October 15, 2023

"It’s pretty typical to find that about one in three people have had no partnered sex in the prior year..."

"[Knowing that] can help to normalize these periods of little to no partnered sex.... That said, for those looking for some longevity in their partnered sex life, it’s important to think about sex in a holistic way."
 
Said Debby Herbenick, director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion at the Indiana University School of Public Health, quoted in "8 Sex Myths That Experts Wish Would Go Away/Everyone else is having more sex than you. Men want sex more than women do. And more" (NYT).

Herbenick repeatedly used the phrase "partnered sex." Is that a well-established retronym like "snail mail" and "acoustic guitar"... and "cis-gendered"?

I liked this, from the comments over there: "As a mother to two young men, I forge through broaching this subject, however cringeworthy for them." I'm just quoting that because of the forging and broaching. Have you been forging and broaching lately? It’s pretty typical to find that only about one in three people has forged and broached in the prior year.

46 comments:

cassandra lite said...

Acoustic guitar differentiates from electric guitar. A Martin OM-42 and a Stratocaster are different animals, but both are guitars.

RideSpaceMountain said...

"Men want sex more than women do."

The bigger myth than that one is that men think about sex far more than women do (the old 'every 5 minutes' or 'every 5 seconds' myth). Complete falsehood. It's the other way around because of concealed ovulation, specifically it's the other way around for women at different times of their lives. Stress also plays a role. Women of a certain age absolutely think about sex more than men do, but it doesn't stay that way forever.

Aggie said...

It's funny you put it that way, because in a metal-working shop, forging and broaching are both methods of hot, heavy work that involve beating and rubbing on metal to permanently change its configuration.

Wince said...

Althouse asked...
Have you been forging and broaching lately?

I remember the first time I forged and broached.

And boy, was I scared! I was all alone!

John henry said...

Do they say what unpartnered sex is?

Is it masturbation? My assumption is yes but it is the times so I may well be wrong.

Why not say that?

Ann, you read the article, why won't you tell us?

Elon really needs to buy the NYT

John Henry

Big Mike said...

Herbenick repeatedly used the phrase "partnered sex."

I assumed that was to rule out masturbation but rule in homosexual partnered sex and sex where the partner is paid. In my experience (50 to 60 years ago) guys can improve their odds by developing relationships with interesting women and looking for a potential spouse. But that was before the sexual revolution.

Ann Althouse said...

"Acoustic guitar differentiates from electric guitar."

And "partnered sex" differentiates from masturbation.

It's a retronym because people just said "guitar" to mean what we now call an acoustic guitar, and the arrival of the electric guitar made it necessary to have a way to refer to the non-electric guitar.

I'm just asking whether "partnered sex" is an established term and noting that, if it is, it's a retronym, and it's caused by a newly arrived desire to show respect and inclusiveness toward masturbation.

Ann Althouse said...

"It's funny you put it that way, because in a metal-working shop, forging and broaching are both methods of hot, heavy work that involve beating and rubbing on metal to permanently change its configuration."

What is that woman doing with her sons?

Dave Begley said...

Good to know I’m in the majority.

Bob Boyd said...

Wankers abounding.

Bob Boyd said...

Bill Gates is probably behind this.

Wince said...

Ann Althouse said...
"...forging and broaching are both methods of hot, heavy work that involve beating and rubbing on metal to permanently change its configuration."

What is that woman doing with her sons?


Providing "gender-affirming care"?

AnotherJim said...

As a typical man, I think about sex just about anytime I'm not thinking about the Roman Empire. But I would never admit to that on tik-tok.

Fred Drinkwater said...

Forging and broaching...
Oh, it's worse than that. Both are brutal, involve steel-crushing and distorting forces, and forceful penetration. To deliberately force into a new shape.

The writer should take more care with metaphors.

Leland said...

“What is that woman doing with her sons?”

Permanently changing their configuration.

Skeptical Voter said...

Onan would tell you that you don't need a partner to have sex of a sort.

Christopher B said...

Masturbation has always been distinguished from sexual intercourse of various flavors which is why there's already a word for it. I suspect 'partnered sex' is a recognition that there are more opportunities now for relations with a partner that don't involve physical contact such as sexting, video calls, phone sex, etc. The physical act of masturbation has to be divided into whether it occurs with or without interaction with another person.

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

It’s pretty typical to find that only about one in three people has forged and broached in the prior year.

According to the dictionary, there's good forge and not so good forge.

ADJECTIVE
1- formed by pressing or hammering with or without heatmade into a desired shape by heating and hammering
2- made falsely especially with intent to deceive
forged signatures

I think the commenter meant to say trudge.

VERB
trudged; trudging
to walk or march steadily and usually laboriously
trudged through deep snow
to trudge along or over

Last page of the big book: We shall be with you in the Fellowship of the Spirit, and you will surely meet some of us as you trudge the Road of Happy Destiny.
May God bless you and keep you —until then.


Another way of saying "forging ahead" could be "making it up as you go along"? Which sounds less diligent and inauspicious, given the gravity of the conversation.

It could also be that there is no perfect forge. No perfect call, No perfect Israeli-Palestinian solution. See The Matrix Spoon boy.

cassandra lite said...

@althouse said: "It's a retronym because people just said 'guitar' to mean what we now call an acoustic guitar, and the arrival of the electric guitar made it necessary to have a way to refer to the non-electric guitar."

The electric guitar is nearly a century old, long past the time when retronym would apply.

William said...

