Coupling

By The Numbers: Interracial Marriage Data

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West arrive at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards in New York (The Huffington Post)

FILE PHOTO – Kim Kardashian and Kanye West arrive at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards in New York, U.S., August 28, 2016. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo

The 50th anniversary of the Loving v. Virginia case is soon approaching. The case struck down bans on interracial marriage, and continues to resonate today. With that in mind, I was curious to see any data on interracial marriages: Has the number gone up? Has societal disapproval gone down?

Let’s take a look:

Who’s Marrying Out?

In 1970, less than 1% of all married couples were interracial.
In 1980, 6%+ of newlyweds were interracial, and only 3% of all marriages were interracial.
In 2013, 12% of newlyweds (a record high) married someone of a different race, and 6.3% of all marriages were interracial.

The Absolute Rise of Intermarriage (Priceonomics)

Who’s Down with Marrying Out?

In 1986, only 30% of survey respondents felt interracial marriage is acceptable for everyone. But that same percentage of respondents did not feel interracial marriage was acceptable for anyone.
In 2009, 83% of survey respondents were accepting of interracial marriage.
In 2012, 93% of people approve of interracial marriage.

And let’s end on one more noteworthy statistic that warms my heart and gives me hope for the future:

“More than four-in-ten Americans (43%) say that more people of different races marrying each other has been a change for the better in our society.”

Lesbians Report More Orgasms Than Straight Women

Women kissing (Wallhaven)

That headline got your attention, didn’t it?

Yes, it’s true: Women with same-sex partners orgasm more than women in heterosexual partnerships and also bisexual women.

A 2014 study by Garcia, Lloyd, Wallen and Fisher examined the orgasm frequency of 6K+ women and men. (No word on how it broke down via gender and orientation identifications.) Participants self-selected to take the 2011 survey. Data was used from 1.4K+ men and 1.3K+ women who’d had sex within the past year.

The study found that heterosexual women experienced an orgasm 61%+ of the time, bisexual women had an orgasm 58% of the time, and lesbian women had an orgasm 74%+ of the time. Needless to say, those are some very large gaps to attribute to orientation.

But why is this? There are a few reasons: First, a woman would theoretically be able to get her female partner off more easily, because she’s working with the same equipment (so to speak). She would also be more comfortable with her own body, allowing her to orgasm more. Another reason mentioned is a bit more about social conditioning in terms of sexual etiquette: A 2013 study reveals that women in heterosexual partnerships don’t expect to have an orgasm during a sexual encounter, whereas women in homosexual partnerships do have that expectation.

China’s (Now Ended) One-Child Policy: By The Numbers

Chinese One-Child Policy poster (The Galloping Beaver)

Most people have heard of China’s infamous one-child policy. it’s exactly what it sounds like: each married couple is only allowed to have one child.

Now the policy has ended. Actually, it ended on Jan. 1st, less than a week ago.

A lot of people don’t know the story behind the concept, and why it was initially implemented. Here are some numbers that made the one-child policy look like a sensible idea at the time:

China’s total population:

1960: 667.1M

1970: 818.3M

China’s population grew 151.2M in 10 years, or at the rate of 15.12M per year. The government was worried that the population would continue growing exponentially at the same rate, with the country eventually becoming unsustainable.

Fertility rate:

1960: 5.76 births/1 woman

1970: 5.47 births/1 woman

The fertility rate stayed stable (and strong) throughout the 1960s.

Crude birth rate:

1960: 20.9

1970: 33.4

This metric shows the “number of of live births occurring during the year, per 1,000 population estimated at midyear.” The number hit a high in 1963 with 43.4, no doubt sending the Chinese government into a full-fledged panic.

With the above stats as historical context, it’s a bit easier to see why the Chinese government implemented the One-Child Policy, and kept it for the 35 years they did.

#ThrowbackThursday: Chinese One-Child Policy Propaganda Poster, 1986

Chinese One-Child Policy poster (The Galloping Beaver)

As of Jan. 1, China’s one-child policy is officially history. Married couples are now allowed to have up to two children for the first time since 1979.

