Matthew Hutson's recent musings on why "socially dominant women enjoy sexual submission fantasies more than other women" reminded me of what I consider a major flaw in most sexuality research. Matthew was kind enough to send me a copy of the research he is discussing and like almost all research in sexuality:

a) All the research subjects are American, and

b) All are college students (average age under twenty years-old).

Speaking as a 47 year-old who has lived virtually his entire adult life outside of the U.S., these are serious limitations in research hoping to make general statements about "male" or "female" sexuality.

More female than male, actually.

One can make a pretty strong case that a twenty year-old guy is basically a turbo-charged fifty year old, but I ask any female readers: Has your sexuality changed since you were twenty? Most of the women (and men) I know would argue that a twenty year-old girl/woman is a far cry from representative of female sexuality. Despite what Playboy and other fantasy-mongers would have you believe, a woman in her forties is likely to be far more sexually adventurous than an air-brushed college girl. (Indeed, one of the few pleasures of getting older has been learning just how different adult women are from the college girls I was chasing around during the Reagan administration.)