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The share of Americans having regular sex keeps dropping
- ksenzee 1y agoTo quote a relative of mine, when asked if he and his wife were going to have a third child: “No, no. We found out what causes that. We don’t do that anymore.”
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- toomuchtodo 1y agoMy vasectomy was 15 min in and out at no cost to me (ten US states require insurance cover with no cost sharing as of this comment), and I have all the sex I can get (respectfully asking anyone who might be interested) with no offspring risk. Perhaps this is not a well known option?
- saulpw 1y agoIt's a joke about having children diminishes their father's sexual attraction to their mother.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- mcphage 1y agoIs it? I’m not sure how you interpreted it that way.
- ksenzee 1y agoIt was definitely said tongue-in-cheek. At the time I interpreted it as “we’re done having kids, and also we’re running around after two little kids and too tired for that.”
- rubslopes 1y agoHmm I don't think so...
- lithocarpus 1y agoHumans generally don't interact in person as much with other humans anymore and technology is I think one of the big drivers of this change. From the article: "When it comes to sexlessness (“no sex in the last year”) among young adults, the biggest change comes post-2010." "Between 2010 and 2019, the average time young adults spent with friends in a given week fell by nearly 50%, from 12.8 hours to just 6.5 hours." No doubt there are other factors too, and all of the factors are entangled together as in any complex system, but I think internet and smartphones is one of the biggest aspects to point to.
- bbkane 1y agoThey should call it "the social recession". Just in the past couple of weeks we've met some neighbors with toddlers that enjoy our toddler. It's been SUPER nice being able to hanf out with the adults while the kids entertain each other.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- __turbobrew__ 1y agoSmart phones and the ubiquity of internet and video games is really it I think. You never have to be bored anymore, and therefore don’t have to meetup in person to be entertained.
- AstralStorm 1y agoThe timeline does not match. Both were widely available in oughts. So there was something smooth that hit a phase transition. Likely enployment or housing prices, forcing people to engage survival mode. People in this mode do not feel secure enough to have sex or especially start families.
- __turbobrew__ 1y agoThe first smartphone — iphone — came out in 2007? Adoption definitely started ramping up in 2010. Video games were available pre-2010, but they weren’t nearly as ubiquitous, and honestly the people playing lots of video games pre-2010 weren’t having lots of sex either.
- revx 1y agoThe article mostly blames pornography and digital addiction, but I think those are symptoms of a larger problem, which is lack of belonging and community. If life sucks, you have few friends you can afford the time or money to see, and you work to make other people rich until you are exhausted, when do you have time and energy to maintain a relationship? If you feel like the world is on fire, it's hard to get in the mood. It would help if we built third spaces that weren't centered around alcohol, which is also declining in popularity, especially with young adults. Americans: why isn't anyone having sex anymore?? Also Americans: Abstinence only! You'll get pregnant! No abortions! STDs will kill you! Men deserve sex! We're not going to teach you how your body works! Of course we end up with declining sex, in a country so obsessed with individualism and sex-adverse. I do see hope though. The kids in my community are being taught age-appropriate, consent-based sex ed, and the availability of free, high-quality sex ed is improving. I would be really interested to see if sex frequency is declining for everyone, or just for people who aren't putting in any emotional labor to learning and growing as a person when it comes to sexuality. Just some off-the-cuff thoughts :)
- d4mi3n 1y agoYou make some good points about attitude around sex in parts of the US today, and the erosion of community is a topic I was was more often discussed. Sex ed is also something I was more universally supported. Regardless of your views on when someone should have sex, I doubt it serves anyone’s goals to have young adults getting hurt, sick, or traumatized by a natural part of growing up.
- revx 1y agoI recently read (and enjoyed) Casey Tanner's _Feel it All_, which takes the stance that lack of sex ed is little-t traumatic, and backs up that argument convincingly. It's a surprisingly positive read, given that thesis. The idea that we should be tought (in an age approptiate way) how our bodies work and how to respect others shouldn't be controversial, and yet, here we are.
- AstralStorm 1y ago
- nathan_compton 1y agoYou gotta love a society which persistently makes the world a worse and worse place and then complains when people don't want to have sex or have kids. I'm not one of those weirdos who can't see that materially in some superficial ways, our lives are better than ever: medicine, toys, entertainment, and a lot of other stuff, better than ever. Not only that, I can even acknowledge that capitalism is what has provided this bounty to us. But what it also does is underline all the time that you, personally are not "adequate" unless you want to be the kind of person who hustles all the time, who is seeking an angle or an alpha, who wants to be an entrepreneur of some kind. I think this just doesn't appeal to most people the message society is sending loud and clear is that if you just want to have a nice life and you don't want to constantly figure out new ways to improve your capital, you'll get left behind. I think for many people this doesn't seem like a cool world to have a baby in.
