The Rise of Righteousness: The Sex Recession

[cinepro]

A recent article in The Atlantic presented some interesting statistics on what could be called the "sex recession."

Why Are Young People Having So Little Sex? (Warning: the article discusses sex and some aspects of modern pornography that you might not want to be aware of.)

In the context of this discussion board, the recession is a reduction in the frequency that people are having sex out of marriage.  The stats on this are not subtle; extra-marital sex is much less common than it used to be, and teenage sex is way down (54% -> 40%).

Quote

To the relief of many parents, educators, and clergy members who care about the health and well-being of young people, teens are launching their sex lives later. From 1991 to 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey finds, the percentage of high-school students who’d had intercourse dropped from 54 to 40 percent. In other words, in the space of a generation, sex has gone from something most high-school students have experienced to something most haven’t. (And no, they aren’t having oral sex instead—that rate hasn’t changed much.)

Meanwhile, the U.S. teen pregnancy rate has plummeted to a third of its modern high. When this decline started, in the 1990s, it was widely and rightly embraced. But now some observers are beginning to wonder whether an unambiguously good thing might have roots in less salubrious developments. 

All of this has happened at the same time that pornography viewing has become rampant and accepted in many circles.  Is there a link?  Possibly.

This is obviously a very, very complex issue, and there isn't one answer or cause for any effect.  But in the end, this should be absolutely huge news.  If you believe that there is a God in heaven who really, really doesn't want teenagers to have sex with each other, then He should be doing cartwheels right now.  After decades of Prophets pleading with young men and young women to not have sex, it looks like there is actually progress on this front.

So how do we, as LDS who want unmarried people to have less sex, view this trend?  While Jesus taught that looking on a woman with lust is just as bad as committing adultery, do we really believe that a reduction in actual sex at the cost of increased porn viewing isn't a good trade off? At the very least, think of the reduced need for abortion or other mental costs of teenage pregnancy and STDs that have been avoided.

Is there a cause for righteous joy in these numbers, or have we simply traded in one kind of evil for another commensurate evil?

Edited March 14, 2019 by cinepro

[CA Steve]

Kids these days!!! What the heck is wrong.... errr right with them?

 

 

[bluebell]

20 minutes ago, cinepro said:

A recent article in The Atlantic presented some interesting statistics on what could be called the "sex recession."

Why Are Young People Having So Little Sex? (Warning: the article discusses sex and some aspects of modern pornography that you might not want to be aware of.)

In the context of this discussion board, the recession is a reduction in the frequency that people are having sex out of marriage.  The stats on this are not subtle; extra-marital sex is much less common than it used to be, and teenage sex is way down (54% -> 40%).

All of this has happened at the same time that pornography viewing has become rampant and accepted in many circles.  Is there a link?  Possibly.

This is obviously a very, very complex issue, and there isn't one answer or cause for any effect.  But in the end, this should be absolutely huge news.  If you believe that there is a God in heaven who really, really doesn't want teenagers to have sex with each other, then He should be doing cartwheels right now.  After decades of Prophets pleading with young men and young women to not have sex, it looks like there is actually progress on this front.

So how do we, as LDS who want unmarried people to have less sex, view this trend?  While Jesus taught that looking on a woman with lust is just as bad as committing adultery, do we really believe that a reduction in actual sex at the cost of increased porn viewing isn't a good trade off? At the very least, think of the reduced need for abortion or other mental costs of teenage pregnancy and STDs that have been avoided.

Is there a cause for righteous joy in these numbers, or have we simply traded in one kind of evil for another commensurate evil?

I don't know if it's a good tradeoff.  Pornography really REALLY screws up people and they way that they interact with others sexually.  If (and I don't know how true the "if" is) kids are having less sex before marriage, but having much more dysfunctional marriages that are more often ending in divorce (or getting married less frequently) due to problems with rampant pornography use, is that a good thing?  Would God see that as a good trade-off?

I stumbled upon a cosmopolitan magazine a couple of weeks ago.  I hadn't looked at one in a few years but right away I noticed that they had a section on how to have sex with people who watch too much pornography (not how to convince them to have sex but how to actually accomplish the sexual act when their body doesn't respond correctly anymore).  I thought that was really interesting because it shows that the problems caused by too much pornography have reach a level that even people who support and advocate for pornography recognize it's causing problems with people's abilities to have healthy sexual relationships. 

[BlueDreams]

Yeah, no....I wouldn't call this a "win" per se from a religious perspective. The article also noted that the stats also point to a reduction in actual coupling as well. That means a reduction in long-lasting marital relationships....or any committal relationship really. And what several of these trends that the article talks about is a focus on sex that is highly self-oriented and individual-satisfaction oriented. 

If the LoC is solely about "don't have sex till marriage," then this could be seen as maybe a partial "win"....sorta. But I don't think that's even the main point of the LoC (just the culturized version of it). The main point of it is creating and then sustaining a relational path that is marked by deep commitment, love, knowledge of the other, sharing of self, and building a partnership that is structured around God. Through which, at times, children are to be brought into the world through said act. S*xual/relational expression prior should help develop both a sense of self and respect/love of oneself as well as practice and seeking sharing of self with potential partners that matches the degree of one's commitment to them. This is my personal belief....but it's based on what relationships I see that have the strongest capacity to have a relationship that fosters love through their s*xuality as well as maintaining a God-oriented relationship noted in many LDS aspirations and beliefs around marriage. 

