Whether it be from friends at school or even a relative, you have probably heard more than one ridiculous sex myth. Unless you are well-educated in sexual health, the misconceptions you learned in adolescence can transfer into future your sex life. Here is a list of some common sex myths that just need to end already.
- MYTH 1: If you don’t have an orgasm, you should fake it to make your partner feel good about themselves
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Women sometimes feel the need to fake an orgasm for a wide variety of reasons, such as not wanting to hurt their partner’s feelings to feeling embarrassed that they take a “long” time to finish. No one should ever feel that they need to fake an orgasm to appease their partners. In fact, according to various sex columnists featured in an article for Huffington Post, faking orgasms can actually damage your relationship. It is essential to be honest with your partner so both of you can have healthy sex lives.
- MYTH 2: If you have a lot of sex, your vagina will become permanently stretched out
There’s an old wives tale that the more sex a woman engages in, her vagina will stretch out and become ‘loose’. When a vagina is aroused or penetrated, the muscles will relax and temporarily expand. As this Elite Daily article explains, your vagina will always return to its normal size and will never be permanently stretched out.
- MYTH 3: Wearing two condoms is safer than one
Although wearing a condom greatly reduces the risk of STDs and pregnancy, wearing two condoms (also known as double-bagging) is NOT safer than using one. Go Ask Alice, a website run by a staff of Columbia University health professionals, explains how wearing two condoms increases the chance of a condom rip/tear. A condom tear can also occur when a couple combines a female condom with a male condom.
- MYTH 4: STDs can go away on their own
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Sexually transmitted diseases cannot be cured with time. Some STDs are bacterial infections and can be cured with an antibiotic prescribed by a doctor whereas others are viral STDs that don’t have a cure but many have treatments to reduce symptoms. Either way, STDs cannot be treated on their own and it is very important to get tested regularly to ensure that you are STD-free.
- MYTH 5: Vaginal douching is good for you
Vaginal douching is when a mixture of water and other fluids is sprayed into your vagina for washing purposes. Women oftentimes like douching to flush out remaining menstrual blood and unpleasant odors. Although douching seems great, many doctors strongly recommend that women do NOT douche; douching is linked to many health problems such as bacterial vaginosis and pelvic inflammatory disease, among others.
- MYTH 6: It’s more difficult to become pregnant if the woman is on top during sex
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Apparently, people are being told that a woman has a lower chance of getting pregnant if she is positioned on top during intercourse. The website Go Ask Alice explains that there is no specific position that affects the chance of pregnancy. Correctly using contraception is far more important than the sex position a couple engages in.
- MYTH 7: The more often you use Plan B, the lower its effectiveness
Plan B is a form of emergency contraception that women can receive over-the-counter after having unprotected sex. Some believe that if one often uses Plan B, the pill will eventually not work. However, this is not true: if someone uses Plan B multiple times, the pill will still work efficiently.
- MYTH 8: You can’t get pregnant on your period
Although a period signifies that you are not pregnant, you can still get pregnant while you are menstruating. According to Clue, a period and ovulation tracking app, you actually can get pregnant on your period. Their website explains that sperm can survive inside your reproductive system for up to five days.
- MYTH 9: Both partners will always orgasm from penetration
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Sex scenes in movies and TV shows always show both partners simultaneously orgasm solely from vaginal sex and that is just unrealistic. In fact, a sex study conducted by ABC News discovered that only approximately 25% of women are able to reach orgasm from penetration alone and 10-15% of women cannot climax under any circumstances.
It is very important to know what is fact versus fiction so you can take full control of your body and have a safe and enjoyable sex life.