- praptak 1y agoEven the purely materialistic improvements have negative externalities which the rich western countries could mostly ignore but cannot anymore. I'm obviously talking the climate catastrophe plus the huge bunch of political problems.
- AnimalMuppet 1y agoI think it's more than just "you aren't adequate". I think it's that the material prosperity isn't feeding our souls, or our hearts, or whatever word you want to use. We're better off, but less connected, and we need personal connection, not just internet connection. We're dying inside, even in the midst of all the stuff. We're poor in a way that material prosperity can't fix.
- asdev 1y agoThis is all because of technology. Pre internet you could not just isolate yourself and medicate with content since there was only the television. In person communities formed organically as an effect. Those communities have now been eroded by technology. And no, technology cannot help make in person community, it's something organic that needs to happen with people.
- d4mi3n 1y agoPlenty of people isolated and medicated with TV alone. Couch potatoes were a thing. Plenty of people also find community through technology, so I personally don’t believe technology is the only contributing factor here. I do agree with in you general about many Americans not having enough social or communal interaction, though. I suspect this is more a symptom of a lot of other social issues than a purely technological problem though.
- ramesh31 1y ago>Plenty of people isolated and medicated with TV alone. Couch potatoes were a thing. As with all addiction, the poison is not just in the dosage, but the intensity of the hit. Television was only so powerful. Shows ended, commercials ran, and channels were limited. Of course the rise of having absolutely anything imaginable available at all times in high definition in limitless amounts will make the effect far stronger.
- asdev 1y agoYou have on demand options of anything you want now. You did not have that with TV. The pull to isolate and medicate is a million times stronger now than it was then
- platevoltage 1y agoOn the other hand an extremely shy introvert such as myself might experience things like social media and dating apps having a positive effect on their in-person social life. This is when social media was actually used for more than keeping up with influencers.
- d4mi3n 1y agoIs this really all that surprising? We have a ton of things ongoing now that we either know or suspect are big contributors to this: - the whole male loneliness epidemic - a longstanding loss of community and social organizations around the country - a pretty terrible job market for many Americans - plenty of things to be stressed or worried about. Geopolitical instability. Erosion of individual rights. The complete failure of political leadership across the US. Rising cancer rates. Take your pick.
- amelius 1y agoFeminism maybe? (yes controversial, more science needed)
- smt88 1y agoYes, in the sense that educated and working women have started to prefer a partner at the same or higher levels of education and income. But most people don't have college degrees, so this doesn't explain everything.
- watwut 1y agoCollege educated women are marrying at about same rate as they used to. They marry men with similar income even if they are not College educated. Uneducated women marry significantly less.
- namuol 1y agoFeminism started in 2010?
- notahacker 1y agoyeah, if you were going with the political cultural phenomena explanations rather than merely reduced socialization, the "incel" movements are a far more recent phenomenon than feminism...
- amelius 1y ago
- ramesh31 1y agoI do think the alcohol-fueled hookup culture that persisted in the US from the '70s to the '00s will be seen as a historical anomaly in the long run. The idea of empowerment has given way to the understanding that women have almost nothing to gain from the arrangement, and have bore the brunt of most of its' downsides.
- bryanrasmussen 1y agoAside from the other examples given I suppose (listed in no particular order, numbers not related to importance of reason) 1. Social movements promoting not having sex. Obviously not that big a thing but it does cut down the available sex partners. 2. reiterating the examples people give of animosity between male and female, straight sex still the bulk of sex and does seem to be a lot more reasons for avoiding each other nowadays. 3. neurodivergence becoming more acceptable, many neurodivergent people have lesser sex drives, in the past you might have just decided to go ahead and have sex because oh well it's what one does isn't it. 4. sex is going down in comparison to previous decades which might have been especially high sex decades. Perhaps the sexual revolution was revolutionary but now it is somewhat old hat and not as interesting.
- fruitworks 1y agofertility decreased in the sexual revolution
- stickfigure 1y agoArticle is written by a conservative think tank pushing traditional family values. The statistics might or might not be valid but I wouldn't take their word for it.
- alehlopeh 1y agoSeriously. I don’t understand why nearly every other comment just assumes the headline is true without a second thought.
