…or, if you look at it the other way around, men deprived of women’s company die younger! This is the conclusion of a recently published study. Of course it is worth looking at it in more detail to find out what the scientists really discovered. The study, published in Demography magazine, explains the effects of the “sex ratio”.

What is the sex ratio? The sex ratio determine the rate of men to women in a society. The ideal sex ratio (from a biological and demographical perspective) would be 100 men to 100 women or one man for every women. The study is particularly interesting, because the sex ratio is becoming more and more unbalanced, due to the idealisation of men in some cultures.

The study shows that this is not a good thing at all. In addition to the known negative effects in rural areas where many young men can’t find women to have a relationship or start a family with, a negative sex ratio affects the life expectancy of men.

The conclusion is pretty clear. The more an environment lacks women, the higher the risk for men to die younger. Whenever the ratio is balanced at the adolescence, life expectancy rises by 3 months or more. Of course, 3 months aren’t much, but the effect is clear.
And at the end of the day, being surrounded by women is so much nicer for men than living only with other men.

>>>If your environment is suffering from a negative sex ratio, be2 is the perfect place for you to find women! In fact, there are more women than men registered with be2, so what are you waiting for…

Did you see the film Kinsey? (Trailer after the jump)?

Then you don’t just know about Alfred Kinsey’s studies on sex, but also about his personal sex life. He was the first to ask people questions about sex that no one before him had dared to ask – and he put his theories to the test. And because he was a scientist and asked so many questions (500) of so many people (20.000) that the results were statistically relevant, the Kinsey report made him famous.

What many don’t know: The famous Kinsey report on the sexual habits of Americans wasn’t the end of his research. On the contrary – the Kinsey Institute has a user-friendly, informative Website that still asks all the questions others don’t dare to ask (even if the number of those who don’t dare is significantly smaller today). So, if you have a question about sex, visit the site – you will probably find an answer there.

It’s a truism among single women that all the best men are taken (or gay, but that’s a different matter). However, a new study on the factors that determine attraction indicates that it’s not so much the best men that are taken, but rather that the fact that men are taken makes single women thing they must be the best.

Confused? Well, the evidence the study produced is less than confusing:
184 heterosexual students, half of whom were single, participated in a study on sexual attraction and told the volunteers that a computer program would match them with an ideal partner. All the women in the study were shown the same photograph of a made-up „Mr. Right“ and all men were shown the same „Miss Perfect“. Now comes the interesting part – half of the men and half of the women were told that the person in the picture was single, the others heard their pictured partner was already in a relationship. That piece of information made a huge difference to the attractivity rating of the single women. Only 59 per cent were interested in the single man, but 90 per cent thought he was a catch when they heard he had a girlfriend.

Of course one would hope that most single women refrain from actually pursuing a man who is already taken, but the fact that „another woman’s man“ would be so attractive speaks volumes about how we decide on the dateability of eligible males. If they have a girlfriend, they’re alright, but if not there must be something wrong with them. Needless to say, all single women would – without exception – balk at the thought of being labelled „undateable“ because they’re single, so maybe they should rethink their attitude towards „all the best men“ – maybe some of them aren’t taken…

Do you think online matchmaking services are too expensive? Maybe you’ll think again when you hear the results of an interesting British study about the value of love. The book “You Are Really Rich, You Just Don’t Know It Yet” places monetary value on things that are more important than money – like friendships, health and love.

Especially during the current financial crisis, many people are re-evaluating the value of material things and trying to focus on values that are more rewarding than money. The value assigned to love and other immaterial goods is based on research about what makes people happy. In a new value system, things like love would be appreciated for what they are: priceless ways of enriching your life, without being rich.

According to the book, the value of love is  £163,424, while a stable relationship is worth £154,849. Ideally, online matchmaking can help you find both! Then, if you really want to boost your happiness value, you could have children, at a value of £129,448. Surely online matchmaking isn’t too expensive when the return on your investment – the value of love – is so high…

French accents are sexy. You already knew that, right? A recent German survey actually confirmed it: 36 % of the participants in a study on foreign accents agreed that French is the most sexy foreign accent.

