Missing Kissing: Where Did It Go?

Many couples I talk to say that they don't kiss as much as they used to. I mean, sure, most of us still do the obligatory kiss on the cheek or lips upon leaving the house or arriving home. And then during sex there's the kissing. But what about just plain old kissing for the sake of kissing?

Remember the panting? The numb lips? The contortions of the body on the couch as we strained to get closer? One of my favorite things about my husband is his soft lips. I miss the kiss! And I know, from talking to men that they missing kissing too. So what gives?

Apparently some researchers believe that the kiss developed so that women could better "sniff" out their genetic match (see my last blog post, Sniffing Out Your Soulmate. We women, so the theory goes, are trying to sniff out MHC (that's a set of immune system genes called the major histocompatability complex). I wonder, once we have found our chosen partner, if we just don't "need" to kiss them so much. I mean, we already bagged them, so to speak.

I didn't see, in all this research (in the book, For Better: The Science of a Good Marriage by Tara Parker-Pope) anything about kissing beyond this little factoid. But surely, kissing is important! Surely if we were all having a good makeout session after the kids went to bed and the dishes were done, we'd be happier and healthier-- full of joie de vivre! But no, apparently most of us want to turn on the TV or just plain go to bed. There's no time or inclination for passionate kissing!

So I'm calling for more kissing! I'm going home today and demanding a makeout session!

I mean, maybe...if I feel like it; if there's nothing good on TV...

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