So these trends by no means meet the degree of relational and s*xual aspirations I feel are tied to the LoC or leading to a sealing relationship, even if there are some temporal benefits. 

 

With luv,

BD

[CV75]

53 minutes ago, cinepro said:

A recent article in The Atlantic presented some interesting statistics on what could be called the "sex recession."

Why Are Young People Having So Little Sex? (Warning: the article discusses sex and some aspects of modern pornography that you might not want to be aware of.)

In the context of this discussion board, the recession is a reduction in the frequency that people are having sex out of marriage.  The stats on this are not subtle; extra-marital sex is much less common than it used to be, and teenage sex is way down (54% -> 40%).

All of this has happened at the same time that pornography viewing has become rampant and accepted in many circles.  Is there a link?  Possibly.

This is obviously a very, very complex issue, and there isn't one answer or cause for any effect.  But in the end, this should be absolutely huge news.  If you believe that there is a God in heaven who really, really doesn't want teenagers to have sex with each other, then He should be doing cartwheels right now.  After decades of Prophets pleading with young men and young women to not have sex, it looks like there is actually progress on this front.

So how do we, as LDS who want unmarried people to have less sex, view this trend?  While Jesus taught that looking on a woman with lust is just as bad as committing adultery, do we really believe that a reduction in actual sex at the cost of increased porn viewing isn't a good trade off? At the very least, think of the reduced need for abortion or other mental costs of teenage pregnancy and STDs that have been avoided.

Is there a cause for righteous joy in these numbers, or have we simply traded in one kind of evil for another commensurate evil?

I've noticed this too and see it rooted in gender apathy, which is no better than the gender and same-gender hypersexualization that  gave rise to it by dulling the God-given senses. Also the loss of human intimacy through an over dependence on technological support for communicating (substituting)  human thoughts and feelings.

[USU78]

When it comes to human behavior, especially human behavior that people tend to keep secret, I'm highly skeptical of most conclusions drawn from the inherently unreliable data.

If, and I mean IFF, self-pleasuring is on the rise while extra-marital sex is on the decline, I would tend to look at other data, like for example the decline in and delay of marriage and try to find an explanation that addresses both phenomena.  Gaming.  And stuff.

[poptart]

3 hours ago, bluebell said:

I don't know if it's a good tradeoff.  Pornography really REALLY screws up people and they way that they interact with others sexually.  If (and I don't know how true the "if" is) kids are having less sex before marriage, but having much more dysfunctional marriages that are more often ending in divorce (or getting married less frequently) due to problems with rampant pornography use, is that a good thing?  Would God see that as a good trade-off?

I stumbled upon a cosmopolitan magazine a couple of weeks ago.  I hadn't looked at one in a few years but right away I noticed that they had a section on how to have sex with people who watch too much pornography (not how to convince them to have sex but how to actually accomplish the sexual act when their body doesn't respond correctly anymore).  I thought that was really interesting because it shows that the problems caused by too much pornography have reach a level that even people who support and advocate for pornography recognize it's causing problems with people's abilities to have healthy sexual relationships. 

I'd love to hear your opinion on this, your one of the more level headed people here.  TBH I could really care less, but the whole incel thing plus all the mental illness out there makes me curious.  Prostitution has usually been the solution to a lot of this, that and society rewarding people for getting married vs. what we have now.  Supposedly China is now considering child quotas since their demographics aren't looking so great, thing is China and esp. places like Japan are quite a bit more homogenous.  Also, while we may gripe about it the USA, even North America is a Christian place.  May not practice what the religion preaches nor practice many of the religions tennants but I'd say most of the people on the NA continent will happily latch onto the religions tennants when there's something in it for them, hence collectivism as well as the care for those born in bad circumstances being more or less blown out of the water.  That being said, I've always been facinated when a religious crowd, esp. one that has not known hardship like many of the poor and downtrodden have like to go on about sexual immorality yet when it comes to homeless/abused children as well as the disease and misery that comes from it all are quick to point the finger.  That being said, how would you balance that kind of misery with practical sexual health.  I'm all for both, Having society find someway of really helping people I think would solve a lot of the sexual problems out there, that and a lot of the substance abuse problems which in some circles go hand in hand.

4 hours ago, cinepro said:

A recent article in The Atlantic presented some interesting statistics on what could be called the "sex recession."

Why Are Young People Having So Little Sex? (Warning: the article discusses sex and some aspects of modern pornography that you might not want to be aware of.)

In the context of this discussion board, the recession is a reduction in the frequency that people are having sex out of marriage.  The stats on this are not subtle; extra-marital sex is much less common than it used to be, and teenage sex is way down (54% -> 40%).

All of this has happened at the same time that pornography viewing has become rampant and accepted in many circles.  Is there a link?  Possibly.

