The graph, released by UNICEF and based on data collected between 2001 and 2007, displays the percentages of women, by country, who believe it is OK for their husbands to hit them. The numbers are all horrifying, ranging from 6.9 percent in Serbia to a heartbreaking 90 percent in Jordan. More info here. [via Feministing]

Next time you find yourself standing in front of your closet agonizing over what to wear, consider this: Your towel-clad wardrobe rifling may cost you nearly a year of your life. That’s right, the average woman spends 287 days looking through her wardrobe and considering which outfit to wear. [Telegraph]

Hearing that we’ll have semi-wasted nearly a year on wardrobe selection by the time we’re too old to care came as a bit of a shock. (Kind of like the day we realized that eating half a bag of cookie crumbs is basically the same thing as eating half a bag of cookies.) Though we all recognize that the half hour each morning, wardrobe obsessing before a date and endless thought about what to wear to a meeting with the boss has got to add up, we never really considered that it could amount to so damn much. The whole thing kind of got us thinking about all the other ways we habitually waste minutes and even years of our lives. Check out our top time sucks after the jump…

Did you know that over half of married women regret walking down the aisle with their husbands? If you said yes, well, then you know some disgruntled peeps. Just kidding! According to a recent survey of 35,000 women, happily ever after is only for the movies. Duh. While most women admitted they didn’t believe in a “soul mate,” a whopping 72 percent said they have considered leaving their husbands. But comparing those figures to the divorce rate, 20 percent of them are chickens who stick it out.  Worse yet, half of ‘em were also completely bored in the boudoir or couldn’t remember the last time they had any kind of freaky deaky fun.  Dang, if you can’t grab your husband and say, “Yum, yum, gimme some,” what is the point? Especially since 79% of those surveyed admitted a woman has got needs. Alas, I’m single and I thought it was hard to get laid, but marriage sounds worse…sigh. What is there to look forward to?

Either I am the world’s greatest slut (and need a T-shirt that says that, pronto), or there just isn’t enough love in this world! According to the National Center for Health Statistics, women have an median average of four sex partners in their lifetime. Please, I’ve been trying to have four partners this week!  Now, perhaps this statistic also includes Granny No-One-Gets-In-My-Panties, but the number seems amazingly low with women like me, Madonna, Jenna Jameson, and Jezebel’s old Slut Machine, who are so beyond the average we’re probably off the CDC’s graph!  Really, with all the tramps in the world upping the statistic, the national average still four? We can’t do all the men by ourselves! Actually perhaps we can. Men, on average, have nearly double the amount of sexual partners women do—lucky number seven. Guess everything I heard in high school was true, some girls are sluts and some girls are prudes. But one thing is clear, every dude is a sex machine. Lifescript.com]

Before last Sunday, Chris Brown seemed like the rags-to-riches poster child. He popped and locked his way into the hearts of American women, and his baby face seemed to reveal a gentle and fun nice guy on the inside. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a photo of him scowling or not having fun. But we all know looks are deceiving and a person’s past is much more telling…

Yikes—19 million STD infections occur each year according to the Center for Disease Control’s NEW report this week. The numbers from 2007 are in and the stats are a total bummer. Gonorrhea and chlamydia, the most common STDs, recorded the largest number of known cases to date, 1.5 million according to the most recent assessment. However, the government agency thinks that’s a low estimate, and suspect that there are actually twice as many people who are carrying the infections. Agh! Unfortunately, the infections often go undiagnosed because they can be asymptomatic. While gonorrhea and chlamydia frequently come together in one big STD package, they are both cured with antibiotics. However, if someone isn’t a responsible sexy time partner and doesn’t get tested regularly, the diseases can wreak havoc and even do things jeopardize your ability to get pregnant. Since young women, age 15-34, are in the highest risk categories, it’s essential that we take care of our business!  Go visit the gyno and let them smear your pap, why dontcha?!  [CDC]

My older brother tortured me through childhood, but now he’s saving my lifestyle. According to a new study, I’m less likely to spawn thanks to my big bro. Yay, baby free forever! (Can you tell I don’t want kids?) Sheffield University researchers, who poured over birth, marriage, and death records, discovered that anyone, male or female, with an older male sibling is 5% less likely to have children than people with female older siblings. They also have children later in life and space their babies out. (Hmm, maybe we are just wiser?) On the downside, guys’ younger siblings are much more likely to be shorter. So that explains why my brother is over six foot while I’m one inch away from legally being a little person! The theory being tossed around is that first-born males took a toll on your mom back in the womb and researchers believe it has even more psychological implications on the siblings that came after. In time, I hope science will give me the go ahead to send my big bro my therapy bills.  Meanwhile, I’m just grateful he’s helping me keep my curves childproof. There’s only room for one baby in this family—me! [Daily Mail]

Nowadays, we modern gals are too busy to worry about spawning.  It might be on some of our to do lists, but according to a 2006 survey, one in five women never have a baby. That’s double the number of childless women in 1976! While 30 years ago, 59% of women had at least three kids, now only 28% have popped that many out. The U.S. Census Bureau, who conducted the survey, speculates that societal factors, like people trying to conceive later because of careers and education, fertility rates steadily dropping since the ‘80s, and a wide range of socially accepted birth control options, are all adding up to less brats, er, bundles of joy.  Now you can point fingers at the empowered products of women’s lib all you want, but we’re willing to bet there’s an underlying economic issue here too. For instance, the birth rate keeps going down while college tuition keeps going up. Coincidence? We think not. Kids cost a lot more than condoms. [The Guardian]

“What percentage of women have an orgasm during intercourse? The stats I’ve read really seem to vary, with some studies making it seem kind of rare. Is that true?” - Curious About Climaxes, Cleveland, OH

General statistics (which vary as much as your orgasms do) show a whopping 75% of women failing to reach orgasm during intercourse. 12% percent NEVER EVER achieve one, even through self-stimulation.
A lot of this has to do with knowing your body well enough to determine what turns you on and what doesn’t. I didn’t achieve my first orgasm until my mid-20’s, and didn’t find a partner I could have regular orgasms with until I was almost 30 (I’m 29 now, so you do the math).