Complex Numbers

Those Naughty Brits

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/relationships/article431...

Why do so many of us like kinky sex?

A few observations:

1. It's confession time. I am possibly the only journalist to have written simultaneously for the News of the World and the Journal of Molecular Biology (different features, you understand). Um, why would ANYONE start with that lede after a headline like the one above? I want a juicier confession, dammit! Saying you write for tabloids and science journals is as nothing compared to whether you like ball or ring gags.

2. Why is this in the "women" section? Men don't want to read about kinky sex? Please.

3. In his first report on sexual behaviour in 1948 Alfred Kinsey claimed that 50 per cent of respondents claimed to get erotic pleasure from being bitten, but the figure is probably nearer one in ten Okay, where is she getting the "one in ten" and how does that fit into the "common" thesis she's promoting? 10% participation doesn't make something "common," unless you're looking for its "vulgar" meaning. And being bitten does not translate to liking certain other practices...

4. Although some people might place S&M in the same category as abuse, the important point is that it should be consensual. Captain Obvious to the rescue!

In conclusion, the article seems to be designed to be provocative, but semantically null. It's more tabloid crap than science, and I'd expect that from the Daily Fail, but the Times?

What happened to investigative journalism? Hell, what happened to comprehensive news stories?. Why, just the other day, the New York Times quoted Fark as a source... which gives me an excuse to link the blog of a friend of mine, which in turn has a link to the NYT article: "Invalid Entry" 

Journalism may not be dead yet, but it's starting to wander and stink.

I blame bloggers.