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Have you ever tried to love someone as hard as you could for five minutes? It sounds like a strange thing to attempt, but that's exactly what the people in a study at the Stanford Center for Cognitive and Neurobiological Imaging were asked to do while they sat in an fMRI machine. They scanned people of varying ages, and the person whose brain registered the most love "won." There was no prize, other than bragging rights, but in watching these poignant, fascinating interviews that Brent Hoff did with all the subjects, it becomes clear that they all found the experience unexpectedly moving and learned something about what it means to love and be loved. More »
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Stanford journalism professor Drake Martinet has upped the proposal ante by designing and creating the cutest infographic ever as a way to ask for his girlfriend Stacy's hand in marriage. He then posted the image to Stacy's own blog and—good news— she said yes! More »
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It's de rigueur to hate on Valentine's Day these days, but the countries of Malaysia and Uzbekistan are taking it to a whole new level by either canceling the holiday all together or arresting couples looking to shack up. More »
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The romantic terms of Valentine's Day can be so vague. There are all those "Will you be mine?" questions and those loose, non-binding promises to "Be true." But those are typically printed on candy and not legally actionable. Good news: That's all about to change thanks to this handy website, where you and your beloved can sign a Valentine's Day contract. More »
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An Oklahoma romance writers' group recently launched a contest for the best book in each of nine sub-categories (example: "Paranormal –- Single titles –- dark or light, futuristic, magic, alternative Earth, urban fantasy, vampire, werewolf, etc."). The problem: no gay romance allowed. More »
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I've long suspected you can tell a lot about someone's romantic personality based on their political inclinations, and now, newly-released section of Match.com's annual online dating survey has proven that I'm not totally wrong. Did you know, for example, that conservative Republican men consider conservative dress a turn on? And that people of all party affiliations are much more willing to forgive marital infidelity in their own partners than they are in a US President? More »
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Romance novels aren't typically bastions of gender diversity, but the new title Two Spirit Ranch does have an interesting premise: More »
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If you're searching for a way to express your frustration with a holiday that requires you to a) be in a relationship and b) purchase heart-shaped things to prove your commitment to said relationship, you now have a place to go. Meet Occupy Valentine's Day. More »
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Newt Gingrich is still running for President, which means he's still kind of trying to ruin your life, which means it's still okay to make fun of him and his general weird history with women. Come one, come all, into the mirrored bedroom of Newt Gingrich, and his wife, Callista, who brushes his hair. If you dare. More »
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As we become slowly mentally melded with our computers, it stands to reason that our dating lives would as well. And just in time for Valentine's Day candy to populate the shelves of your local drug store, here's a great big graphic explaining how it's becoming more and more inescapable, and profitable. More »
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It's not just Ryan Gosling. Guys really are more open about their romantic feelings than ever before. Young men think about sex less — and about love more — than either traditional psychology or pop culture acknowledge. Is it the sudden emergence of a new "mushy male" ethos? Or is it simply the long overdue recognition of something that's been there all along? More »
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Have you ever wanted to see the cacophonous and often contradictory body of contemporary dating advice distilled into a single, ridiculous document? If so, a group of Harvard students has now made your dreams come true. More »
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If you think of IKEA only as a place to get lost and then end up spending way more money than you meant to, you should start thinking outside of the flat-pack cardboard box. That's what senior citizens in Shanghai are doing, and, according to the Wall Street Journal, they've managed to turn their local IKEA into a hot spot for meeting potential love interests. More »
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Non-Italian non-murderer Amanda Knox is slowly but surely readjusting to free life stateside after spending nearly 4 years in Italian prison. She dressed up as a mustachioed cat burglar for Halloween. She's speaking English again. And now it looks like she's got herself an American-style boyfriend, complete with a beard worthy of a sea shanty. More »
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Why pay your own when you can find a fancypants boyfriend — or, better, husband! — to do it for you? It's easy! Here's how to score yourself a human wallet. More »
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It's difficult to feel cherished when we know that our partners are still carrying emotional baggage from previous romantic entanglements, but it's especially difficult when that emotional baggage manifests itself in the form of actual pieces of crap that used to belong to his ex-girlfriend. And what if he refuses to throw them away? Does that mean he's still in love with her? More »
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Have you ever thought—really thought—about kissing? We take our mouths, which are generally used for eating and talking, and put them up against the mouths of others, and then move our lips and tongues around for awhile while keeping our eyes closed. Sometimes, when we're teenagers, we do it for hours and hours. And this dangerous germ spreading behavior is tied in somehow to romance or feelings of affection. Kissing is totally weird. A new book called The Science of Kissing aims to shed some light on your probably-pot-inspired questions about the reasons we tend to get turned on when we smush our faces together and make spit sounds. More »
