Showing posts with label Women. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Women. Show all posts
8:45 AM
A secure environment for women appears to be a far cry in India. Crime against the fairer sex is steadily increasing, and less and
less number of the accused are getting convicted. National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data tells this sorry tale, prevailing for the last three years.
In 2005, a whopping 1.55 lakh cases of crime against women were registered across India, but convictions were recorded in only 30,826 cases - a mere 19.8%. In 2006, case registration jumped to 1.64 lakh, but convictions declined to 28,998, or 17.5%. Continuing the trend, more than 1.85 lakh cases were registered in 2007, but the trial courts found the charge sustainable only in 27,612 cases, a meagre 14.9%.
In Delhi, where working women's security has been a concern, conviction in these cases remained lower than national average in all three years - 10.8% in 2005, 12.4% in 2006 and 13.4% in 2007.
Andhra Pradesh remained at the top of the list in terms of number of cases relating to crime against women -- 20,819 in 2005, 21,484 in 2006 and 24,738 in 2007. And there were convictions in 5,353 cases in 2005 (25.7%), 3,579 in 2006 (16.6%) and 3,911 in 2007 (15.8%).
Such mismatch between cases registered and conviction surely casts an ominous shadow on functioning of the justice delivery system at the lower levels, but importantly, it also raises a serious question about the ability of the police to conduct proper investigation and prepare a watertight case.
In Maharashtra, the conviction rate remained abysmally low at around 4% in each of these three years - 616 of 13,370 cases in 2005, 584 of 14,452 in 2006 and 597 of 14,924 in 2007.
This trend negates the consistent efforts of the Supreme Court to sensitise judges to the heinous crime that scars the victim for rest of her life. It had in numerous rulings said: "Courts must hear the loud cry for justice by the society in cases of heinous crime of rape of innocent helpless girls of tender age, and respond by imposition of proper sentence."
This passionate appeal of the apex court through its ruling appears to have gone unheeded even in Delhi, where the conviction rate in these three years has remained low despite the city registering an increase in such cases from 10.8% in 2005 to 12.4% in 2006 to 13.4% in 2007.
While 4,351 cases of crime against women were registered in 2005, the trial courts recorded conviction only in 473 cases. In 2006, as many as 4,544 cases were registered, but conviction was recorded in 565 cases and in 2007, 4,804 cases were registered, while courts found the police case true in 646 cases.
West Bengal was another state, like Maharashtra, that recorded very low conviction rate, or as statistics tell us, the accused went scot-free. If in 2005 the conviction rate was 6% of the cases registered, it recorded a small increase to 7.8% in 2006 before falling to 2.8% in 2007.
With these statistics staring at us, another missive of the Supreme Court to the trial courts has fallen in deaf ears. It had said: "Protection of society and deterring the criminal was the avowed the object of the law and that was required to be achieved through appropriate sentencing policy."
But, if the police does not prepare a water tight case, there is little the courts can do to bring the culprits to book.
Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu appear to have somewhat acceptable levels of conviction rate. In UP, 2005 saw a conviction rate of 43.5%, but it steadily declined to 41.5% in 2006 and 32.9% in 2007. Tamil Nadu, which had recorded a conviction rate of 53.5% in 2005, also showed a downward trend - 45% in 2006 and 27% in 2007.
