Study Finds That Feminists Have Better Relationships, Sex Lives

This post, written by Jill Filipovic, originally appeared on Feministe

Another what-we've-been-saying-all-along study: Feminism makes your relationships better.

Contrary to popular opinion, feminism and romance are not incompatible and feminism may actually improve the quality of heterosexual relationships, according to Laurie Rudman and Julie Phelan, from Rutgers University in the US. Their study* also shows that unflattering feminist stereotypes, that tend to stigmatize feminists as unattractive and sexually unappealing, are unsupported.

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They found that having a feminist partner was linked to healthier heterosexual relationships for women. Men with feminist partners also reported both more stable relationships and greater sexual satisfaction. According to these results, feminism does not predict poor romantic relationships, in fact quite the opposite.

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In fact, feminist women were more likely to be in a heterosexual romantic relationship than non-feminist women.

It's not complicated to figure out why feminists would have more fulfilling relationships and better sex lives. When you see your partner as a human being and not a means to an end, you're going to pick a partner you actually like, and your partner is going to feel valued for who they are, not for what they can give you. When you think that sex is a mutually pleasurable event where both partners should be comfortable and fully satisfied and neither should feel guilty or mistreated, you're going to have better sex. When you see women as full-fledged people with full human rights -- not baby incubators, not "the fairer sex," not "compliments" to your existence, not status symbols, not holders of sex, not property, not your own personal support staff -- you're going to enjoy their company more. And they're going to enjoy yours.

Jessica talked about this in her book, and her common-sense observation seems to hold pretty true. Partnerships between equals, and between two people who perceive their partners as equal, are going to be healthier.