VICE - タイムライン via kwout
A friend of mine, who is 29, recently told me about a high school memory: She had sucked a guy's dick, consensually but begrudgingly, because she felt like she was falling behind her peers. She just wanted to get it over with. I felt similarly about nearly every developmental stage of my life—that it was coming too late—which seems absurd in hindsight.
My cousin, my 20-year-old sister, and their friends don't seem like that. I think of them as a new prototype—kids who are, on the surface at least, so much more self-assured than we were at their age. And if they're having less sex, then maybe it's because they're better adjusted to the pressures of early adulthood. Are we in an era, I wondered, where young men and women think of sex without judgment but don't feel pressure to have it?
I ran my theory by my younger relatives. "Hmm, maybe," my sister responded—but she quickly pointed out that commitment was shamed among people her age so intensely that even casual sex could be perceived as too intimate. Some of her friends even opted to avoid sex altogether so as not to confuse casual sex with commitment in their own minds, or risk catching feelings.
The research paints an even darker picture of millennial sex lives. Anxiety and depression-related indicators have been rising for more than half a century, according to a 2009 study from Twenge and her colleagues. More young people are using antidepressants and stimulants, like Adderall, which can kill sex drive.
Plus, there's the logistical issue that more young people are living with their parents. "Even after the recession, that has been true," said Twenge, who also covered millennial culture in her book Generation Me. "You're not going to bring a parade of partners through mom's basement."
Kids are also more overwhelmed by work and school, giving them less time for partying and sex. So instead, younger millennials turn to porn, which is easier to access than ever before. "I've seen a lot of patients—I have to say, young men who are not sexual at all, and it's partially because they satisfy themselves via the internet and porn," said Dr. Ildiko Kovacs, a UC San Diego psychiatrist and professor focused on psychiatric, behavioral, relationship, cultural, and religious factors affecting sexual health. The influence of porn is a relatively new trend, she said. "We see early on, even from high school, that they turn to porn [and] get immediate gratification. They don't have to bother another person. They're not going to be rejected."
While the decline in sex could be a manifestation of millennial anxiety, it could also be a sign of a generation that's more cautious, despite having more liberal views of sex
若い人たちは、以前よりセックスしなくなっている、と。
昔のように、みんなと同じようにセックスしなくてはいけないという強迫観念がない、あるいは、不安や鬱が蔓延している、あるいは、親と同居している若者が増えている、仕事や学校の課題で忙しすぎる、ポルノが氾濫して、現実の性行動へ移る必要性がなくなっているのではないか、などの理由があげられている。
日本の若者の性行動の減少を奇怪な現象で、問題視する仕方と異なり、人間的な論じ方であるところに注目。