11:36 PM
Interesting facts
Men are like computers hard to figure out and never have enough memory Still Women likes man
Men are like coolers load them with beer and you can take them anywhere Still Women likes man
Men are like chocolate bars sweet, smooth and they usually head right for your hips Still Women likes man
Men are like coffee the best ones are rich, warm, and can keep you up all night Still Women likes man
Men are like horoscopes they always tell you what to do and are usually wrong Still Women likes man
Men are like cement after getting laid they take a long time to get hard Still Women likes man
Men are like laxatives they irritate the shit out of you Still Women likes man
Men are like parking spots the good ones are already taken and what's left is handicapped Still Women likes man
A man is like a snowstorm you never know when he's coming, how many inches you'll get, or how long he will last Still Women likes man
What should you give a man who has everything? A woman to show him how to work it Still Women likes man
How does a man show he's planning for the future? He buys two cases of beer instead of one. Still Women likes man
What makes men chase women they have no intention of marrying? The same urge that makes dogs chase cars they have no intention of driving. Still Women likes man
Why are husbands like lawn mowers? They're hard to get started, emit foul odours and don't work half the time. Still Women likes man
What's the difference between a new husband and a new dog? After a year the dog is still excited to see you. Still Women likes man
Why do men find it difficult to make eye contact? Breasts don't have eyes. Still Women likes man
What's the difference between men and government bonds? Bonds mature Still Women likes man
How many men does it take to change a roll of toilet paper? We don't know, it's never happened Still Women likes man
Why are men like tile floors? If you lay ' em properly the first time, you can walk over them for years. Still Women likes man
What do you call a man with half a brain? Gifted. Still Women likes man
AND FINALLY Why is it hard for women to find men who are sensitive, caring and good looking? Because these men already have boyfriends! Still Women likes man
7:07 AM
Study finds virus can reach immune cells in just 4 hours
TUESDAY, Dec. 16 (HealthDay News) -- A new route of male-to-female transmission of HIV -- in which the virus can travel through healthy genital skin to reach immune cells in just four hours -- has been identified by U.S. researchers.
It's long been believed that the normal lining of the vaginal tract was an effective barrier to HIV during sexual intercourse, because the large HIV virus couldn't penetrate the tissue. But the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine researchers found that HIV can penetrate normal, healthy genital tissue to a depth where it can get to immune cells and infect them.
The researchers labeled HIV viruses with photo-activated fluorescent tags and were able to track the viruses as they penetrated the outermost lining of the female genital tract (the squamous epithelium) in female human tissue obtained through hysterectomy and in animal models.
The findings were expected to be presented Dec. 16 at the American Society for Cell Biology annual meeting, in San Francisco.
"This is an unexpected and important result. We have a new understanding of how HIV can invade the female genital tract," principal investigator Thomas Hope, a professor of cell and molecular biology, said in a university news release.
"Until now, science has really had no idea about the details of how sexual transmission of HIV actually works. The mechanism was all very murky," Hope said.
These findings, if confirmed in future studies, could help in the development of new microbicides and vaccines to protect women against HIV.
"We urgently need new prevention strategies or therapeutics to block the entry of HIV through a woman's genital skin," said Hope. While condoms are 100 percent effective in blocking HIV, "people don't always use them for cultural and other reasons."
Women account for 26 percent of all new HIV cases in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Based on its most recent analysis of 2005 data, the CDC estimated that there were 56,300 new HIV infections that year, and 31 percent were due to high-risk heterosexual contact. More than half of the new cases of HIV infection worldwide are in women.
More information
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has more aboutwomen and HIV.
10:49 AM
1. A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend. A successful woman is one who can find such a man.
2. Men wake up as good-looking as when they went to bed. Women somehow deteriorate during the night....
3. A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he wants. A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't want.
4. A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't. A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change, and she does.
5. There are two times when a man doesn't understand a woman- before and after marriage.
6. A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband. A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.
7. To be happy with a man, you must understand him a lot and love him a little. To be happy with a woman, you must love her a lot and not try to understand her at all.
8. Any married man should forget his mistakes. There's no use in two people remembering the same thing!
9. A woman has the last word in any argument. Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.
10. Women look at a wedding as the beginning of romance, while men look at a wedding as the ending of romance.
12:42 AM
It seems that girls do get on top of their partners when it comes to sex, for a study has found that young women have more bed sharers than men.
Researchers have carried out the study and found that young women are more promiscuous than men and the average 21- year-old is notching up for nine sexual partners as compared to seven in case of males.
In fact, they have based their findings on a survey of 2,000 people. The poll revealed that young women are twice as likely to cheat and more than 70 per cent have had a one-night stand, 'The Daily Telegraph' reported.
In fact, according to the survey, one in four young women has slept with more than ten people, compared with one in five men who had done the same.
What's more interesting is that the survey found that few young women today hold to traditional views on sexual morality -- just one per cent of young women said they would want to get married before having sex, with the majority losing their virginity at the age of 16.
