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| Economics professor Marina Adshade devised the new course, The Economics of Sex and Love. (Danny Abriel Photo) |
Who enjoys sex more, men or women? The question is risky as well as risqu茅; Greek myth states that the goddess Hera blinded Tiresias for his answer when he surmised women took more pleasure from the act.
Marina Adshade鈥檚 response is cannier than Tiresias鈥�: 鈥淎V俱乐部 75 per cent of the civilizations believe that women and men enjoy sex equally,鈥� she says carefully. Dr. Adshade is an economic historian, and she鈥檚 about to teach AV俱乐部鈥檚 first semester of . Dr. Adshade designed and proposed the course herself.
I try to picture the reactions in the dean鈥檚 office.
鈥淥h, they loved it,鈥� Dr. Adshade assures me. 鈥淚 worked really hard to put together a very convincing course outline.鈥�
And of course, I suggest, the subject matter didn鈥檛 hurt.
鈥淲ell, there鈥檚 (already) three courses at the university on sex.鈥� Dr. Adshade checked the course outlines of those classes, so that her material wouldn鈥檛 overlap. 鈥溾�淚t鈥檚 not that any of the topics aren鈥檛 being touched on鈥� it鈥檚 the approach, really, that is different.鈥�
The approach is a broad one鈥擡conomics of Sex and Love will cover millennia of human history, from the first marriages in Neolithic times to modern sexual issues. There is no course textbook, as little writing has been done on the subject matter; Dr. Adshade is in the process of assembling individual papers and studies into a course reader.
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鈥淓conomists have some really good tools for looking at these issues. Sex markets, prostitution, pornography鈥� these are essentially labor markets,鈥� she explains. The class is not exclusively for students of economics; she encourages all interested students to sign up for the course. Maturity, rather than major, will define the audience. 鈥淚 think the class is going to be a little bit racy to some people, quite frankly鈥� my intention is to teach a course for adults.鈥�
Racy? 鈥淥ut of 186 societies, only 14 per cent have monogamy. The large majority of the world鈥檚 population lives in a polygamist society.鈥� Dr. Adshade finds this fascinating; economic theory predicts richer men will have more wives, but the opposite trend has emerged in reality. While recent headlines have turned polygamy into a hot-button topic, Dr. Adshade isn鈥檛 interested in finding morality tales in her material. She鈥檚 strictly concerned with the facts. 鈥淭he thing about economists鈥� (is) we don鈥檛 make statements about how we feel people should behave. I like to give people the information, and then let people take away the information they want. I鈥檓 sticking to just the economics of it鈥� I want it to be a fun class.鈥�
The material is often surprising 鈥� for instance, studies suggest that men, rather than women, are under pressure to fake orgasm. Ms. Adshade also suggests the majority of prostitutes prefer to work under a pimp for protection. 鈥淭hree per cent of tricks performed by prostitutes without pimps are freebies for police or gang members,鈥� Ms. Adshade tells me, forehead furrowed. She then pauses, reaching for her keyboard to check the statistic. While she does this, I glance at the lines of Alexander Pope鈥檚 poetry Dr. Adshade has scrawled on her whiteboard: 鈥淲hat Nature wants (a phrase I much distrust)/Extends to luxury, extends to lust鈥︹�� She sits back from her computer a second later, satisfied. The number was right.
鈥淭he choices that we make about our own sexuality and the relationships we form have some basis in economics,鈥� she explains. 鈥淲e often think that we鈥檙e making choices鈥� but it鈥檚 all biology and economics.鈥�
The class will include studies on marriage, speed dating, online dating sites, risky sexual behaviors, AIDS, and controversial subjects such as teen sexuality and prostitution. Ms. Adshade will even ask the other ageless question鈥擠oes sex make you happy?
Well, I ask, does sex make you happy?
Ms. Adshade laughs. 鈥淪ex does make you happy! Sex makes women happier than almost anything else.鈥� Tiresias has been validated, and it only took a few thousand years.