02/23/2009

Just Say No to Cheating

Germans Sexually Unpermissive during Carnival

Carnival has a reputation for being little more than a giant, costume-adorned and beer-fuelled flirt fest. But most Germans, as it turns out, look down on carnival season cheating. Those over 60, though, are twice as likely to look the other way.

Throw a bunch of people in outlandish costumes, feed them copious quantities of alcohol and cram them into a hot bar late at night with bad music blaring from the speakers and what do you get? As anyone who has ever visited carnival in Cologne will tell you, cerebral conversation is certainly not one of the likely outcomes.

Instead, the annual orgy has developed a reputation over the years for being just that. Nevertheless, a new study has found that an overwhelming percentage of men and women in Germany still don't see the rather permissive carnival atmosphere as being an adequate excuse to cheat on their partners.

Fully 83 percent of men and women over the age of 14 answered with "no" to the question as to whether "cheating is easier to tolerate during carnival" than during the rest of the year, according to a survey carried out for the tabloid Bild am Sonntag by public opinion survey group Emnid. Just 13 percent of women and 12 percent of men said they cared less during carnival if their partner cheated. Interestingly, those aged 60 and over were twice as likely to forgive their partner were he or she to succumb to the urge.

For those who haven't yet found their dream affair, time is running short. Monday marks the high point of the carnival season, with Rose Monday parades working their way through the packed streets of a number of cities in Germany's Rhineland. The parades are a major highlight of the five-day partying binge, with floats traditionally poking fun at politicians and public figures. Whereas US President George W. Bush was a favorite target in recent years, this year it was the pope and the global financial system that took a beating.

After the parades, it's back to the bars for a final round of binge drinking, singing … and flirting. Even if Germans tend to look down on cheating, an overwhelming majority are apparently on the lookout for a bit of TLC. Konrad W. Sprai, one of Germany's best known relationship counsellors, recently released the results of a four year study in which 1,200 carnival-goers were surveyed.

His results? Almost three-quarters of all men and half of the women who go to carnival are on the lookout for at least a good snog.

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