More than half said they were not in love with their first partner, and only one in three believe it is important to be in love with someone before going to bed with them.
In addition, 60 per cent said they would be prepared to do a "kiss-and-tell", and would sell their account of a one-night-stand with a famous person for 20,000 pounds, the researchers found.
Four out of ten confessed they would marry for money or sleep with their boss if it meant they would get promoted, while a quarter would have an affair with a married man.
The survey also found that young women are taking "huge risks" with their health, with 38 per cent not using a condom with a new partner and 16 per cent having contracted a sexually transmitted disease.
And, the average young woman has sex three times a week but would prefer to do it five times.
"Our results show that after decades of lying back and thinking of England, today's twenty-something women are taking control of their sex lives and getting what they want in bed," Lisa Smosarski, the Editor of 'More', which commissioned the survey, was quoted as saying.
7:45 PM
By Paul Sims
Being bold and brazen in the bedroom won Carrie Bradshaw and her friends a legion of female fans.
But viewers who think the 'anything goes' sexual antics in Sex And The City is fiction should perhaps think again.
Life, it would appear, is more than a match for art.
Young women are becoming more promiscuous, with more sexual partners than men, researchers have found.
Life imitating art?: The sexual antics of Sex And The City aren't fiction after all
By the age of 21 they have had sex with an average of nine lovers - two more than their male partner.
And a quarter have slept with more than ten partners in the five years since losing their virginity - compared with a fifth of young men.
Young women are also twice as likely to be unfaithful, with 50 per cent admitting they have cheated on a partner - half at least twice.
Yet if their man was caught being unfaithful, 99 per cent of the 2,000 women surveyed said they would show him the door.
The sex survey, for More magazine, also found women crave more sex but still believe men enjoy it more than they do.
The survey follows a U.S. study earlier this year that found teenage girls who watch a lot of TV shows with a high sexual content, such as Friends and Sex And The City, are twice as likely to become pregnant.
The researchers for that study concluded: 'One problem is that these and similar programmes glamorise sex while hardly mentioning its downsides, such as pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.'
Lisa Smosarski, editor of More, suggested that there will be no turning back for today's sexually confident young women. 'Our results show that after decades of lying back and thinking of England, today's twenty-something women are taking control of their sex lives and getting what they want in bed. And why not?
'Women today have increasingly busy and stressful lives juggling study, jobs, friends, family, career and their relationships,' she said.
'Sex is a great and free way to relax, unwind and have fun in today's fairly stressful society.'
The survey found more than half of the women were not in love with the person to whom they lost their virginity.
And only 32 per cent believed love to be an important factor before having sex. Seven out of ten confessed to having had a one-night stand and a fifth had enjoyed more than five.
Only 1 per cent said they would wait until marriage to have sex.
One in four said they would marry for money whilst 39 per cent would sleep with their boss for a promotion. And 27 per cent would have an affair with a married man, while 14 per cent would sleep with their best friend's partner.
The study was carried out to launch More's safe sex campaign, which starts this week.
It found that almost a fifth of the young women surveyed had contracted a sexually transmitted disease while 21 per cent had been persuaded by a man not to use a condom when they wanted to.
Miss Smosarski said: 'Whilst women aren't embarrassed to take the lead in the bedroom, it seems they're not so forthright when it comes to contraception.'
7:37 PM
Forget foreplay, it's what comes after sex that matters most to women, a survey has found.
A survey of more than 5600 women in Japan shows almost half (49 per cent) want a longer continuation of intimate interactions with their partner after sex.
This compares to 44 per cent who said they wanted longer foreplay and the 38 per cent of women who said they wanted longer actual intercourse.
The survey also quizzed the women on how open they were with their partner about sex, and 38.8 per cent said they had never discussed their favourite sex practises with their partner.
"Women consider longer foreplay and after play to be more important," the study, published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, concludes.
"Suggesting women would benefit by being more forthright in expressing their sexual desires to their partners."
More than 30 per cent of the women also rated their partners performance in bed as either "very selfish" (6.9 per cent), or "selfish" (25.5 per cent).