- reilly3000 1y agoBanning pornography is high on the agenda for these folks. I’m sure they get paid to turn out think pieces on the subject.
- monero-xmr 1y agoThis is why I immediately brush off articles from liberal think tanks pushing novel anti-family values. The statistics might or might not be valid but I wouldn’t take their word for it
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- impish9208 1y agoThe underlying study is the General Social Survey (GSS) out of NORC/University of Chicago, a dependable source for these types of data since the 1970’s. I can’t speak for the IFS, but yours seems to be a classic case of discounting the message because you don’t like the messenger.
- stickfigure 1y agoSocial science studies are notoriously difficult and often contradictory even when the authors are honest and doing their best. What other studies have been done on this subject, and did they reach similar conclusions? What evidence out there contradicts this study, and why should we give more weight to this evidence? "Pick the study that reinforces the point you are trying to make" is a classic. From years of reading Scott Alexander I've become attuned to the difference between 1) someone trying to convince me of something or 2) someone trying to discover the truth. The tone of this article fits clearly into category #1. That doesn't mean it isn't true, but it should not be accepted at face value.
- sonictomb 1y agoIn micro economics, when a substitute reduces in cost and increases in quality, we see a substitution effect [0] (amusingly, coined by economist Eugen Slutsky), i.e. people switch away from the relatively expensive good and into its lower cost substitute. The primary substitute for physical sex is DIY with porn. Over the past 30 years porn has become orders of magnitudes cheaper (pre internet, it was ~$9 to see ~5 humans nude a la playboy magazine, and involved a trip to the shops; now it's approximately free and instant). Porn simultaneously increased orders of magnitude in quality and variety. If you apply the same thinking to any other two substitute products (i.e. one gets 1000x cheaper whilst improving in quality and variety, whilst the original stays approximately the same), we could expect the exact same results, i.e. switching from one to the other. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substitution_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substitution_effect
- jjk166 1y agoPorn is a substitute for seeing strangers naked. It's not a substitute for relationships, or even for sexual release. Masturbating is no cheaper or easier now than it ever was; people have been pursuing romantic and sexual relationships despite having the option to masturbate forever.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- jayceedenton 1y agoIt's not really surprising. Hetero sexual desire has been framed negatively for well over a decade, as at best exploitative and at worst misogynistic and perverted. Men told that if you want sex you're part of society's biggest problem, and women told that if you give in to a man's sordid desires you are being taken advantage of and subjugated. All we ever talk about is the dreaded 'power imbalance'. We've removed sex from normal life as far as possible. Films can be full of violence but any hint of titillation is verboten now. Any reference to sex in normal walks of life is seen as harassment, chauvinistic or pandering to the male gaze. Our culture is influenced by global social and religious conservatism in the quest to sell media to as many markets as possible. Our own new conservatism (the so-called left wing) is just as bad. On top of that we have the culmination of a few decades of obsessive education about STDs and sex as a dangerous act that can ruin lives. A far cry from 'The Joy of Sex' as a cultural phenomenon. We're letting prudes and those with deep psychological issues around sex call the shots. Millennials and Gen Z may be a lost cause, but let's hope that Gen A can rewrite the rules.
- mathiaspoint 1y agoIt's crazy, the rural fundamentalist Christian community I was raised in was more sex positive than almost everyone in secular institutions despite all the "misogyny" and "homophobia."
- SirChud 1y ago[dead]
- gosub100 1y ago[flagged]
- alwa 1y agoCounterpoint, courtesy of The New York Magazine deep in the throes of silly season: https://www.thecut.com/article/ghb-doxypep-sniffies-peak-gay-sluttiness-era-nyc.html https://www.thecut.com/article/ghb-doxypep-sniffies-peak-gay... To indulge my inner freshman-dorm-philosopher: It feels like every social dynamic is becoming "more of itself" as the engines of standardization and commodification churn. With the social technologies bringing the same phenomena to interpersonal relationships as the forces of capital did to our material relationships: everything is relatively abundant but cheap and interchangeable and disposable; friction is sanded away; stimuli are hyper-optimized for salience; everything's about closing the next sale, and a long-term relationship is an obstacle to that end... How can the real world compete? Why build when you can rent? Why turn from the endless variety and bright colors and ocean of perfect bodies or whatever, toward something that's "special because it's ours," and frankly, much more boring than in the movies (or The New York Magazine)? Plus, the risk! The vulnerability! Was it John Mayer who got a bit of hot water over his relationship with pornography [1]? More than enough is too much, what is essential is invisible to the eye, it is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important, etc. :) [1] https://www.playboy.com/read/playboy-interview-john-mayer/?srsltid=AfmBOopSGkqsukzTEdtjaVLDgBeCOjLq_VyMbVmDCG_uf_TGGzhSwkYq#:~:text=%20By%20the%20way%2C%20pornography?%20It’s%20a%20new%20synaptic%20pathway.%20You%20wake%20up%20in%20the%20morning%2C%20open%20a%20thumbnail%20page%2C%20and%20it%20leads%20to%20a%20Pandora’s%20box%20of%20visuals.%20There%20have%20probably%20been%20days%20when%20I%20saw%20300%20vaginas%20before%20I%20got%20out%20of%20bed. https://www.playboy.com/read/playboy-interview-john-mayer/?s...
