Recent headlines have suggested that the “sex for gas” trade is on the rise.  A lady in Mesa, AZ was just arrested for stabbing a man after the two agreed to swap sex for gas.  And a Kentucky woman is facing prostitution charges for allegedly trading sex for a $100 gas card.  This is partly due to the sharp increase in gas prices, but as the economy as a whole seems to be experiencing some difficulty, what else can one barter for sex?

According to CNN, “A recent study of 475 University of Michigan undergraduates ages 17 to 26 found that 27 percent of the men and 14 percent of the women who weren’t in a committed relationship had offered someone favors or gifts — help prepping for a test, laundry washing, tickets to a college football game — in exchange for sex. On the flip side, 5 percent of the men surveyed and 9 percent of the women said they’d attempted to trade sex for such freebies.”  Now, obviously tickets to a college game or test answers aren’t necessities in a troubled economy, but they might be vitally important to a broke college student.  And who doesn’t like sex?

Besides, it might not be their fault.  There are thousands of years of biological programming at work here, says Dr. Chris Fariello, director of the Institute for Sex Therapy at the Council for Relationships, a nonprofit relationship-counseling group based in Philadelphia.  For thousands of years people have been bartering sex to get things they want - from Cleopatra, to Julius Caesar, to that lady who traded sex for the $100 gas card.  It’s in our genetic make-up.  At least that’s what you can tell your spouse if they catch you in the act with your dry cleaner!