Post by greatcoastal on Jan 28, 2023 7:05:39 GMT -5
medium.com/narrative/are-we-now-in-a-post-sexual-era-483b3450bff6
Are We Now in a Post-Sexual Era?
When you lower the cost of sex, does that create a long-term decline in its value? Every sexuality stat is dropping
Sexuality is declining. Older Americans, born during the Sexual Revolution, can’t fathom that younger people have less interest in sex than they did at the same age.
When something becomes easier to access, do we value it less? A Time magazine editor, Belinda Luscombe, laments the decline comes when sexual barriers have largely been torn down:
“The social stigma around premarital sex is gone, hookups are not considered shameful, and the belief in limiting partners to one side of the gender line is no longer universal. Our many forms of contraception have reduced the risk of serious physical consequences. There are a wealth of technological assists, including apps like Tinder to help willing partners find each other, endless free online porn to rev the engines, and the Dr. Fils — tadalafil (Cialis), vardenafil (Levitra), and sildenafil (Viagra) to overcome the most common physical limitations for men.”
And yet, Swedish epidemiologist Peter Ueda and colleagues found that “sexual inactivity increased among men aged 18 to 24 years and 25 to 34 years and women aged 25 to 34 years” between 2000 and 2018. They concluded:
“Men with lower income and with part-time or no employment were more likely to be sexually inactive, as were men and women who were students… sexual inactivity increased among U.S. men such that approximately one in three men aged 18 to 24 years reported no sexual activity in the past year.”
Post-sexual era: If sex were a stock, its price would be down — or flat
Are we in a post-sexual age? If sex were a stock, it would now look like a flat, slow-growth “mature industry” stock in an aging industry (like newspapers or AM radio). Sounds crazy in a culture where sex is discussed everywhere? Look at the numbers:
All sexual activity is down, especially among young people
*The National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior shows all sexual activity down over time. Between 2009 and 2018, the proportion of adolescents reporting no sexual activity (celibacy) shot up by double digits.
*Researcher Debby Herbenick saw celibacy among teens jump from 79 percent to 89 percent between 2009 and 2018.
*All ages are having less sex, other surveys show. For example, adolescent males not performing any sexual activity grew from 28.8 percent in 2009 to 44.2 percent in 2018.
*Adolescent females not performing sexual activity went from 49.5 percent in 2009 to 74 percent in 2018.
Americans in their 20s also report less interest in sex
*The University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future survey of high school graduates ages 21–31 found men in their 20s reporting “abstinence rose significantly between 2008 and 2020, from 14.4 percent to 23.5 percent— an increase of nearly two-thirds.” Among females, abstinence rose “from 12.8 percent in 2008 to 16.5 percent in 2020.”
Hook-ups, marriage, births, abortion — all down over time
*What about the hook-up culture? Meanwhile, the number of young men with multiple sex partners over the prior 12 months dropped from 28.3 percent in 2010 to 21.7 percent in 2018.
*Other critical indicators connected to sexual activity have each seen long-term declines, including marriage, births, and abortions.
*For the first time in our history, the United States is on track to see its population shrink 20 percent with each new generation. Comparable numbers are even lower in other developed nations, prompting Nicholas Eberstadt and other researchers to ask about a “de-population bomb.”
Sexual Revolution losing its shine? Can liberal feminists and conservative Christians agree sex should be more sacred?
British writer Louise Perry, a feminist and liberal columnist for the Guardian, released a new book, The Case Against the Sexual Revolution: A New Guide to Sex in the 21st Century.
Perry writes that making sex free and easy devalued it over time: “This is the idea that sex is nothing more than a leisure activity, invested with meaning only if the participants choose to give it meaning. Proponents of this idea argue that sex has no intrinsic specialness.”
Among conservative Catholics, researchers found “a statistically significant decline between 2002 and the 2018/2019 years overall and for active parishioners who attend Mass at least weekly. But the specific age graphs show that the only age group that really declined significantly — both overall and weekly Mass attenders — were those 18 through 22.”