- ZYbCRq22HbJ2y7 1y agoI wonder how much this correlates with fewer one on one relationships versus more "broadcast" and parasocial relationships
- Herodotus38 1y agoI didn’t see any mention in the article about the rise of obesity as a possible cause. Aside from the social aspects which could be debated, older obese adult men are more likely to have medical conditions that would decrease their ability to have sex. I think the other reasons they posted are valid but was expecting a comment on that.
- hereme888 1y ago[flagged]
- iamacyborg 1y ago> Sure, at first everyone wants her, but many men don't want to marry and raise a family if mom publicly dresses/acts to attract other men's attention. I think you’re projecting some pretty heavy misogyny here.
- hereme888 1y agoIt would seem that way, but I absolutely love women. Who wouldn't?
- Jensson 1y ago> but I absolutely love women. Who wouldn't? Women, they tend to love men.
- iamacyborg 1y agoSome of them love some men, certainly.
- mathiaspoint 1y ago[flagged]
- iamacyborg 1y agoSure, some guys are tired of their bad behaviour being called out, but that’s precisely why it needs to still be called out.
- mathiaspoint 1y agoIt turns out egalitarianism is antinatilist. Antinatilist ideologies cannot persist long term so continuing that isn't an option. The two available options are: a) double down, die out, and get replaced by actual misogynists (ie Muslims, cartels etc) b) find a nice compromise that actually works and minimizes people who get abused (like US culture 100 years ago or maybe something else.) You're welcome to participate in the discussion those of us chosing b have but if you chose a listening to you is a waste of time at best.
- maxaw 1y agoAs others have pointed out, we need more space, and time, to socialise with each other in unstructured ways. This will inevitably lead to more sex (pure human nature). There are many very obvious reasons why this isn’t happening, like working longer hours to cope with cost of living, or high real estate prices that make it financially unsustainable to operate third places.
- mathiaspoint 1y agoNearly all in person interaction is a meaningless waste of time now. The only thing really left is sex and work. You're not supposed to have sex with your coworkers (if you even have a job where you work in person) and everyone is shamed for going to places specifically for sex so there's literally no way too initiate that kind of relationship anymore.
- miltonlost 1y ago> Nearly all in person interaction is a meaningless waste of time now. This says more about you than it does society.
- mathiaspoint 1y agoIf everyone is experiencing it then it is, infact, a societal problem. That's what the whole thread is about.
- mcphage 1y agoThis whole thread isn’t about nearly all in person interaction being a meaningless waste of time.
- dwaltrip 1y ago> Nearly all in person interaction is a meaningless waste of time now. Please get help. It doesn’t have to be this way, I promise.
- andrewrn 1y agoThis is very much upstream of sex. I just started a masters program this week, and on Friday night at 8 pm, zero out of 52 of my cohort members wanted to join me for a beer. It's anecdotal, but seemed really remarkable to me. So it's not just sex, young people don't socialize in-person nearly as much as they used to. I have no idea how this will be addressed, if it does ever get addressed.
- jeffbee 1y agoA brewpub steps from UC Berkeley just gave up half their building to a chain dumpling restaurant. When it is busy there, it's locals, not students. The youngs just aren't into beer.
- tayo42 1y agoI feel like beer and alcohol is on a decline. People don't like expensive cocktails. Maybe ask to share a joint? Lol
- everybodyknows 1y ago> upstream of sex A metaphor worth stealing.
- lbreakjai 1y agoIs it a lack of interest, or are they being priced out? When I was in university around 2010, you could do a very decent night out for 20€, and crash in your mate's student room, for which they paid 250€ per month. You'd meet friends, friends of friends, and your social circle would just expand. Now the rent tripled, 20€ gets you a beer and a bus ride, and people stay home with the same few friends, if they're bothered to do anything at all.
