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Magazine finds Lexington undersexed (POLL)
By Cheryl TrumanCTRUMAN@HERALD-LEADER.COM
The article in Men's Health might as well be called "No Sex in Lex."
Lexington ranked at the very bottom of the current issue of the magazine's survey of most sexually satisfied cities in America.
What is Men's Health, you ask? It is the kind of magazine in which the ideal article would be how you can have mind-blowing sex while simultaneously toning your abs.
Now you might ask how Men's Health, which is known for its monthly "Metrograde" city rankings, knows what goes on in Bluegrass bedrooms. It doesn't. But it has a formula.
The magazine used four criteria: birth rates, condom sales, and sales of sex novelties at the Babeland and Pure Romance Web sites.
Babeland is a largely online store specializing in sex novelties, complete with online tutorials, and it tends to be popular in urban areas. Pure Romance, however, specializes in the buddy-party experience in selling its wares, sort of like X-rated Tupperware.
It could be that Lexington is simply a Hustler store kind of city when it comes to its edible underwear needs, but Men's Health argues that the Babeland and Pure Romance rankings comprised only 17 and 13 percent of its total ranking. Condom sales and birth rate weighed in at 35 percent each.
You can argue, of course, that people might be reluctant to share their condom preferences with marketing researchers.
Ron Crouch, director of the Kentucky State Data Center at the University of Louisville, says condom sales don't necessarily mirror what women are buying for their own contraceptive use. Crouch says that Lexington is a university town, and universities include a lot of women, and women choose their contraception in ways other than simply your average Trojan.
Men's Health spokesman Denny Watkins cedes that point, but he says condoms are generally used only for sex, whereas some women take birth-control pills whether they're having sex, anticipating sex, or simply regulating their menstrual periods.
What you can't deny is that the Lexington-Fayette County birth rate, robust by the standards of some Kentucky counties, is surging about as fast as a sidewalk worm.
Births in Lexington have ebbed and flowed between 3,000 and 4,000 a year since 1980, except for 1973, 1975 and 1982, when births dipped below 3,000. Still, Crouch says, by Kentucky standards, Fayette's birth rate seems impressive. Some other counties, including Pike County, have seen precipitous birth rate slips since 1980.
Besides Lexington, other cities in the bottom 10 of sexual satisfaction include Birmingham, Ala.; Providence, R.I.; and Newark, N.J. (Louisville ranked 75th out of 100.)
Watkins, the Men's Health spokesman, said a couple of the cities that ranked low on his magazine's survey "wanted some advice on how they could have more sex to get higher on the list the next time around."
Because really, what city doesn't want to be like Indianapolis, America's No. 1 most sexually satisfied city? Or No. 4, Cincinnati?
The strategy seems fairly simple: Go forth and multiply.
Also, when judging sexy cities, you shall know them by their latex.
RANKINGS
Men's Health ranked 100 U.S. cities on how much sex men there were having, basing ratings on birth rate and sales of condoms and sex novelties:
Most sex ...
1. Indianapolis
2. Columbus, Ohio
3. Fort Wayne, Ind.
4. Cincinnati
5. Salt Lake City
6. San Antonio
7. Denver
8. Austin, Texas
9. Boise, Idaho
10. Chicago
... to least sex
91. Jacksonville, Fla.
92. Greensboro, N.C.
93. Jersey City, N.J.
94. Providence, R.I.
95. Newark, N.J.
96. Montgomery, Ala.
97. Yonkers, N.Y.
98. Manchester, N.H.
99. Birmingham, Ala.
100. Lexington
OTHER RANKINGS
On previous Men's Health Metrograde rankings, out of 100 cities, Lexington was:
Most caffeinated: 81st.
Best teeth: 41st.
Best cities for men: 18th.
Drunkest: 28th.
Most in debt: 22nd.
Most dangerous for skin cancer: 84th.