NC native becomes ‘sexpert’

Amber Madison wants to talk about sex.

That desire prompted her to write three books on the topic, helped her to become a sex columnist for Seventeen Magazine and last week, landed her a guest spot on Ryan Seacrest’s radio show.

But Madison’s belief that people should talk openly about relationships didn’t start in New York, where she lives —but in Orange County.

Madison, a N.C. native, grew up in Orange County and attended Orange County High School.

She said her local roots exposed her to people who differ from those she has known in big cities, helping her to realize that relationship issues are universal.

“Chapel Hill is very different from Boston and New York,” she said. “Relationships are part of human experience. It’s a universal thing, and it doesn’t matter what race you are or where you’re from.”

Jane Madison, a professor in the UNC Department of Psychiatry and Amber Madison’s mother, said she supports her daughter’s sometimes controversial career choice.

“I think it’s really creative,” she said. “She took what she loved, which is writing, and a topic she is good at talking about, relationships, and is making a living off of it.”

After high school, Amber Madison moved to Massachusetts to attend Tufts University, where she wrote a school newspaper sex column titled “Between the Sheets.”

“Sex needed to be talked about more,” she said. “People had questions about sex, their bodies and relationships.”

Madison said although her column was sometimes controversial, she still had support.

“For the most part, I was supported by the students and faculty,” she said.

Madison graduated from Tufts in 2005 and moved to New York City in 2008.

In May 2011 she started writing as Seventeen’s “sexpert.”

She recently released an iPhone application, “A-hole Tester,” which she discussed on Seacrest’s show last week.

The app uses Madison’s research to determine the probability that the user’s partner is a jerk, she said.

Madison has also written three books, including “Hooking Up” and “Talking Sex with Your Kids.” Madison is now working on promoting her new book “Are All Guys Assholes?” that will be released Sept. 29.

“There are women who are attracted to so-called jerks, and there are men who act like jerks because that’s what they think women want,” she said.

Madison said after conducting extensive research, she concluded in her book that men care about serious relationships, not just sex.

She said she visited 10 major metropolitan cities and interviewed more than 1,000 random men about their views on dating.

“I’d walk into bars, fast food restaurants, and ask guys to answer questions,” she said.

“I asked what (their) primary interest with women is and actually 73 percent of the men said to have a serious relationship.”

Madison is also a lecturer on sex and relationships for Jodi Solomon Speakers.

Jodi Solomon, president of the organization, said Madison has a unique style of lecturing.

“She does not preach; she educates,” she said.

Madison said her goal for the lectures is to teach students to be proud of their decisions.

“It’s about learning how to make sexual decisions you can agree with the next day.”

Contact the City Editor at city@dailytarheel.com.