Why are fewer young adults having casual sex? • Hacker News Board

Re: Why are fewer young adults having casual sex?

#31

Post by wittyreference » Wed, Mar 03, 2021, 3:22 PM UTC

jawns wrote: post #21

nlbrown wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm quite surprised to see that the leading theories in many of these studies revolve around competing forms of entertainment. I'm personally more concerned with how economic difficulty, mental health, and hormonal imbalances could be causing these sort of changes in society.

The study talks about how more young people are residing with their parents because of economic difficulty, but I'm not sure that's necessarily a major factor in the decline. Many people become sexually active before they move out of their parents' houses, and although it might be more challenging to find a private space, where there's a will, there's a way. Teenagers have been sneaking around to fool around for gene…

The real earning power of minimum wage (aka, the standard teenage job) has declined by, what, 70% since the 70s? If it's more expensive, in real terms, to have a car, to rent a hotel room, to go out, then yes, it's going to be more difficult to get laid.

Re: Why are fewer young adults having casual sex?

#32

Post by ragnese » Wed, Mar 03, 2021, 3:22 PM UTC

shams93 wrote: post #12

The key is more people forced to live with parents this doesn't just effect young people 78% of GenX are still forced to live at home. We have a society that is profoundly broken in so many ways.

Do you have a source for that 78% number? GenX is old. A genXer "living at home" seems to me to be more likely "genXers are taking care of their elderly parents (boomers)".

Re: Why are fewer young adults having casual sex?

#33

Post by ceilingcorner » Wed, Mar 03, 2021, 3:22 PM UTC

orange_tee wrote: post #25

The idea that casual sex serves as some sort of formative process sounds ridiculous. In my mind, sex serves an important role in pair bonding, and casual sex would then inhibit the ability of people to pair bond.

This is old wisdom, perpetually forgotten, recently remembered anew.

Re: Why are fewer young adults having casual sex?

#34

Post by nerdjon » Wed, Mar 03, 2021, 3:22 PM UTC

danhak wrote: post #14

We came of age in an era when HIV / AIDS was finally acknowledged and taken seriously by society, and recognized as something that could affect anybody. I think the attention placed on STDs during our Sex Ed classes may have something to do with it. Learning about the horrible things that could happen to you through casual sex (with grotesque accompanying photos!) was a major part of our curriculum. And we were taugh…

I am going to push back on this one super hard.

yes you should take STD's seriously but to use STD's as your reasoning for not having Casual Sex is the opposite of how you should be handling this.

What we need is proper education about protection, risks, and just sex in general not making people afraid of sex!

You could just as easily get an STD from the first time you have sex after a date as you could with Casual Sex.

Re: Why are fewer young adults having casual sex?

#35

Post by evgen » Wed, Mar 03, 2021, 3:22 PM UTC

shams93 wrote: post #12

The key is more people forced to live with parents this doesn't just effect young people 78% of GenX are still forced to live at home. We have a society that is profoundly broken in so many ways.

78% of GenX? Yeah, gonna need a citation on that one.

Actually, since GenX was probably the last generation where wide-scale home ownership was within reach I can see that fact being true if the home in question is the one they own.

Re: Why are fewer young adults having casual sex?

#36

Post by metalliqaz » Wed, Mar 03, 2021, 3:23 PM UTC

underseacables wrote: post #5

I think it is due to the misconception of an over abundance of choice. The apps trick us into believing that there is always someone better at the next swipe. So instead of having random hook ups, it could be that people are always waiting for the perfect, and thus having less casual sex.

I don't think this hypothesis holds water. Individuals motivated to copulate might initially perceive an abundance of choice, but it would be quickly self-correcting as hookups don't materialize.

The falling alcohol consumption seems much more plausible in my opinion.

Re: Why are fewer young adults having casual sex?

#37

Post by BlueTie » Wed, Mar 03, 2021, 3:23 PM UTC

"Disrupting" a space too often means creating a shitty, tokenized, empty version of it that's so easy it replaces the more difficult and nuanced real thing.

I can't imagine a better world where sex is a pornhub search and socialization is a gaming PC - but it looks like that's the path we're on.

Re: Why are fewer young adults having casual sex?

#38

Post by KMag » Wed, Mar 03, 2021, 3:23 PM UTC

scotty79 wrote: post #19

underseacables wrote: post #5

I think it is due to the misconception of an over abundance of choice. The apps trick us into believing that there is always someone better at the next swipe. So instead of having random hook ups, it could be that people are always waiting for the perfect, and thus having less casual sex.

Apps that enable random hookups discourage people from random hookups? Doesn't sound plausible.

That partly depends on your thoughts on the validity of the paradox of choice.

Re: Why are fewer young adults having casual sex?

#39

Post by robotastronaut » Wed, Mar 03, 2021, 3:23 PM UTC

shams93 wrote: post #12

The key is more people forced to live with parents this doesn't just effect young people 78% of GenX are still forced to live at home. We have a society that is profoundly broken in so many ways.

While I agree that there are many parts of our society that are broken, I don’t think that living with parents (or grandparents) is part of that. If anything, I think the constant pressure to be fully independent by the time you’re in your early 20s is the indicator. In much of the world, it’s very common and even encouraged to live with previous generations, sometimes after marriage. There are a ton of benefits from this arrangement, including built-in care for younger and older folks, better ability to save, etc. I’ve seen more and more successful tech folks building multi-generation homes here in America to try to move towards this model for the future. I think the brokenness of the system is the degree to which we shame people that are diverging from the older American model.

Re: Why are fewer young adults having casual sex?

#40

Post by stonecraftwolf » Wed, Mar 03, 2021, 3:23 PM UTC

newsclues wrote: post #16

underseacables wrote: post #5

I think it is due to the misconception of an over abundance of choice. The apps trick us into believing that there is always someone better at the next swipe. So instead of having random hook ups, it could be that people are always waiting for the perfect, and thus having less casual sex.

Dating apps suggest that a small group are having more sex and a larger group less sex. It’s the distribution of sex, not the amount. Technology has enabled the upper echelons of desirable men to sleep with many desirable women, and those down the pecking order are content with porn/toys, instead of settling for anyone other than the prized upper echelon. It’s not just the technology but the social change that result…

It’s extremely telling that you don’t bother to consider this from a woman’s POV, as though sex is some sort of fungible good to be distributed amongst men rather than something that results from two or more people expressing their agency.

This is a deeply toxic set of assumptions that has its roots in the deeply misogynistic Incel culture.