Do you agree? Is the French accent sexy? Does a French accent make you go weak at the knees? Or do you say „Pah! Your mother is a hamster and your father smells of elderberries!“

Guys – ever wondered about the science of love? Like why you fall in love with a certain woman, why you’re attracted to another woman and why you settle down with yet another one (or if you’re very lucky with one woman covers all three bases – love, sexual attraction and attachment).

One brave writer set out to discover the science of love – more specifically, the science of his love for his wife – and to find out if it’s as strong and real as he thought it was. He was put in an MRI scanner while thinking about and looking at photos of his wife and – tough competition – Angelina Jolie. The activity in certain areas of his brain supposedly tells him how strong his feelings of love, sexual attraction and romantic attachment really are.

Would you dare (literally) show your emotions like that ? And, more importantly, would you want to show them to the woman you love?

There are plenty of reasons for wanting to find the right partner. The right partner makes you happy, gives your life a centre and provides stability. The daily routines are given added meaning with the right partner in your life. Those are the usual reasons singles long for a relationship. Few singles are likely to think about their health when looking for the right partner for a relationship.

An article in Psychology Today Magazine has evaluated several studies and come to the conclusion that the right partner can be good for your health. Obviously, lifestyle is a major factor – eating habits, legal and illegal drugs have an effect on your partner, especially if you live together. If one partner eats badly, smokes or drinks too much, chances are the bad habits will rub off on whoever they’re in a relationship with. On the other hand, an active, sporty, healthy partner can positively influence your health.

So far, so logical, but there are some unexpected effects: illnesses such as cancer, arthritis, asthma, and others, often affect both partners in a relationship. The partners of stressed women are more likely to have heart problems. Another health risk is insufficient conflict resolution. A partner who has to suppress emotions or hide anger constantly, is more likely to fall ill.

Overall, living in a stable relationship is good for your health. Even if both partners have unhealthy habits, it’s easier to team up and change your diet or quit smoking together.

The article obviously concludes that doctors should pay more attention to the influence of a relationship on a person’s health. For us, it’s more proof of how important it is to find the RIGHT partner – after all, the right partner can be good for your health!

Even Albert Einstein knew that knowledge is relative when it comes to love:

How on earth are you ever going to explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love?

- Albert Einstein

Women and weight is always a popular topic for women’s magazines. The discussion about diets and weight loss advice continues online. A study by a diet pill manufacturer has now shown that women’s weight is linked to their relationships.

According to the study, women go through 5 stages of losing and putting on weight:
1. At the beginning of a new relationship, women often lose weight to impress a guy. Also, they’re usually so happy and in love, they barely have time to think about food
2. As women get more relaxed and feel comfortable in a new relationship, they put on a bit of weight.
3. Wedding preparations mean weight loss again, to fit into that perfect dress.
4. Obviously kids bring a bit of weight gain.
5. When the kids are out of the house and women have more time to themselves, they lose weight again.

On the one hand, these 5 phases of women’s weight make perfect sense and the study obviously has the survey data to prove it. On the other hand, this 5-step relationship progress is based on a standardized relationship model that hardly exist any more these days.

Nevertheless, it’s good for women to ask themselves how their weight fluctuations depend on personal wellbeing. Ideally, they should have a constant weight they feel comfortable with, irrespective of relationships or other factors.

How do you say “I love you” in the coolest way possible? The safest bet is probably to do it the way cool people (i.e. people who live in Brooklyn) do. That’s where the Brooklyn Bride comes in handy, a website that shows you how to do romantic without losing your cool. We found these cool love letters there:

The thing about love letters is not only can they be incredibly hard to write, but there’s a fine line between a wonderfully romantic love letter and embarrassingly cheesy love-blind drivel. Avoid love letter cliche by putting your message to that special someone on stylish and tongue-in-cheek stationery from Old Tom Foolery (unsappy, uncrappy letterpress greetings).

Not only are the cards beautifully designed, each sentimental statement of love comes with a funny bit of fine print. For example, “I love you*”….”*Statement only valid if you say you love me back.”

There’s also a selection of Birthday, Anniversary and Wedding cards. (“Here’s to the bride and groom.*”…”*Thanks for all the free booze!”)

If you need more cool and romatic ideas, the Brooklyn Bride is a treasure trove of fun and interesting ideas for a really cool wedding and it’s full of inspiration for ways to say “I love you” (even if you’re not cool enough to BE a Brooklyn Bride…)