- jjk166 1y agoI recently visited my alma mater. There is a restaurant/bar right in the middle of campus, which in my time was always an extremely crowded social spot. In addition to the convenient location, meals at the restaurant are covered by the university meal plan, so it's a great way to get some variety from cafeteria food at no added cost. Plenty of students in my time hung out there despite not drinking. When I visited, the place was dead - I and a fellow alumni I was meeting were the only two non-employees there. This was during typical dinner rush hours. There were quite a few door-dashers picking up food, but no one actually coming in to partake in either the bar or the food. During the same trip, I went to quite a few bars and restaurants in the area around the campus which were all packed, but I didn't see anyone college aged at any of them. None of these places were expensive, either when I was in undergrad or now. Obviously this is one anecdote, but it seems the kids these days just don't like going out to bars and restaurants. I can't imagine 20 somethings have stopped liking food, so it seems the atmosphere is more likely the issue.
- iamacyborg 1y agoOne thing I’ve noticed in London, being recently single after a 7 year relationship is that people’s behaviour on dating apps has changed pretty considerably. Speaking to female and male friends, both sides are seeing them as a complete shitshow that’s not helping either side meet the right people.
- k__ 1y agoHonestly, I never had much success on dating apps. And I used them since the early 2000s. Meeting people IRL yielded much better results. But I have to admit, I met my latest partner in 2019, so I don't know how the pandemic would my current dating success.
- iamacyborg 1y agoI used them a lot from 2014-2017 and met a lot of people, both in London and in my brief stay in the States so I’m mostly comparing my experience now vs then.
- jayceedenton 1y ago> Speaking to female and male friends, both sides are seeing them as a complete shitshow In what sense?
- iamacyborg 1y agoTo simplify, women are completely inundated with poor quality matches, men get very few matches.
- user____name 1y agoIt's a global phenomenon, I think it's just one of those inconvenient truths about women entering the workforce no longer seeing their central purpose in life being a mother and being pressured to find a desirable spouse to support her.
- platevoltage 1y agoDoes any of this reduce a woman's sex drive?
- Hydraulix989 1y agoI mean, we all know the birth rate is dropping already?
- k__ 1y agoTo be fair, you don't need to have sex each week to make children.
- BobaFloutist 1y agoAnd you absolutely don't need to make children to have sex each week!
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- bgirard 1y agoI'm most surprised that people used to spend 12.3 hours/week with friends. With work, errands, laundry, relationships, family I find it hard to believe. Plus anyone that's a parent to a young kid in that age range. That's socialized 2-3 hours 5 nights a week, or a long hangout on the weekend. None of my friends have that kind of time.
- cma 1y agoPeople had kids earlier. A one week beach vacation with parents of other kids in a shared house over spring break would be 25% of that figure. Add some selection of little league/soccer/ballet/gymnastics/church/children's theater and kid stuff might be a majority. Dinner parties, their own adult sports, rotary club, charity ball, fishing, hunting. Church and breakfast or lunch before/after with church friends alone might be a consistent 4-5 hours with friends a week. A weekly game of golf could add 3-5 hours.
- swasheck 1y agoi wonder if the antisocial trend that has been discussed here have led to an unhealthy skepticism of others. tiktok videos that tell my late teen daughter that a boy who doesn’t check _all_ the boxes is unfit or unworthy of relationship and intimacy. there’s wisdom in looking for flags (red, green, or otherwise) if you’re seeking a committed relationship, but they honestly create so much fear and skepticism in her (and her peer group) and functionally objectify boys as emotional and practical vending machines that are held to a 100% standard. essentially they are a different form of pornography that sets up unrealistic expectations for potential partners. instead of using it as a tool and saying “hey, let’s try this” (sexually, emotionally, practically), they’re conditioned to just pull the ripcord if you don’t meet expectations
- ic_fly2 1y agoI’m pretty sure it’s smartphones and aging society. I’ve been gathering data on the natural experiment that occurred due to differences in proliferation of smartphones across countries. The sex surveys aren’t consistent but that is a very strong factor. Look at the hockey stick curve in the paper here. The rest of the decline is (in my evaluation) best explained with the increase in average age of the 18-64 year old demographic.
- ancillary 1y ago> The rest of the decline is (in my evaluation) best explained with the increase in average age of the 18-64 year old demographic. I wondered about this before reading the article, but there's a chart in the article comparing narrow ~10 year age ranges to their past levels, and the decline is persistent in each group, so I don't think it can be explained by the overall population being older.