This is obviously a very, very complex issue, and there isn't one answer or cause for any effect.  But in the end, this should be absolutely huge news.  If you believe that there is a God in heaven who really, really doesn't want teenagers to have sex with each other, then He should be doing cartwheels right now.  After decades of Prophets pleading with young men and young women to not have sex, it looks like there is actually progress on this front.

So how do we, as LDS who want unmarried people to have less sex, view this trend?  While Jesus taught that looking on a woman with lust is just as bad as committing adultery, do we really believe that a reduction in actual sex at the cost of increased porn viewing isn't a good trade off? At the very least, think of the reduced need for abortion or other mental costs of teenage pregnancy and STDs that have been avoided.

Is there a cause for righteous joy in these numbers, or have we simply traded in one kind of evil for another commensurate evil?

As a practicing saint, how would your people handle this if it was your own?  Stuff like this is the chance you guys have to fix things.  All too often we see middle/upper middle class folks just brushing this stuff off until it's in their community and schools.  I saw in in WA and see it here now, young parents gripe back and forth that either the funds aren't there, none of the single (i.e me!) and childless parents don't care or a little of both.  That and the funds that were there either dried up or were voted away with tax cuts, etc.

Told this to a friend who just got married, don't expect the likes of me to raise a finger, we owe society and you nothing.  Most of us are not that fortunate, have been stepped on and to be honest would most likely do nothing if some crazy idiot lost it in public, we'd flee for our lives since we have pretty much no stake in a society that has never nor ever will care about the least of these, if you want anything to change you have to do something.  You who had life hand you better circumstances, you have to be the better man and do something, the rest of us won't, not unless we see some kind of stability and civility come back to society, till then it can keep right on burning for all we care.

I meant it in a nice way, something i've noticed about a lot of newly weds who want kids, even if they have good families they're genuinely worried for the future, the world isn't as safe and secure as the one their parents raised them in, peoples selfishness has taken it's toll on everything, have to say I'm happy I don't have kids.  Considering the uphill fight most people have and the lack of familial resources most older people have to endure I can only imagine what a fight the young families today have.  Better them than me lol.

Edited March 14, 2019 by poptart

[Robert F. Smith]

12 hours ago, USU78 said:

When it comes to human behavior, especially human behavior that people tend to keep secret, I'm highly skeptical of most conclusions drawn from the inherently unreliable data.

If, and I mean IFF, self-pleasuring is on the rise while extra-marital sex is on the decline, I would tend to look at other data, like for example the decline in and delay of marriage and try to find an explanation that addresses both phenomena.  Gaming.  And stuff.

Women are now the majority of college students, and they have careers, and will only marry "up," not down, so that the masses of inferior men are not up to their expectations.  College debt is also such a burden now that couples cannot afford to marry until years after graduation, if at all, by which time many have just given up the effort.  Then too, children are a major expense, which many cannot afford, not to mention the marriage penalty in federal and state taxes.

Marriage itself is very high risk, often leaving the men outside in the cold, paying child-support, not allowed access to their children.  Why suffer those cruelties?  One can hear Rex Harrison happily singing the virtues of bachelorhood:  "I was serenely independent and content before we met,"

Today in America, there are fewer couples, fewer marriages, and more people living childless and alone than at any time in our history.  The same is true in Japan and other advanced countries.  Is that all to be blamed on gaming and porn?

 

[Robert F. Smith]

14 hours ago, cinepro said:

............................

Is there a cause for righteous joy in these numbers, or have we simply traded in one kind of evil for another commensurate evil?

Nay.  What we are witnessing is the result of parents treating their millennial and gen Z children as fragile victims and removing from them the joie de vivre.  They are no longer allowed unsupervised playtime, and no caregivers can be trusted.  Their young lives are fraught by trigger warnings and fear.  School is no longer a meritocracy, but a place for coddling and pretense without substance, and college a meaningless social occasion -- without real grading.  It is a cowardly new world of success for everyone.  Failure is not an option.

[Rivers]

The way I see it, the biggest problem with unmarried people having sex is babies being born to unwed parents and being raised without fathers.  Pornography isn’t good but if it reduces unplanned pregnancies than...yeah it’s kind of a win.  It’s the lesser of two evils I guess.  

[USU78]

5 hours ago, Robert F. Smith said:

Women are now the majority of college students, and they have careers, and will only marry "up," not down, so that the masses of inferior men are not up to their expectations.  College debt is also such a burden now that couples cannot afford to marry until years after graduation, if at all, by which time many have just given up the effort.  Then too, children are a major expense, which many cannot afford, not to mention the marriage penalty in federal and state taxes.

Marriage itself is very high risk, often leaving the men outside in the cold, paying child-support, not allowed access to their children.  Why suffer those cruelties?  One can hear Rex Harrison happily singing the virtues of bachelorhood:  "I was serenely independent and content before we met,"

Today in America, there are fewer couples, fewer marriages, and more people living childless and alone than at any time in our history.  The same is true in Japan and other advanced countries.  Is that all to be blamed on gaming and porn?

Careful. If you skate that close to the "War on Anglo-Saxon Men" edge, you'll get thread banned! 😂

[The Nehor]

No worries. Death and societal collapse are inevitable. All is well.