France is in the middle of its very own “sex recession”. The poll by the French Institute of Public Opinion (IFOP) found that 24 per cent of French adults aged between 18 and 69 said they had had no sex over the previous 12 months, compared with 9 per cent in 2006. The proportion of those aged 18 to 24 who had never had sex was 28 per cent, up from 5 per cent in 2006. Overall, 43 per cent of the 1,911 respondents said they had sex at least once a week, compared with 58 per cent in 2009. Overall, the proportion of French people who have had sexual intercourse in the past year – 76 per cent on average – is at its lowest level in 50 years (View Highlight)
Outside Europe, the most sex-starved of all appear to be the Japanese with a major survey out this month finding that more than 68 per cent of marriages in the country are completely sexless or virtually devoid of a physical element, underlining the problems the government faces in reversing the nation’s falling birth rate. (View Highlight)
The world is definitely having less sex, confirms Soazig Clifton, the academic director for Natsal at University College London and NatCen Social Research. But why? Clifton says one potential cause is that “people feel more comfortable talking about sex now, compared with the 1990s”. She adds: “Maybe people are more able to tell us that they’re not having sex. There is some statistical work we’ve done that shows we have a bit less reporting bias in our data.” (View Highlight)
Observers suggested that there could be a highly positive side to the decline in sexual activity, namely a form of liberation from the social pressure to be sexually active, as well as from people simply finding other things to do. Women, for instance, are less prone to agree to sex with their partners as a matter of conjugal duty than they were a couple of generations ago (View Highlight)
The French study, like others, finds that social pressures to have an active sex life – or at least to be thought to be having one – are dwindling. Twelve per cent of respondents defined themselves as asexual, for instance. Their current standard-bearer is Anna Mangeot, who has just published Asexuelle on “a woman who loves without making love”. “I’m not sexually abstinent, I’m asexual. I was born that way, it’s innate,” she says. An asexual is “a person who feels little or no sexual attraction towards others,” even if they can have libido and auto-erotic pleasure, she says. “But that hasn’t stopped me from falling in love and being in a relationship. So I’ve always been in relationships without any sexual attraction and they’ve always worked quite well, even perfectly in my relationship today.” (View Highlight)
French neuroscientist and sexologist Aurore Malet Karas says that screens, apps and porn were clearly taking their toll on physical sex as they cast into question the effort-to-pleasure ratio of real-life hook-ups versus the virtual world. “Does the recompense of a real-life encounter live up to expectations when you can make less effort and have as much pleasure? People who I consult often say it’s not worth it. When you’re single you have to find a partner, meet up, take a train, pay for a meal, have a conversation and all that for a result that may not be up to the mark.” (View Highlight)
While few would argue that being able to say “no” to sex either inside or out of a couple is a positive step, she said that “the issue of consent is masking the greyer area of desire and that there is a risk of throwing the baby out with the bathwater”. “Consent is easier to talk about, it’s well, more consensual, but coming to terms with sexual desire is a revolution that is still waiting to happen,” she said. (View Highlight)
In l’Express, editorialist Abnousse Shalmani added: “Sex without consent and desire is violence and rape. But not all sex is submission. By lumping the two together, neo-feminists are extricating women from physical love.” She said the sexual act itself was scientifically proven to be good for us both physically and mentally. “What if eco-anxiety, collective depression, aggressiveness by way of hello, and indifference of others were the consequence of one thing: the absence of sex life?,” she asked. (View Highlight)
Another thing I have noted is the explosion in the use of sex toys, notably vibrators for women. Before you had to go to a seedy shop, now you just buy them online. “As a result, solo pleasures are a lot more democratic and widespread than they used to be, certainly compared to 2009. All my friends have one. Five minutes in the shower and off you go. That can lead to a drop in the need to have sex.” (View Highlight)
“When people are happy about it, they shouldn’t feel bad. But if they feel frustrated about it, they do need to act.” (View Highlight)
A propósito de los criterios para evaluar si hay problemas en el ámbito sexual.