The survey results were released at the European and International Societies for Sexual Medicine, which is underway in Brussels.
10:23 AM
Women who lop their hair short are no longer interested in bedroom action, say researchers, who claim that deliberately reducing ones attractiveness can sometimes be a way of repelling mens interest.
London, Dec 6 : Women who lop their hair short are no longer interested in bedroom action, say researchers, who claim that 'deliberately reducing one's attractiveness' can sometimes be a way of repelling men's interest.
Initially, the claim was made by sex therapist and former comedian Pamela Stephenson, 59, who said that ladies who cut their hair are deliberately making themselves less sexy to blokes.
However, now the theory has got scientific backing after experts claimed that the links between long hair and sex go back to caveman times, reports the Daily Star.
Dr Pam Spurr, a relationships expert, said: "The woman who no longer wants sex uses a haircut to show she's reclaiming power in the bedroom.
"For women, hair is a reflection of the person, of her moods and her self-esteem."
Relationship psychologist Anjula Mutanda added: "Cave paintings celebrated long-haired women - the longer the hair the more fertile and, therefore, desirable she was."
But body language and behaviour expert Judy James disagrees, saying: "The only thing it symbolises these days is the shutting off of childhood. In terms of sex, I would argue it has the opposite effect."
9:18 AM
Here is why i think women are better than men :
1. Women smell better
Have a woman exercise all day long , in the head . Have a man do the same thing. After a while you will always find that the woman smells better
2. Women are pretty
They are beautiful , men always like to look at women , they are like jewels or kittens . You can never get bored
3. Women can control men
This is old news , since the dawn of time men have been controlled by women . Even the most powerful man on the planet has a woman that will tell him what to do
4. Men feel good around women
I have noticed that men like having women around . Even on a guys night out , it is good to have a woman in the background . Men like to be watched by women , they need a woman to see what they do .
5. Women are clean
They bathe/shower more often , they will spend hours taking care of their bodies
6. Women are softer
It feels nice when you hold a woman in your arms
The skin is soft and warm , who doesn’t like that ?
7. Women can make babies
Yup , we men would be extinct if there where no babies , having women around will keep us alive . Men will never be able to have children (maybe with some tech ? )
8. Women have boobies
Another thing that a man can’t have . In fact Boobies control the universe and the minds of men.
9. Women have more holes than men
Yes it is true , they do have more holes , a tested and proven fact , unless we shoot a man , he will always have fewer holes :)
10. Women do not need men
If they discover a way to procreate without the help of man , we are fracked .. This is why we are still around ..
ok , that is about it .. i am sure there are way more reasons , these are the ones invoked by me today
7:57 AM
Most of the sexual problems women experience seem to be rooted in inhibition, according to a Kinsey Institute study.
Researchers studied the responses of 540 women to shed light on why some of them experience these problems and others don't.
Sexual inhibition scores were the strongest predictor of current and past sexual problems, even better than demographic and background factors like age and socio-economic status, besides sexual activities.
"These findings suggest that high scores on sexual inhibition may help predict which women are vulnerable to experience sexual problems," said Cynthia Graham of the institute and co-author of the paper.
"They may also be used as prognostic factors in treatment studies,” says Graham.
"Arousal Contingency" or the ease with which arousal can be disrupted by situational factors, and "Concerns about Sexual Function" were the two most predictive of women's sexual problems.
This theoretical model reflects the idea that sexual response in individuals is the product of a balance between excitatory and inhibitory processes.
Researchers believe these two systems operate somewhat independent of each other and are different in each person.
The study was published in the April issue of Archives of Sexual Behaviour.
12:53 AM
No matter how adorable she looks in sweats or how comfortable she is in flannel pajamas or maybe she wears lingerie for you…but it’s the same stuff you’ve seen a hundred times, you are dying to see her in something a little more racy. Yeah she still gets you hot whatever she wears…or doesn’t wear; you are just craving something different.
So what do you do? Do you risk telling her you are bored with her choice of bedtime attire and risk hurting her feelings…or worse, making her angry? Or do you take matters into your own hands and go on a shopping trip?
