the French make love less but this is not necessarily a bad thing, according to Inserm

SEXUALITY – What does the intimate life of French men and women look like in 2023? This is the question addressed by the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) in a vast survey entitled Context of sexualities in Franceand the results of which were revealed this Wednesday, November 13.

The result of five years of work, it provides for the first time since 2006 – the date of the last similar research – an inventory of French sexual representations and practices. It is based on interviews conducted by telephone and on the Internet with 31,518 people aged 18 to 89, residing in mainland France and in four overseas territories: Martinique, Guadeloupe, Réunion and Guyana.

A diversification of practices and partners

First lesson from research carried out by Inserm, with the help of Santé Publique France and the ANRS Emerging infectious diseases: French men and women are entering sexuality later and later. Between the beginning of the 1960s and the beginning of the 2000s, the median age at first intercourse had decreased by three years for women and by a year and a half for men. This trend reversed from the end of the 2010s. It is now set at 18.2 years for women and 17.7 years for men.

On the other hand, the number of partners is increasing for all generations. Women thus increased on average from 3.4 partners during their lifetime in 1992 to 4.5 in 2006 and 7.9 in 2023. The gap, however, remains marked with men, who go from 11.9 partners in 2006 to 16.4 on average for the last survey.

This increase in the number of partners is accompanied by a diversification of sexual practices, starting with masturbation, much less taboo among women in 2023 than it was during previous surveys. 72.9% of them say they have already practiced it last year, compared to only 42.4% in 1992. The practice of fellatio and cunnilingus is also increasing, for women and men, as is the practice of fellatio and cunnilingus. of anal penetration, increasing among women (38.9% in 2023 compared to 23.4% in 1992) as among men (57.4% in 2023 compared to 26.9% in 1992).

Fewer reports but more satisfaction

The other lesson to be learned from this major survey is what Nathalie Bajos, sociologist and research director at Inserm, calls the “contemporary paradox of sexuality” : although having diversified their practices and their partners, French men and women also make love less. In 2023, 77.2% of women and 81.6% of men reported having had sexual activity with a partner during the year. This is much less than in 1992, when 86.4% of women and 92.1% of men declared having been sexually active in the last twelve months.

But this does not affect their morale or their satisfaction, quite the contrary. The survey even highlights a slight increase in sexual satisfaction, both for women (45.3% in 2023 compared to 43.6% in 2006) and for men (39% in 2023 compared to 35.1% in 2006). For Inserm researchers, these figures can be explained by a decrease in the number of women engaging in sex without really wanting to, to please their partner.

The 2023 survey also focuses for the first time on the sexuality of seniors. It shows that sexual life continues at “advanced” ages, as the survey describes them, since in 2023, 56.6% of women and 73.8% of men remain sexually active after age 50.

Another notable phenomenon: the proportion of people engaging in non-exclusively heterosexual sexuality “increases very significantly”. In 2023, 8.8% of women and 8.9% of men aged 18-89 report having had at least one partner of the same sex during their life. This “increasingly marked questioning of the heterosexual norm” is accompanied by a form of consensus around homosexuality, which is no longer taboo for a large majority of French people. Even if it has emerged more recently in the public debate, the question of transidentity is also better accepted. 41.9% of women and 31.6% of men consider it to be an identity like any other.

Less protected relationships

The issue of sexual violence is also widely addressed in the Inserm survey, with one finding: these abuses are increasingly better identified, particularly by women. In 2006, 15.9% reported having experienced forced sex or attempted forced sex. This proportion increases to 29.8% in 2023. According to Nathalie Bajos, “the #MeToo movement has not caused an explosion in reports of violence, but changes the normative frameworks of sexual consent, and is part of the long term”.

The study finally has a section devoted to the prevention of risks linked to sexually transmitted infections (STIs). And the results are “concerning”, judge the authors. Thus, only 49.4% of women and 52.6% of men declared having protected themselves during their first intercourse with a new sexual partner during the last year.

These results should be compared with the increase in the prevalence of certain STIs such as Chlamydia among 26-29 year olds. For Nathalie Bajos, this can be explained by the absence of prevention and systematic screening policies for this age group. They must also be compared to the number of unwanted pregnancies, which is increasing significantly. In 2023, 34.7% of last pregnancies occurring within five years are unwanted.

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