{"id":59,"date":"2020-08-17T08:13:43","date_gmt":"2020-08-17T08:13:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stories.mysecretdrawer.co\/2020\/08\/17\/whats-behind-americas-dwindling-sex-drive\/"},"modified":"2020-08-17T08:13:43","modified_gmt":"2020-08-17T08:13:43","slug":"whats-behind-americas-dwindling-sex-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/espressoblues.com\/stories\/whats-behind-americas-dwindling-sex-drive\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s Behind Our Dwindling Sex Drive?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How old were you when you lost your virginity? Writing in 1957, the author Nora Johnson thought young Americans were losing their virginity far too early.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She bemoaned what she thought was the disturbing prevalence of promiscuity on American college campuses. \u201cSleeping around is a risky business, emotionally, physically, and morally,\u201d she warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, accounts of casual sexual behavior among America\u2019s youth have only proliferated, even as society has seemingly become more socially liberal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conservatives have been sounding the same alarm bells for decades \u2013 and the carillons are louder, more verbose, and more insistent than ever before. Noting the explosive rise of the hookup culture in 2015, the anthropologist Peter Wood went so far as to call casual sex \u201can assault on human nature.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Accounts
Accounts of casual sexual behavior among America\u2019s youth have proliferated since the 1950s.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So, when was the last time you got laid?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With such distressing analyses of casual sex among the Western youth, you\u2019d think that young people everywhere are having an orgy of a good time. But the results of a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association<\/strong><\/a> says otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s young are not as quick on the slap-and-tickle as their parents and grandparents were in their day, according to the study. And no, you can\u2019t blame the coronavirus for their seeming lack of interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data collected between 2000 and 2018 shows that one in three American men aged 18 to 24 had no sex at all the previous year. That means young Americans were already practicing their own special kind of social distancing long before the outbreak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2000-2018 study goes on to describe a similar decline in sexual activity among men and women aged 25 to 34 years prior to the pandemic. The decrease was most marked among unmarried individuals, says the research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A 2000-2018 study describes a decline in sexual activity among men and women aged 25 to 34 years.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMore Choices, Fewer Opportunities\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The study does not go into specific detail as to the reason for American youth\u2019s dwindling interest. But one of the study\u2019s authors offered that adolescents may be taking longer to grow into adulthood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is more difficult to date and engage in sexual activity when not economically independent of one\u2019s parents,\u201d says Jean Twenge, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University, in a statement quoted by CNN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twenge also points to the expansion of the internet and digital media. \u201cThere are now many more choices of things to do in the late evening than there once were,\u201d she says, \u201cand fewer opportunities to initiate sexual activity \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The journalist Kate Julian has made a similar observation. In a story for the December 2018 issue of The Atlantic<\/em>, Julian says \u201cyoung people are launching their sex lives later and having sex less frequently\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julian cites a vast array of social, cultural, and technological factors to explain the decline in young people\u2019s sex drives. \u201cThis problem has no single source,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Young
Young people are launching their sex lives later and having sex less frequently.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A Failure to Launch<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

By one count, most couples now meet on dating apps. That cultural change has been good for those who can confirm mutual interest before they proceed with a relationship. But it\u2019s left others feeling locked out of the new dating scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That might account for a marked increase in the frequency of masturbation among young people. In fact, Julian cites some data indicating that young Americans are masturbating more often than previous generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom 1992 to 1994,\u201d she writes, \u201cthe share of American men who reported masturbating in a given week doubled, to 54 percent, and the share of women more than tripled, to 26 percent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The overwhelming feeling of isolation that so many seem to experience in an increasingly interconnected world might make you question the wisdom and purpose of new technology. But just as many people \u2013 women, especially \u2013 have cited a far more primordial reason for their abstinence: physical pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dating
Dating apps have left some feeling locked out of the new dating scene.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Good Morning, Professor Porn…<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A 2012 study out of the University of Indiana says 30 percent of American women experienced pain the last time they had vaginal sex. Some 72 percent experienced pain the last time they had anal sex, according to the study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While historical data are scarce, sex scholars believe that painful sexual intercourse is on the rise<\/a>. Some attribute the increase to pornography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeveral studies show that, in the absence of high-quality sex education,\u201d says Julian, \u201cteen boys look to porn for help understanding sex – anal sex and other acts women can find painful are ubiquitous in mainstream porn.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be that as it may, the phenomenon is by no means relegated to young people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twenge has also found evidence that Americans in general are having less sex. In 2018, a team she led detailed a 14 percent decline in sexual activity among American adults in the 2010s compared to the 1990s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"While
While historical data are scarce, sex scholars believe that painful sexual intercourse is on the rise. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While we cannot blame the pandemic for what seems to have been a growing trend since the 1990s, it certainly won\u2019t help improve the situation moving forward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reports on sexual activity in the age of Covid-19, when people are held to social distancing and lockdown rules, suggest things may only get worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing for the Guardian<\/em> in May, psychosexual therapist Dr Karen Gurney says sex simply isn\u2019t a priority for many people these days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStress and anxiety are known to reduce our sexual desire and a preoccupation with the news, our finances, the health of our loved ones, or how much is in our store cupboards, can understandably slow the wheels of our sex life to a standstill,\u201d says Gurney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s your story? Do you feel fulfilled with your current level of sexual activity? Why not share your thoughts with our readers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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