It’s clear then that monogamy and marriage is not for everyone.
Glamour Magazine recently published the results of a
casual sex survey, which is both an online entertainment, fashion, and relationship website. The scope of the research was relatively small with around 2000 respondents across an age range of 18 – 64. Perhaps unsurprisingly 82% of respondents have engaged in at least one casual sex experience.
Worryingly only 57% always use a condom. Interestingly 36% met their casual sex partners through friends and 28% through work of school. But what about the rest? It’s a fair assumption that some will have engaged in no strings sex with strangers they met in bars or in a social environment, or online.
There’s no doubt also that
adult dating websites play their part.
In one survey of
attitudes towards hookups, it suggested that around 56% of respondents approve of and think that casual sex is normal and acceptable. Some other interesting results were found in another study that asked undergraduates about their casual dating experiences.
Of the respondents, 81% said that they engaged in some form of hookup behavior, with 58% having engaged in sexual touching above the waist, 53% below the waist, 36% said they had performed oral sex, 35% received oral sex, and 34%
engaged in sexual intercourse in the context of a
hookup.
According to
The Daily Mail casual sex amongst students in particular is on the rise. They report that 72% of students have had at least one hook up (not drastically different to the reports carried out by Glamour mentioned earlier) but that there’s also a 19% (since 2002) increase in those saving themselves for the right person.
Sociologist Teresa Downing-Matibag of Iowa State University is also worried that the internet is becoming a substitute for real relationships. Webcams and advances of technology online means that many teenagers have the ability to engage sexually with others via webcam whilst remaining a virgin.
So why is casual sex such a hot topic? Relationship therapist Rachna Kothari suggests that it’s as simple as a new generation believing that they live in a society where individualism is the ultimate goal and if two friends are sexually attracted to each other and can be of mutual benefit without the strings then it makes sense. Even casual sex with strangers makes sense for some.
With sex dating websites like
CheekyFlirt providing exactly what people want it’s relatively straight forward to find sex, even the same day.
There’s no doubt that attitudes towards sex and relationships are constantly changing. In a society that’s much freer than ever before the stigma attached to casual sex and fuck buddy relationships is diminishing.
While some people prefer the stability of a relationship and regular sex with the same person, for many others regular sex with with random partners is as vital as food or water.
Thankfully those in the latter group are spoilt for choice with the number of casual dating sites available today - read our reviews of the best ones
here.
An article in
The Cut estimated the cost of relationship over a person's lifetime to be $1,000,000.
Cost of a Hookup - Free ;)
