It's All About Sex... Apparently.

Time Magazine published an online article citing a report that just came out saying French people are doing it sooner, more often, and later into life. The report, based on survey data, also indicated that women’s data has caught up or surpassed men on various factors such as age of first intercourse experience, percent of sexually active 18-35yr olds, etc.

Ignoring for a moment the problems intrinsic in survey data, even when one assumes that data is accurate, it is not good science to postulate on reasons for the data obtained. Because the Time magazine didn’t provide a link to the actual report, I cannot be certain if the researchers actually proposed reasons, or just reported the aggregate responses from those survey. Either way, it really isn’t good for Time to repeat it.

The question more interesting to me than the science (or lack thereof) undertaken by the researchers is whether or not more people, having sex sooner, more often, with more people, and later into life is actually a good thing? I would be curious to see if the data for post-intercourse contraceptives, abortions, and/or sexually transmitted diseases has also correspondingly increased. In China, where attitudes and practices about sex have become more liberal, there has been a drastic increase in the amount of high school-aged girls going to abortion clinics to terminate unplanned pregnancies.

If people are going to have sex, they should be smart and plan ahead. There are more consequences to sex than just pregnancy. If 36% of French women and 21% of French men are reporting experiencing frequent or occasional sexual disfunction, maybe quantity doesn’t always trump quality.