Obviously you are going on a shopping trip. But where do you start? What should you buy? What size should you get?
First of all you have to envision the things your woman likes and wears so you can get an idea of what colors and styles she likes. For instance a woman who likes basic solid color clothing probably would not be thrilled if you brought home some funky animal print teddy. Nor would a woman who prefers bold and dark colors like blood red, purple, midnight blue, or black be very happy with some pale pink frou-frou nightie. A conservative woman might be a little embarrassed if you expected her to wear a short latex skirt and tube top.
But if she’s into latex, leather, bold animal prints and wilder, revealing clothing than by all means get her something risqué.
You also want to consider styles. You want to give her something that will make her feel beautiful and sexy not over exposed or self-conscious. Babydolls are a good choice because many body types look good in them. They are simultaneously sexy and flattering. Teddies and long classic gowns are also good choices.
If she’s a little more adventurous you might want to try a body stocking. They are very stretchy (you don’t have to worry about size, they are usually one size fits most) and somehow flatter most body styles and many men seem to find them extremely erotic. If you are not sure what a body stocking is, look it up online, and find one on a woman, not a mannequin or just a shot of the body stocking. You’ll want the full affect. Trust me.
The most important thing you need to know though is what size she wears. Nothing can upset a woman and kill the mood faster than the wrong size. If it is too big she’ll think that you think she’s fat. If it is too small one part of her will be flattered that you were thinking she is smaller than she is but the other part of her will be pissed because you’re a moron and you got her the wrong size and now she can’t wear it for you.
Never guess when it comes to sizes. If you don’t have a clue you need to find out. The easiest though not so subtle way will be to come out and ask her. If you want the lingerie to be a surprise this is probably not the way to go because if she is like many women one simple question will lead to an interrogation of why you need to know what size she wears. You could always ask her sister, mother, or best friend if you are close enough and open enough about matters like that. I know when my husband wanted to get me lingerie he called my best friend because he was completely clueless as to what size to get.
The next best thing is to sneak into her underwear drawer and scout out the size tags on her most intimate attire. Hopefully she’s not obsessed with removing the tags from everything. Look for sizes on her underwear usually a number like 5, 7, 8 and so one. Some may just say S, M, or L for small, medium and large. Scout out a few pair to get a good idea if there are various sizes in the drawer. Also make sure you are looking at something you have seen her wear recently. Ladies tend to hold onto lots of clothing, even something that has gotten too small because they plan to lose weight and get back into it. You will also want a bra size -these magic codes are usually a number and a letter like 36 B or 38 D.
If she has any other lingerie in the drawer or closet like teddies, nightgowns, and what not try to find sizes on those as well. Those are the golden numbers if you plan to get her something in a similar style.
Now that you have her sizes write everything down so you don’t forget.
What’s next? You get to shop, but where? There are so many lingerie and adult stores on the Web it is unreal. You are bound to get bogged down and overwhelmed by all the choices and selections. Plus you won’t get personalized service or have the experience of being able to touch the fabrics. Being able to feel the fabric of lingerie is a great thing.
The Web can be a great place to get ideas but if you want to get this right shopping in a store with trained sales staff to help you make a good selection may be a better choice. These ladies are often skilled at picking out something that would be absolutely perfect. Believe me when it comes to lingerie you may need another woman’s help.
There is always Victoria Secret. There is one in most shopping malls. Victoria’s Secret might not exactly be your choice or even her style. Most department stores have lingerie sections with very helpful staff that can help you find something just right.
Do you want something a little sexier than the gowns and teddies available in regular department stores? How about Frederick’s of Hollywood or Lover’s Lane? They both carry a wide variety of lingerie from simple and sexy gowns to exotic costumes, dance wear, corsets and thongs even sexy stockings, shoes, and boots. Lover’s Lane also carries massage oils, lotions, lubricants and items for couples if you are considering including some accessories in the mix. (I would never recommend giving a woman a sex toy as a gift though, that’s a can of worms you might not want to open unless you are absolutely sure she’s into that type of thing).
