# Death is not an option: Sex: The followup **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 22, 2011, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053 "2011-12-22T05:51:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/1 "2011-12-22T05:51:19Z")
In the [Death is not an option: Sex poll](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=635649), we were asked to choose between having consentual sex with a parent, or choosing never to have sex again. Overwhelmingly, people chose that they’d never have sex again. But even more extreme than that, some indicated that anyone who chose otherwise must be mentally ill, a non-serious answer, and other such things. So to them, apparently, the idea of having sex once with their parents was so overwhelmingly bad that it’s not even conceivable that they’d choose it. I’m curious to see how far this can go. Would you choose sex with a parent over becoming blind, for example? Poll will be private, lest anyone be ostracized to a ridiculous degree for their answers. I included three positive reward options (would have sex with parent for money or longevity) and five negative options (choose between having sex with parent or becoming blind/paralyzed/etc). The “quality lifespan” option means you will live 5 years longer than you otherwise would, and they will be good years, in relative health, rather than just extending your miserable life while you have alzheimers or something. Choose which conditions you’d be willing to have sex with a parent under, or if none, check the last option. These aren’t cumulative - if you refuse to have sex with a parent you don’t become blind/deaf/paralyzed/etc. It’s just saying that you wouldn’t be willing to make any of those tradeoffs individually. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/2 "2011-12-22T05:55:29Z")
this is even worse than the other poll. I’m not voting. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/3 "2011-12-22T05:58:00Z")
Yeah, but you are kinky enough to be reading it. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/4 "2011-12-22T06:08:17Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Yeah, but you are kinky enough to be reading it. Voyeurism is two rooms down and to the left. People headed there are discouraged from actually entering and are encouraged at peeking through the keyhole or just listening intently to what’s going on inside. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/5 "2011-12-22T06:35:43Z")
In most of those situations, my mom would be the one insisting on it. “My son, a paraplegic, or else we schtup? We schtup!” And she’d probably demand 90% of that million. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/6 "2011-12-22T09:36:20Z")
Yeah I made a comical, tacky response to the other one, but this is obnoxious. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/7 "2011-12-22T14:21:39Z")
I also am abstaining from voting. Jeez! I’m tired of even thinking about sex with my dad. Gross. Gross. Gross. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/8 "2011-12-22T14:28:54Z")
My goal here isn’t to gross anyone out. People in the other thread reacted as if it was the easiest decision in the world. And I’m wondering if that’s because people didn’t think losing sex for the rest of their lives wasn’t that big a deal, or if the idea of once-off incest is so revolting that they’d choose very dire consequences over it. This poll is meant to granulate that response by isolating one variable. No one else is curious about this, or found the extreme reactions in the other thread a little odd? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/9 "2011-12-22T14:30:32Z")
No. It’s my _dad_. I didn’t find the extreme reactions even a bit odd. I didn’t even think they were extreme. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/10 "2011-12-22T14:33:56Z")
I would classify the reactions - the assumption that anyone choosing option one must be a joke or just completely nuts - are pretty extreme. So this thread is to see just how far that extremity goes. So far, over 1/3rd of the people responding to this thread have indicated that they’d rather be blind or quadripalegic than have one night of icky discomfort. And that’s with people, who presumably are at a fairly extreme end on this issue, abstaining. That, to me, is truly insane. You’d rather ruin the rest of your life - to be unable to ever use your body again, to force someone to take care of you - than to endure one night of an extreme ick factor which otherwise does no real lasting damage. Bizarre. I would suspect that the people who are choosing that answer have more mommy and daddy issues than the ones who’d just go ahead and get it over with. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/11 "2011-12-22T14:43:42Z")
I don’t think this really works for people whose relevant parent is dead. You’re going to get skewed answers just from that alone. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/12 "2011-12-22T14:49:06Z")
Well, yeah - I mean, I’m not asking if you’d fuck your parent’s skeleton. No need to complicate this - picture them as you last saw them in relative good health. I wonder if I should’ve broke the poll down by age and gender too. Ah well. Mostly just curious to see how many people will claim extreme stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/13 "2011-12-22T14:51:21Z")
I’d have sex with my parents just to get a better place in line at the deli. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/14 "2011-12-22T14:53:08Z")
By “sex with a parent” you mean _my_ parent? Cause I’d fuck the OP’s mom for $45. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/15 "2011-12-22T14:57:02Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Well, yeah - I mean, I’m not asking if you’d fuck your parent’s skeleton. No need to complicate this - picture them as you last saw them in relative good health. I wonder if I should’ve broke the poll down by age and gender too. Ah well. Mostly just curious to see how many people will claim extreme stuff. I haven’t really thought about the blind/paraplegic thing. At a certain point, a scenario gets so far out there that it ceases to have any real meaning. If somehow I could convince my dad that it was true, I could probably stomach having sex with him in order not to become paraplegic - but it’s still a horrific thought and I am glad I don’t actually have to face it. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/16 "2011-12-22T15:02:13Z")
I think you may have already made some false assumptions in making the poll options: you seem to imply that being blind or deaf is worse than never having sex for the rest of your life; I’m not sure everyone would take that as a given (in fact, I don’t know, but I imagine blind or deaf people, or people who can’t have sex, might be quite offended). ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/17 "2011-12-22T15:10:40Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Well, yeah - I mean, I’m not asking if you’d fuck your parent’s skeleton. No need to complicate this - picture them as you last saw them in relative good health. I wonder if I should’ve broke the poll down by age and gender too. Ah well. Mostly just curious to see how many people will claim extreme stuff. I was mentally comparing it to the party game question of “what 5 people, living or dead, famous or not, would you have at a dinner?” and me always going for “Dad” as my first pick. So even with a living-and-healthy manifestation, people with deceased parents get extra bonus mental trauma to deal with. (“Good news: You get to see your dad again for one day, alive and well! Bad news: If you’re going to tell him all those things you meant to say when he was alive, you have to do it while he’s pounding your hooha all night long.”) In other words, these mental games were probably less straightforward in the original OP’s teen/college years. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/18 "2011-12-22T15:15:49Z")
Well, that’s the point of this poll. If 90% of the people would give up sex, but only 30% would give up their sight, then people would be clearly indicating that sight is more important to them. I’m not giving any particular judgement to where “no sex ever again” ranks - I’m just seeing what people would say they’d be willing to suffer. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/19 "2011-12-22T15:29:20Z")
Would you rape babies in order to keep having sex? Would you kill twenty homeless guys? Everyone, I hope, has their boundaries. I have no idea why the idea of having these boundaries is so shocking and impossible. By the way, if you’d rape babies or kill homeless guys, I really don’t want to know about it. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/20 "2011-12-22T15:38:36Z")
But I wasn’t the one making the judgements in the other threads. It was others who would horrified that anyone could pick option 1. I’m just curious how far they’d be willing to go, hence the entire point of this thread. Besides, we all know raping babies or killing homeless guys is its own reward. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053.md?page=2)