# 5% of Americans think sex isn't sex!? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 5, 2010, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-of-americans-think-sex-isnt-sex/531398 "2010-03-05T12:00:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-of-americans-think-sex-isnt-sex/531398/21 "2010-03-05T15:38:42Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Bill Clinton also said “I didn’t have sex with her, she had sex with me.” > > Clinton knew perfectly well that it was sex, he’s just a compulsive liar. Except for the fact that the questions he was asked defined sex as giving pleasure to the other person. Bill was selfish, so it wasn’t sex. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-of-americans-think-sex-isnt-sex/531398/22 "2010-03-05T15:41:31Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > Don’t forget – when it comes to any poll about sex, you have to factor in the +/- 70% margin of “people are douches who like to give stupid answers on polls”. Or as I like to say, “…give stupid answers to _stupid_ polls.” As I argued in a thread about results of an Obama=Kenyan poll, the more you insult a population’s intelligence, the more they’ll screw with your survey. If you ask them “What does 3+4 equal?”, you’re likely to get answers like 34 or 59831715789 just for kicks. But if you ask them some, I dunno, trig, you’ll get more right answers. Of course, this is just a hunch. > [@Hampshire](#): > > They equate sex to making love to two people AT THE SAME TIME?!?! ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-of-americans-think-sex-isnt-sex/531398/23 "2010-03-05T15:52:00Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > What am I gonna do over here, suffer alone? What about poor **Mahna Mahna**? How do you think she’s feeling? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-of-americans-think-sex-isnt-sex/531398/24 "2010-03-05T16:16:26Z")
Years ago I knew one curmudgeonly older man who insisted that “to have sex” means to possess the properties of maleness or femaleness. According to him, even a virgin “has sex” (i.e., has the male sex or has the female sex, as the case may be). He insisted that the proper terminology for the act is “to have sexual relations” not “to have sex.” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-of-americans-think-sex-isnt-sex/531398/25 "2010-03-05T16:27:47Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Bill Clinton also said “I didn’t have sex with her, she had sex with me.” > > Clinton knew perfectly well that it was sex, he’s just a compulsive liar. I saw him last night on a program about baby-boomers that was hosted by Tom Brokaw trying to claim that he was joking and meant it humorously when he said that he tried marijuana but didn’t inhale, and that it has been distorted ever since by people trying to make it look like he was serious, yet anyone who’s ever seen a clip of him saying that knows better. For the record, here’s the direct quote: “When I was in England, I experimented with marijuana a time or two, and I didn’t like it. I didn’t inhale and never tried it again.” > > (I don’t mean this as a hijack but rather to illustrate that Bill Clinton is not among those who genuinely don’t know that oral sex is sex.) > [@Darth\_Sensitive](#): > > Except for the fact that the questions he was asked defined sex as giving pleasure to the other person. Bill was selfish, so it wasn’t sex. Let’s not turn this into another debate about Bill Clinton, please. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-of-americans-think-sex-isnt-sex/531398/26 "2010-03-05T16:28:44Z")
I’d say the 5% didn’t understand the poll, made a mistake, or didn’t take it seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-of-americans-think-sex-isnt-sex/531398/27 "2010-03-05T18:34:57Z")
Since a lot of these wonky responses came from older men, is it possible that they no longer consider PIV sex as sex because of erectile dysfunction? If you’ve been “having sex” with your wife for the past ten years without an erection, you might answer the survey in that way. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-of-americans-think-sex-isnt-sex/531398/28 "2010-03-05T19:36:59Z")
I’ll take “Senile Dementia” for $600, Alex. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-of-americans-think-sex-isnt-sex/531398/29 "2010-03-05T19:51:45Z")
> [@Trom](#): > > “It’s not _really_ sex unless it’s a spiritual and magical connection with someone that truly understands me and loves me as a person…” > :dubious: > > :rolleyes: So you met my roommate with the revolving door of partners who “didn’t count!” ---
**Author:** ![Velma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85e7bf/32.png) [@Velma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velma)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-of-americans-think-sex-isnt-sex/531398/30 "2010-03-05T21:29:48Z")
I had a roommate in college who thought it wasn’t sex as long as he pulled out. ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-of-americans-think-sex-isnt-sex/531398/31 "2010-03-05T22:52:40Z")
Perhaps it’s only sex if the other party is aware it’s happening. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-of-americans-think-sex-isnt-sex/531398/32 "2010-03-05T23:00:34Z")
> [@](#): > > 95 percent of respondents would consider penile-vaginal intercourse (PVI) having had sex, but this rate drops to 89 percent if there is no ejaculation. Maybe a tiny percentage don’t think it counts if the woman doesn’t orgasm? An oddly worded questions does seem like the most obvious reason, though you’d think if anyone’s got their shit together for this sort of survey, it’s the Kinsey Institute. There’s also no accounting for nutjobs. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-of-americans-think-sex-isnt-sex/531398/33 "2010-03-06T06:22:53Z")
It’s interesting that although I’ve had sex thousands and thousands of times, by some people’s standards I’m still a virgin. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-of-americans-think-sex-isnt-sex/531398/34 "2010-03-06T06:25:08Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > The actual paper is paywalled, but the abstract is [here](http://www.publish.csiro.au/nid/164/paper/SH09068.htm). I like that word! Never seen it before today, but it’s been needed for a while \>.\< [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-of-americans-think-sex-isnt-sex/531398.md?page=1)