Battle of the Sexes

The older men are when they walk down the aisle, the more likely they are to have a younger bride, according to a new study. Famous May-December pairings usually involve the rich and famous—think Donald Trump or Larry King—but the trend holds up at every income level, the San Jose Mercury News reports. More »

Barflies take note: A woman's voice is sexiest when she's most fertile, a new study says. Scientists recorded women counting from 1 to 10 and found that their voices were rated most attractive when they were closest to ovulation, the BBC reports. What gives? Researchers aren't sure, but they speculate that hormones may affect the voice box. More »

Iraqi authorities will not press charges against a father who murdered his 17-year-old daughter for falling in love with a British soldier because it was an "honor killing," reports the Guardian . The father stood on the girl's neck and stabbed her last month after he learned she was attracted to a soldier distributing relief supplies in Basra. The father was arrested, but later released. "Not much can be done when we have an honor killing," explained a police sergeant. More »

Diamonds really are a girl's best friend, especially when auctioned off to sympathetic sisters on ExBoyfriendJewelry.com. EBay offers goods without much backstory, but the founders of the gem-hocking site put a personal twist on swapping, selling, and auctioning artifacts of toxic relationships, the New York Times reports. More »

Women in Saudi Arabia need to gain a male guardian’s consent to do almost anything, living as “perpetual minors,” the Telegraph reports. Research by Human Rights Watch found that male permission is needed to go to a doctor, travel, and even get dressed. In addition, strict segregation denies women access to public libraries and educational institutions. More »

So much for machismo. Re-elected Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero announced a new government this weekend, with a surprise twist: His new cabinet boasts more women than men. The eight men and nine ministras include a pregnant woman who will head the army as defense minister, the Independent reports. More »

A new breed of companion is the rage in Japan, entertaining women with lavish compliments, conversation and undivided attention—the male geisha. Businesswomen pay upwards of $1,000 a night for these men, CNN reports—with, industry reps say, nothing physical being exchanged. Hundreds of such services have sprouted across the country, driven in part by the increased spending power of Japanese women. More »

Husbands create seven hours a week of extra housework for their wives, while they themselves spend less time on housework than they did as singles, a new study has found. But it's not all bad news for women. Researchers tracking housework hours of single and married people also found that women devote less time now than they did in 1976, while men do more than twice as much, the Ann Arbor News reports. More »

A pregnant transgendered man always wanted to have a baby and kept his uterus so he could do so, he told Oprah Winfrey yesterday. The 34-year-old man, who's expecting in July, had his breasts removed years ago and underwent hormone treatment to change his sex. He decided to step up and be the "mom" when his wife learned she could not become pregnant. More »

OK, she’s clearly ticked—but what set her off this time? Lisa Jones lets Men’s Health in on 8 things guys shouldn't do. Read up, she says, and "you'll be able to stop repelling the women you want to meet—or aggravating the one you have." Nail clippings on the nightstand are a no-no. Observe basic hygiene. Avoid vague talk of the future—is she in it or not? Don't text before the first date. Have the guts to call. More »

Many women who support Hillary Clinton—and even some who don't—find that the New York senator's bid for president has unleashed unsettling sexist hostility in the workplace and elsewhere, the Wall Street Journal reports. A woman shouted at by a stranger for her Hillary bumper sticker says the "level of venom" always takes her by surprise. More »

A couple in a quiet Oregon town is expecting their first child. So far, so normal—but the fact that it's the man who is pregnant is raising some baffling gender issues, the Oregonian reports. The 'mother-to-be' was born a woman but is legally a man who underwent transgender sex surgery 10 years ago and is married to a woman. He kept his uterus and conceived through artificial insemination. More »

Looking for lengthy love? It may be time to sleep single. More couples are opting for separate beds, and 60% of custom-built homes in the UK will have dual master bedrooms by 2015, the London Times reports. Many in modern times consider separate beds the end of love, but in fact sleep disturbance is what creates friction, researchers say. More »

He may have strayed, but prostitutes? No way, say Manhattan wives who reflected on the Eliot Spitzer scandal this week with the New York Times . But "there is a trememdous tendency toward denial" among unsuspecting women, said Leslie Bennetts, author of The Feminine Mistake . “I’ve heard thousands of stories from women who got blindsided by a version of this." More »

Eliot Spitzer is going up in flames, but Americans are wondering why his wife has to go with him: The Los Angeles Times talks to angry people on the street, including one divorcee who insists, “She should’ve said, ‘This is your fight. ... You stand there and get yourself out of it.’” But professors disagree, saying sticking on your politician husband’s arm is simply “one last spousal duty.” More »

A state-mandated shattering of Norway's glass ceiling is drastically changing gender balance in boardrooms there—and not without some resistance, the Guardian reports. A law that 40% of non-executive board directorships at larger firms must go to women went into effect Feb. 22—and though a dozen Norwegian companies failed to fill the quota, an astounding 451 out of 463 did. More »

Study after study has found that girls have better language skills than boys, and scientists now think they've found a biological reason why, Scientific American reports. Researchers discovered that girls showed more activity in the language part of their brains, which deciphers abstract encoding, than boys. The boys had more activity in the regions of the brain linked to auditory and visual function. More »

Feb. 29 still comes once every four years, but celebratory cocktails marking the bissextile have gone out of fashion—along with a leap-year tradition that requires plenty of liquid courage, Eric Felten notes in the Wall Street Journal . Women who proposed marriage during the leap year could not be denied; little wonder desperate lasses were expected to sport scarlet petticoats. More »

Women in their 40s waiting for Mr. Right are "almost like teenagers who believe they're invulnerable to dying in a drunk-driving accident," Lori Gottlieb writes in the Atlantic Monthly . Gottlieb (single, 40ish), thinks women who shun "Mr. Good Enough" believing it's better to be alone are kidding themselves; chuck the idealism and you'll probably be "happier in the long run." More »

A Kansas Catholic high school’s decision to ban a female referee from officiating a boys’ basketball game because of the school’s religious beliefs has state officials investigating the incident and considering banning the school from future competition, the AP reports. Referees said officials from St. Mary’s Academy, near Topeka, refused to let Michelle Campbell work a game Feb. 2. More »