While we here at The Frisky, from our experienced Mind of Man to the freshly single gal Amelia, have been debating the merits of sex on a first date, some researchers in the U.K. think they’ve got it down to a science.

According to a mathematical model created by Prof. Robert Seymour and his team from the University College London, “By delaying mating, the female is able to reduce the chance that she will mate with a bad male.” Basically Prof. Seymour is telling you that you have to make a man wait for sex to prove his worth. This study was less interested in studs and more interested in helping women find something called a “good male.” Using other Discovery Channel-esque language like “long courtship” and “mating,” the researchers have made even sex seem unsexy. From charts, graphs and funding, Seymour has concluded that, “Long courtship is a price paid for increasing the chance that mating, if it occurs, will be a harmonious match which benefits both sexes. This may help to explain the commonly held belief that a woman is best advised not to sleep with a man on a first date.” So, let me get this equation straight. W (courtship length) times X (doin’ it), equals Y (compatibility)?! Keep reading »