# Do you avoid sex during "that time" of the month? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 23, 2011, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-avoid-sex-during-that-time-of-the-month/597302 "2011-09-23T04:16:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-avoid-sex-during-that-time-of-the-month/597302/21 "2011-09-23T13:17:19Z")
Not sure how to vote since the question is in the present tense and I don’t have periods anymore (thankfully). But back in the day, it was very ok with me since I always got extremely horny at that time of the month. It helped take my mind off the cramping too. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-avoid-sex-during-that-time-of-the-month/597302/22 "2011-09-23T14:00:45Z")
I feel like hell when I’m on my period. Don’t even come near me! ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-avoid-sex-during-that-time-of-the-month/597302/23 "2011-09-23T14:01:50Z")
Haven’t had one since I got the Mirena installed. Which is AWESOME. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-avoid-sex-during-that-time-of-the-month/597302/24 "2011-09-23T15:17:46Z")
We’ve done it on occasion, but probably less often than not. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-avoid-sex-during-that-time-of-the-month/597302/25 "2011-09-23T15:30:47Z")
Amen, **Zsofia**. I haven’t had a period in 6+ years, so it hasn’t been an issue in some time. Best. Contraceptive. Ever. ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-avoid-sex-during-that-time-of-the-month/597302/26 "2011-09-23T15:37:39Z")
I wouldn’t, in most cases, but my hubby is turned off by the mess and the smell issues. Doesn’t bother me to skip it - there are 21 other days we can do it. And as I’ve gotten older, I don’t want to clean up the mess. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-avoid-sex-during-that-time-of-the-month/597302/27 "2011-09-23T15:56:30Z")
I never have. There have been times when she didn’t want to so we held off. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-avoid-sex-during-that-time-of-the-month/597302/28 "2011-09-23T16:20:37Z")
Dammit, I just wanted to vote “other” without having this whole “no sex life” thing added on. Anyway, Mr. Horseshoe has told me he’s not bothered by it (“that’s what shower sex is for”) but I don’t often feel too sexy then. So, I just blow him - I’m pretty sure he’s OK with that arrangement. (I have weird hangups about dudes knowing if/when I’m on my period, so I used to be a serious ninja about it - hiding tampon wrappers under other trash, etc. So he’d have no idea, start fooling around, and I’d … well, distract him. 🙂 Ten years together and I’m finally OK with him knowing _if he has to for some reason_ but otherwise still try to keep it to myself.) And for the record, my personal raging horniness starts as soon as my period is over. Something about having my body and emotions returned to me makes me a happy camper, and a happy **Horseshoe** is a horny **Horseshoe.** ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-avoid-sex-during-that-time-of-the-month/597302/29 "2011-09-23T16:49:58Z")
Personally, my period has always been incredibly light naturally-- so much so that yes, we’d put a towel down just in case, but when all is said and done, there’s virtually not a speck of blood to be seen. Because I’m like that, I get real judgey when a guy is like, “EWWWW, OMG! PERIOD BLOOD, EWWW!” (not that anyone has ever said that to _me_, but I’ve heard that attitude expressed throughout the years). It just strikes me as incredibly childish. As I see it, part of being with women who are of healthy reproductive age is not being grossed out by the natural, healthy functions of her reproductive aged body. ---
**Author:** ![My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/My_Darn_Snake_Legs)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-avoid-sex-during-that-time-of-the-month/597302/30 "2011-09-23T16:55:55Z")
“Ew, this diamond has some dirt on it. No thanks!” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-avoid-sex-during-that-time-of-the-month/597302/31 "2011-09-23T17:02:34Z")
I do avoid it, mostly because I tend to feel like crap during that time anyways, my back aches much more (and with a herniated disk on top of it, I often avoid _moving_ during that time as well!). He’s not too keen on the blood and is quite content to be patient for a few days, while being rewarded by…other…means. I also hate doing laundry. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-avoid-sex-during-that-time-of-the-month/597302/32 "2011-09-23T18:51:34Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > We just put towels down and go for it. No big. That’s how I was with my late husband, in fact he claimed to like sex more during a heavy period ( “extra juicy” was the exact term he used ). Usually he tended to refrain from oral furing a heavy period but sometimes when things got intense he would get deeply into it…now that was messy in a way that no towel could contain, it would be followed by some joking about how we looked like we belonged in a slasher movie and a long shared shower. Before I met him I would’ve been too self-concious to enjoy sex during a heavy period but he had a way of making me totally not self-concious about things. I miss him…sigh ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-avoid-sex-during-that-time-of-the-month/597302/33 "2011-09-23T19:24:28Z")