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With the recent smashing success of Bridesmaids, much has been made about women in film. Supposedly, this one comedy proved once and for all that  1) People with uteruses can be funny 2) Female-fronted films need not be pandering 3) Men will actually pay to see movies with female leads, and 4) Carrots can be sexy. Now as much as I love Bridemaids and have steadily reveled in its worldwide success, I'm more realistic about its impact on the standing of women in Hollywood and as moviegoers. It's just too soon to declare women have won the war against pandering, sexist and misogynistic movies that are theoretically aimed to entertain us. (Even though the surprisingly big opening of The Help is cause for optimism.) Now, I won't bore you with the crushing statistics of the success rates of female filmmakers versus male filmmakers, or point out the dishearteningly wide discrepancy between the number of films with male leads versus female leads. Instead, I'd like to talk about the film genre most often targeted at women: romance. Because Bechdel test be damned, the romance genre is essentially synonymous with the dismissive "chick flick" moniker. Yes, if the trailer features string instrument swells over a kiss - be it rom-com or drama - it's intended audience is us lady folk. More »
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The concept of one's "league" — that is, a fixed category of people one is attractive enough to date — is firmly entrenched in pop culture and in many of our psyches. Here's why it's bullshit. More »
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Dating is like those blow pops with the question marks on the wrapper: You just never know what you're going to be putting in your mouth. Sometimes it's very good! And sometimes, alas, it's just not your flavor. For example, you might wake up in someone's house after your first sleep over and stumble into their kitchen thinking that you just met a cleaning lady while getting a glass of water. Then it might turn out that the cleaner wasn't actually a cleaner but was, in fact, their mom with whom they still live with at 35. And scene. But wouldn't it be great if you could minimize these bad surprises by asking all the questions you wish were appropriate to ask on a first date, but clearly aren't because it would make you look like a nutjob? More »
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By now you've heard the story of sixteen-year-old Courtney Stodden legally marrying an actor 35 years her senior (and four years older than her father). Now that Courtney's parents have been receiving death threats, Doug's manager and agent have dropped him, and Doug's mother refuses to speak to him, the couple is telling their side of the story. Spoiler alert: their honest answers about the situation might be even more troubling than what you already assumed. More »
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According to a recent study by researchers at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 370 people from the ages of 19 to 103 reportedly had more regrets regarding their personal relationships than any other decision or life event. More »
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When I was gifted a Kindle for my birthday this year, I did something that I admit, shamefully, I've never done in a bookstore: I perused titles in the "lesbian" category. After sifting through pages of poorly titled erotica, I stumbled across a terrible/AWESOME genre: lesbian romance. More »
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Let's just say you have a crush. A huge crush. A massive crush. You can't stop thinking about this person. You're distracted, daydreamy, completely unproductive and totally unfocused. What do you do? How do you channel your energies? Below, you'll find ten easy steps that may or may not help. More »
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The most exclusive dating website for "beautiful" men and women has dumped 30,000 "ugly" people who flew under the radar after a computer virus –-aptly titled the Shrek virus— accepted their applications despite their "ugliness": More »
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Ladies, be careful. Your romance novels may be driving you insane. More »
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Traditionally, love matters were public; courtship took place in the eye of the community, and relationships were business arrangements conducted in agreement for the best outcome for all parties involved. (Except the ladies, in most cultures and cases. But I am referring here to familial arrangement, for the "best.") More »
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I could blame the tear in my eye on this story of a "down on his luck" guy, how he met his future wife, and their emotional engagement. Or perhaps it's because of the whimsical editing and smart storytelling in this beautiful short film. Hell, maybe it's the soundtrack. I don't know. But this absolutely, positively gotten to more than one Jezebel staffer today. Whatever, shut up. More »
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America's collective jubilation over the death of the leader of al Qaeda has evolved into fascination with the men (and dog) who successfully pulled off one of the Jason Bourne-iest operations in recent memory. Of course, now everyone wants to know what it would be like to have sex with them*. More »
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When it turned out a Pennsylvania high-school English teacher was the author of erotic romance novels, some parents (predictably) freaked out. More »
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According to a new study, women are much more likely than men to have regrets about their romantic lives. Maybe because we're constantly judged based on them? More »
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"When I started to work on the arm, I could see a small note, tightly folded up, about the size of a penny. When I opened it, to my amazement it was a note written in pencil, in old French." What the restorer found in the antique chair was a letter — a 200-year-old love letter. More »
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His lips descend, firm and demanding. You sway towards him bonelessly, feeling the heat course through your body. He lifts his head a fraction to whisper, his voice roughened with passion, "Pay up." Harlequin's patenting the kiss. Literally. More »
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Okay, maybe it's not worse than The Merry Wives of Windsor. But Romeo and Juliet is definitely Shakespeare's worst famous play. Here's why: More »
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Valentine's Day, the holiest, chocolatiest, and hopefully most oral sex intensive of holidays is upon us, and love is in the air. Except when it's not. More »
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"Talk to them like humans and don't be a jerk," conclude the writers, "Just like dudes in romance novels." More »
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The National Museum of Crime & Punishment has a convenient Valentine's Day tie-in: "Crimes of passion!" You may also know many of these as "instances of domestic violence." Romance lives, at least until the language police gets to them. More »
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There is, in fact, a non-Cosmo-quiz way to tell if a couple is compatible. More »
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In the end, is it the similarities that glue a couple? More »
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