On March 29th the Washington Post published the most recent results about America’s active, or better yet, inactive sex life. The study was conducted by the General Social Survey, GSS, a project of the University of Chicago, focused on the analysis of the U.S. society’s changes since 1972.
According to the paper, the percentage of individuals who reported not having a sexual partner during the past year was 23%, one in four people.
In general, the study considered the decrease of sexual activity in the past decades due to the aging population. Those people older than 60 years old increased from 18% in 1996 to 26% in 2018.
However, the spotlight of the investigators was not focused on older Americans but young people ages 18 to 29, especially male.
Based on the data, the rate of men in sexual “drought” climbed 18% (from 10% in 2008 to 28% in 2018). The increase for women was lower, from 8% in 2008 to 18% in 2018.
So, why the lack of appetite among youngsters? Analysts gave three reasons: fewer marriages or stable partners, more young adults living with their parents, and the cocktail mix of Netflix, video games, and social media as replacement of entertainment.
When I read the article I couldn’t help but traveling in time–not too far ago off course!– and remembering what I was like when I was in my twenties.
My Generation X can be summarized in one word: party. Starting on Thursday, and well into Sunday, if Monday was a holiday, two or more people qualified as quorum to throw one. Without leaving home, anyone was a DJ, and the living room turned into a club just by moving the coffee table.
Cellphones stayed in the back pocket, usually battery-less, so we could enjoy the moment without parental scolding for violating our curfew. And between jokes, stories, and lies, we surrendered to the charms of a gaze or a smile.
I find comparing the past and the present pointless because innovation and progress are born from change. But in my opinion, those guys who live in eternal sexual slumber simply don’t know how to ask for it nor earn it.
Just look at them: always wearing earbuds, locked in their own world and glued to their phone screens watching nonsense videos such as hands cutting soap in tiny squares.
Although technology has enhanced communication in the past two decades and its benefits are countless, it is also undeniable that keyboards are the ones getting the majority of human contact.
Hopefully this trend will reverse as many others have done so in historically. Otherwise, the human race will be the next endangered species.
Thank you for reading and sharing.
Xiomara Spadafora
This column was sponsored by Zellner Insurance Agency. Many things in life don’t have insurance. For everything else call Zellner (888) 208-8119
Good crazy woman 