Louis CK apparently has a thing where he asks women if he can masturbate and, when given approval, does so in front of them. Can this properly be described as partnered sex? People used to look askance at tattoos, but now all sorts of establishment people have them. Maybe Louis CK is not so much an outlier as a pioneer. As time goes by, this will probably catch on. Maybe Louis CK will eventually be honored for his advance work in the same way that Lenny Bruce is now fondly remembered for introducing four letter words in polite conversations.

Joe Bar said...

Is mutual masturbation on a video chat "unpartnered sex"? Asking for a friend.

Will Cate said...

Though instantly understandable, I don't think I've heard or read anybody using that expression before.

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

OJ is working on a new book. The working title is "If I had sexual relations with that woman".

Narr said...

I've only had five sex partners in my life, and that was a weird night.

Jaq said...

It's a way to elevate masturbation to the status of sex rather than as ... well, as a hobby or whatever.

Ann Althouse said...

"The electric guitar is nearly a century old, long past the time when retronym would apply."

The retronym is "acoustic guitar." If people say it, and I think they still do, it's still around and it will always be a retronym, a word or phrase created after some new thing took over the meaning of the old word. Again, like "snail mail." "Acoustic guitar" was created because the old term "guitar" either seemed to mean an electric guitar or because there was confusion.

BudBrown said...

Is butterfly garden a retronym?

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

Acoustic guitars have been hit particularly hard by climate change.

re Pete said...

"Well, your railroad gate, you know I just can’t jump it

Sometimes it gets so hard, you see

I’m just sitting here beating on my trumpet"

Christopher B said...

Re my comment, I also agree with Big Mike that it's a way to include a variety of 'partners' that wouldn't be covered by the term 'intercourse'.

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

Anyone Can Play Guitar

Destiny, destiny, protect me from the world
Destiny, hold my hand, protect me from the world
Here we are, with our running and confusion
And I don't see no confusion anywhere

And if the world does turn, and if London burns
I'll be standing on the beach with my guitar
I wanna be in a band when I get to heaven
Anyone can play guitar and they won't be a nothing anymore

I really hadn't heard those lyrics until i looked them up.

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

"Elon really needs to buy the NYT"

That would be incredibly awesome! I wonder if the current owners would blow it up like the folks did to Walnut Grove on the last episode of "Little House on the Prairie"?

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

Does bestiality* count as partnered sex?

*Still legal in New Mexico and West Virginia (Source: NIH)

Which of course begs the question, would bestiality brothels be legal in those two states?

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

Does bestiality* count as partnered sex?

*Still legal in New Mexico and West Virginia (Source: NIH)

Which of course begs the question, would bestiality brothels be legal in those two states?

Iman said...

And the study of coitus by the clueless continuezzzzz…

JK Brown said...

Men "want" sex more than women because, excepting a minority, if a women gets the idea to have sex she can easily get sex so the want doesn't rally build.

Growing up in the buckle of the Bible Belt in the '70s, sex was for marriage. And then there was the big case that ruled that a wife had no obligation to have sex with her husband sometime back then. And now marriage is in decline. So clearly less partnered sex happening is a throwback to the less lascivious times.

It happens. "Pre-marital" sex and fewer marriages was on the rise until 1910, then marriage by age of 40 increased till 1980, then fell into another decline with even more now "casual" sex. But the pendulum swings.

Paul said...

Or, you know, you can just go away and beat it.

cassandra lite said...

@althouse said: "'The retronym is 'acoustic guitar.' If people say it, and I think they still do, it's still around and it will always be a retronym, a word or phrase created after some new thing took over the meaning of the old word. Again, like 'snail mail.' 'Acoustic guitar' was created because the old term 'guitar' either seemed to mean an electric guitar or because there was confusion."

Yes, the retronym is ACOUSTIC guitar, but to say that there's no expiration date for when something qualifies as a retronym seems at odds with usage. That is, unless, for example, "car" should be considered a retronym.

tim maguire said...

What funny about "partnered sex" is that it's needless to throw it in there. I get what they're saying, but when people talk about sex, they're talking about partnered sex. Period. I can't read it without picturing them giggling like children thinking about masturbation.

David-2 said...

Woody Allen on "partnered sex": From Love and Death.

n.n said...

Sex (i.e. penis in vaginal intercourse) by its nature requires a couple. The author is conflating sexual activities with sex.

GRW3 said...

In 2006 a cowboy surgeon botched my wife's gall bladder surgery. A one-hour laparoscopic surgery turned into 4.5 hours on table. In the process of fixing his mess he destroyed her ability to become aroused. I have been unpartnered ever since. It's not her fault and the mess he made has had further repercussions on her health. She can't even fly in an airplane anymore because of bowel issues. I wanted to sue but she said no. In a feat of Karma, she learned from her gyno that the cowboy go bit on a rattlesnake hunt. They didn't have antivenom available immediately and by the time it was administered he had permanent damage to his ability to form complex memories.

MikeD said...

Maybe It's because I'm older than G-d's dog but, "partnered sex" seems pretty self explanatory. It used to be called co-habitation. I know many unmarried couples who introduce their "other" as "my partner" (my brother's been with the same woman for over 30 years and they intro each other as partner). Most gay/lesbian couples I know haven't done the bogus marriage thing and also intro each other as partner.

Old and slow said...

cassandra lite said... many things about acoustic guitars... You know, sometimes the best thing to do is to stop talking. Let people wonder.

Indigo Red said...

Partnered sex or guitars, be careful; there are strings attached.

effinayright said...

How about this, from wikipedia:

"Classical guitar

Acoustic wooden guitar with wide neck, strings made of nylon

The classical guitar, also called Spanish guitar, is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles.

An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor of the modern steel-string acoustic and electric guitars, both of which use metal strings."
****

Are "classical" and "acoustic" both retronyms?

Or is "electric"?