5 Fallacies About Sex that need to be Debunked 

Especially during their adolescent years, everyone has heard their fair share of sex myths. Unfortunately, some beliefs may remain well into adulthood, influencing our attitudes toward sexuality. We dispel some of the most common sex myths in this article. 

"How long have you had your cherry?" "If you masturbate, you'll go blind!" "Oh, and if you want to impress your coworkers at next month's sporting event, put your sex life on hold." Do any of these phrases ring a bell? 

We're here to debunk these and other illusions about quality time in the bedroom — and we're not talking about sleep.  

So, sit back, unwind, and see why you should attempt to quit worrying so much about sex-related "facts." 

1. Putting the cherry on top

The age-old idea is that a woman's hymen is a good spot to examine if you want to know if she's still a virgin — or, at the very least, if she's had vaginal intercourse. However, despite the fact that the hymen is revered in many cultures as a symbol of virginity, the truth is that it can't always tell us anything about a woman's sexual past.  

The hymen is a membrane that lines the opening of the vaginal canal, and its shape and size vary from person to person. It usually does not completely cover the vaginal entrance, which makes perfect sense because otherwise, menstruation and other discharge would be unable to exit the vagina. Some people are even born without a hymen.  

Imperforate hymen is a congenital disorder that occurs when the hymen does not cover the entire vaginal opening. Surgery is performed to perforate it and allow vaginal discharge to move out of the body, according to a reliable source. While mild hymen tears can occur during vaginal intercourse or some more vigorous physical activities, many women do not suffer any tearing or bleeding during sex because the hymen can expand to accommodate the penis. 

The authors of The Wonder Down Under, Nina Dlvik Brochmann and Ellen Stkken Dahl, explain in a TED talk that this membrane is similar to a scrunchy – elastic and stretchy. Even if tearing occurs, blood is not usually the result. And, because hymens come in a variety of shapes, determining whether that "dip" in the membrane is the result of a slight rupture or whether it was always there would be challenging.  

2. The greatest baby barrier is menstruation

Another popular sex myth is that if a woman has intercourse while on her period, she will not become pregnant. Although this scenario is extremely uncommon, the potential of pregnancy cannot be completely ruled out. The length of your menstrual cycle has a big impact on your chances of getting pregnant following period intercourse. 

The menstrual cycle lasts roughly 28 days in most people. Usually, their menstruation takes up 3–5 of those days, during which unfertilized eggs, or "ovules," and the uterine lining are removed. When new eggs are produced during the ovulation stage of a woman's menstrual cycle, she is most fertile. Ovulation typically occurs 12 to 16 days before the start of the next menstruation. 

Some women, on the other hand, have shorter periods, which indicates that ovulation occurs earlier. This, combined with the fact that sperm may live for up to 5 days inside the human body, means that sperm could linger out inside the female body for just long enough to survive the period and penetrate a fresh egg if the timing is good. If you plan to use sex to relieve your menstrual cramps, you should consider using a condom.  

3. If it's not vaginal, it's not an orgasm

Many people have long believed that a woman's orgasm is solely a vaginal experience attained through repeated penetration, maybe as a result of the superseded ideal propagated by commercial porn. A brief search on the Internet reveals that "Why can't I orgasm?" is one of the most prevalent queries. "Why can't I get my girlfriend to climax?" and "Why can't I get my girlfriend to climax?" 

As Medical News Today highlighted in a larger article, there is no "one-size-fits-all" approach to obtaining orgasm, and many women will prefer clitoral stimulation rather than vaginal penetration to achieve that sweet spot. For some, penetration isn't enough, and clitoral stimulation is the only way to go to heaven. 

In fact, according to Essentials of Obstetrics and Gynecology, "25 percent achieve orgasm with penetrative sex and 75 percent require further clitoral stimulation" among women who reach sexual climax. That's why both men and women should learn everything they can about their and their partners' bodies and try to figure out what makes them tick.  

4. Masturbation is harmful to your health

This leads us to our second point, which is that masturbation is unhealthy for you in some way. Masturbation is associated with a number of beliefs, including that it can cause blindness in males, erectile dysfunction in men, and sexual dysfunction in women. In case there were any worries, there are no connections between your genitals and your eyes, therefore no matter how hard you try, you won't lose your ability to see merely by sometimes probing your nether regions. In reality, experts claim that there is no such thing as too much masturbation and that it has a slew of health benefits, including less stress, reduced menstrual cramps, and, perhaps most crucially, a "roadmap for [the] body," as sex therapist Teesha Morgan put it in a TED talk. 

She went on to say that for women, learning this map through masturbation makes it easier to attain orgasm; they become better-equipped to attract the kind of attention that suits them best.  

Morgan clarified that the belief that regular masturbation might cause erectile dysfunction is also unfounded. However, she warned that in some situations, a man may acquire accustomed to particular techniques — such as "quickies" — which may then take over in coupled sex, resulting in unpleasant outcomes. 

Morgan notes that one approach to avoid this is to "make your practice and your play as similar as possible," which may entail really spending more quality time with yourself rather than rushing through things.  

5. Sex has an impact on sports performance

It seems intuitive, doesn't it, that indulging in physically hard exercise, such as sex, will deplete your stamina, thus you probably shouldn't play this game just before a major marathon. For years, elite sports managers and coaches have prevented their athletes from engaging in steamy action prior to key tournaments, fearing that their performance might be harmed. You'll be relieved to learn, though, that this isn't the case at all. According to recent studies, having sex the day before a sporting event has no effect on performance.  

However, the researchers warn out that more research is needed, such as into the psychological impacts of sex on physical performance. According to one editorial addressing the issue of sports performance after intercourse, sex may affect an athlete's state of mind before a competition, depending on individual psychological resiliency. 

"Sex may be a calming distraction if athletes are overly stressed and restless the night before an event," the authors write. A good night's sleep is all they need if they are already calm or, like other athletes, have little interest in sex the night before a big tournament."

Take Away

To summarize, there is no evidence that a brief consensual sex "match" is harmful to your health - simply learn what works best for you and keep safe. Always use a reliable source, and if something you've heard or read about sex seems off, double-check it with a reliable source.