A couple of UK news source have reported today that there has been some research into people losing their virginity. 

I, for one, don’t see these reports as terribly surprising.

I’m an older generation, and certainly didn’t lose it at the age of 13-14 as the reports indicate many are doing now, which is far, far too young. I was a few days shy of my 18th birthday before I lost mine, and in hindsight maybe that was too early for me (even though I was a late starter in my peer group).

But I’m guessing that the percentages haven’t varied wildly between my generation and today’s generation. Sex is this great unknown we all want to know, and has been since time began.

Some countries have a more adult attitude to sex than the UK (and US) do. As a result of them being more open there’s less mystique about sex and less pressure to participate as soon as possible.

A Guardian article from last year reports on the pressure being heaped on a 20 year old woman to lose hers, and I don’t suppose her story is untypical amongst post-teen virgins, male or female.

As with all of these research papers, there’s always an entirely opposite view, though, and last year it was being reported teenagers are having less sex. I have too say, though, that ‘having less sex’ isn’t the same thing as losing your virginity. It’s entirely possible a teenager could lose their virginity at 13 (far too young, and illegal) and decide the time was wrong, then avoid further sex until they’re out of their teens, in which case both bits of research stand up.

What has this got to do with naturism?

There are reams of research that point to children being exposed to parental nudity, or nudity in general (i.e. a naturist environment) are better adjusted and more confident about their own bodies, that it removes a lot of the curiosity about the anatomy of the opposite gender that is such a magnet in sexual situations to non-naturist (or those never exposed to casual, non-sexual nudity) situations.

I researched this a bit and there seems to be a train of thought that suggests that being naked with them is OK, but there comes an age when it’s not OK. Websites like Mumsnet asks the question when it’s time to stop and devote entire threads of discussion to the topic.

You will understand why I’ve chosen not to illustrate this post as I have done with others.

From my perspective I think there probably is some direct link to a more enhanced self-awareness of body, and that of the opposite gender, if raised in a naturist or casual nudity home environment, making for more rounded, less curious and, in many cases, probably less sexually active teenagers at a young age.

GG