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Wanna snuggle? New study says men are more likely than women to enjoy cuddling 

 

http://www.hfxnews.ca/index.cfm?sid=87852&sc=89
MISTY HARRIS
CanWest News Service
2007 12 10

 

Challenging the action-hero paradigm of detached machismo, a study on bedroom behaviour lays bare the fact that men are more likely than women to enjoy regular cuddling.

In a nationwide Harris/Decima survey, more than a third of Canadian males confessed to being avid snugglers, while less than a quarter of their female counterparts said the same.

"There's a gap between what society thinks men want and what they actually want," says Cecilia Moorcroft, who's facilitates "cuddle parties" in Ontario.

"There are a lot of men out there who just want to cuddle, but know that it will always be assumed that they want something more."

Though the survey, commissioned by Sunbeam, may have turned gender biases about cuddling on their head, stereotypes about snoring proved to be largely steeped in reality: nearly half of all men surveyed admitted they were regular nighttime noisemakers, compared to one third of women. There was no significant gender gap when it came to tossing and turning or stealing the sheets - the latter of which might be surprising when you consider that 40 per cent of men, and just 23 per cent of women, said they prefer to sleep naked.

Toby Miller, a sociologist at the University of California-Riverside, suggests the reason for women's preference for pyjamas is twofold.

"(Having) some barrier between the woman and ... (the) other person may give a sense of security and the possibility of negotiation rather than invasion," explains Miller. "Secondly, the fact that the clothing may be sexually alluring - at least as per the norms of advertising - may be a factor."

Nadege Kelechian, a spokeswoman for Sunbeam, says the study's aim was to lend statistical credibility to behaviours implied by Canadian purchasing patterns.

 

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