For some reason everyone is really interested in everything millennials do. Maybe it's because we're all over the internet, or because other generations love to hate us, but everything about us is fodder for public consumption. What we eat, how we work, and, of course, how we do it. I didn't imagine what we do in bed could be that different than previous generations— I mean, there's only one way to skin a cat (or another less disgusting metaphor) but turns out, how millennials have sex — and view it — has definitely changed.
And, amazingly, none of ways it differs involve in binge-watching (at least none of the ones we're admitting to). But our technology skill certainly come in handy. Most importantly, far from being hookup-obsessed, irresponsible idiots, like I feel I read every day, we actually seem to have a lot more considered take on sex than previous generations. So the next time your aunt asks you about saving for a house deposit you can respond with "AT LEAST I'M USING CONDOMS, GAIL!". Seriously.
Take a look at seven ways millennials have sex differently, some of it may surprise you and it's all better than thinking about the piles of student loan debt we're drowning in.
1. We're Doing It With Fewer People
Unless we all start going sex crazy later on in life, we're on track to have sex with fewer people then our parents. Which is weird, because how can you have sex with less than zero people? (I still maintain my parents have never done it and I was born through spontaneous combustion.) But according to Time a recent survey of 33,000 people "found that millennials were likely to have had an average of about eight partners, while Boomers were more likely to have had 10 or 11".
2. But We're More Sex-Positive
Thank goodness! So even though we may be having less sex, we're way more open minded about it. According to MIC "58% of respondents in 2012 said there was nothing wrong with sex before marriage, up from 49 percent in the 2000s and 29% in the 1970s... The same permissive view held for teen sex." Honestly, I'm all about sex but I'm even more about people embracing it, so I think this is the best news ever.
3. We're Starting Later, And Work May Be To Blame
So maybe one of the reasons numbers seem down is that a surprising amount of us have never had sex at all. According to Time "one in three 20-somethings have never had sex at all. 'You’d think they’d be focused on sleeping around, but really what they’re focused on is getting ahead,' explains Dr. Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist at Rutgers University and Chief Scientific Advisor for Match. 'In their '20s I think they’re working very hard.'" Who knows, maybe we'll all go bit nuts and let loose in our '40s after all.
4. It's Leading To Fewer Babies
A study by the Urban Institute found that we're having fewer babies than other generations. While in 2007 the birthrate for women in their 20s was 1,118 per 1,000 women, by 2012 this had dropped to 948 per 1,000, the lowest on record. This may partially be to the rise in condom use, and other risk-averse behavior millennials seem to be prone to.
5. We're Not Afraid To Enlist Help
I feel like this is a big generation gap. When my mom found my vibrator (WHO LOOKS FOR ADVIL IN THE TOP DRAWER NEXT TO THE BED) she nearly had a hard attack and basically wept and vomited with confusion. But our generation is different and way more open about sex toys. I have bought more than one vibrator as gift for a friend and one quarter of millennials regularly use vibrating helpers. Why not?
6. We're Using Our Phones... A Lot
EMBRACE THE POWER OF THE SEXT. We are— turns out vibrators aren't the only way we're upping our sex techy game. Fifty-seven percent of have been sexting (naughty) and seven percent of us sext everyday. That might be me, depending on what you mean by sext. I have some very strong feelings about pizza that I text and I feel like it would be wrong to say they're not sexual. Also nearly half of us admitted to using our phones to send naked photos, so even if we're having less sex than our parents' generation, we're certainly spicing up the long distances way better.
7. We're Embracing Orgasm Equality
This is the best news of the lot. Turns out that we're more interested in closing the orgasm gap than previous generations, and I couldn't be happier. It makes sense, because although you hear all this stuff about female orgasms being elusive or a myth, I don't think it's quite fair because 100 percent of my sexual partners have been interested in my orgasm. It's not just me— 89 percent of millennial women said that they typically orgasm during sex, according to the 2015 SKYN Condoms Millennial Sex Survey. It's about damn time.
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