in America in 1988 the stats showed that 70 percent of married American women had indulged in premarital intercourse as well . . . they are just supposed to feel *guilty* about it here! (source)

7) Experience preferred: Some Hindu sects require a preist to deflower a virgin before she consummates her marriage with her husband.

8) If one is good, two (or three!) is better: The most common universal form of marriage is actually Polygamy - one husband with two or more wives. Of those 849 societyes, 70 percent are polygamous.

*Conversly, polygyny (or polyandry), defined as "a wife with two or more husbands" is the least common form of marrige.

9) Keep it simple: The Aweikoma of Brazil are very literal people. Because eating and intercourse each involve entering bodily orifices, they use the same term for both activities.

10) Speak up! The inhabitants of Bali, and the Lepcha of Sikkim have no elaborate rituals or practices of seduction. If sex is desired, one only need ask for it - this is true for both men and women.

11) You break it, you buy it! If a Goajiro woman of Colombia successfully trips a man during a ceremonial dance, he is required to have intercourse with her. Be careful where you step ladies (and gentlemen...)

12) Three's a charm: Pacific-dwelling Marquesan men have acquired the ability to prolong their erections indefinitely until their parter is fully satsified. It is considered normal for the women to exeprience at least 3 orgasms.

13) Sisterly love: During the latter stages of a Hidatsa womans pregnancy, her husband is allowed intercourse with her sister. (and his pregnant wife is probably very relieved!)

14) Endless love: Its not uncommon for the Aranda of Australia to copulate three to five times nightly, sleeping for short intervals in between activity.

15) All bets are off! Anytime there is a show of blood from the uterus (during menses or after birth) a Jewish woman must not engage in sex with her husband. There are laws of family purity that say when and when not to engage in sex. During pregnancy, however, is the one time in a Jewish woman's life when it is permissible to have sex all the time. This explains a Jewish's man smile when he says, "My wife is pregnant."

If you'd prefer your factoids set to music, watch the Spelling Sex video below (safe to play at the office...)