In a BigThink.com
video released Monday, writer Mary Roach attempted to sort out who
has better sex: gay or straight couples.
Roach is a columnist and the author of
four popular science books: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human
Cadavers (2003),
Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife (2005),
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex (2008)
and Packing for Mars:
The Curious Science of Life in the Void (2010).
Roach referred to a Masters &
Johnson study from the 70s to answer the question.
“This was the only study I came
across that was really a qualitative look at sex. Like who's having
better sex and why. And, in fact, the best sex was being had by
long-term committed homosexual partners,” Roach said.
“Two things going on. One was
something called gender empathy, which is if you have the same
equipment you kind of know intuitively what feels good.”
“The heterosexual couples were
tending to do things to their partner that they would want done to
themselves, which didn't always play well. And there was also a sort
of mechanical element of, 'Well like if I twittle this for about ten
minutes that should be good for her.' … They weren't losing
themselves in the experience.” (The video is embedded in the right
panel of this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)