So you’ve scrolled through the sites online and found some things that may rock your world but you are convinced she’d never wear them. You’ve taken trips to several stores and didn’t find anything that really stood out or else there was so much to choose from you became completely overwhelmed and scared you were going to buy the wrong thing.
I’d say trust your gut and go for it, just buy her something and get it gift wrapped nice and pretty. Women love pretty packages.
If you still can’t bring yourself to purchasing something the next best thing is to buy her some other type of gift, then take her on a “surprise” shopping trip to a lingerie store and the two of you can pick out something sexy together. This might even be the better choice because she’ll let you know what she’d wear and what she likes so there is no way you’ll get the wrong thing. Plus you might even want to pick out some other fun stuff while you are there. Shopping together could really add some spice to your love life.
Oh and be sure to take mental notes while you’re there so the next time you want to buy her something kinky you’ll have a much better idea of what she’ll wear and what size to get it in.
© 2008 Roxanne Rhoads
Roxanne Rhoads is a freelance writer, erotica author, poet, and editor She writes everything from articles to web content. She is interested in all things sexual so her writing focuses mainly on topics involving sex including; erotic fiction and poetry, how to articles, product reviews, female sexuality, and female sexual rights. A sexual connoisseur and creature of the night, She is an outwardly quiet person who best expresses herself with the written word. If she wants you to know or believe something about her it will appear in her writing. A lady must always have secrets and she guards hers closely. A voyeur at heart she lurks in the shadows learning the secrets of others while she remains a mystery.
Roxanne's writing has appeared in Playgirl Magazine, on Tit-elation.com, JustusRoux.com, Oysters and Chocolate (Online) and The Erotic Woman (Online). You can learn more about her at Roxanne's Realm, My Space and her group for erotica readers and writers, Erotica Lovers.
12:52 AM
He: Where’s the butter?
She: In the fridge.
He: I’m looking exactly here and there’s no butter.
She: It IS there, I put it to the fridge only ten minutes ago!
He: No, you must have stuck it somewhere else. There’s NO butter in this fridge!
For many this dialog will appear familiar. After these words She strides to the kitchen, pulls the fridge door and like with a wave of a wand takes out the butter-dish. Inexperienced men find it a mean trick and blame women for hiding things from them. Keys, underwear, socks, shoes – this all is here, men just can’t find it! But why can’t they?
The answer is hidden in our history. Very long time ago, when our forefathers lived in caves and had a warm in the fire in the evenings, men had to leave every day and hunt for food for the family. In order to see and follow the goal far off, the hunter needed the ability to see for long distances, everything else was set aside and did not draw away. And Clever Nature took care of men already in those ancient times. The field of the vision of the vast majority of men was formed like a tunnel: a man can see a plenty tight space, but far – and exactly this provides him the ability of hunting a distanced object.
In her turn a woman of those days stayed at home, took care of children and household and needed to have in view everything around in case of danger or threat to her descendants. That’s why the Nature programmed her in such a way, that if she looks at one object, she can also see everything around it within a radius of almost 180 degree. This explains the fact that she can find a thing in the fridge or wardrobe much easier than a man, who has only about a 30 degree vision radius.
What he sees: “Tunnel-like” eyesight of men (30 degree radius)
What she sees: “Broad” eyesight of women (180 degree radius)
And this is why a man needs to turn his head right-left and up and down to find the “vanished” object. An average woman needs only to take a look at the open fridge to have the full sight of everything there and to find the object in seconds.
By the way, the men’s habit to gaze after beautiful women, which as often as not irritates and offends wives and girlfriends, is connected with these very particularities of men’s and women’s eyesight. In reality this doesn’t mean women don’t gaze after the nice men nearby – they also commit this sin, they just don’t need to turn head or focus the eyesight at the object.
11:36 AM
London, March 13 : Ever wondered what really makes the perfect woman? Well, according to a new poll, a man's ideal woman is blonde, beautiful, brilliant in bed, and one who loves sport.
More than 66,000 men voted in the poll for ukdating.com, which resulted in the creation of the perfect woman, who can be dubbed as a cross between the Bionic Woman and Mother Teresa.
