It might seem silly, but think about it: Human beings are downright obsessed with sex. We fantasize about it, we buy medications for it, we build relationships around it, and...we read blogs about it! But why? Why are people so fixated with such a simple bodily function?
A new study featured in the Archives of Sexual Behavior has discovered 237 reasons humans have sex. Some of them are not exactly surprising - many people reported they have sex because it feels good and it is fun - but some of the results might shock you. For instance, the age-old myth that men have sex for pleasure and women have sex for love is not supported by this study - men and women both reported they have sex for enjoyment and gratification.
The people who participated in the study also reported many other reasons they have sex, including: "I felt sorry for the person," "It was for a bet," "I wanted to feel closer to God," "To get a job," "I wanted to give someone else a sexually transmitted disease," "For money," "I wanted to get rid of my headache," and the downright hilarious reason "I wanted to change the topic of conversation."
Some of these reasons are shocking, and even disturbing -- but I hope these more offbeat responses don't take the focus off the original reason behind the study, which was to help people have safer sex. As the lead author of the study, Cindy Meston, states, "You need to know why people are having sex if you're trying to put into place a safe-sex program."
Meston makes a good point. When we teach our children about safe sex and provide sex education in our schools, we need to consider sexuality from a young adult's point of view. This is particularly true for teens and college students. The study, based on the responses of 444 men and women aged from 17 to 52, discovered that the college-age group ranked pleasure and enjoyment as most important. Presumably, these types of sexual situations are less planned. Thus, high schools and colleges need to cater to these young adults by handing out condoms and making birth control readily available before the possibility of sex arises. As Meston states, "If you assume people have sex because they're in the heat of the moment, then [you tell them to] carry condoms." However, as she says, if they are engaging in sex for another reason, "That will require a different strategy."
The study does more than just shed light on strategies for safer sex - it may also help individuals feel more secure and confident about their sexual behaviors. For instance, someone who has sex in order to sleep better might feel comforted when they read the study and realize that many other people have sex for the same reason. Any study that can bring sexual behavior into the mainstream media and remove the stigma of human sexuality is valuable and useful in our society - the more knowledge people have about sex, the more they can enjoy it and the more they can engage in it safely.
So, you tell me, why do you have sex?
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