How long should you delay having sex with a new partner? A new study, published in the Journal of Marriage and Family (not available online), pegged the lucky number at 182 days. After the requisite six months of celibacy, women "reported higher levels of satisfaction, commitment, intimacy, emotional support, and sexual satisfaction in the resulting relationship." Amanda Hess dismisses the study and shifts the debate:
This study only surveyed couples who live together or are married, so ignored couples who live apart, women who "leap into bed" without an expectation of commitment, and those who break up when their relationships no longer support their personal needs. … The study's most relevant finding? Men didn’t register a similar benefit for delaying sex. They felt their relationships were about as strong and sexually satisfying whether they waited one month or six (even the study’s sluttiest group included those people who waited up to a month to have sex). Perhaps that's because—from True Love Waits to Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man—pressure to delay sex is overwhelmingly targeted at (and marketed to) women, while sex advice for men generally consists of tips for getting women into bed as early as possible.
The Dish 