The most important attribute for those polled was blue eyes, followed by blonde hair.
The third most attractive characteristic in a woman was her occasional appearance wearing spectacles.
The poll also showed that for men, the perfect mate would weigh nine-and-a-half stone, stand at around 5ft 8in and be a curvy size 12.
Most men voted for women earning between 10,000-25,000 pounds a year, working in either nursing or PR.
The poll also revealed that men preferred women who live on their own, have a wacky personality, and are 'good in bed.'
The ideal woman should also have her own car, the favoured makes being a Ford Ka or a Mazda MX5 and enjoy regular trips to nightclubs, pubs and restaurants.
It is also important that she loves pets, is a non-smoker, and only drinks alcohol occasionally, the poll showed.
"While the old adage 'Gentlemen prefer Blondes' still holds true today, it's interesting to note that in this world of size zeros and calorie counting, men are more interested in height than weight, and prefer a medium build girl to a skinny girl," The Sun quoted David Brown, managing director of www.ukdating.com, as saying.
"This research just goes to show that men are as selective with their choice of date as women are, and know exactly what they want," he added.
6:04 AM
In spite of real progress around the globe, the bedrock problems that have dogged women for centuries remain
Foreign Affairs Reporter
The image of the 21st century woman is confident, prosperous, glowing with health and beauty.
But for many of the 3.3 billion female occupants of our planet, the perks of the cyber age never arrived. As International Women's Day is celebrated today, they continue to feel the age-old lash of violence, repression, isolation, enforced ignorance and discrimination.
"These things are universal," says Taina Bien-Aime, executive director of New York-based Equality Now. "There is not one single country where women can feel absolutely safe."
In spite of real progress in women's rights around the globe – better laws, political participation, education and income – the bedrock problems that have dogged women for centuries remain. Even in wealthy countries, there are pockets of private pain where women are unprotected and under attack.
Some countries, often the poorest and most conflict-ridden, have a level of violence that makes life unbearable for women. Richer ones may burden them with repressive laws, or sweep the problems of the least advantaged under the carpet. In any country, refugee women are among the most vulnerable.
So widespread are the disadvantages that it's hard to pinpoint the worst places in the world for women. Some surveys rate their problems by quality of life, others by health indicators. Human rights groups point to countries where violations are so severe that even murder is routine.
Literacy is one of the best indicators of women's status in their countries. But Amnesty International Canada's women's rights campaigner Cheryl Hotchkiss says building schools alone doesn't solve the problem of equal education.
"There's a huge range of barriers women face to getting an education," she says. "It may be free and available, but parents won't send their daughters out to school if they can be kidnapped and raped."
Health is another key indicator, including the care of pregnant women, who are sometimes forced into disastrous early marriage and childbearing, as well as infection with HIV/AIDS. But again, statistics fail to show the whole, complex story.
"On a rural lake in Zambia, I met a woman who had not told her husband she was HIV-positive," says David Morley, CEO of Save the Children Canada. "She was already living on the edge because she had no children. If she told him, she would be kicked off the island and sent alone to the mainland. She felt she had no choice, because she had no power at all."
Putting power in women's hands is the biggest challenge for improving their lives in every country, advocates agree. Whether in the poorest countries of Africa, or the most repressive of the Middle East or Asia, lack of control over their own destinies blights women's lives from early childhood.
Here are 10 of the worst countries in the world to be a woman today:
• Afghanistan: The average Afghan girl will live to only 45 – one year less than an Afghan male. After three decades of war and religion-based repression, an overwhelming number of women are illiterate. More than half of all brides are under 16, and one woman dies in childbirth every half hour. Domestic violence is so common that 87 per cent of women admit to experiencing it. But more than one million widows are on the streets, often forced into prostitution. Afghanistan is the only country in which the female suicide rate is higher than that of males.
• Democratic Republic of Congo: In the eastern DRC, a war that claimed more than 3 million lives has ignited again, with women on the front line. Rapes are so brutal and systematic that UN investigators have called them unprecedented. Many victims die; others are infected with HIV and left to look after children alone. Foraging for food and water exposes women to yet more violence. Without money, transport or connections, they have no way of escape.