- raffael_de 1y agoI would like to note that sex is just the proxy metric here as it is countable. Neither the article nor the relevant questions are about frequency of sexual activity.
- SirChud 1y ago[dead]
- gadflyinyoureye 1y agoI haven't seen anyone talking about low T. My doctor has found that many millennials and z have T under 300. One of his patients was about to divorce because he didn't want sex. A San ball change in diet and exercise saved that marriage. Now look at the world of singles. T increase risk taking. What if we have several generations of low T and therefore loss desire for risk. Let's exclude the modern reality of women posting men who approach them to social media as if they are creeps. No T means no risk taking.
- Ancapistani 1y agoI’m not sure why this is fading, but I think it’s a big part of it. Testosterone levels have been decreasing for many years, and we don’t know why. It seems to be environmental.
- sublinear 1y agoThis trend is probably the best example possible of "correlation does not imply causation". If there is any clear reason at all, it's simply that sex is a choice. It has been completely unrelated to survival for a long while now. Yes, it is technically required at scale that someone has babies, but if no particular individual feels that pressure you should expect it to fluctuate like any other choice. Sex would have to mean something to the individual for the numbers to go back up.
- LeanderK 1y agopeople always cheer up stats like that americans are drinking less, but I think what's overlooked is that young adults also socialising less. Turns out, they also have less sex, less relationships, are less extroverted and play more computer-games. I guess they also date less. I am not sure whether that's a win. Btw, from my personal experience in europe, I actually don't see a significant rise in sober adults when going out. Combined with the rise of loneliness (from 12h per week of socialising in 2010 to just 5h!) I think its not because they found a fun sober alternative, I think its because they don't see anyone anymore. Or the other way around: Do the share of young adults, who socialize as much as previous generations, also drink significantly less, date less, have less sex? How do these stats behave when controlled for the amount of socialising one does?
- StefanBatory 1y agoI think it's cultural too. (But I'm Polish, not American) I was raised by very anxious mother, until I was like 20-21, I never got out of the house unless it was for school. And nowadays I just... don't know how I would even meet people. 10-20 years ago, someone would tell her she's insane. Later, she'd be seen as a protecting parent.
- FooBarBizBazz 1y ago"I know what my life needs -- chaos, demands, and risk!' Been there, done that. This trend arises from a rational analysis of tradeoffs.
- fuzzfactor 1y agoIt's no surprise since irregular sex has gotten so popular.
- elcapitan 1y agoThe people who are actually having the sex are probably those who don't project all the world's evils or goods (depending on ideology) into it.
- naveen99 1y agoIs the rising average age not enough to explain it ?
- hcnova10 1y agoAs an Asian guy, I’d guess the statistics in Asia are even worse. There’s the combination of long working hours, academic pressure and a culture that tends to be less openly sexual. From my own experience dating both Asian and Western women, I’ve noticed a clear difference: Western women often bring up sexual topics casually, sometimes even asking for nude photos and wondering why you haven’t already suggested it. That’s something I’ve never encountered with Asian women. It makes me think that in long-term relationships too, Western women are more likely to be sexually expressive and expect frequent sex, whereas Asian women generally place less emphasis on it.
- bmitch3020 1y agoThis can be summed up as a time and money problem. Time has disappeared as people attempt to do everything themselves (work, cooking, cleaning, managing finances, etc) that may have been shared or outsourced in the past. But time has also disappeared into intentionally addictive apps on our phones. Every commercial game and social media site is designed to maximize your eyes. Money seems to be ignored by the article, but every generation is worse off than their parents, as wages stagnate, housing skyrockets, student loan and medical debt keep going up, leaving less and less disposable income. With finances so tight, people cut back on group gatherings that have an associated expense (bars, concerts, etc). And raising children becomes unaffordable. Personally, I blame billionaires, including their influence on tax policies, suppression of wages, and the creation of monopolies that push up prices. The elimination of sex is just one of many side effects of a much bigger issue affecting the working population around the world.
- axiologist 1y agoClosely related: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44348016 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44348016
- TrnsltLife 1y agoThere's an interesting video I watched recently on how "manipulative reproductive suppression" may be an evolutionary tactic to ensure the success of one's own offspring at the expense of everyone else's. If true it's probably relevant to this question if not the only factor. https://youtu.be/dPyD53BTEUY?si=8RRJtA40dS8jpSsp https://youtu.be/dPyD53BTEUY?si=8RRJtA40dS8jpSsp