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Taboo subject
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For some it is totally normal, for others it is an absolutely taboo subject: There are different opinions about sex during your period. Time to talk about it!
Sex on your period – yes or no?
Opinions on menstrual sex are contrary: for many people, having sexual intercourse during menstruation is just as normal as it is at any other time in the month. That little bit of blood just doesn’t make a difference to them.
For others, however, the mere thought of becoming intimate during your menstrual period is an absolute no-go. And that seems to be the case for the majority, as various studies show. So gave the Amorelie Sexreport 2019 only 16% of women say they have sex during their period. 37% said they found it unsanitary. This result is in line with similar studies: In an international one Study by the Cycle Calendar Clue and the Kinsey Institute Condom Use Research Team only 15% of all women surveyed stated that they had sexual intercourse during their menstrual period.
Sex during your period: medical point of view
There are many reasons why many women do not have sex during their period – but none of them are medical ones. From a medical point of view, nothing speaks against it, on the contrary: Sex can even help women who are plagued by menstrual cramps. Only the risk of infection is increased because blood accelerates the transmission of existing infections. If you don’t know your sex partner well, you should use a condom, but this also applies outside of your menstrual period.
Reasons against having sex on your period
The fact that sex does not occur during the period can of course be due to the fact that some women do not feel particularly well during this time, some even have severe pain. The pleasure can be reduced during this time and that is understandable. On the other hand, another very decisive factor for abstaining from sex during menstruation is less understandable: the tabooing of menstruation.
Even if a lot is changing here at the moment, the period is always shame and is considered disgusting and unhygienic, unattractive and uncomfortable. In addition, there is the misconception about how much blood a woman loses during her menstruation. On average, there is 60 ml of blood, which is as much as fits in an espresso cup – spread over about five to seven days. Menstrual sex doesn’t end in bloodbath, as some believe.
Misconceptions about the cycle and the negative image of the period mainly arise from the fact that there is still far too little talked about the period: like that Hygiene Matters Report 2016/2017 shows, an average of 7 in 10 women don’t talk to their partner about their period. No wonder sex on your period is not an issue here.