• Iraq: The U.S.-led invasion to "liberate" Iraq from Saddam Hussein has imprisoned women in an inferno of sectarian violence that targets women and girls. The literacy rate, once the highest in the Arab world, is now among the lowest as families fear risking kidnapping and rape by sending girls to school. Women who once went out to work stay home. Meanwhile, more than 1 million women have been displaced from their homes, and millions more are unable to earn enough to eat.
• Nepal: Early marriage and childbirth exhaust the country's malnourished women, and one in 24 will die in pregnancy or childbirth. Daughters who aren't married off may be sold to traffickers before they reach their teens. Widows face extreme abuse and discrimination if they're labelled bokshi, meaning witches. A low-level civil war between government and Maoist rebels has forced rural women into guerrilla groups.
• Sudan: While Sudanese women have made strides under reformed laws, the plight of those in Darfur, in western Sudan, has worsened. Abduction, rape or forced displacement have destroyed more than 1 million women's lives since 2003. The janjaweed militias have used systematic rape as a demographic weapon, but access to justice is almost impossible for the female victims of violence.
• Other countries in which women's lives are significantly worse than men's include Guatemala, where an impoverished female underclass faces domestic violence, rape and the second-highest rate of HIV/AIDS after sub-Saharan Africa. An epidemic of gruesome unsolved murders has left hundreds of women dead, some of their bodies left with hate messages.
In Mali, one of the world's poorest countries, few women escape the torture of genital mutilation, many are forced into early marriages, and one in 10 dies in pregnancy or childbirth.
In the tribal border areas of Pakistan, women are gang-raped as punishment for men's crimes. But honour killing is more widespread, and a renewed wave of religious extremism is targeting female politicians, human rights workers and lawyers.
In oil-rich Saudi Arabia, women are treated as lifelong dependents, under the guardianship of a male relative. Deprived of the right to drive a car or mix with men publicly, they are confined to strictly segregated lives on pain of severe punishment.
In the Somali capital, Mogadishu, a vicious civil war has put women, who were the traditional mainstay of the family, under attack. In a society that has broken down, women are exposed daily to rape, dangerously poor health care for pregnancy, and attack by armed gangs.
"While the potential of women is recognized at the international level," says World Health Organization director-general Margaret Chan, "this potential will not be realized until conditions improve – often dramatically – in countries and communities. Too many complex factors, often rooted in social and cultural norms, continue to hinder the ability of women and girls to achieve their potential and benefit from social advances."
5:35 AM
Men are from sex-crazed Mars while women are from soft and romantic Venus, it is often said. But a new study in France has debunked the myth.
Researchers have found that French women are becoming increasingly assertive in their sexual habits and they've more than twice as many partners now as they did in the 1970s while one in five younger men "manifests no interest in sex".
"Are women just like men?" asked the French Aids research agency, Le Nouvel Observateur, which has carried out the Study on Sexuality in France.
In fact, the researchers came to the conclusion after carrying out in-depth interviews with over 12,000 people of all ages during 2005-06, leading British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported on Friday.
According to the study, one of the biggest changes in recent years was that male and female sexual behaviour had become increasingly similar.
The proportion of French women who had only one partner has dropped from 68 per cent in 1970 to 43 per cent in 1992 and 34 per cent in 2006 — while a woman's average number of partners has risen from under two in the 1970s to over five today, a man's has remained the same for 40 years, almost 13.
The researchers have also found that French women's first experience of sex is now almost as early as that of the opposite sex — in 1950 there was a two-year difference, but the gap has narrowed to four months, to around 17-and-a-half.
Meanwhile, more women are found to remain sexually active for longer than earlier — nine out of ten women over 50 are sexually active today, compared to just 50 per cent of that age group in the 1970s.
According to the study, young women are still educated to consider their entrance into sexuality as a sentimental relationship experience.
However, one of the more surprising findings was that one-in-five French men aged between 18 and 24 "has no interest in sex", while abstinence rates for men under 35 was twice as high as for women.
"The good old dichotomy is in big trouble," said Le Nouvel Observateur.
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