
The share of Americans not having sex has reached a record high - hirundo
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/03/29/share-americans-not-having-sex-has-reached-record-high/#click=https://t.co/AAegjsMEAr
======
deftnerd
"One particularly disturbing study, published in the Journal of Clinical
Endocrinology and Metabolism in 2007, indicated that men’s testosterone levels
plummeted 17 percent from 1987 to 2004—and that’s controlling for health and
lifestyle factors, such as obesity and diabetes, that are known to affect T
levels. The study found not only that individual men were losing testosterone
as they aged (which is fairly normal), but that same-age men from later eras
had substantially lower T than their predecessors: a man who turned 65 in
2002, for example, had much lower T than a man who turned 65 in 1987." [1]

While I don't doubt that social and economic pressures have a lot to do with
decreased occurrences of sexual relations in the US, it's quite possible that
decreases in average testosterone levels are also a factor. Low testosterone
is highly correlated with a decreased sex drive.

[1] [https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-mystery-of-declining-
test...](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-mystery-of-declining-
testosterone_b_59fcc5fbe4b0d467d4c224b3)

~~~
GGfpc
Could this be related to less manual labor and less exercise in consequence?

~~~
deftnerd
I suppose, but they did say that they accounted for health and lifestyle
factors, so I'm pretty sure that means that it's another cause they hadn't
pinned down at the time of the study.

From what I understand, the current theory is chemicals used to make plastic
more pliable ended up being endocrine inhibitors, which decrease testosterone
production. BPA, and other similar chemicals.

Also, reports that many flame retardant chemicals do the same thing. The law
requires that furniture with fabric and curtains and things like that have
those chemicals to lower risks of fire. But, those chemical treatments
physically break down into dust and we get exposed to them.

There are probably other contributing factors too.

------
theNJR
This seems to indicate a winner-takes-all hierarchy emerging within the sexual
market place. As the data in this article shows, fewer men are having sex than
women. That would indicate a group of men have multiple female partners while
a large chunk of men remain unemployed living with their parents. They’ve been
selected out of the sexual market place. I don’t have time right now to dig up
sources, but throughout history this has been the norm.

~~~
malcolmgreaves
Are you talking about prostitution? That's a sexual marketplace. This article
isn't talking about people buying and selling sexual encounters. People
deciding to have sex with one another doesn't mean that there exists any sort
of bartering or trade. The overwhelming majority of sex is because it feels
good and all people involved want to feel good. Living in your parent's
basement isn't sexy, but not because one isn't rich, but because it indicates
that one cannot make it in the real world. Kids live with their parents and no
one wants to have a relationship with someone stuck in a child's mentality. Or
even remotely resembling it. And you completely ignore homosexuality and the
fact that now, more than in the past, is it possible for one to come out and
not be eviscerated. A likely explaination of the same data is that more women
are having sex with one another.

~~~
dinodub
sexual market place does not mean "prostitution".

the user is most likely speaking about the sexual economy, or the mating
economy, or the relationship economy if you will.

