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S is for Sex
Independent on Sunday, The, Jul 13, 2003 by Annie Blinkhorn
This column is dedicated to the memory of the Walrus of Love, Barry White. So back into bed and pay your respects because summertime is the right time for making lurve. All right, all right - it's
perfectly permissible to do it any other time of year. But there is something about the sudden and all too brief burst of light and heat that we Brits enjoy annually - and yet always seem surprised by - that makes this the fruitiest time of the year. Yes, winter has its long nights and spring is a season of new life and all that, but it is during the summer months that there is a palpable tang of sex in the air. You can almost feel it on your skin.
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In a controversial paper presented to the University of California in 2000, the Nobel prize-winning geneticist Dr James Watson made a case for the connection between skin pigmentation and libido. Lots of people walked out. The ones who stayed heard the good doctor base his theory on the results of an experiment aimed at preventing skin cancer. A group of scientists had injected male patients with melanin to increase pigmentation and thus protect them from the sun. The guinea pigs experienced a side effect. They "developed sustained and unprovoked erections". Watson took this as a cue to suggest that those who inhabit warmer climates experience stronger sexual urges. He inflamed the situation still further by going on to say: "That's why you have Latin lovers. You've never heard of an English lover, just an English Patient." And things did not get better for Anglo- Californian relations when he displayed a slide of Kate Moss looking stroppy and surmised that thin people are unhappy and have woeful private lives.
Good grief.
Still, whether we are scientists or not, most of us are willing to lend (slightly less eccentric) credence to the idea of a sun-to- sauciness ratio. The birth rate among the Inuit of Arctic Labrador peaks during March, which means they are getting jiggy in June, since there is damn-all sunlight the rest of the year. And a researcher in Denmark has found that a rise in male sex hormones corresponds with an increase in climactic temperature. Anna-Maria Andersson of Copenhagen University Hospital observed: "Maybe the outdoor temperature/length of day affects our behaviour or well-being, which then has an effect on our hormone levels." Stripe me pink! You mean to say that a nice day will put you in a good mood and incline passers- by towards a bit of the other?
With all due respect to Labradorian Lotharios and randy Danes, I do think there is something about the Great British Summertime which makes us sizzle. Every year there is a scorching day (always "the hottest on record") when everyone feels the need to shed clothing and head to the nearest, quite possibly toxic, bit of coast. Tabloid newspapers in Phew-What-a-Scorcher mode print photos of bikinied hotties on the beach as if it has never happened before and will never happen again. And that is the key to this country's unique summer sex psychology. As in times of war, when the end of the world is in sight and everyone feels feverishly libidinous, our brief sunbursts and heady thunderstorms beget an atmosphere of heightened sensuality - come today, for tomorrow it will all be gone. It is also our tiny window on to the world of alfresco sex. (Ace bleach is my tip of the week, incidentally - it's a boon for getting out grass stains.)
To conclude, some cheering news for the fairer sex. Although it is hardly a surprise that strong sunlight increases testosterone, the female sex drive is also poised for a recharge. If, during the solstice last month, you ladies missed the opportunity to indulge in naked fertility-goddess rites (and even if the rest of the week turns to drizzle), take comfort in this: a woman's libido is thought to increase by 30 per cent during a full moon. The next one is tonight, so make hay while the sun and moon shine.
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