Culture of Love
The great tradition
Our attitudes towards love and sex have been shaped by centuries of erotic cultural outpouring. The result, argues Boyd Tonkin, is a curious ambivalence
From Love and Sex - a free glossy magazine with the print edition.
Inside Culture of Love
A brief guide to erotic fiction
Friday, 12 June 2009
From the tender to the grotesque, throughout history, erotic literature has offered us a private space in which to celebrate and contemplate the intricate workings of human sexuality. Here, we explore some of the key works of this genre. Click the image on the right to launch.
Sleeping Around: Eternal Sunshine?
Thursday, 23 October 2008
Apparently, scientists may soon be able to erase fear and trauma from patients' minds. The technology is meant to help people cure phobias such as a fear of spiders, but my mind immediately turned to wiping out of the pain of failed relationships, 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'-style.
Taboo-busting writer sets Germany abuzz
Friday, 17 October 2008
Tony Paterson: Scandalous novel about sex, personal hygiene and almost every conceivable part of the female anatomy has taken the Teutonic literary world by storm.
The man who invented sex
Tuesday, 23 September 2008
Harold Robbins was the man who invented sex. Not the actual act, nor its literary depiction, but the way it was represented in mass-market fiction. The "godfather of the airport novel" if not the creator of the bonkbuster changed the face of post-war popular fiction with steamy tales such as The Betsy, The Lonely Lady, The Pirate and his 1961 classic, The Carpetbaggers.
The facts of life: the culture of love
Tuesday, 23 September 2008
In 2002, the American Film Institute named the 1942 classic Casablanca as the greatest movie love story. Gone With The Wind came in second place, followed by West Side Story.
Sleeping around: Romantic movies have a lot to answer for
Tuesday, 23 September 2008
'I spent the flight sipping champagne and fantasising about my dress'
A brief cultural history of sex
Tuesday, 23 September 2008
Some things never change but sex isn't one of them. Marcus Field looks back on some surprising episodes in the centuries-long evolution of Western sexual attitudes, from the ancient Greeks to the present day
Questionnaire: Are you culturally compatible?
Tuesday, 23 September 2008
The single most important rule governing relationship success is the Law of Similarity. Contrary to popular folk wisdom, opposites do NOT attract as much as "similars". The more similar you are to your partner the more compatible you are, and the better your chances of a healthy, happy, long-term relationship. This rule applies even at the most basic level of physical attributes such as finger length, right up to the level of social and cultural attributes. In this quiz we'll look at some of the most important dimensions of compatibility: those involving your beliefs, values and interests. Pick your answers to each question, ask your partner to do the same, apply the scoring grid (below) and then compare notes.
Sex doctor: Screen loving (and how to escape fromits shadow)
Tuesday, 23 September 2008
From the day we're born, our subconscious starts formulating a "sexual blueprint" that's influenced by everything we hear, see and experience about sex. These blueprints start forming with the feel of a mother's nipple in our mouths and accumulate with both random, "flash" experiences (a two-year-old's glimpse of a neighbour's stocking) and deliberate sexual encounters (our first experience of hands on breasts).
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