Americans are having less sex and researchers are blaming Netflix

I would attribute it more the glut of free online porn than netflix. Men consume porn far more than women because men are more visually stimulated than women. This has been verified by numerous scientific studies. In many ways, women can't compete with porn. Hundreds of years ago, the average man would be delighted to get sex from the average woman in his local community. Through porn, your average guy has seen more naked women than all his ancestors combined. These women are far more physically attractive, sex-hungry and available than anyone he could meet in person. Today, after seeing countless videos of the the most physically attractive women imaginable, perfectly suited to his preference, taste and sexually proclivity, the average woman seems like a lame approximation for what can be accessed readily online. Men are far less willing to deal with all the pitfalls, annoyance and cost of dating when an approximation for sex, like porn, is much less costly and easily available.

If you are craving a more penetrating discourse on how technology is affecting the modern mating game. I'd give a listen to this enlightening interview noted couples therapist Esther Perel gave on a recent episode of Fresh Air with Terry Gross. She makes the point that due to social media, etc. there is now what amounts to a paper trail for our assignations. And a mere "like" is enough to constitute a form of cheating ;)

As Marriage Standards Change, A Therapist Recommends 'Rethinking Infidelity'

https://www.npr.org/2017/12/13/570131890/as-marriage-standar...

While it may be impossible to empirically quantify if humans are enjoying less intimacy than a generation ago. I do see a danger that the erotic sphere is becoming abstracted away from its powerful roots by modern alienation. To get that mojo back, is to return to more ritualistic practices. Perhaps inspired by ancient rites of fertility common to all cultures. Akin to the way farm-to-table and slow food movements can cure one of the malaise that arises from prolonged daily exposure to Seamless dinners without any connection to Nature.

But then again, my cure for almost any modern ailment tends to be to look to the ancients!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29044.The_Secret_History

I'd blame work and stress. Your average person is working longer hours for less financial benefit, while the cost of basics (housing and health care) has gone way up.

Longer working hours for less money makes people tired and stressed...two instant mood killers; and a condition that is likely chronic among many.

"Netflix and chill" is the modern term for hooking up, but for many it probably simply means what it means...to sit and relax.

I don't blame Netflix or phones or anything other than the fact that simply getting by in the USA has become a chore for many, and Netflix and phones are the salve, not the root cause.

To sum up and to thrown an idea up in the air:

There has been a decline in sex over the past decade. It can't be purely coincidental that while the world became witness to a depressing depression, people are having less sex. After all, depression is often linked to reduced libido... and if you're constantly stressed out over your (and your family's) future, you might not have enough energy to enjoy sex either, which in turn can form a negative feedback loop.

Welcome to the brand new (joyless) world.

If we're going with hunches (as in the article) free streaming porn seems more likely than streaming conventional entertainment like Netflix. I mean, both have taken off over the relevant period, but porn is obviously a bit more closely tied to sex.

I don't know what's more ridiculous in this article, the "hunch", the fact that Netflix is never mentioned by name (while Hulu is) or the apex of stupid tech junk called "the smart condom" which auto-plays at the side...

Porn not Netflix, why would any male want sex with the effort of chasing a woman, romanticising, dealing with the hard-line feminists, when they can just knock one out for free?

Original paper (abstract): https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-017-0953-1

It's the phones, not Netflix. Phone use is a constant source or ire in relationships.

I don't think you can blame one thing.

I blame smart phones, but blame is a strong word. We no communicate with texting, social networking, and many other means than in-person conversations. Teenagers are electing to get a drivers license later in life because they don't need a car to be connected to their friends. Less in-person interaction results in less opportunity for intimate interaction.

I blame the womens movement, and that's a good thing. More women are placing their careers first, and getting around to having a family later and later in their lives.

I also blame the economy. The recession ended technically, meaning we stopped getting worse. But our economy isn't seeing the wage growth that would indicate a prosperous environment that encourages recreational activities, and procreation.

I'd have imagined Facebook usage, if anything. And to the degree that they allow to use it even more, smartphones.

I think that the researchers are on to something broader. The research shows that smart device use lessens sex. Japan for example has early high technology usage and high suicide rates but low birth rates. Does devices with entertainment substitute getting together with your partner and friends?

With shows that good, fewer and fewer couples manage to reach the "chill" part before falling asleep.

I don't have a citation and I have no plans to dig one up. But everything I have ever read indicates that poor people have less sex than rich ones because they are just struggling to survive and can't manage to fit it into their lives. Historically, Americans had more sex on average than people in other countries because we had a large comfortably well off middle class.

I find it ironic that a magazine named Fortune would miss the obvious angle that this is likely related to the general financial distress in the world. It suggests Americans are too poor for luxury items like regular sex. They are working longer hours, exhausted and stressed out, so sex is just not happening.

On Hacker News it's totally fine to blame men: "It's men that watch to much porn".

If you on the other hand suggest that maybe #metoo, unfair divorce court etc. has something to do with it (meaning maybe woman are also part of the issue), you get flagged or downvoted to hell.

Netflix and chill

Honestly I would be depressed it that was the field of my research.