What is sex? You’d be surprised at how tough it is for adults to answer that question. According to ABC News, a new study from The Kinsey Institute at Indiana University found that no single generation or gender agrees on a definition of “had sex.”
The study asked 484 people, “Would you say you had sex with someone if…” People between the ages of 18 and 96 took part in the study, and the results were all over the map. Nearly 95 percent of people in the study agreed that penile-vaginal intercourse meant “had sex.” But the numbers changed as the questions got more specific.
For example, 11 percent of respondents would not use the phrase “had sex” if “the man did not come.” About 80 percent of respondents said penile-anal intercourse meant “had sex” and about 70 percent of people believed oral sex was sex.
Isn’t it just semantics? People know what it is they’re doing, even if they define it differently (or use that cryptic phrase “hooked up”). But doctors, sociologists and therapists all agree that the varying definition of “sex” can be a big problem in some cases, especially when it comes to discussing your sexual history with your doctor.
“Having sex is a euphemism. It is not a very exact term,” said Eli Coleman, of the Program in Human Sexuality at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis. “That’s why it’s very important that physicians and health care workers ask more specific and precise questions rather than using euphemisms.”
Wait, isn’t a euphemism a word that sounds better than what it describes? If you’re doing it right, you shouldn’t need a euphemism!
Curious to what your definition of “had sex” would include, care to share? I don’t think it’s as cut and dry as you make it out to be.