I’m a woman and I am totally not in the mood to do anything during my ‘real’ period (three days of heavy to moderate bleeding). First of all, I have zero desire at this time - I don’t take BC so my sex drive changes a lot depending on my cycle. Secondly, for these three days I bleed like a stuck pig, I’m weepy, my breasts are sore, my labia are really sore (don’t ask me why…), and I have cramps, which orgasms make WORSE. I used to have much more awful periods, too - _definately_ wasn’t in the mood for sex when I was so ill I had to stay in bed, was vomiting and/or writhing in pain, etc. After that three days is over I am good to go. I have a little spotting still but it doesn’t bother anyone. Even if I was in the mood during my period, with the amount I bleed (measured with my DivaCup - it’s usually 2-3x the upper amount of a so-called ‘typical’ period) I can’t imagine not putting it off a couple days just for that. We’d have to take long showers after (once I started my period during, and lots of clean-up was necessary - seriously, I gush blood). And what do you do with towels, no matter their color, soaked in a good amount of very dark, thick blood when you don’t have your own washing machine? ETA: LOL, I’ve never asked or even considered my SO’s opinion on any of this. Hope he doesn’t have a period sex fetish. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-avoid-sex-during-that-time-of-the-month/597302/34 "2011-09-23T19:27:02Z")
I’m a woman and it’s when I’m horniest, but the few times I’ve had a partner and the issue came up, he wouldn’t touch me at that time ☹ ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-avoid-sex-during-that-time-of-the-month/597302/35 "2011-09-23T19:27:25Z")
Avoid it. I’m crampy and orgasms tend to be painful when I’m OTR. But he is still fair game. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-avoid-sex-during-that-time-of-the-month/597302/36 "2011-09-23T21:02:29Z")
I’m a middle-aged guy. Relationships from 1973-1986 (3 women): I was young and thought it was gross, and none of my partners pressed the issue. 1986-2009: wife had a hysterectomy and it was a non-issue. 2010- Back on the meat market, and dating 50-ish but surprisingly pre-menopausal women (“you still get a period???”) all of whom were very much interested. So I overcame my squeamishness. I’m still not crazy about it, but I do like keeping my partner happy. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-avoid-sex-during-that-time-of-the-month/597302/37 "2011-09-23T21:54:31Z")
The only thing I can deduce from the poll result is that some of you girls are screwing more than one guy. ---
**Author:** ![Jane\_Elliot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jane_elliot/32/6166_2.png) [@Jane\_Elliot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jane_Elliot)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-avoid-sex-during-that-time-of-the-month/597302/38 "2011-09-23T23:09:04Z")
I don’t mind, but my partner does, so I figure it’s his loss. Right now I’m going through menopause so my period is sporadic and random (6 months off, 4 months on, 2 months iffy). Can’t wait until it’s over. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-avoid-sex-during-that-time-of-the-month/597302/39 "2011-09-23T23:33:38Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > The only thing I can deduce from the poll result is that some of you girls are screwing more than one guy. You got a problem with that? ---
**Author:** ![Teufelblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@Teufelblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teufelblitz)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-avoid-sex-during-that-time-of-the-month/597302/40 "2011-09-24T00:04:29Z")
I think it’s interesting how evenly split both men and women seem to be on the issue. I said I avoid it, but really none of my lovers have ever seemed to be remotely interested during that time. If asked, I would, but if I knew her cycle (it doesn’t take long to figure it out) I wouldn’t even think to try. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-avoid-sex-during-that-time-of-the-month/597302.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-avoid-sex-during-that-time-of-the-month/597302.md?page=3)