“How much sex you have with your partner may not depend on whether you believe in gender equality, but the kind of sex you have, and how satisfying and pleasurable it is, certainly does,” says researcher Daniel L. Carlson. In a recent study, Carlson and Brian Soller examined attitudes about gender compared to how often and how satisfying sex was for 1009 heterosexual couples. Carlson and Soller used data from the in the 2005–2006 National Couples Survey to perform this analysis.
According to the abstract:
The results indicated women’s egalitarian attitudes decreased couples’ sexual frequency through decreased male sexual control, but sexual frequency increased with egalitarian attitudes surrounding sexual scripting among women. Moreover, egalitarian attitudes about domestic and paid labor were positively associated with partner communication, which enhanced partners’ sexual self‐efficacy and sexual frequency.
In other words, you get better communication and better sex if you acknowledge your partner’s personal agency and the need for shared responsibilities and power. It follows that better sex is probably better sex magick, as well, though the research didn’t cover that topic specifically. What’s your experience? Feel free to share in the comments.
Obviously this study is subject to the limitation that it only makes observations about heterosexual couples. The data in the survey is drawn from respondents between the ages of 18 and 25, living in Baltimore, MD; Durham, NC; St. Louis, MO; and Seattle, WA. Further research will be needed to determine how applicable the conclusions are for people in other locations and with other orientations and identities.
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