When it comes to sex, there are innumerable myths out there.
You’ve heard ‘em from the kid who sat behind you in high school biology, your crazy aunt, and that TV show you used to religiously watch … but what’s true and what’s false?
We’ll dive into some of the most common of these crazy sex myths and uncover the truth.
- “The goal of sex is the orgasm.”
You can decide on the goal of sex and make it what you want it to be. But in general, it’s actually true that there can be a lot more to sex than just the end. Foreplay can be intensely erotic and pleasurable, and even those moments leading up to orgasm can be more exciting than the event itself.
Similarly, it’s important to remember that many people have trouble orgasming because they are so concerned and preoccupied with it. Orgasms just work better when they’re not always the center of attention.
- “Men think about having sex every 7 seconds.”
The truth is, it’s hard to measure something like this. But if you could and you found that men do think about sex every 7 seconds, you’d find that that would mean men think about sex 7,200 times each day. That’s a lot. It’s probably more like they think about sex … 20 times a day. Still a lot. But not 72,000.
- “Sex burns tons of calories.”
Actually not that many. Sadly, if you’re trying to use sex as regular exercise, you should supplement it with something else, like running or swimming as well.
- “It’s normal for women to fake orgasms sometimes.”
It might be common with some women, but it’s not normal, and it shouldn’t be. Women who know what they want in bed and are happy and confident with their sex lives don’t fake orgasms. Maybe you won’t have one every time, but there’s no reason to fake.
- “Only men like porn.”
Not true. Women like porn too. It’s just probably not the same type of stuff. Oh and wet dreams? You thought that was just a teenage boy thing? Not true either. No only do adult men have wet dreams occasionally, women can have them as well.
- “A man’s penis size is evident by his shoe size”
A full-blown study debunked this one. 104 men at University College London were checked for a correlation between their shoe sizes and their penis sizes. It was found that there was no correlation with these two measurements. So all in all, if you’re a woman on the lookout for a well-endowed man, just checking out his sneaks won’t get the job done.
- “The taste of a guy’s semen is affected by the foods he eats.”
Even though some women will swear there is a difference in semen taste depending on what their man is eating, there’s just no correlation here. A few scientific studies did find that sodium content of semen can vary depending on what the man has been eating on a regular basis. But in general, the overall “flavor” of semen isn’t based on diet.
- “When you get old, you won’t want to have sex.”
This one’s so far from the truth. You may not want to hear a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g whatsoever about your parents or grandparents’ sex lives, but if they’re together and relatively happy, they’re doin’ it.
And that’s a good thing. Older adults may have less sex overall as a rule, but they still have libidos, and they still want to and do have sex.
- “She should orgasm first, and if she doesn’t, too bad.”
Most couples will either try to orgasm together or have her orgasm first because, well, it’s slightly more difficult for him to “help you get there” when he’s been accounted for.
But what’s this rule about? If he orgasms first, that’s fine and great. But that doesn’t mean he has to be at a loss to help her finish.
- “Great sex should last for hours.”
Great sex can last for hours, but it doesn’t have to. In fact, many times you’ll find that a quickie in the morning or on the big arm chair in the den can be just as satisfactory as a full-blown love-making session that lasts 2 hours.
- “Sex should look like it does in the movies and on TV.”
No way. In the movies and on television, makeup artists are entering the frame every 2 minutes to add sexy beads of fake sweat to his forehead and rearrange her hair into beautifully cascading tendrils on the pillow.
Bodies are waxed. Sheets are 40,000 thread count. The sun is setting over the Mediterranean in the background. Who has sex like this!? If you’re not, don’t worry. You’re not the only one. Sex should look the way you’re comfortable with it looking. And it almost never looks like it does on TV or in the movies.
What you may have learned from this and from all of these debunked myths is that you shouldn’t worry about sex being the way other people say it should be. It should be how you want it to be—you and your partner. And if you’re happy with it—no matter how many minutes you go at it for, how big his penis his, or how old you are—it’s great sex.
So keep doin’ it.
