WHEN I was 14, I sneaked into the empty bedroom of my scholarly older brother to poke around in his bookcase. I was quickly submerged in the submissive: masks, chains, brands, whips, blindfolds, piercings. Even skimming, the book was too scary for me, so I stuck it back in its hidden spot and scampered away. Yet she has written the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy — bondage-themed romanticas that whipped up a frenzy with the housewives of Long Island and rippled out from there. James started writing the series as Twilight fan fiction under the pen name Snowqueens Icedragon, spinning another strange, obsessive love story in misty Washington state with a pale, virginal year-old brunette student named Anastasia Steele and a breathtakingly handsome, year-old telecommunications mogul named Christian Grey. Not the sandwich, though she does fix him subs with the French bread he favours.

Like all of us in the throes of MeToo, I have been taking rigorous inventory of my sexual history, rolling back the tape on past highs and lows: the disturbing teenage experiences no longer chalked up to miscommunication, those times I gave in because it was easier, some unwanted advance successfully fended off. And then there are the memories of being brusquely, and without permission, pushed up against a wall — and loving it. In fact, those were the steamiest moments I could recall. I wondered if I would ever experience such an unscripted embrace again — and then immediately worried: Did my secret desires make me a traitor to MeToo and what it stands for? No, according to Michaela Boehm, a sex and intimacy therapist and psychologist; they make me pretty normal.

Men with genetic make up linked to social dominance and leadership are seen as more desirable romantic partners by members of the opposite sex, a study says. The findings, published in the journal Human Nature, suggest that men and women with genotypes consistent with prevailing gender norms are seen as more desirable. Read: Fastest-growing health risk for teens is not obesity, but unsafe sex. The team led by Karen Wu turned to speed-dating to test their predictions in a real-life scenario.