Let’s Speculate About (A Lack Of) Sex, Baby!

Let’s Speculate About (A Lack Of) Sex, Baby!

by Calico Rudasill, Sssh.com Porn Movies For Women and Couples

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It’s a weekday, which these days means somebody (likely several somebodies) has published an article asking why people are having less sex these days.

The answers – or, more properly, the speculations – are as numerous as the articles in which they appear. You know how it goes: “It must be the porn! No, it’s all those darn video games! Or it’s social media… because algorithms… umm… something…. Uh… Defund Facebook Now!

How Widespread is the Decline in Hanky Panky?

In a recent article for ScienceFocus.com, Amy Barrett (no, not THAT Amy Barrett) explores a range of possible reasons for the decline in sex, noting that the trend appears to be much broader than the U.S. alone.

Barrett reports that when she asked Soazig Clifton, the academic director for Natsal at University College London, if British people are having less sex, Clifton responded with “a resounding yes”

“If you look around the world, other comparable studies show a decrease as well,” Clifton added. “So, it seems to be a real international trend.”

I’m going to call this trend a “Reverse O’Jays” trend, because clearly, at least for the moment, people all over the world are not joining hands (or genitals) to start a love train.

So, what does Clifton make of the idea that people of all ages and demographics are having less sex because of time spent on social media and video gaming?

“Clifton warns that observational studies, like Natsal and NSSHB, ‘can’t easily answer the ‘why’ questions’,” Barrett writes.

“It is certainly theoretically plausible that people are spending so much time on their iPads and phones, connecting with others virtually rather than having sex with the person next to them,” Clifton adds.

Sadly, Barrett doesn’t seem to have asked Clifton about my reptilian alien replacement theory, but I did say I was going to leave the speculating to others, so I suppose I can’t be too disappointed about that.

Again: It’s Not Because of Porn

Kaye Wellings, a Professor of Sexual and Reproductive Health Research, Faculty of Public Health and Policy, at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (talk about a mouthful of a job title, eh?), addressed the sex-frequency question in a blog post for BMJ.com – which she begins by observing that whatever the answer might be, there’s sure a lot of interest on the part of the media.

“One thing that is apparent from several decades of research into sexual behaviour is the certainty that there will be no shortage of interest in the results,” Wellings writes. “What is less predictable is which aspect of the findings will attract the most attention.”

Wellings notes that when the results of the third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles was published in 2013, “a single sentence reporting a decrease between the three decennial surveys in the mean frequency of sex was seized on at the press conference.”

“Could it be because of pornography?” the assembled journalists eagerly asked.

“Anxious to dispel this myth, we pointed out that in other studies, the frequency of partnered sexual activity had been shown to be higher among those using pornography,” Wellings writes.

Spoiler Alert: Anticlimax Sex Ahead

And here we arrive at the part that makes me feel like maybe I am smart enough to speculate on this subject: “Any explanation for the possible decline in sexual frequency must be conjectural and no single explanation will apply to all social groups,” Wellngs asserts.

Hey — that’s what I said! (More or less.)

Wait…. It just dawned on me that this means my post, not just this post, but every post I write on this subject, could be easily shortened to a single question-and-answer pairing of just 11 total words: Why are people having less sex? Well, nobody knows for sure.”

Hmm. Now that I see it written out, that’s not a particularly satisfying (or edifying) answer, either.

You know what? I’m taking back that bit about leaving the speculating to others. Next time I write about the subject of the Great Sex Recession, I’m absolutely going to do a deep dive into the reptilian shape-shifter theory… mostly because nobody is going to pay me to write a 11-word post.