I’ve always thought propaganda posters were interesting, and here’s a great one for the one-child policy. It’s from 1986, and titled, “Carry out family planning, implement the basic national policy.” The image carries that can-do attitude made popular by Rosie the Riveter, and it’s easy to get swept up in the sentiment. Not to mention, the overall poster design’s pretty great too.

Ashley Madison Hacked: Is Your Data Safe?

Ashley Madison homepage (Ashley Madison)

Earlier this month, online dating/cheating site Ashley Madison had its data breached by a group called The Impact Team. The group is lobbying for completely shutting down the site, and has been threatening to release users’ sensitive information if their demands aren’t met. Their demands are aimed at Avid Life Media (ALM), Ashley Madison’s parent company head-quartered in Toronto.

The hackers have leaked personal information from only two people so far. Considering that the site has around 37M-40M registered users, this is miniscule. The group is specifically targeting Ashley Madison’s “full delete” feature, where a user must pay to get his information scrubbed from the site. According to The Impact Team, the feature “netted ALM $1.7M in revenue in 2014.”

This is significant because it’s the second online dating site that’s encountered a massive data breach within a few months: Adult Friend Finder went through a similar situation back in May. But this case is unique in that it’s the only one that’s fallen prey to what ‘Time” calls “data kidnapping:” the hackers won’t leak the data unless they get what they want.

Ashley Madison is ranked #18 in adult sites, and received 124K+ visits on desktop since January 2015.

How Many Husbands Take Their Wives’ Last Names?

Zoe and Marco Saldana (KCCI)

Happy Friday! Earlier this week, actress Zoe Saldana told “InStyle” that her husband Marco Perego wanted to take her last name, instead of having her take his. Saldana was initially hesitant:

I tried to talk him out of it. I told him, ‘If you use my name, you’re going to be emasculated by your community of artists, by your Latin community of men, by the world.’ But Marco looks up at me and says [in his Italian accent], ‘Ah, Zoe, I don’t give a sheet.’

Now, that’s a true man right there. Husbands taking their wife’s last name isn’t too common, at least anecdotally. But what about the data? Has it been tracked?

No, it hasn’t, at least not yet. I found several articles profiling couples who did it, but each article mentioned in some way that statistics weren’t tracked. Oh well. On the other hand, it’s a topic ripe for picking for a Ph.D. thesis. Any takers?

But Mr. Saldana (né Perego) made a huge impact. Meghan Blalock of “Who What Wear” puts his decision in context:

The storied history of women taking men’s last names in marriage is not just a trend or a matter of practicality—it’s a long-existing symptom of the patriarchal society in which we live, in which a marriage means that a woman is little more than a man’s property.

So his decision shows that he’s not just a traditionally masculine man, but that he has a sensitive side towards women and feminism, and isn’t afraid to show it. Pretty badass, right? Maybe we’ll see more men follow suit!

Brittney Griner/Glory Johnson Annulment: How Many Same-Sex Marriages End?

Glory Johnson and Brittney Griner (Forward Times Online)

Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner filed for an annulment from her wife Glory Johnson, who plays for the Tulsa Shock. The two WNBA stars married May 8th, and Johnson announced her pregnancy June 4th.

With acceptance of same-sex marriage gaining ground, divorce will naturally follow. But how many same-sex marriages end?

It’s hard, and probably too early, to find concrete and up-to-date statistics on this. In 2011, UCLA’s Williams Institute found that same-sex couples who’ve formalized their commitment had a divorce rate of 1%+. This is lower than the annual divorce rate of heterosexual married couples, which is 2%.

Around 150K same-sex couples have married or otherwise committed to each other, so that would mean around 3K same-sex couples divorce each year. I couldn’t find any stats solely for annulments.

But in 2013, Pew Research Center’s FactTank found that same-sex marriages numbered around 71K+. It did take into account that there might be some underreporting going on.

As time passes and more same-sex marriages and divorces/annulments/separations are recorded, we’ll be able to see a clearer picture of any trends.

