And high five to women everywhere—because we’ve been feeling extra pleasure!
A study by researchers at Illinois State University revealed that over time, the ‘first time’ has improved for both men and women—which isn’t totally surprising, given the amount of resources available to hormonal teenagers (and hormonal adults) these days. Just spending a night at the movies can teach you nearly everything you need to know about sex (specifically, Aubrey Plaza in the To Do List). Of course, that doesn’t eliminate the complete and total awkwardness that comes with a virgin trying to navigate becoming a non-virgin…but it does help.
Researchers polled more than 5,000 people in a Midwestern U.S. university over a 23-year period (between 1980 and 2012), and their answers revealed that for both men and women, losing their virginity has improved—yet each gender has different feelings and emotions about their experiences.
While men are more anxious about their performance, they also reported feeling more pleasure during their first sexual encounter than women did (boo). And women were more likely to feel guilty after shattering the white-dress-on-your-wedding-day stereotype.
As the decades went on—probably because we live in a sex-obsessed society—anxiety decreased in men, women felt less guilty, and both partners began to enjoy their first times more.
So if you’ve been a gigolo for years now, that doesn’t mean your first time was necessarily anything to brag about!
Research prior to this study, published in the Journal of Sex and Research, suggests that first-timers are more likely to be in a relationship now, meaning less awkwardness and a more gradual process to intimacy, resulting in more pleasure for both parties.
It also suggests that losing your virginity isn’t nearly as big of a deal now as it was 20 years ago—but try telling that to the producers of Virgin Territory!
Since this study was conducted exclusively in the Midwest, I’m not sure quite everything is applicable across the nation. However, I’m hopeful that while first times do get better, their importance and rite-of-passage-status won’t be diminished entirely.
(Image via Shutterstock)