Are We Now in a Post-Sexual Era?
When you lower the cost of sex, does that create a long-term decline in its value? Every sexuality stat is dropping
Sexuality is declining. Older Americans, born during the Sexual Revolution, can’t fathom that younger people have less interest in sex than they did at the same age.
When something becomes easier to access, do we value it less? A Time magazine editor, Belinda Luscombe, laments the decline comes when sexual barriers have largely been torn down:
“The social stigma around premarital sex is gone, hookups are not considered shameful, and the belief in limiting partners to one side of the gender line is no longer universal. Our many forms of contraception have reduced the risk of serious physical consequences. There are a wealth of technological assists, including apps like Tinder to help willing partners find each other, endless free online porn to rev the engines, and the Dr. Fils — tadalafil (Cialis), vardenafil (Levitra), and sildenafil (Viagra) to overcome the most common physical limitations for men.”
And yet, Swedish epidemiologist Peter Ueda and colleagues found that “sexual inactivity increased among men aged 18 to 24 years and 25 to 34 years and women aged 25 to 34 years” between 2000 and 2018. They concluded:
“Men with lower income and with part-time or no employment were more likely to be sexually inactive, as were men and women who were students… sexual inactivity increased among U.S. men such that approximately one in three men aged 18 to 24 years reported no sexual activity in the past year.”
Post-sexual era: If sex were a stock, its price would be down — or flat
Are we in a post-sexual age? If sex were a stock, it would now look like a flat, slow-growth “mature industry” stock in an aging industry (like newspapers or AM radio). Sounds crazy in a culture where sex is discussed everywhere? Look at the numbers:
All sexual activity is down, especially among young people
*The National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior shows all sexual activity down over time. Between 2009 and 2018, the proportion of adolescents reporting no sexual activity (celibacy) shot up by double digits.
*Researcher Debby Herbenick saw celibacy among teens jump from 79 percent to 89 percent between 2009 and 2018.
*All ages are having less sex, other surveys show. For example, adolescent males not performing any sexual activity grew from 28.8 percent in 2009 to 44.2 percent in 2018.
*Adolescent females not performing sexual activity went from 49.5 percent in 2009 to 74 percent in 2018.
Americans in their 20s also report less interest in sex
*The University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future survey of high school graduates ages 21–31 found men in their 20s reporting “abstinence rose significantly between 2008 and 2020, from 14.4 percent to 23.5 percent— an increase of nearly two-thirds.” Among females, abstinence rose “from 12.8 percent in 2008 to 16.5 percent in 2020.”
Hook-ups, marriage, births, abortion — all down over time
*What about the hook-up culture? Meanwhile, the number of young men with multiple sex partners over the prior 12 months dropped from 28.3 percent in 2010 to 21.7 percent in 2018.
*Other critical indicators connected to sexual activity have each seen long-term declines, including marriage, births, and abortions.
*For the first time in our history, the United States is on track to see its population shrink 20 percent with each new generation. Comparable numbers are even lower in other developed nations, prompting Nicholas Eberstadt and other researchers to ask about a “de-population bomb.”
Sexual Revolution losing its shine? Can liberal feminists and conservative Christians agree sex should be more sacred?
British writer Louise Perry, a feminist and liberal columnist for the Guardian, released a new book, The Case Against the Sexual Revolution: A New Guide to Sex in the 21st Century.
Perry writes that making sex free and easy devalued it over time: “This is the idea that sex is nothing more than a leisure activity, invested with meaning only if the participants choose to give it meaning. Proponents of this idea argue that sex has no intrinsic specialness.”
Among conservative Catholics, researchers found “a statistically significant decline between 2002 and the 2018/2019 years overall and for active parishioners who attend Mass at least weekly. But the specific age graphs show that the only age group that really declined significantly — both overall and weekly Mass attenders — were those 18 through 22.”