How Many People Don’t Trust Their Partners?

Jada Pinkett-Smith and Will Smith (Word On Da Street)

Happy Friday! Actress Jada Pinkett-Smith always has something to say on marriage or sex that some find controversial. But most of the time, what she has to say is very realistic, and more people should heed her advice.

Her most recent interview Wednesday on “Howard Stern” is a prime example. Pinkett-Smith’s marriage to actor Will Smith has frequently been plagued by cheating allegations, all of which she’s dismissed. On Stern’s radio show, she laid out why she’s not worried about her man’s actions:

You’ve got to trust who you’re with. And at the end of the day, I’m not here to be anybody’s watcher. I’m not his watcher. He’s a grown man.

Pinkett-Smith went on to say that as long as Smith could look himself in the mirror, it was all good.

She brings up a great point: Many people (most, it seems) don’t trust their partners, and live in fear that their significant other will cheat.

How widespread is this mindset? Pretty common. According to the 2013 book “The Normal Bar,” which shares secrets of successful couples, less than 40% of women and just over 50% of men claim to trust their partners. Scary, isn’t it?

We should all relax a little and take a page from Pinkett-Smith’s book.

Thursday Trends: Same-Sex Couples Reflected in Advertising

Tiffany’s first ad featuring a gay couple (Adweek)

Advertisements are finally getting with the times, and featuring more diversity than your run-of-the-mill straight white couple.

Last month, jewelry giant Tiffany’s debuted a new print ad for their wedding rings. But this ad had one thing different: it prominently featured a gay couple. And apparently the two men are a couple in real life, and were photographed on their own New York stoop.

This was the first time Tiffany’s has used a same-sex couple in their advertising. But it won’t be the last: Just this week, the brand used the same couple in a TV-spot ad. (The ad also features straight and interracial couples.) It signals that the 178-year-old brand recognizes that love comes in many forms, and they want to be all-inclusive. (And it’s a smart business move.)

Other brands in recent years have featured same-sex couples. Preppy retailer J. Crew used a gay couple in their catalog in spring 2011, and Gap used another couple on a billboard the following year. Incidentally, neither sets of couples are professional models: In the case of the J. Crew couple, one of the men was a designer for the brand. (It seems there’s also a side-trend of using real people.)

Lesbian couples are also increasingly represented. In 2012, JC Penney featured a lesbian couple with their children in a catalog pegged to Mother’s Day. Last year, condom brand Durex used two women being playfully affectionate with each other in an ad for a massage gel. This year, Hallmark showed an ad featuring a real-life lesbian couple describing their feelings for each other in the run up to Valentine’s Day.

It’s clear that things are changing. Even “The Onion” got in the action, with a (mock) article claiming that jewelry company Zales created an ad featuring a polyamorous triad. (But the article did rightfully call out that we, as a whole society, aren’t quite there yet.)

Hopefully this follow its natural progression, and will eventually lead to more ads featuring same-sex couples with families. It’d be great to see future print and online ads and commercials where we see a family with two dads or two moms, NBD.

After all, this would make complete economic sense for these companies: In 2012, “Adweek” reported that the LGBT market is estimated to be worth around $743B+.

#ThrowbackThursday: Abercrombie & Fitch Ad, 2012

Abercrombie and Fitch ad shot by Bruce Weber (Towleroad)

Three years ago, acclaimed photographer Bruce Weber shot a promo for Abercrombie & Fitch that featured handsome male models doing things all guys do: wrestling, showering, and kissing.

That last one is depicted up top. Later, the clothing brand claimed that the video (and three related others) were part of an official A&F campaign, even though Weber had identified the video as such on his Facebook page.

Regardless, it’s still a cool image. Abercrombie will always be the first softcore your 13-year-old self squealed over, but it’s at least made some strides towards acceptance (certain other inflammatory comments from former CEO Mike Jeffries notwithstanding).

Sex & Stats: Where Numbers Come to Bang

Statistics. Economics. Sex.